IF THE WB'S NEW "Jack and Bobby" were just your typical family drama, it would still be better than most of the shows on TV.
But there's more going on in this Sunday, 9 p.m. show than the activities of a slightly unique family.
There's also the fact that one of the two characters in the show, the Jack and Bobby of the title, is going to one day become president.
No, not that Jack and Bobby, although the narrator notes that with names like that, a political future wasn't that surprising.
The show's tag line: What if you could watch the next president of the United States grow up?
That's the background notion that never leaves you when you watch this excitingly different drama.
Though the show's creators aren't going to let on which of the two boys becomes president, each episode is going to look at the notion of how a leader's character and values are shaped by the early experiences in his life.
So with every bump in the road, every joy and every lesson learned, we look to see what these two boys take forward.
The boys themselves are good fits for the program.
As a high school upperclassman, Matt Long is good as the troubled and constantly conscientious Jack McCallister.
With a smart but nervously eccentric mother (Christine Lahti) who can't help but teach moral lessons at every turn, Jack feels the weight of bringing some normalcy to his younger brother's life.
As the cute, innately good and forever troubled younger brother, Bobby McCallister, Logan Lerman is another welcome addition to the TV landscape.
Lahti is her typical overwhelming self as the mom, Grace McCallister, and that's OK most of the time.
Her character, a college professor raising the boys on her own, is supposed to be a bit over the edge.
She sees seeds of greatness in both boys, though she dotes on Bobby so much that he's having trouble growing up.
Other interesting characters add to the show: a college president who's the perfect intellectual and emotional match for Grace, and his daughter, who intrigues both boys.
What never lets you forget the presidential segment of the show are snippets of interviews with President McCallister's aides and staffers, from 30 or 40 years in the future.
In asides they share about their leader, "The Great Believer," they comment on the aspect of character that each week's episode examines.
Some viewers might find these asides slightly annoying, or feel that they break up the progress of that week's episode.
But I liked what the twist adds to the show. Instead of Bobby learning about lying just to give him something to do that week, it's more, a window into the character of the man who might someday be president.
Or will it be Jack, who seems to have wisdom beyond his years at the start of the program? But he's troubled, and constantly doubts his abilities.
How will he deal with that, or will he someday master it before running for the top office?
All of that adds to the drama that is constantly working on two levels, the now and the some-day presidential future.
The show isn't afraid to jump into real political issues, into the huge divide between today's political parties and into the political process itself.
Though Lahti is always a force of nature, and Grace is a character suited for her, a little less of her and her knee-jerk reactions to the world would be welcome.
And though Lerman has a young, sweet face that the camera loves, they need to move him beyond cute as the series progresses. It must be tempting to do otherwise, but we can hope the stories will move things along.
An early story line has the children pleading with Grace to put an end to the occasional joint she smokes when the world gets to be too much. That's an interesting twist that rings true given her wild lifestyle in the '60s.
The second episode has her protesting the end of a traditional midnight speech to students. It sets up a nice argument with the college president (John Slattery), and an even better and moving speech that Grace gives, imploring students to dare to fail while in college.
All in all, this is an interesting new arrival, and a definite growing-up for the usually less ambitious WB.
To reach ROB HEDELT: 540/374-5415 rhedelt@freelancestar.com