University of South Carolina Libraries
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 8, 2003 U CONTACT US ' THEY Sm IT -U.N LU - I UO VICTOR BORGE: “Laughter Story ideas? Questions? Comments? is the shortest distance E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@Jiotmail.com between two people.” r • Networks release their primetime lineups for fall as they hope to hook viewers with new shows, outrageous reality TV and the last season of'Friends ’ BY JENNIFER SITKOWSKI T1IK (JAMF,COCK With all of the exciting TV pro grams during primetime this fall, students are destined to be dis •, tracted by such shows as “The O.C.,” “The Bachelor,” “Friends” and “Skin.” “I am definitely going to watch ‘Skin,’” said Keelie Cooper, a third-year business student at use. “Skin” is a modern-day version of “Romeo and Juliet.” This time, the forbidden romance is again be tween two teenagers — but one is the district attorney’s son and the other the daughter of an adult-en tertainment producer. The two young lovers, Jewel and Adam, are forced to keep their relation ship a secret if they intend to re main together. Another Fox drama series stu dents are tuning into is “The O.C.” This new television series centers on a troubled young teenager who is taken in by the high-class fami ly of a public defender living in Orange County, Calif. The modest young man, Ryan, has to over come the challenge of being thrust into the world of the rich and priv ileged. “I got really hooked on it, watching the first couple of episodes,” Cooper said. With so much to watch on tele vision, students seemingly will be sacrificing more and more time to the tube. Most students, however, simply can’t seem to find the time for it. “I don’t watch TV that much,” said Megan Read, a third-year broadcast journalism student. Read said she is rarely at home and that when she is, she has to use that time for studying. She usually spends only about 30 min utes a day watching television. “It depends on the show or how busy I am,” Read said. Along with the fact that many students have trouble making time for television, certain shows are just losing their appeal. Reality series such as “Elimidate” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” are getting a lit tle repetitive. “It's all the same,” said Diana Helms, a second-year hotel and restaurant management student. Helms also said she doesn’t re ally watch television because of a lack of time. When she does, she likes to watch her favorite ABC program, “The Bachelor.” “The Bachelor” is a reality ro mance series in its fourth season. This season, Bob Guiney stars as the bachelor in search of the wom an of his dreams. “It keeps you on your toes,” Helms said. When Helms and other students are not glued to the screen by en ticing dramas and “classic” reali ty shows, they are turning to sit coms like NBC’s “Friends” and “Will and Grace” for a good laugh. “Will and Grace” is an adult comedy about two best friends: Will, who is gay, and Grace, who is straight. NBC’s most storied hit comedy, “Friends” — a series about six best friends living in New York City — is entering its 10th and fi nal season this fall. Cooper and Read agree that “Friends” is their favorite show to watch. “It feels like they’re my fami ly,” Read said. She said she enjoys watching “Friends” because its fa miliar characters put her in a com fort zone. Comedy series tend to make students feel good when they just need to laugh a little. Between go ing to class, studying and other activities going on, students need a little escape every now and then. The other notable shows at tracting USC viewers this fall in clude “The Real World,” “Road Rules,” “ER” and “The George Lopez Show.” The varied assortment of pro grams on television this fall should ensure that everyone should be able to find at least one program worth watching. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Fall 2003 TV schedule NBC THURSDAY SUNDAY 8-8:30 P.M. Friends 7- 8 P.M. Dateline NBC 8:30-9 P.M. Scrubs 8- 9 P.M. American Dreams 9-9:30 P.M. Will & Grace 9- 10 P.M. Law & Order: Criminal Intent 9:30-10 P.M. Coupling 10- 11 P.M. The Lyon’s Den 10-11 P.M. ER MONDAY FRIDAY 8- 9 P.M. Fear Factor . 8-9 P.M. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy 9- 10 P.M. Las Vegas 9-10 P.M. Miss Match 10- 11 P.M. Third Watch 10-11 P.M. Law & Order: Special TUESDAY Victims Unit 8- 8:30 P.M. Whoopi SATURDAY 8:30-9 P.M. Happy Family 8 P.M. Saturday Night Movie 9- 9:30 P.M. Frasier 9:30-10 P.M. Good Morning, Miami CBS 10- 11 P.M. Law & Order. Special SUNDAY Victims Unit 7-8 P.M. 60 Minutes • WEDNESDAY 8-9 P.M. Cold Case 8-9 P.M. Ed 9-11 P.M. CBS Sunday Movie 9-10 p.m. The West Wing MONDAY 10-11 P.M. Law & Order 8-8:30 P.M. Yes, Dear INFORMATION GATHERED FROM PRIMETIMETV.ABOUT.COM AND NETWORK WEB SITES. 8:30-9 P.M. Still Standing 9- 9:30 P.M. Everybody Loves Raymond 9:30-10 P.M. Two and a Half Men 10- 11 P.M. CSI: Miami TUESDAY 8- 9 P.M. Navy CIS 9- 10 P.M. The Guardian 10- 11 P.M. Judging Amy WEDNESDAY 8- 9 P.M. 60 Minutes II 9- 9:30 P.M. The King of Queens 9:30-10 P.M. The Stones 10- 11 P.M. The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H. THURSDAY 8- 9 P.M. Survivor: Panama 9- 10 P.M. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 10- 11 P.M. Without a Trace FRIDAY 8-9 P.M. Joan of Arcadia 9- 10 P.M.JAG 10- 11 P.M. The Handler SATURDAY 8- 9 P.M. 48 Hours Investigates 9- 10 P.M. Hack 10- 11 P.M. The District ABC SUNDAY 8- 9 P.M. America's Funniest Home Videos 9- 10 P.M. Alias 10- 11 P.M. The Practice MONDAY 8- 9 P.M. Primetime Monday 9- End Game Monday Night Football/Movie Night TUESDAY 8-8:30 P.M. 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter 8:30-9 P.M. I'm with Her 9- 9:30 P.M. According to Jim 9:30-10 P.M. Less Than Perfect 10- 11 P.M. NYPD Blue WEDNESDAY 8- 8:30 P.M. My Wife and Kids 8:30-9 P.M. It’s All Relative 9- 10 P.M. The Bachelor 10- li P.M. Karen Sisco THURSDAY 8- 9 P.M. Threat Matrix 9- 10 P.M. Extreme Makeover 10- 11 P.M. Primetime Thursday FRIDAY 8- 8:30 P.M. George Lopez 8:30-9 P.M. Back to Kansas 9- 9:30 P.M. Hope & Faith 9:30-10 P.M. Life with Bonnie 10- 11 P.M. 20/20 SATURDAY 8 P.M. Wonderful World of Disney 10-11 P.M. LA-’s Dragnet Space-themed musical lands at Nickelodeon BY MEG MOORE THE (iiMBCOCK For a viewing public who has lived through assorted genera tions of "Star Trek” and witnessed the reincarnation of the “Star Wars” crew, the outer-space epic is anything but a novel idea. Luke A Skywalker-types have been sav ™ ing the universe ever since that monumental movie moment a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. And still, the idea that a filmmaker would ever conceive and produce a film classified as a space-themed Western musical seems a bit far-fetched- Few movie-goers can likely envision a singing, dancing John Wayne clone playing the role of a pseudo Captain Kirk without chuckling a| its incredulity. Yet, with his latest work, “The American Astronaut,” writer-di rector Cory McAbee has done just that, sending the fictional inter galactic trader Samual Curtis on an interplanetary, song-fueled ad venture. Appearing as part of the Southern Circuit film series, McAbee’s film will be shown at the Nickelodeon Theatre on Thursday. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker. McAbee not only wrote and di rected “The American Astro naut,” but he stars in the film — and served as a storyboard artist and painted depictions of the out side f Curtis’s spaceship for the majority of tho scenes. Spear heading the musical side of things as well, McAbee both composed songs for the movie and wrote the lyrics. His band, The Billy Nayer Show, performed the tunes for the soundtrack. With a hand quite literally in all creative aspects of the film’s production, McAbee has turned the seemingly outlandish idea to create a galactic musical into an on-screen reality. McAbee’s involvement over the years in assorted arts has not only established him as a multi talented movie maker, but also one that cannot only bend genres but blur the barriers between the musician and the actor, the tech nician and the name in lights. He has won awards for two of his short films, “Billy Nayer” and “The Man on the Moon,” and he also has produced another musi cal, titled “The Ketchup and Mustard Man.” McAbee’s interest in music has ♦ASTRONAUT, SEE PAGE 12 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Area filmmaker Cory ^IcAbee wrote, directed and starred }n his latest feature film, “The American Astronaut.' He will discuss the work at the Nickelodeon Theatre on Thursday.