Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 27

Inside: 'JAG' succeeds despite critics' concerns The Sioux Gity Journal Friday, Sept 18, 1998page CI By Bruce R. Miller Journal stall writer his could be the year of must-miss TV. 4 i A Trend alert. Brothers raising children is a theme this year and, joy, joy, this is the first series out of the box. Jon Patrick Walker plays an ad exec who is left with a son to raise.

Enter his deadbeat brother (Eddie McCtintock) who could also use a little rearing. Need more info? See: "Brother's Keeper." (Grade: minus) THAT 70S SHOW (7:30 p.m. FOX) Jimi Hendrix had a hold on one part of the 70s conscience. The Carpenters owned another. This comedy attempts to straddle both ends and succeeds nicely.

Borrowing a page from "The Wonder Years," creators Bonnie and Terry Turner follow a group of friends as they try to maneuver a sticky decade. Think bellbottoms and smiley faces. This is the time to Whip Inflation Now! It's a winner (Grade: A) THE ARMY SHOW (8:30 p.m. UPN) David Anthony Higgins is one of three "Ellen" vets who cnew that ship was sinking. He umped aboard this "Sergeant 3ilko" for the '90s and found limself in a leading role.

Unfortunately, this is the Titanic of sitcoms. Unlike the hit movie, it's a sinker. (Grade: D) has the ability to bring his "Seinfeld" ways to the setting. But the writing isn't quirky enough. (Grade: C) CONRAD BLOOM (7:30 p.m.

NBC) Or "Conrad in the City." This NBC comedy follows the Caroline formula quite nicely, dropping an ad copywriter into the middle of New York and surrounding him with a nutty bunch of people including his mom (Linda Lavin). For good measure, there's also Steve Landesberg. But, to be honest, it needs a lead-in like "Seinfeld" to last the year. Mark Feuerstein, as Conrad, is too, well, nice to make it as a lead. (Grade: C) DIRESTA (7:30 p.m.

UPN) John DiResta's a loveable guy and, forced to battle Kevin James for the Jackie Gleason mantle, should be a winner. He's got Leila Kenzle About as his Alice, but comparisons can be harmful. Like "King of Queens," "DiResta" could be outta luck with folks looking for more than the basics in a sitcom. (Grade: minus) HYPERION BAY (8 p.m. WB) Whatever happened to "Saved by the Bell's" Zack? No, he did-n die in a car accident.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar dyed his hair and returned as a computer genius who brings his company to his home town, only to discover you can't go back. i-ro' kJ CjD the advances of the first lady. Although much of the humor seems tasteless, you've got to hand it to these guys for even making the attempt. After all, everyone said "Hogan's Heroes" wouldn't work and it's still around in reruns. Chi McBride plays the title character.

(Grade: for crass) THE BRIAN BENBEN SHOW (8:30 p.m. CBS) When "Murphy Brown" retired from faux journalism, the door was open for someone else to slip in. Enter: Brian Benben the former "Dream On" star. Benben plays a deposed anchor who tries to get back in the spotlight by doing a series of quirky interviews with "average" people. The office politics are fun to watch; the supporting cast has the ability to become one of television's funniest.

Benben's good, too, although this show is not based on his own life. (Grade: plus) WILLI GRACE (8:30 p.m. NBC) This is the show that "Ellen" should have been. Although Will (Eric McCormack) is gay, he's not using his sexuality as a debate topic every week. Instead, it's the rub that keeps him from hooking up with Grace (Debra Messing), his best friend and, after the pilot, roommate.

The two have great chemistry and a dandy set of writers. Watch and you'll find this the best way to learn and laugh. (Grade: A) LA. DOCTORS (9 p.m. CBS) "L.A.

Law" showed how attorneys operate in Los Angels. Now, "LA. Docs" shows how doctors do the same. Ken Olin, Sheryl Lee, Rick Roberts and Matt Craven star as partners who don't always agree on the way to do business. Olin is particularly good as the oily, self-promoting Arnie Becker type.

(Grade: plus) TUESDAY THE HUGHLEYS (7:30 p.m. ABC) Go with the flow? You'd think so if you saw "Living in Captivity." This shows what a black family has to contend with when they move to the predominantly white suburbs and try to fit it. Star D.L. Hughley (the is not silent) maintains it's based on his own life. Often, though, the jokes sound like ones others have told in much different situations.

(Grade: C) C0STEL10 (7:30 p.m. FOX) Sue Costello has the potential to be another another Brett Butler. Thankfully, she's in her scrappy period, able to turn "Good Will Hunting" on its head. In this comedy, she plays a South Boston bartender who's dealing with a failed romance and a stalled career. You go girl.

(B plus) ENCORE! ENCORE! (7:30 p.m. NBC) SEE FALL SEASON continued on page C3 Thanks to repetition (or is it down-right the 1998-99 season has few highlights and an awful lot of carbon copies. By October, you won't be able to tell "King of Queens" from "DiResta," 'The Hughleys" from "Living in Captivity," "Holding the Baby" from "Brother's Keeper." Ask network executives why there's so much duplication and they start mumbling: 'There are only so many good ideas around." "The concepts may be the same, but the execution is different." "Cable eats up a lot of good material." Thus, the season of similarity. -1 Star power is pretty weak, too. Last year Tom Selleck crashed and burned.

This year, Brian Benben, Nathan Lane and Bo Derek get the opportunity. By midseason, expect Ted Danson and William Devane to turn up. By spring, look for Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper. Everything goes in cycles. This fall, comedies run the gamut from the questionable Lincoln spoof 'The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" to the enjoyable retro valentine "That '70s Show." Dramas touch on love death retribution and witchcraft Good dramas (there's really u-only one take a new look at the post-high school, pre-.

life years. Throw in a revival of "Fantasy Island," a martial arts show with a lead who speaks halting English and enough magazine shows to fill the waiting room to hell and u'you've got a good look at the not-. so-new, not-so-good fall season. i Of the 36 shows premiering on the Big Four (ABC, NBC, CBS 'and Fox) and the Little Two (The i WB and UPN), six get top grades: "Felicity," "Cupid," "Buddy Faro" "Will Grace," "That '70s Show," and "Sports Night." "Felicity," the best new show of the season, follows a bright young woman to college where she dis-: covers much about life and self. "Cupid" sends a guy who thinks he's the legendary matchmaker on a hunt to pair 100 couples.

"Buddy Faro" takes a Rat Pack private eye and plops him in the middle of the not-sb-hip '90s. "Will Grace" follows two best friends a gay lawyer and the woman who lives with him. "That '70s Show" recalls an era most would like to forget. And "Sports Night" takes a peek behind the hectic world of sports television. Beyond that, the hits are yours to choose.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your remotes. SUNDAY HOLDING THE BABY (6:30 p.m. FOX) Tninir I rrr-zjrnr MONDAY GUYS LIKE IIS (7 p.m. UPN)- mm Like "Maggie Winters," "Hyperion Bay" shows how much we stay the same despite major life changes. It's an OK drama, but it doesn't break barriers like "Dawson's Creek." When Bill Gates shows up for a cameo, you'll know it's sweeps week.

(Grade: minus) THE SECRET DIARY OF DESMOND PFEIFFER (8 p.m. UPN) Like "The Hughleys," this show requires a pronunciation guide. The isn't silent. Everything else is pretty loud, too. Desmond is a confidant to the president President Lincoln, that is.

He keeps the guy from landing in a bunch of Clintonesque scandals and often has to fend off guys raise a kid brother. Considering one was the host of "Singled Out," you'd think this would be a bit funnier than it is. Instead, the kid (Maestro Harrell) gets all the good lines. Look for an early eviction notice. (Grade: minus) THE XING OF QUEENS (7:30 p.m.

CBS) This series is so similar to last year's ill-fated "That's Life" it's amazing it wasn't canceled before it even started. Kevin James plays a parcel delivery guy who thinks his life is complete when he gets a big-screen TV. Then his father-in-law (Jerry Stiller) moves in and upsets the royal family. Stiller Kevin James, star of "King of Queens" wields the remote this year. Could he pick Nathan Lane (of "Encore, left, and "Cupid's" Jeremy Piven as his must-watch buddies? Documentary reveals American farm life 'Farmer's Wife' ranks as compelling TV By Bruce R.

Miller Journal staff writer "The Farmer's Wife" is riveting television. By the end of the first night, you'll wonder if Darrel and Juanita ever get out of debt, ever solve their family problems, ever find a glimmer of happiness. By the third night your faith in hard work will be restored. You'll laugh. You'll cry.

You'll wonder if you'll ever see the Buschkoetters again. And, quite possibly, you'll recognize the "Frontline" documentary as the best program televi HI reviBV 0 I CTJT) i Vrf -iO, if i sion nas produced in years. Sight." "One of the prerequisites was that I stay in their house for several days and talk about why it was important for me to be close up so close up that I wanted viewers to feel like you were living in their skin," he says. That gave the families an idea of the project and pushed the Buschkoetters to the top of the list, "We had our purpose for doing this," Juanita admits. "We wanted to show other farmers they weren't alone.

We wanted to show people what family farms are really all about." Initially, the Buschkoetters had no idea how up-close and personal Sutherland and his crew would be. Many days, Sutherland slept on the family's couch. Often, he'd listen in on very personal conversations. In several instances, he and his cameramen followed the young couple into their bedroom. "They were very persistent," Juanita says with a laugh.

"If we didn't say no 20 times, they would keep filming." Because the filmmakers were everywhere, Darrel and Juanita quickly learned to forget they were around. Initially, she says, the couple By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer Juanita Buschkoetter cried when she watched "The Farmer's Wife." "But, then, I cried because it's our life," the wife and mother of three says from her farm home near Lawrence, Neb. "I find it hard to believe that anyone could be interested in it." Thanks to extensive publicity, the 6 12-hour PBS documentary is one of the most eagerly anticipated programs of the 1998 television season. Following Buschkoetter, her husband Darrel and their three daughters over the course of three years, the "Frontline" program attempts to show what it's like to operate a family farm in America today.

Faced with huge debt, poor crops and mounting personal problems, the Buschkoetters seemed destined for disaster. Still, Juanita says, "subconsciously, I knew this was going to have a happy ending." When filmmaker David Sutherland set out to make a documentary about an American farm family, he had no agenda in mind. After scouring the country for possible subjects, he settled on five, then showed them his film "Out of Directed by David iutnenand, tne lz-nour film is more real than "The Real World," more heartwarming than any episode of 'Touched By An Angel." -i That's because Darrel and Juanita I Buschkoetter are very likable people. The two tprtysomethings farm near Lawrence, Neb. He "cratches dirt" for his father; she tries to juggle their meager income to keep their iamuy ot live oat.

i a i.l 1 A ft Si I MUlUUgll ouuicimiiu caaujr tuuiu nave uccii 'as effective with less time (6 12 hours is too 'Imuch), he gets incredibly telling moments. Juanita has to plead with a lender to ektend their loan, you'll feel her discomfort. flThe joys of parenthood are obvious; the pain i ojf poverty is understated. When the three-part film begins, Darrel and Juanita are deep in debt, looking for any way to 1 SEE WIFE Continued on page C4 SEE NEBRASKA FARM COUPLE Continued on page 3.