This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

ABC's Back In the Game (Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 4) is sort of an update of "The Bad News Bears." Sort of.Terry Jr. (Maggie Lawson) is a former softball star whose life hasn't turned out the way she'd hoped. As this sitcom begins, she's forced to move back in with Terry Sr. (James Caan), her incredibly unpleasant, irascible father.She is not alone, however. Terry Jr. is the single mom of Danny (Griffin Gluck), a nice kid who doesn't live up to Terry Sr.'s expectations any more than Terry Jr. did. Mostly because he's not a good baseball player.Terry Jr. takes on the macho dads who coach their kids' baseball teams and say things like, "I wish I was 12 so I could punch him" when Danny misplays a fly ball.Terry Jr. is better at baseball than those idiot dads and - here's the "Bad News Bears" thing - she agrees to coach a team of misfits."Back In the Game" is about as uneven as it can be in its first half hour. Terry Jr., Danny and a few of the other characters are likable; Terry Sr. and a few of the other characters are beyond unlikable - they're just unpleasant.It's hard to say which way this show is going. There are possibilities here - but there's also the possibility that this could totally strike out.