It’s refreshing to find the occasional network honcho who may actually be telling the truth, even when his ambiguous phrasing of a pronouncement seems all too obviously questionable at best.

That was the case at last summer’s TV press tour for the FOX network when President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly proclaimed he would “look at” the return of “Breaking In” when the network revisits its “comedy block.”

When network chieftains tell you they will “look at” a particular program, you must resign yourself to the fact that it has as much chance of being resurrected as does the singing career of Vanilla Ice.

But then, Reilly did more than reconsider the future of Christian Slater in his role of the master of manipulation at an offbeat high-tech security firm.

As became clear at the winter TV press tour, “Breaking In” returns to the Tuesday night lineup, along with “Raising Hope” and “New Girl,” the latter starring the irrepressible Zooey Deschanel, recently nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her FOX series.

Network president Reilly may have been cagey with his answers to the gathering of the nation’s TV critics when he seemed less than forthcoming about the future prospects for the return next fall of “House” and “Fringe.”

If you love “Terra Nova” and think it is great family entertainment, Reilly offered some hope for a second season, but did say that there were “14 dramas on the network schedules this year” and most of them have “come and gone.”

Expensive production costs are an obvious factor for the fate of “Terra Nova,” and the handwriting is on the wall – kind of like a Washington stimulus package typically gone bad.

One of the most promising new shows of the mid-season is the one-hour crime drama “Alcatraz,” a bizarre supernatural thriller in which the most notorious criminals reappear 50 years after they vanished.

When San Francisco Police Department detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a seemingly impossible suspect – an Alcatraz inmate who died over 30 years ago.

Given that she had family members who worked at the prison, the detective’s interest is immediately piqued, and even more so, when a federal agent (Sam Neill) tries to impede her investigation.

Madsen gets partnered with an amateur Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast (Jorge Garcia), and they discover that the Alcatraz felon is still alive and has not aged a day since 1963.

The press notes indicate that the show investigates the shocking reappearance of 302 of Alcatraz’s inmates. Chasing one suspect a week could result in a decent run for this new series.

“The Finder” is a quirky, one-hour procedural centering on Iraq war veteran Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults), a remarkable man with the extraordinary ability to help people find what is irretrievably lost.

A severe injury during the war caused brain damage for Walter, but he acquired a strange power to find almost anything for just about anybody.

Because of his rare skills, Walter suffers occasional social ineptitude, general paranoia and case-related tunnel vision. That makes him a difficult person to work with, which of course is good enough reason for a TV series.

Kiefer Sutherland’s eight-season run on the Emmy Award winning series “24” made him one of the most definitive faces on the network.

Not surprisingly, Sutherland’s return to a TV series is eagerly anticipated in the uplifting drama “Touch,” the latest venture from “Heroes” creator Tim Kring.

Sutherland stars as a single father who discovers his mute 11-year-old autistic son possesses an extraordinary gift, the ability to see hidden patterns that connect people all over the world.

The severely autistic young boy shows little emotion, but he busies himself with cast-off cell phones, disassembling them and manipulating the parts, allowing him to see the world in his own special way.

Just as a social worker tries to intervene in the child’s life, Sutherland discovers his son has a gift of staggering genius but needs his father’s help to decipher the meaning of his discoveries.

Though FOX TV network is celebrating its 25th anniversary, it remains a relatively young network. “The Simpsons” has been on the FOX airwaves almost since day one.

Primetime animation has been an enormous part of the legacy, brand and identity of the FOX network. You can thank Bart Simpson for that.

Not surprisingly, FOX is the natural home for an animated series based on the hit film “Napoleon Dynamite,” the comic adventures of an awkward teenager and his offbeat family.

The original cast from the film lends their voices to their now-animated roles. John Heder is the voice of Napoleon, who faces down bullies and follows his own path while navigating small-town life in rural Idaho.

The teenager Napoleon, convinced he’s destined for greatness, spends his days practicing ninja moves, soul dancing and bragging about his girlfriend in Oklahoma whom nobody has ever seen.

Napoleon’s allies include Pedro (Efren Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president, and Deb (Tina Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife.

Oh yeah, you probably already know this: “American Idol” is back again for its eleventh season. Like it or not, we are stuck with host Ryan Seacrest for another run.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

The cost is only $35 per month, which includes unlimited Internet exposure at the Main Street Gallery online.

The First Friday Flings which spotlight the works are advertised locally in the news media, and the functions are very well received and attended – often attracting out-of-town guests.

Keeping the gallery filled with art from local artists is indispensable to the function of a healthy art community and with keeping the gallery in the public eye.

For more information contact Judy Cardinale at the Gallery on Fridays, 707-263-6658, or any other time via email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or telephone 707-279-9780.

A case in point is the female version of “The Odd Couple.”

This production is Simon’s adaptation of his famous comedy “The Odd Couple,” with the main characters of Felix and Oscar changing to Olive and Florence.

The Lake County Theater Co. will perform the play in February and March at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport. Rehearsals now are in full swing.

This version of the play is more modern, a little racier and in many ways funnier according to Director Linda Guebert.

The dynamics are the same: a sloppy person and a fastidious one living together in an apartment that could use a major clean up.

Their female friends come over to play “Trivial Pursuit” instead of poker with drop-in visits from the Spanish brothers who live in an upstairs apartment.

Watching the antics of these characters as the story progresses is a belly laughing experience not to be missed.

Performance dates are 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26; and Friday, March 2, and Saturday, March 3, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $18 reserved, $15 general with a $3 discount for seniors, students and Lake County Theater Co. members.

Tickets are on sale online at www.Soperreesetheatre.com or at the theater box office, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport, on Fridays starting at 10 a.m., and at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-3095.

For more information call 707-279-4514.

The first TV network on the agenda is also the most troubled one, a malady continuing to plague the NBC TV network, even with new leadership at the helm.

This past summer, Bob Greenblatt arrived at his first conference as the newest NBC Entertainment chairman, telling the assembled scribes that he was “very excited and bullish” about the fall season.

It seemed like just yesterday that “The Playboy Club,” attempting to cash in on the swinging Sixties vibe generated by “Mad Men,” would result in success. Yet, the show was canceled faster than Hugh Hefner’s last engagement to a centerfold model.

So Chairman Greenblatt confessed that his network had “a really bad fall,” and admitted that it was “worse than I’d hoped for.” He must hope his bosses are patient.

In any case, the NBC executive, admitting that developing new shows is “a bit of a crapshoot,” appears to be staking much of his reputation, if not career, on a big musical drama that will premiere the day after NBC televises the Super Bowl.

“Smash” celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have the common desire of delivering a smash production.

The series centers on the process of creating a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, not an entirely far-fetched notion.

Debra Messing stars as a partner in a successful songwriting duo with Christian Borle, while Anjelica Huston jumps on board as a tenacious Broadway producer.

A rivalry soon forms during the audition process for the lead role between youthful, inexperienced Midwestern beauty Karen (Katherine McPhee, “American Idol”) and stage veteran Ivy Bell (Megan Hilty), who’s determined the leave the chorus line for a big break.

“Smash,” though it is executive produced by Steven Spielberg,” looks very much like an insider show that may not have mass appeal. Maybe this is why Greenblatt claimed that it is not “a make-or-break” show for his network.

The verdict on NBC’s mid-season moves may come swiftly with the launch of two new series that are on the verge of a debut as this column is being written.

“The Firm” may have the advantage of being a well-known product, as it is based on John Grisham’s best-selling novel which in turn became a Tom Cruise movie.

Stepping into the Cruise role of attorney Mitch McDeere is Josh Lucas, who picks up the role of the former associate of the Memphis law firm 10 years later.

“The Firm” opens with an intriguing conspiratorial tone, with Mitch running for his life through the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial.

Apparently, after a decade in Witness Protection, Mitch and his family settle in Washington, D.C., where he starts up a law office with Juliette Lewis, the feisty receptionist, and Callum Keith Rennie, playing his volatile older brother, an unorthodox investigator.

The standard-issue plot points that are familiar to any number of other legal dramas may undermine this show. More importantly, for a supposedly brilliant lawyer, Mitch seems too easily outsmarted by another big firm.

Chelsea Handler is a snarky late-night talk show host who has penned a few books, including “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.”

This literary endeavor has inspired a new comedy series called “Are You There, Chelsea?,” which stars Laura Prepon in the titular role of a 20-something cocktail waitress, who is opinionated, sexually active and hard-drinking.

Chelsea Handler appears in a recurring role as her own older sister, a born-again Christian named Sloane, married and a new mom who has little in common with her sibling.

“Are You There, Chelsea?” thrives on the humor of the wild party lifestyle and one-night stands, the combination of which may work better for a late-night cable show.

Fans of Chelsea Handler may want to catch this show in the early going before she has to answer “no” to the show’s title question.

Waiting in the wings for a spot on the schedule is an intriguing drama about a detective who discovers he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality.

Following a tragic car accident, detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs), starring in “Awake,” finds he’s awake in two separate realities: one where his teen son died in the crash and his wife survived; and another where the outcome is switched.

To regain a semblance of normalcy, the detective returns to solving crimes in both worlds. But then memories of the accident begin to haunt him, and “Awake” will seek to untangle his dual existence.

“Bent” is a romantic comedy about a womanizing, surfer dude contractor and his beautiful, no-nonsense, Type-A client, both of whom become tangled up in a remodeling job that involves more than just a lot of wood and plaster.

On the surface, Alex (Amanda Peet) and Pete (David Walton) could not be more different. Alex hires Pete to do remodeling work that looks to never end with ongoing change orders.

Though Alex is outwardly hostile to Pete, it’s painfully obvious that there is inevitable romance brewing. Contrary to its name, “Bent” is on the straight path to traditional sitcom fate.

“Project Runway” has made its mark on the Lifetime Channel, but NBC wants to channel the same type of designer reality competition in “Fashion Star.”

Maybe the selling point is that “Fashion Star” stars Elle Macpherson as the host, along with celebrity mentors Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos.

“Fashion Star” also ups the ante with one designer taking a prize of $6 million in orders for collections in Macy’s, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

Let’s see how things go for NBC, but Chairman Greenblatt may want to remind the corporate brass that successful TV programming is indeed a “crapshoot.”

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

Here’s an experience that I’d guess most of the men who read this column have had, getting into a rental tuxedo.

Bill Trowbridge, a poet from Missouri, does a fine job of picturing that particular initiation rite.

Rental Tux

It chafed like some new skin we’d grown,

or feathers, the cummerbund and starched collar

pinching us to show how real this transformation

into princes was, how powerful we’d grown

by getting drivers’ licenses, how tall and total

our new perspective, above that rusty keyhole

parents squinted through. We’d found the key:

that nothing really counts except a romance

bright as Technicolor, wide as Cinerama,

and this could be the night. No lie.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2006 by William Trowbridge, from his most recent book of poems, Ship of Fool, Red Hen Press, 2011. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Delta bluesman Kenny Neal will jam with Mike Wilhelm and Hired Guns at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, Calif., on Monday, January 16, 2012. Courtesy photo.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The great delta bluesman Kenny Neal will come by the Blue Wing Saloon restaurant in Upper Lake this Monday, Jan. 16, to jam with guitarist Mike Wilhelm and Hired Guns at the regularly scheduled Blue Wing Monday Blues from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, Kenny Neal began playing the blues guitar and harmonica at a young age, learning the basics from his father, singer and blues harmonica legend Raful Neal.

Neal is known as a modern swamp-blues master and multi-instrumentalist who draws musically from the sizzling sounds of his native Louisiana.

In 2009, Neal was named Monterey Bay Blues Artist of the Year and last year he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

He travels widely around the world with his family band and is headed to Florida next week to headline the annual Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise of the Caribbean.

There is no cover as always at the Blue Wing, but dinner reservations are suggested at 707-275-2233. If the tables are full, Blue Wing patrons are encouraged to come by for a drink and a dance.

Guitarist Mike Wilhelm and his Hired Guns will perform at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, Calif., on Monday, January 16, 2012. Photo by Rick Washburn.