'ON HIS OWN TERMS' - SEMO TIMES

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Every week, our roving food critics, “Dick and Jane,” will visit SEMO restaurants and nightspots
and report their findings back to you. Dick and Jane will rate each restaurant in the following
categories: atmosphere, service, value, entree, and dessert. One star will be terrible. Five stars
will be first-rate. The average of the five will give the restaurant its overall SEMO Dining rating.
The snack bar at Bluff Lanes boasts a variety of satisying snacks.
Bluff Lanes is a hidden slice of burger heaven
Dick and Jane recently found
their tummies rumbling after a few
heated rounds of bowling at Bluff
Lanes, so they decided to check
out the snack bar. And what they
found waiting for them was like
discovering a hidden treasure trove
of cheeseburger delights.
With the perfect balance of beef,
cheese and buns, the burgers at the
Bluff Lines concession bar rivaled
those of any sit-down restaurant
and surely was a strike for Dick
and Jane’s appetites.
While the atmosphere and ambiance
at the bowling alley isn’t quite
up to par with other food venues in
town, the good food and friendly
service made up for it. Food was
served promptly and tasted fresh.
Next time you decided to knock
down some pins at Bluff Lanes, be
sure to check out the snack bar.
Dick and Jane give four stars.
SEMO Television
Review
ABC gets fresh with ‘Freshman’
The network’s description: “Ever wondered
what goes on behind closed doors in
D.C.? Get a closer look at the private lives
of public people in this uncensored new
comedy. When three young, newly-elected
members of Congress decide to share a
house together, we’ll see both their public
maneuvering and their behind-the-scenes
personal relationships. Meet Cameron,
Vince and Jane, three freshman Representatives
who decide to pool both their
financial and political resources when they
share a house in D.C. Cameron is optimistic
and determined, Vince is opportunistic
and charming, and Jane, is beautiful and
brilliant, but a little romantically clueless.
As these newbies try to learn their way
around the hill, they inevitably run into
professional challenges, personal entanglements
and public humiliations.
After all, if they screw up, the snarky
blog ‘Fools on the Hill’ is there to document
it for the whole wide web. It’s their
first year in D.C., so these three young
Representatives will definitely make a few
mistakes, but hopefully they will learn
a thing or two along the way. Luckily,
they’ve formed their own little ways and
means committee for negotiating life on
the hill. Executive producer Arianna Huffington
lends her experience and pointed
political-insider wit to this comedy that is
part West Wing, part Grey’s Anatomy. Experience
both the private and public lives
of politicians when creator Greg Malins
(How I Met Your Mother) pulls back the
curtain on America’s elected officials.”
What did they leave out? Bill Maher
turns up in a brief cameo as he offers up
a “new rule” at Jane’s expense, as she fell
asleep during a press conference.
The plot in a nutshell: Jane Keathly
(Sarah Chalke) is late for her first day as a
Congresswoman from the state of Washington.
It’s not exactly her first stumbling
block as a politician though: the former
corporate COO cashed in her stock options
to run for Congress, only to have her
husband come out of the closet after she
won. Minnesota freshman Cameron Graham
(Tommy Dewey) conversely couldn’t
get there early enough as he’s bursting at
the seams to take on his new role. It’s his
zealousness that both annoys and endears
him to Vince Rapp (Ben Lawson), an
Arizona Republician who shows him the
ropes and teach him his “rules” on the
Hill.
First and foremost, it turns out most
Congressmen share apartments to save
money. Vince and Cameron subsequently
agree to be roommates while Jane, who’s
been sleeping in her office because she
can’t find an affordable apartment, winds
up the third in their house. Before long,
each of our heroes establishes their
respective modus operandi: Vince is
unabashedly in it for the perks, whether
it be the golden limousines that take him
to parties or the buffets that allow him to
stock up on food for the week; Cameron is
the sunny idealist who actually reads the
bills put up for vote; and Jane has a mess
of a personal life as she sleeps with her
attentive assistant, Adam (Taran Killam),
harbors a smoldering crush on President
Obama and struggles with her “gay husband
lady” moniker.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI’S NEWS-MAGAZINE OF POLITICS AND CULTURE
www.semotimes.com page 11