Liars and Saints

  Laura Linney's career-defining role--in "You Can Count on Me"--requires her to be tightly wound, teetering, furious. It's like a "Laurie Metcalf" role. In one of my all-time favorite movie scenes, Linney has just one word--and she fits a world of hopefulness and terror into that word. (She has picked up a phone, and after a moment, she says her brother's name. "Terry.") "American Classic" allows Linney to revisit her famous role. The show is like a variation on a theme--for Linney. Once again, Linney is outwardly poised, impatient, well-meaning, somewhat ridiculous. Her character, Kristen, will not listen to her daughter's wish to say "no" to the University of Pennsylvania. Kristen is eager to sabotage herself; when her critics say she should resign from her office, she quickly decides that they are right. In certain funny, climactic moments, Kristen refuses to participate in the absurd "truth circle" that th...

  There is a strange story subset--the set called "stories about community theater." In these plots, the actors' lives tend to blend with the characters' lives. People make discoveries through playacting. In "A Streetcar Named Marge," Marge Simpson begins to understand the dimensions of Homer's monstrousness. She learns through her contemplation of Stanley Kowalski. In Alice Munro's story, "The Children Stay," Pauline is playing Eurydice. She thinks about Orpheus: This guy had an impossible choice. He could commit to not looking backward--and could thus ensure his future happiness. Or he could look backward--confirm that his beloved is safe as she literally crawls through hell--lose everything. One look backward will ruin Orpheus's life. (Pauline has a similar choice. If she frees herself from her oppressive marriage, she might lose her relationship with her children.) This is the kind of story that Kevin Kline's new series wants to...