The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 12, 1990 - Page 7
The Jeopardy! Book
by Alex Trebeck & Peter
Barsocchini
softcover/Harper Perennial
If it is not 9 p.m. on Thursday or
10 p.m. on Saturday, it is hard to
find cerebral entertainment on televi-
sion. The news even insults the old
noggin every now and then. There-
fore, we owe thanks to Merv Griffin.
As much of a historical footnote as
he has become, he will always have
a place in people's hearts as being
the man who created Jeopardy!
After going through years of
ridicule for knowing that "the natural
crystalline allotropic form of carbon"
is a diamond, this game show proves
that such trivial knowledge can be
put to good use: winning a lot of
money. If you have made watching
Jeopardy!, or playing it on
Nintendo, an everyday routine akin
to brushing your teeth and eating,
WEEKEND
Continued from page 5
written by producers Mike Tower
and Tom Cohen, director Jon Glaser
and head writer David Kosky, with
some student-submitted material also
included. But what made the show
really glimmer was the tremendous
talent of the nine actors. Even in the
few scenes where the writing
faltered, the enthusiasm and energy
of the acting compensated.
Throwing all worries aside, the
show opened with the amusing
musical number "Who Cares?" as
the company joked that they didn't.
One of the wittiest sketches titled
k "Love Letters" mocked a "unique" re-
lationship - the letter U is sick of
' always following after the letter Q,
and "quickly" decides to leave Q and
go out with M. On her way out Q
confesses to U, "If it wasn't for
'you' I'd just be an O with a kick-
stand!" But the date just didn't work
out between M and U, and then M
said to U, "Screw you!" so U went
back to Q.
Wouldn't it be great if you could
stand "on base" and escape from all
your troubles? The amusing sketch
"U Can't Touch This" showed two
muggers unable to attack a man
because he was safely standing "on
base." Another amusing sketch
"Movies That Failed" presented clips
of films before they were changed
into well-known movies. King Kong
was originally King Tim and not
scary in the slightest way. The
movie Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde was
then you may enjoy reading The
Jeopardy! Book by Alex Trebeck,
the show's current host, and Peter
Barasocchini.
Included within is not only Tre-
beck's personal commentary, but
also remarks by the show's producer,
past contestants as well as the
history of the show brought to you
by Merv Griffin. There is even an
interview with Art Flemming, the
now-mythical figure who was the
original host of the show in the '60s
and '70s. If for some reason you
deprived yourself of your daily dose
of the show, the book contains
many sample boards in the format of
the show which revolve around
certain themes.
Unfortunately, "Clavin's dream
board" is not included, but you can
quiz yourself and your friends on
Shakespeare's plays and the brain
teasers of the "in other words"
category; there is even an entire
round devoted to Beatles trivia.
If you want to know if you are
really smart enough to be a contes-
tant, the pre-show exams printed
here show that in order to be on the
show, it is necessary to know that
Glenda Jackson's most famous role
on Masterpiece Theatre was her
portrayal of Elizabeth.
While watching the show, it is
hard to know what Alex Trebeck is
really like. In fact, in the section of
contestant anecdotes, two former
winners independently said that is
what people ask them most. Reading
the popular host's passages, I often
found myself asking "Who is Alex
Trebeck?" Is he merely a game show
host, a psychoanalyst ("Not wanting
to fail prevents [the contestants]
from succeeding,") or a comedian
("To be a contestant on Jeopardy!
you are not required to dress up like
a tuna melt, leap in the air, or reveal
the sexual quirks of your mate.")?
Fortunately, this book is much
more than Mr. Trebeck laboring over
his involvement with the show. Un-
like Pat Sajak's misguided talk-show
host career, Trebeck's credibility as a
host is not, so to speak, in jeopardy.
There is an ad in the back of the
book for a 1-900 "Phone Jeopardy!"
line hosted by you-know-who, but
the existence of such an necessary
service was inevitable for someone
almost as popular as the Ninja Tur-
tles.
Alex Trebeck will be signing
copies of his book at the Community
Newscenter located on the corner
of South U. and South Forest at 4
p.m. today.
-Andrew J. Cahn
Good looking Gary Newby and friends seem to have formed the Railway
Children expressly to flaunt their appearance and follow in the tradition
of Boring-Yet -Slick British Pop Band.
originally just Dr. Jeckell and
showed Dr. J. drinking a concoction
and waiting... and waiting... and
waiting.... Another humorous sketch
was "The Norman Invasion" show-
ing Vikings who woke up at 11:30
in the morning and realized they had
overslept and missed their scheduled
time of attack at dawn.
The show could have been
improved if the actors played a vari-
ety of types. Michael Sturtz mostly
played the role of a little kid and
Wendy Shanker always seemed to
play the role of the mother/teacher.
It would have been more impressive
to have seen more diverse role play-
ing, especially with such a talented
cast.
Although most of the sketches
were hilarious, a couple could have
been better developed. As ususal,
some of the endings could have been
stronger. The sketch "The Graduate"
about Hamlet going off to collage
had some funny parts, but the allu-
sions used were not familiar enough
to elicit uproarous laughter. Due to
the acting and writing prowess, the
show produced a lot of laughs. The
Sound Of Big Show was very enter-
taining evoking all sorts of strange
sounds throughout the theater.
-Julie Komorn
I know it's
only rock 'n'
roll but I like it
When I asked members of the
Men's Glee Club why people should
attend their fall concert, they said
they had something for everyone.
And they did. Their performance on
Saturday night before a full house at
Hill Auditorium was like an evening
of television. The singers offered ev-
erything from football to church to a
movie, and they even threw in a
commercial break.
The renowned male chorus veri-
fied their reputation of textual diver-
sity and musical precision with cool
confidence. They entertained with
their charming renditions of tunes
from The Little Mermaid., com-
plete with tropical costumes, bub-
bles and dancing. They also per-
formed with romantic lyricism
works such as "Loveliest of Trees,
the Cherry Now" by Richard Nance.
Pieces like this also displayed the
subtle and controlled support neces-
sary for beautiful pianissimo
singing.
The tradition of the 131-year old
group was especially apparent in
their performance of the Michigan
songs at the end of the concert. "The
Bum Army" was greeted with nos-
talgic praise, despite its implication
of female inferiority. ("We love the
Ypsi girls, they have got their frat
pins on!") However, the Glee Club
was certainly accurate in its reveren-
tial treatment of the University's
history and the audience responded
with cheers and applause.
Over the years, the Glee Club has
developed a knack for holding audi-
ence's interest with a skillfully or-
dered mixture of music from different
periods and moods. Director Jerry
Blackstone's introductions to the
pieces also gave the audience a com-
plete understanding of the texts and
their musical settings. This provided
for smoothly apt transitions. For in-
stance, the sinister expression exhib-
ited by "Epitaph on John Jayberd of
Diss," gave way to a sweetly per-
formed interpretation of "Ave Maria"
by Franz Biebl. Period transitions
accompanied stylistic ones. The
segue between a Renaissance-style
adaptation of "Cruel, You Pull
Away Too Soon" introduced by Eric
Vesbit's theatrical recital of the text
and the folk song "Shenandoah"
made for a collage of musical styles.
After a witty advertisement for
Men's Glee Club songbooks, tapes,
records and CD's (!) by a barbershop
quartet, the members' inherent wack-
iness showed its full colors. The
Friars, featuring some new faces,
provided for a rambunctious intro-
duction to the Michigan songs,
which were greeted with spirited
cheers by the many alumni in the
theater.
The comraderie of the men in the
Glee Club showed in their dedication
to a musically precise performance
and an entertaining show. As al-
ways, the Men's Glee Club was suc-
cessful in entertaining while show-
ing the true spirit represented by the
Maize and Blue.
-Elizabeth Lenhard
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
"Kick." The middle portion of Ant's
career is displayed in the next 13
songs. The best song here is "Stand
and Deliver," the timeless song
about rebellion. Other memorable
songs include "Desperate But Not
Serious," "Friend or Foe" and the
great "Antmusic." The biggest sur-
prise on the album is the song,
"Beat My Guest," a guitar-laden
song that makes you feel good in-
side. The final five cuts represent his
pop movement, with "Goody Two
Shoes" and the Phil Collins-pro-
duced "Strip" being the most listen-
able of these tunes.
I had high hopes for this collec-
tion. Although a few of the tracks
had me singing and laughing along,
I was depressed after listening to it,
feeling that I had either lost a hero or
grown old.
Many members of the original
MTV generation may be overcome
with a fit of nostalgia and will rush
out to purchase this album. When
they do, they will be flooded with
memories of bow good MTV used to
be (in the old days), with tearful vi-
sions of a once-mighty Adam Ant
and with a striking realization that
his charm and good looks were all
that reserved him a room at the top.
- John Sellers
The Railway Children
Native Place
Virgin
In the grand tradition of moody
English guitar pop bands doing
watered-down Echo and the Bun-
nymen rip-offs designed to be bland
enough to sell to a mass audience
(e.g., The Lightning Seeds, Then
Jerico and The Mighty Lemondrops),
follow The Railway Children.
Armed with an over-produced slick
sound and ultra hunkish gui-
tarist/singer/songwriter in Gary
Newby, these kids aim to please.
And fail miserably.
Native Place is so slick it might
just ooze right off your turntable.
The album is a textbook case of how
not to produce a record. The songs
have that aural wallpaper quality
which is best suited for Muzak
instrumentals, but is totally unsuited
for "rock" music. Just the right
amount of jangly guitars, flat drums
and melodic keyboards combine to
form the Top 40 yet "alternative"
sound made famous by so many
(where are they now? file) bands. In
short, the record lacks any sort of
teeth whatsoever.
Not that this production style is
unsuitable -for everyone, or that
everyone should have a Sub Pop
grunge sound. But the missing (and
necessary) element is good songwrit-
ing. Whereas earlier songs by the
band, such as "In the Meantime,"
worked well in this format, this
bunch falls flat. I've listened to Na-
tive Place at least a dozen times
now and I'd be hard pressed to hum
any of the songs for you. The Rail-
way Children ultimately drown in
the excess of their studio polish.
-Mike Molitor
Save theLP!
. Daily Arts
A TOM IC one of the most brilliant songwriters
Continued from page 5 in music, "Atomic Dog" was the
descent of dance music, Black most ambitious, intriguing and
sexuality remains the most beautiful attempt to understand or
enigmatic and pervasive element in harness such forces. Humanity will
all American culture. Coming from never reach so high again.
Agree? ,Disagree?
What's your opinion? The Daily wants to hear from you. Send or
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them via MTS b iMchigan Doily."
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