12 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 18, 1998 Fox's 'Others' makes significant replacement By Erin Podolsky For the Daily Ever wonder what your life is going to be like five years from now? Are you afraid of drifting aimlessly through life after graduation? Of being stuck in a corporate job that goes against your principles? Of walking in on your two best friends doing the horizontal mambo on your futon? You can stop worrying now, because Fox, the network that cares, has a show that worries for you. "Significant Others" is the new series from the creators of "Party of Five." Judging from the first episode, it is painfully clear why "Party" has been so wretchedly boring and maudlin for the past year and a half. The very same elements that used to make "Party of Crap" worth watching have been ferried over to "Significant Others," right down to a Jennifer Love Hewitt look-alike, and the results are promising. The show centers around three lifelong friends, Campbell (Eion .Bailey), Nell (Jennifer Garner) and Henry (Scott Bairstow), who face their first mid-life crises at the ripe old age of 25. Campbell Significant Others Fox Wednesdays at 9 p.m. (or Cam, as they call him) is an erstwhile music band pro- moter whose members are spending the next few years in jail and rehab and are, as he says, "totally kaput." He is trying to figure out what to do with his life (read: a new money scheme, prefer- ably with Henry as a part- ner) and still escape the unappetizing fate of working in the family business with his father and brother. If all of that wasn't enough, the show opens with Cam discovering that things - he just hasn't found them quite yet. Garner's Nell is a little weaker and irritatingly wishy-washy, but hopefully she'll be doing some serious self-examination in the coming weeks. One of the pilot's highlights is a nighttime, mid- street confrontation between Nell and Cam about Nell's inability to commit to anything: Jobs, boyfriends, pets, TV channels. Nell wonders why Campbell never comes to her for help, and shock- ingly, he actually tells her. The truth hurts, but Cam gets a dose of his own medicine later in the evening at his brother's wedding, a brother who just happens to be marrying Cam's ex-girlfriend. And then there is Henry. Bairstow's portrayal is a little awkward but has room to grow, and Henry is by far the most interesting of the three friends. He's got the girl, he's got the digs (her place), and he's got the job. As an aspiring novelist who still needs to earn a living, Henry spends his days writ- ing Internet porn. His seemingly oddball choice of profession lends an air of quirky realism to his character and to the show. The cast is serviceably rounded out by Campbell's immediate family- the best of whom is Richard Masur as Cam's father. The scene tran- sitions are rather annoying, fading to black and then back in, which makes the show a collection of little vignettes instead of a cohesive whole, but hopefully that little tech trick will disappear in the next episode. The show's writing is decent although the characters, given enough time, could easily approach the dangerous, deadly whiny zone Several meaty conflicts have been set up in the pilot, and their ramifications should last a good long time. Cam, paranoid that he's going to end up alone for all eternity, tells his ex-girlfriend and now-sis- ter-in-law that they should get back together because his brother doesn't really love her. Nell quits her job right after being offered a huge promotion, afraid that she'll be stuck selling mouthwash to focus groups for the rest of her life (hey. I'd quit too); and at the wedding, both lenry and Cam successively make a,"My Best fUriend's Wedding"-esque proposition to Nell, suggesting that they should get married if they still haven't found anybody by age 30. Nell, in what looks to be a typical response, agrees to both of their offers. Henry and Nell have been carrying on a secret affair for the past several months right under his nose. This discovery, as the stricken look on his ace says, "changes everything." Bailey's portray- al of Cam as a self-confessed, non-cynical, ,"intensely bitter romantic" is honest and engaging. 'Cam knows what he is looking for in the long run, and he believes that one day he will find those Courtesy of Fox Who are these alleged "Others?" Clockwise from top left: Elizabeth Mitchell, Michael Weatherly, Elon Bailey, Jennifer Garner and Scott Bairstow act "Significant." The scene looming in the future where Cam and lenry realize that they're both vying for Nell's spinster affections should be fun to watch. The rest of the show is, too. So enjoy its six- week test run in the "Party of Five" time slot while you can. Then it's back to the nauseating Salinger clan, which will have viewers wishing for some- thing a bit more significant in no time at all. Somebody should really teach those "creative" masterminds how to multitask and run two decent shows at once - until then, "Significant Others" will have to do. i ' A ''tf 'T 1 'R i ' ..k 7.. 7r '& 41 + 'Titanic' sails into new record LOS ANGELES (AP) - It imiglit have been his first time -- or her fifth - but on Saturday, a moviegoer son* where in the United States or Canaa bought a ticket that pushed "Titanic" past "Star Wars" to become the top domestic money-earner of all time. Yet frankly, my dear, the record is "Gone With the Wind" if you count the 1939 classic's admissions and multiply by current ticket prices. With that adjustment, "GWTW" would have sold $1.29 billion in 1998 tickets. But "Titanic's achievements are nonetheless awesome. Going into Saturday, the hwrec saga claimed receipts of S458.2 million and was projected by industry esti- mates to have grossed at least S7 mil- lion more by evening. This gave it a total of more than S465 million, thus breaking the all-time domestic mark of $461 million set by "Star Wars." "Without a doubt, we passed the record today'," Paramount spokesperson Blaise Noto said Saturday evening. Actually, the 1977 George Lucas blockbuster would have made 1812 million in sales in today's dollars, according to the Hollywood trade paper Variety. But it took five re-releases for "Star Wars"'to. make that kind of money, while "Titanic" is steaming in the same direction on its first time out. "The question now is how high is high? Will it get to $600 million? Y have to believe it will get to S500i- lion," said Tom Sherak, chair of the 20th Century Fox domestic film divi- sion, which co-produced the $200 mil- lion film with Paramount. "Titanic" already holds the record for worldwide returns with receipts in excess of S1.1 billion. "Titanic" was expected to claim the top domestic spot of all-time on the same weekend it was projected to out of first place on the charts. T movie had been the nation's No. 1 film for 12 straight weeks, one weknd short of the record shared by 1984's "Beverly flills Cop" and 1982's "Toosie. Meanwhile, the weekend's top film, early projections showed, was "The Man in the Iron Mask," a Three Musketeers drama starring "Titani's" Leonardo DiCaprio in dual roles twin brothers. But the "Titanic" L. edged out the "Man" Leo. "In no way does it signify any weak- ness for that film. It's extraordinary what it has achieved," said Gerry [rich. the presideit of worldwide narkeiiig for "The Man in the Iron Mask"pro- ducer MGM. Some box-office watchers say 'that DiCapio's sudden fame otd.ush "The Matn in the Iron Mask" toiro opening numbers. "Leo's the hottes star worldwide right now," Rich .said. "The Man in the Iron Mak" is opening wider than any other fili in MGM history - about 3,700 prints in some 3,100 theater locations. Despite some mixed reviews, the film, could challenge MGM's till-time best week- end, set by 1995's "GoldenEy" with $26.2 million. The strongest March opening ever was recorded by last year's "Liar, Liar" with $31.4 milli "Titanic" is likely to be out of first place for at least the next two weekends - the highly publicized "Primary Colors" opens Friday. But if "Titanic" wins the best picture Oscar at the March 23 Acadermy Awards ceremony. the epic could cruise back into first. Did you miss 0 an issue of the Michigan Daily? Check out the Dailys archives online at http://pub.* umich.eduf IM No% oi, I wo5( ~rk 's Fred Drasner Ch ief Executive O1 heer An Open Letter to Students Planning to Attend Law School from U.5.Ncws & World Report Dear Student: DON'T YOU JUST HATE TO BE GRADED? Well, by their shrill protests about U.S.Ncws & Wrl Rcport law school rankings, so do most of the deans of the law schools you are considerin. However, as a law school graduate with both a J.D. and a LL,'l Idegree, I can tell you that these same deans will subject you to rigorous grading. You will be required to endure lectures from tenured professors who have not changed their class notes since the Battle of Hastings. Then, after attending class for a lull semester, you will be given one exam to determine your grade. One exam, one semester, one grade. One roll of the dice to measure your performance. At U.S.Ncws & rld Rcport we are far more equitable (to use a legal term). 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