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I 4 New jufanei FTP rpmmmpnrk wl~ X_J X 1 VVVJL1U11V11UU T Y X. BT his was a show that, to coin a phrase from David Spade, I liked better when Molly Ringwald stars in this terrible rip-off of every twenty-something sitcom in the TUNE history of bad television. The jokes were stale, the delivery * of those jokes was amateurish, . and it was possible to tell where iowmes the cue card guy was standing Wednesday8:30 p.m. in almost every scene. ?. To make the show * 'out of four ) worse, the producers added a laugh track to give those tired jokes a longer titter, making me feel insulted that someone was trying to imply that "this is when you should laugh." Molly Ringwald's character, Carrie, is a waitress with her friend Shannon (Jenny Eleman doing an impression of a poorman's Tori Spelling). Curt is Carrie's friend that constantly asks her out, and of course she refuses because they are "just friends". Curt (Ron Livingston) uses several different funny lines * i. ?..i. n im ?w:u ,.,n.u o? ?ur:ii tu osa. uut v^oiiic, iiac vvui)uugu uui wiuimc: , vvm^uu go out with me now?", and, after insulting Carrie, he asks "Are we still friends?" to which she replies "No!" Even Ray Charles could see the next line was "Then now will you go out with me?" In the pilot, Carrie's other friends Denise and Brian (although each cast member called him Ryan at least once> are getting married. They break up the night before the wedding, and Carrie feels it her job to help them reconcile. The marriage crisis is solved when Ryan (or Brian or whatever) looks his significant other deep in the eyes, and in a tearjerking, heart-wrenching moment, says "Honey, I love you more than the Celtics". I don't know if the same people that invented the laugh track also invented a track player to simulate a crowd saying "Awwww...", but it is hard for me to believe that it was an unsolicited response. If this show lasts the entire year, it'll only be because ABC has no better mid-season replacement. For details on TVs [ UU1I LUNCH Monday AA Friday ^P*Av^atfTul iMilllllpiilliy r?js $$r*i rlJ.r^.l.!Ly!iK^.J. % Imsw || f A t h I 925 1/2 Huger St. Columbia 4 Mont 10 Wee Muscle Dynamics Weight Mach Indoor Rock Climbing CLo Treadmills, Bikes, Stair Clim Consultation Body Shapin; I ET time TV slio rich new sitcoms to tur BW hat is wrong with men? How sick are some of the concepts by some of our behaviors? How does a woman , . stick with a man who is this stereotypical male that HMHillllH e t i c Club i SC 29205 (803) 256-9001 hs $110 ks $65 ines Free Weights Aerobics se to Downtown & Campus ibers Personal Training and g and Cross Training Classes t ! TUNE constantly does and says stuff jxt to drive her crazy? All of these questions ** n r? ji are answered in the pilot of Men Behaving Badly ^ Behavin^ Badl/ Jan)ie P'm' <Rob Schn?der of "Saturday * cc x Night Live" fame) plays a beer u 0 our swilling, unshaven, unemployed man who lives in filth with his roommate Kevin (Ron Eldard). Kevin has a girlfriend (Justine Bateman of "Family Ties") who stays the night in the pilot episode. As Jamie is sitting on the couch watching television, Kevin sits next to him. Jamie asks Kevin "Isn't Sarah (Kevin's girlfriend) staying the night tonight?" Kevin then proceeds to ask Jamie a deep moral question- "If you are having [relations] with your girlfriend, and she falls asleep during... I mean, you know, it was consentual when it began..." After a little debate, Jamie compares the situation, "Okay, let's say she let you drive her car, and she's in it. If she falls asleep while you're driving, do you pull over to the side of the road and wait for her to wake up?" Kevin then asks "Can we really compare driving a car to having [intimacy] with your girlfriend?" Jamie responds, "Depends on what kind of car it is." That was just the beginning of this crazy show, which included a hilarious scene of Jamie going to a job interview, and ogling a picture of his interviewer's daughter. A beautiful woman (Anna Gunn) moves next door to Jamie and Kevin, then asks them if they can let the phone repairman in since she'll be away for a while. Jamie then reasons that "since she gave me the key, she's expecting me to go through her stuff a little." Kevin replies, "Hey, don't tell me man, you're preaching to the choir." This pilot episode touched on many topics, including a very serious discussion between Kevin and Sarah about having vrhprfirla rharh t r m wm m m/ mm m%r m%r m-%y ^ MATE BUFFET QC Pasta, pizza, ww soup and salad c. ?D? /TAi yj9 uiici VUJ ie into Wednesday an< a baby, and plays itself as though it is already an established hit series. I see this show breaking out of the pack, and beginning to create a strong following, guaranteeing it at least another year. It will almost certainly touch off debate about some of the risque topics it is not afraid to approach. n Jamie Foxx used to dazzle audiences with his wide array of off-beat characters "In Living Color". He was also nnarious as me crazy nexi^ ^ door neighbor on "Roc", playing ? a fellow who was, to put it TUNE mildly, not-right-in-the-head. |{^ Now Foxx has branched off onto his own show The Jamie Foxx Show on the WB network, "The Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. Jamie Foxx Show">a vehicle WB clearly intended to showcase (out of four) the wackiness of its star. Foxx shines as Jamie King, a hotel worker with a strange sense of humor, an unpredictable personality and a puppy-love crush on the beautiful Fancy (Garcelle Beavais), a co-worker at the hotel. Fancy wants nothing to do with her crazy co-worker, but the two manage to maintain a friendship with the required sitcom sexual tension. The cast includes Garrett Morris (from pre-Eddie Murphy "Saturday Night Live"), Ellia English and Christopher B. Duncan. The other actors are mainly bit players, while Foxx takes up most of the show's time. Although the only member of the cast who really stands out is Foxx, and much of the writing centers around his character, the rest of the cast is quite capable of sitting back and letting Foxx do his thing, which is, most of the time, random and ad-libbed physical comedy mixed with dead-on impressions of everyone from Mike Tyson to Boyz II Men. All in all, it wasn't the greatest show I have ever seen, but is, by far, the best show I have seen on WB. Foxx is fresh and funny, and the writing for the show is better than average. The good thing about an actor like Foxx is that he can make mediocre scripts seem good by simply taking the reins, and mt http://www.amerisitei [|h/ S1 A f f I LAI 2, 3, & 4 Bedro 2 Br. - $512,3 Br. LEXINGTON Located in Harbison ne CALL 749401 COLUMB Must move in by Oct. 31, 19* Must apply and be approved 1 rni rr i t . i 1 his otter only applies to the Some restrictions apply. 4 n Wednesday, October 2,1996 mic reflet ' O t >?<1 1 . i lnursday evenings letting his brand of comedy carry the show. B Brooke Shields has never had her own television show, and it is painfully obvious in the first few minutes of the pilot episode. The pilot was re-shot by NBC ^ 9 because, in the words of ? network officials, It just wasn't I U JN J& funny enough." IN The writing on the show is better than average, Suddenly Susan but the real savior of the pilot Thursday, 9:30 p.m. episode was Judd Nelson, who NBC was surprisingly good in his (out of four) debut as a television regular. Jack Richmond (Nelson) is the editor of a magazine that Susan (Shields) quits working for. Susan is getting married to Jack's brother, Kip, who is wealthy, and feels she doesn't need her job at the magazine anymore. Susan "suddenly" realizes that she is getting married and is still clueless as to who she is. She feels she has never really had independence, and has never had time to discover herself. So, she runs out of the wedding just as she is supposed to say "I do." Jack agrees to let her start working again at the magazine with a promotion and a new column titled "Suddenly Susan," in which she is supposed to discover herself. Most of the humor was forced, but the story was enough to keep the viewer engaged. The characters were also welldefined and show potential for offering the viewer fresh story ideas. The few funny moments that did occur, and may hold promise for a running joke, were to poke fun at Susan for her height, which towers over most of the other cast members. The show needs work, and Shields needs to work on her spontaneity, but this show could be a hit in the near future. It definitely has the to-die-for spot between "Seinfeld" and "ER". This show could sail over its competition with lesser time slots and find a steady home in the top ten. - story by Mark Piras, staff writeV i. com./96prime. html U*BISON I ATION /\ ordable Apartment Homes H| I -j (p IGE om Floorplans $588, 4 Br. - $648 5 SCHOOLS . ' T :ar Columbiana Center NOW! 1255 I AN A DRIVE )6. by Sept. 30, 1996. first 25 qualified applicants. A *