|
|
|
88.7KXMS Exists in Jack & Bobby's World
From the "How Cool is This" Department ...
Producers from Warner Brothers TV contacted general manager Jeff Skibbe after discovering the 88.7KXMS/Fine Arts Radio International® logo on the MSSU Web site. The new 2004 fall season television series Jack & Bobby is largely set at fictional Plains State University in Hart, Missouri, and the WB has been granted written permission to use the authentic Missouri public radio logo on the set.The KXMS logo (depicted below) was spied again on the Plains State U. history department bulletin board during the October 27th episode.
Jack & Bobby has been getting rave reviews from critics (e.g., "[It] ripples with intelligence and complexity.") and advertisers since it was screened in May. Entertainment Weekly gives the series' pilot episode an "A-". The series is executive produced by multiple Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing, ER) and Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Dawson's Creek) and stars Christine Lahti as a single mother raising two teenage boys. What they don't know, but the audience does, is that one of the brothers will go on to become president of the United States in the year 2041. The series paints an optimistic picture of the future and will deal with how a young boy is molded through childhood to become one of our great leaders.
Grace McCallister (Christine Lahti) is the mother of Bobby McCallister (Logan Lerman) and Jack McCallister (Matthew Long II). Bobby grows up to become our 51st president, "the mid-century's greatest presidential leader." The boyhood scenes are punctuated with interviews from a future (2049) documentary on the McCallister presidency. Grace, a history professor at Plains State University in Missouri, is obsessed with education and self-improvement. Dr. McCallister is a listener/supporter of 88.7KXMS/Fine Arts Radio International, as evidenced by the bumper sticker at her office. Grace is charismatic, fascinating and somewhat eccentric. She is intelligent, erudite, in love with words and not afraid to use them: "The majority of television caters to the majority of Americans and is, as a result, garbage." The arrival of a new college president, Peter Benedict (John Slattery, recently seen in Sex and the City and also as Senator Walter Mondale in From the Earth to the Moon), and his beautiful daughter, Courtney (Jessica Par ), makes an impression on the McCallisters that lasts a lifetime.
Academy Award, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner Christine Lahti (Birthday: April 4, 1950 Birth Place: Birmingham, Michigan) is married to Thomas Schlamme, one of the executive producers of the series. Lahti's last TV series, Chicago Hope, debuted on network TV in September 1994 and is now seen on the Discovery Health Channel. Lahti played Dr. Kate Austin in that CBS-TV series. Lahti made her film debut in Norman Jewison's ... And Justice for All, opposite Al Pacino.
Logan Lerman (Bobby McCallister) has appeared in the feature film Riding In Car With Boys with Drew Barrymore, directed by Penny Marshall. In What Women Want, Lerman played a young Mel Gibson and was his son in the film The Patriot. Lerman most recently co-starred in The Butterfly Effect, with Ashton Kutcher. To date, his most moving appearance was his starring role as 'Lucas' in the critically acclaimed film based on John Grisham's novel, A Painted House.
Paul Sorvino will portray President Lorio in flash-forward segments. His character, a seasoned politician who serves in the White House from 2037-41, unwittingly comes to the aid of the future president during a political debate and helps seal his eventual victory. Sorvino could become a recurring star.
Jack & Bobby now airs Wednesdays (new day) at 9/8c p.m. on the WB Channel (channel 17 on the Cable One system) and on WB-affiliated TV stations (e.g., KWGN, Denver, on the Dish Network). It is available in HDTV.
The WB has made a full-season 22-episode commitment to this highly acclaimed new drama series, making it the first new fall series from any network to be picked up for the full season. The announcement was made by David Janollari, The WB's President, Entertainment. "Great television doesn't come along every day, and that's why we're picking up Jack and Bobby,'" said Janollari. "It's a beautifully written, sophisticated show guided by Greg Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Thomas Schlamme and Vanessa Taylor, with superb performances by an elegant cast led by the incomparable Christine Lahti and two of the most exciting young actors to come along in years, Logan Lerman and Matt Long. We are so proud to give the entire cast and crew a full-season pick-up, and the fact that it's quickly become an upscale program for advertisers is a huge positive for us."
The WB has long been synonymous with nurturing quality dramas. JACK & BOBBY has received universal acclaim from the nation's top television critics and according to Nielsen Media Research. JACK & BOBBY has attracted an overwhelming concentration of upscale viewers with incomes over $100,000, making it a big hit with advertisers. JACK & BOBBY has proven to be an upscale property for The WB, as the show's premiere delivered viewers in homes with household incomes of $100,000+ (143 index), viewers in homes with household incomes of $75,000+ (130 index), including adults 18-34 in those households (111 index), according to data from Nielsen Media Research. The strong upscale performance of the JACK & BOBBY premiere puts it in the company of other notable fall premieres with an the upscale skew (HHI $75,000+), including the premieres of Law & Order (123), C.S.I. (122 index) and C.S.I.: Miami (123 index).
JACK & BOBBY has not yet attracted a passionate TiVo viewing base. The show comes in at 83 on the TiVo Season Pass Hot 100, narrowly surpassing reruns of "Seinfeld." About 3.3 percent of TiVo boxes have a Season Pass scheduled for J&B. The TiVo Season Pass Hot 100 and the TiVo Top 25 weekly ratings report are compiled from anonymous data delivered by TiVo boxes in a random sample of more than 20,000 households.
88.7KXMS is an international cultural resource of Missouri Southern State University - Joplin