A great destiny awaits

James K. Polk was the first president of the United States to have his picture taken, in 1848. I learned that much, at least, from the first episode of “Jack & Bobby,” premiering Sunday on the WB, and I learned it before the first commercial. Everything that came after was, in a sense, gravy -- a little thin, and perhaps too redolent of many previous gravies, but not entirely without substance, texture or flavor.

What makes this family drama different from other family dramas, and it does not make it all that different, is its framing device -- the whole thing is a kind of giant flashback, from the year 2049, to the childhood of a Man Who Will Be President. The story of his later years is related, in an elegiac documentary style, by various talking heads of the future, who very much resemble the talking heads of today.

The series is initially coy about whether it’s the titular Jack (Matt Long) -- handsome, athletic and not a little angry -- or his purportedly strange and equally titular little brother Bobby (Logan Lerman) who becomes commander in chief. But this coyness lasts only 60 minutes. That struck me as profligate; they might have gotten a little more mileage out of the mystery. (Though other questions are left to twist in the windmills of your mind.) And for the convenience of this review -- leave now if you don’t want the surprise spoiled -- I will tell you that it is Bobby.

This particular future president and his brother are growing up in the leafy college town of Hart, Mo., under the watchful eye of their determinedly nonconformist mother, Grace McCallister (Christine Lahti), whom Jack describes as “the most popular professor on campus and the weirdest mom on Earth.” They don’t even own a TV. “The majority of television caters to the majority of Americans,” she declares, “and is, as a result, garbage.”

Dangerous words to put in the mouth of any TV character, and indicative of the high purpose attached to this project, which is, so far (and, to be fair, “so far” is not very far at all), mostly old stuff and situations: a school bully, a new girl in town (different, deep), an eccentric mom, an oddball child. Even with the novel flash-forward framing, the show treads paths often trod before, and trod most particularly by the WB, which has shaped up as the last refuge of family drama. Indeed, if you were to throw the collected works of the talent pool, which includes creator Greg Berlanti (of the WB’s “Everwood” and “Dawson’s Creek”), producer Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”) and director David Nutter (the WB’s “Smallville”), into a large blender, the resulting smoothie would taste very much like “Jack & Bobby.”

“Was it clear, as the boy grew up, the struggle that would take place between his noblest ambitions and his basest flaws?” One hour into the series, we have seen little in the way of noble ambitions or base flaws, so it’s hard to say. Both Bobby’s best friend and his brother refer to him as a “freak,” though if Bobby is a freak, I was an alien freak from another dimension; the oddest thing about him, apart from an enviable fearlessness and the desirable ability to talk to cute older girls as if they were just people, is that he wants to start a space club at school. (“Nobody’s into space,” his brother tells him with dubious authority.) And Bobby has asthma, but what child doesn’t nowadays?

Though we are in some sense meant to consider how great oaks from ordinary little acorns grow, it is impossible not to regard Bobby as special, because we are told continually by the talking heads of 2049 that he is special, and that all his quirks will add up eventually to greatness. We are encouraged to see every act as a foretaste of bigger things to come, like the story of little Jesus in the temple, or George Washington with his hatchet. Indeed, there is a kind of messianic tone to the whole thing; as President McAllister, Bobby will be called “The Great Believer.” (I would prefer a Great Reasoner, frankly; the Believers scare the pants off me.)

Still, in the future according to “Jack & Bobby,” we will have survived ourselves for another half-century, which makes the show strangely comforting, even though it is all made up. (“West Wing” addicts may want to turn here for their fantasy president fix now that Martin Sheen’s coming to the end of his term.) And it is true, or likely, that in our own 3-D world, the eventual winner of the 2040 race for the White House -- assuming there are still elections then -- is out there now, leading the unremarkable life of a child. Playing games, climbing trees, reading comics. Perhaps excited about the upcoming fall TV season! Poor innocent creature!

*

‘Jack & Bobby’

Where: The WB

When: 9 to 10 p.m. Sunday

Rating: The network has rated it TV-PGL (may be unsuitable for young children; advisories for coarse language).

Christine Lahti...Grace McCallister

Matt Long...Jack McCallister

Logan Lerman...Bobby McCallister

Jessica Pare...Courtney Benedict

John Slattery...Peter Benedict

Edwin Hodge...Marcus Ride

Executive producers Greg Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Thomas Schlamme. Director, pilot, David Nutter. Creators Greg Berlanti & Vanessa Taylor, Steve Cohen & Brad Meltzer. Co-executive producers Vanessa Taylor, Andrew Ackerman.