Competition among cable networks in recent years for major event series programming has been fierce, with dramas such as “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “Game of Thrones” and “Homeland” garnering critical acclaim and awards. These shows run on the HBO, AMC and Showtime cable channels.

What’s missing in this mix of cable outlets is the USA Network, which may not have a cabinet full of awards, but does manage to crank out many popular entertainment series such as the spy thriller “Burn Notice,” the riveting legal drama “Suits,” and the ever popular “White Collar.”

Since last summer, USA Network has been talking about going big, launching an event series that is deep into murder mystery and rich in conspiracy theories. It was in July, 2014, when Chris McCumber, the network president, told a gathering of the nation’s TV critics about the action event series “Dig.”

At the time, McCumber was touting the “provocative new show set in Jerusalem” which would be “a ‘Da Vinci Code’ like thriller starring Anne Heche and Jason Isaacs that follows the discovery of a conspiracy 2,000 years in the making.” Indeed, the USA executive convincingly made the whole enterprise sound like a big deal.

Drawing a larger portrait of the “Dig” experience was executive producer Tim Kring, who observed that the closed end series of six episodes would focus on the story having a beginning, middle and end.

And to validate the point, series star Jason Isaacs claimed he found “continual frustration” with open ended series that never reach a conclusion.

Now that “Dig,” which was reportedly on filming hiatus for a while during armed conflicts arising in the Middle East, is ready to roll out on Thursday, March 5, the adventure has expanded to a ten-episode event, which given the essence of the series’ complicated storylines may be absolutely essential to reaching a satisfactory ending.

Even after watching the first two episodes, I found that “Dig” holds one in suspense because the nature of the conspiracy, of which there is apparently more than one, remains a big mystery.

Initially, the plot gets rolling when Jason Isaacs’ FBI agent Peter Connelly, stationed in Jerusalem, gets involved in the murder investigation of a young American female archeology student (Alison Sudol).

Several threads in the narrative create interesting scenarios. Though Jerusalem is the primary backdrop for the action involving Connelly’s sleuthing, interconnected events are happening in desolate areas of Norway and New Mexico, as well as in a scenic coastal area of Croatia, that have a real bearing on the overall story.

Biblical prophecy is a big part of the story, and it may cause viewers to do some of their own background research, if for no other reason than to satisfy curiosity about historical incidents or to explore the vast reach of conspiracy theories.

Hasidic Jews converge on a farm in rural Norway to witness the birth of a red heifer, which will figure into a dangerous journey by land and sea back to Israel. By all means, conduct your own Google search on the meaning of the red heifer for biblical prophecy.

Meanwhile, in a remote desert area of New Mexico, a religious cult under the leadership of Pastor Ted Billingham (David Costabile) has sheltered a young child from the impurities of the outside world, cultivating the youngster’s potential as a messiah, even while church adherent Debbie (Lauren Ambrose) harbors serious doubts about the cult’s activities.

Most of the action takes place in Jerusalem where Connelly reports to the American consulate station chief Lynn Monahan (Anne Heche), resulting in an often awkward situation for him not only because he’s an independent operator unconstrained by diplomatic niceties, but he’s also sleeping with his boss.

For his part in the murder investigation, Connelly doesn’t play well with others, resulting in a source of real friction with Israeli detective Golan Cohen (Ori Pfeffer), who insists that the American has no jurisdiction in a foreign land and as a result, must work in cooperation with and subservient to the local authorities.

The premise of “Dig” is both interesting and promising, and the essentially mysterious nature of the unfolding conspiracies commands attention.

In fact, the series requires one to pay attention to the details, which can be as obscure as the scribbling in the archeologist’s notebook.

Hyped as an action thriller, “Dig” doesn’t fit neatly into the popular conception of what is required for the action to be authentically rousing and full of excitement. “Dig” seems preoccupied with peeling back the many layers of mystery, and that alone may be just enough to keep viewers coming back week after week.

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

UKIAH, Calif. – Mendocino College is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Center for Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) with a wonderful collection of faculty art pieces. 

More than 30 alumni and current art instructors are participating in this upcoming exhibit.

These artists include Holly Brackmann, Bob Commings, and Gary Medina, who were the founding art department faculty at Mendocino College. 

These faculty members played a key role in the construction of the CVPA 20 years ago.

This exhibition highlights the diverse creative talents brought to Mendocino College by the instructors who have contributed and enhanced the high quality of art education offered by the Mendocino-Lake Community College District. 

A dynamic selection of work includes sculpture, ceramics, painting, textiles, mixed-media, photography and printmaking.

The opening reception of this show will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at the Mendocino College Art Gallery.

Admission to the gallery is free of charge and the show will run until March 26.

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

For more information or to make a special appointment to view the gallery, please call 707-468-3207 or e-mail [email protected] .

Mendocino College is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road in Ukiah.

McFARLAND, USA (Rated PG)

What do the films “Field of Dreams,” “Draft Day,” “For Love of the Game,” “Bull Durham,” and “The Upside of Anger” have in common? All of them star Kevin Costner and all except the last title are sports-themed entertainment.

I throw in “The Upside of Anger” if only because the implied notion of “anger” is part of a football coach’s story in the uplifting “McFarland, USA,” the latest inspirational sport drama that, based on a true story, definitely falls into the canon of Disney family films.

Kevin Costner is perfectly cast as Coach Jim White, first seen coaching high school football in Idaho before losing his job for angrily tossing a shoe at an insolent star player.

As such, White’s career fortunes are so limited he ends up moving his family to a small farming community in California’s Central Valley.

McFarland, located along Highway 99 north of Bakersfield, is a nondescript rural outpost that one would hardly notice while driving north to Fresno or points beyond.

A predominantly Latino community, McFarland advertises itself as the “Fruit Bowl of California.”

Moving his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and two children to McFarland, White and his family have an initial culture shock with respect to their new home.

In fact, one of the two daughters, noticing a vastly different landscape, asks “Are we in Mexico?”

As a matter of fact, the White family’s outsider status is readily apparent, but the coach wants to make the best of it.

Even the school principal (Valente Rodriguez) has initial doubts about his new physical education and life science teacher fitting in.

Moreover, White has his own qualms about being only the assistant football coach.

The Latino students don’t initially have much respect for the establishment authority figure that Coach White represents. At first, they call him “Blanco” and not as a term of endearment.

Recognizing that his players are not good at a team sport like football, White soon spots their true talent in running.

Without exception, the high school kids work hard alongside their parents picking fruit and vegetables in the vast farmlands of McFarland.

White observes that these farm kids have natural speed while running along dirt roads and through the fields to their after-school jobs.

The idea is born to create a cross-country team, a sport that’s more commonly associated with schools in more upscale communities like Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay.

But White persists in recruiting the Hispanic kids to join his team, causing them to grudgingly accept a new challenge.

Initially very reluctant to join any sports team, the troubled yet hardworking Thomas (Carlos Pratts) is wary of Jim White’s motives, believing that the coach does not understand the grim reality that defines the lives of migrant workers and their sons and daughters.

For his part, Coach White recognizes that Thomas, soon to become the star of the McFarland cross-country team, is a gifted, natural runner, and that his talent and leadership ability is a path to pride and accomplishment that might lift the kid out of the cycle of poverty and despair.

To bridge the cultural divide, White joins his students in the fields one fine morning, during the sweltering heat, to do the back-breaking work of gathering cabbages.

Gamely trying to keep up with the experienced farm hands, White begins to get some respect.

The story of “McFarland, USA” centers mostly on White’s putting together a team of seven runners who are willing to compete even though the high school doesn’t have a gym with fancy equipment and the kids don’t even have proper running shoes.

Aside from Thomas’ role as the lead runner, the one team member with the biggest heart but not the greatest speed is the chunky Danny (Ramiro Rodriguez), who makes a big impression for putting more effort into running even though he has no natural athletic talent.

Meanwhile, from accepting a neighbor’s gift of a live chicken to arranging a traditional Mexican 15th birthday coming-out party for his oldest daughter, White and his family become immersed in the cultural mores of their new hometown. 

The path to cross-country glory, which begins in 1987, does not come easily. Pitted in races against more experienced runners, the McFarland track team, looking more like misfits than an organized unit, must overcome the snide remarks of opponents who don’t, at first, take them seriously.

The inspirational theme of “McFarland, USA” is a familiar one, fitting nicely into the genre of the uplifting triumph of the underdog story.

Kevin Costner’s Coach White may be the glue that holds this film together, but the heart and soul belongs to the seven young actors who make cross-country racing look really convincing.

With the track team overcoming many obstacles to win the state championship in 1987, “McFarland, USA” has the look and feel of the clichéd inspirational sports movie, but New Zealander director Niki Caro (“Whale Rider”) has managed to make the predictable source material an engaging, heartfelt entertainment.

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

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A diverse range of musical styles on the keyboard will be presented at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, March 8, by seven well-known pianists from the region.

Musicians will combine their talent and years of experience to benefit fundraising efforts for the arts and education in Lake County.

The Lake County Friends of Mendocino College is partnering with the Soper Reese Theatre to sponsor the fourth annual Benefit Pianists Concert.

The afternoon begins at 2 p.m. with a no-host reception featuring fine Lake County wines, followed by the concert at 3 p.m.

Raffle tickets for baskets of Lake County products donated by businesses and individuals will be sold during the reception and intermission.

Lake County artists Tom Aiken, Tom Ganoung and David Neft will be joined by performers Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Elizabeth MacDougall and Ed Reinhart from Mendocino County.

The concert will feature all the pianists on stage throughout the performance as they converse about their life experiences and play a variety of musical selections.

Piano student Hana Consterdine of Lakeport will open the concert with a special performance.

Tickets are $25 for regular reserved and $30 for premium reserved, and may be purchased at the theater box office on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or online at www.soperreesetheatre.com . Tickets are also available at the Travel Center, 1265 S. Main St. in Lakeport, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“The Lake County Friends, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, was created to benefit students and programs at the Lake Center. We are delighted that proceeds from this benefit concert will enable us to help equip the first Chemistry laboratory at the Lake Center campus in Lakeport,” said Wilda Shock, chairperson of Friends.

Proceeds from the past concerts have funded $1,000 scholarships for Lake County students at Mendocino College and tutors at the Lake Center.

More information about the Friends is available from Shock at 707-263-7575.

The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored performing arts venue operated by an all-volunteer management team under the auspices of the Lake County Arts Council.

“Concert proceeds will be dedicated to the next phases of theater renovation, including expansion of the lobby and new restrooms,” according to Mike Adams, executive director.

Several years ago, Judith Kitchen and I published an anthology of poems about birds, and since then I keep finding ones I wished we’d known about at the time.

Here’s one by Barbara Ellen Sorensen, who lives in Colorado.

Pelican

Under warm New Mexico sun,
we watched the pelican place
himself down among the mallards
as if he had been there all along,
as if they were expecting the large,
cumbersome body, the ungainliness.
And he, sensing his own unsightly
appearance, tucked his head close
to his body and took on the smooth
insouciance of a swan.

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 2013 by Barbara Ellen Sorensen from her most recent book of poems Compositions of the Dead Playing Flutes, (Able Muse Press, 2013). Poem reprinted by permission of Barbara Ellen Sorensen and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2015 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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum welcomes back the Old Time Fiddlers Association for the monthly First Sunday Fiddlers’ Jam on Sunday, March 1.

Typically musicians from Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino counties descend upon the stage stop for a round robin style jam session.

Musicians of all ages will meet in the Ely barn from noon through 2 p.m. to perform their wonderful Americana music.

The fun begins at the museum at 11 a.m. Come and enjoy the newest display in the main house celebrating the Lake County Dairy Industry.

Collections of milk bottles and butter churns are featured with old photos from bygone days at the dairies.  

There will be the regular monthly raffle near the end of the jam and more chances to purchase raffle tickets for the “Barns, Birds and Quilts” raffle that will celebrate a winner later in the year. Those items will be on display.

This is a free, family friendly event for all to enjoy, so bring young and old alike.  Enjoy the music with hot beverages and tasty treats. Bring your own wine and sip it in Ely Stage Stop wine glasses that will be available for purchase.

Donations benefit both the Ely Stage Stop, helping to fund a blacksmith shop on which volunteers are about to start work, and the Old Time Fiddlers Association District 10, who uses it to partially fund their scholarship programs.

Home to the Lake County Historical Society, the stage stop is located at 9921 State Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near Clearlake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit's Corner.

Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday. Fiddlers’ Jams occur the first Sunday of every month from noon until 2 p.m.

Visit www.elystagestop.org or www.lakecountyhistory.org , check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call the museum at 707-533-9990.