Oh, be still my inner frat-boy heart. They had me at Heather Locklear.
"They" being the folks at cable's UP Channel and their new original movie The Game of Love. The film airs at 6 p.m. today and stars Locklear and Canadian actor Lochlyn Munro.
Locklear is 54 these days, but was only 20 when she and her big '80s hair played spunky Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty in 1981. Locklear was cast to appeal to the younger demographics and for her all-American, girl-next-door, Ipana-smile sex appeal.
Ipana? Kids, ask your grandparents.
Locklear was the 1980s younger version of Farrah Fawcett, but without Fawcett's acting chops. That's OK. We didn't tune in to Dynasty (1981-89) for the memorable thespian emoting.
An older Locklear steamed up the prime-time soap scene as Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place from 1993 to 1999, and earned four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress -- Television Series Drama.
Locklear was brought on board to boost Melrose ratings and it worked.
She then transitioned to Spin City as campaign manager (and sometime Michael J. Fox love interest) Caitlin Moore from 1999 to 2002.
For some, however, Locklear will always be paired with William Shatner as Officer Stacy Sheridan on the police drama T.J. Hooker (1982-86). How she chased the bad guys without all that blond hair getting in the way is still a marvel.
In the romantic comedy The Game of Love, Locklear (fortunately) is playing an age-appropriate role and not being passed off as still in her 40s.
Locklear plays Frankie Cornell, the twice ex-wife of professional basketball team owner Jake Cornell (Munro). They have two adult children, Barton (Tom Stevens) and Alexandria (Emily Tennant), who have a different vision for the future of the Seattle Cougars.
Different? Indeed. They want to sell the Cougars and use the money for more altruistic purposes.
But the team is almost everything to Jake. His family has owned it for three generations and he has devoted his entire life to his work. The team has been his top priority and that's the reason Frankie divorced him (twice) and the reason his kids felt alienated as they were growing up.
Jake, however, believes he's safe from being outvoted by his children since he owns a 51 percent share of the Cougars' voting stock. That was before Frankie took her 6 percent and sided with the kids.
Now, Frankie has taken over the front office and Jake is out. How will that work out?
Will Jake be able to win Frankie back and win his kids over? Will the team's flashy new designer uniforms translate into more victories on the court? Will Frankie ever learn to do anything with that tractor (see cover photo) other than sit on it and try to look pretty?
The main conflict for the majority of the movie is that despite two failed attempts at marriage, Jake is still very attracted to his charming and smart ex-wife. Also, Frankie still has an undeniable attraction and connection to Jake, even though he can be infuriating as well as charming.
Let the middle-aged sexual tension begin and the sparks fly as UP asks the burning question: "Will the team that drove them apart actually end up being the thing that brings them together for good?"
In case you're wondering, Locklear won't be up for any Emmys for the role of Frankie, but Munro was surprisingly good as the frustrated Jake. He does all the heavy lifting for the movie and steals all his scenes.
The 50-year-old Munro has one of those faces you've seen everywhere on TV but whose name you never quite knew. He's credited with more than 200 roles in television dramas and movies.
Munro might be best known for his recurring (but brief) role as Prue Halliwell's (Shannen Doherty) love interest, Jack Sheridan, in The WB drama Charmed.
The bottom line for The Game of Love is that while it may be a romantic comedy, at its heart it's all about family. The love scenes are relatively chaste (and a little awkward) and the life lessons stop just shy of being cloying.
It's all befitting the UP Channel mission. UP bills itself as "the uplifting destination where viewers go to be entertained, inspired and to feel good about the family-friendly values they cherish."
Available to about 70 million cable households, the UP Channel was founded by Charles Humbard (son of televangelist Rex Humbard) as the Gospel Music Channel in 2004. By 2010 it had expanded to also air such family-friendly syndicated shows as Cosby and The Waltons.
The name re-branding took place in 2013 and UP now shows such family fare as Gilmore Girls and America's Funniest Home Videos.
Style on 05/15/2016