The WB's "Jack & Bobby" makes a strong impression in its debut telecast tonight at 9 on WCWB. It's an absorbing drama with hints of the idealism found in early seasons of "The West Wing." As such, it's undoubtedly the most grown-up series this youth-skewing network has ever put on the air.

	'Jack & Bobby' When: 9 tonight on The WB. Starring: Christine Lahti.

N ot to say that it doesn't have some of the requisite teen trappings ? the title characters are squarely in The WB's long-time core demo ? but it would be wrong to dismiss "Jack & Bobby" as just another teen show. It's not.

The pilot's teleplay was written by Greg Berlanti ("Everwood") and Vanessa Taylor, executive produced by "The West Wing" Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (he's married to series star Christine Lahti) and directed by David Nutter ("Smallville"). Together they've concocted a premiere episode that is poignant without being sugary, smart without showing off.

Jack (Matthew Long) and Bobby (Logan Lerman) McCallister are brothers living in Hart, Mo., where their domineering mother, Grace (Lahti), is an opinionated university professor. Sounds like a standard-issue family drama, but graft onto it this framing device: One of the two brothers will grow up to be elected president of the United States in 2040.

Members of the McCallister administration are seen in documentary-style interviews taped after President McCallister is out of office. They reflect back on McCallister's life (it's quite possible he's dead at the time the interviews are taped; the former first lady uses the past tense a lot) and allow viewers to connect the dots and see how his teenage experiences informed his later life, his decisions and how he governed. Political junkies will love this aspect of the show.

"Besides the personal stories, it allows us to talk about thematic elements that are existing in 2004 America, which is race, which is religion, which is war, and kind of get: How did these little snapshots of his life right now affect the future of the world?" Schlamme said at a July press conference. "And then we get to see how, in fact, they could affect the future of the world."

Obviously, the title plays off the first names of real-life political brothers John and Robert Kennedy, but the characters are not intended to be veiled approximations of them. The title is, however, intended to evoke the hopefulness of the Camelot era.

Present-day politics come into play in the series' second episode, airing next week. A script for that episode shows Grace as faculty adviser of a young college Democrats group that supports the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Grace, a strident, difficult, dysfunctional mess of a woman, is irked by her students' abilities to organize but not to show any '60s-era reckless passion.

"The results of the current administration are clear: We are reviled worldwide for our policies and have suffered grave losses for our war of choice," she says.

Viewers with conservative leanings might write off this entire show after hearing dialogue like that, and to be sure, Berlanti's writing has a strongly liberal bent, as evidenced on "Everwood." But in the same episode as the Grace diatribe, "Jack & Bobby" makes some surprising revelations about the political persuasion of Grace's son who grows up to be president.

"We watch this young boy grow up today, and we see the reverberations of the things that happen to him personally," Berlanti said.

By the end of tonight's hour, viewers will know which of the brothers will become president. But that journey of discovery is part of the pilot's fun, and I won't spoil it here. Unexpected future relationships also play into the two time periods, confounding viewer expectations.

Though bookending the show with commentary by fictional political observers in the future makes "Jack & Bobby" more unique, the present-day drama makes up a greater portion of the show and is quite effective, too.

Grace is immature and selfish, allowing her relationship with young Bobby to substitute for any real-world adult friendships. She jumps down the throat of the new college president (John Slattery), a potential love interest, and has some bad habits that make it easy to question her fitness as a mother.

But she also has an incredible intellect and spars with verbal savvy ("You'll have to do better than circular logic," she tells Jack in the midst of an argument). These flaws make Grace a fascinating character not too far removed from Kate Austin, the unlikable surgeon Lahti played on "Chicago Hope."

Viewers who elect to watch quality drama: "Jack & Bobby" deserves your vote.