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September 22, 2000 - Image 10

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 2000-09-22

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 22, 2000

WB's satirical 'Grosse Pointe'
spoofs teen dramas, itself

ARTS

Indie rockers shoot
to kill at Ann Arbor's
Io-fi Gun Shop venue

By Melissa Gollob
For the IDail
Trying to get a jump-start on
other networks delayed'by the
Olympics, the W11 begins its fall

season early with]
network comedy
55
Grosse
Pointe
The WB
Tonight at 8:30 pm.
thlough they s' mt

Darren Star's first
"Grosse Pointe."
No, this is not a
new show about
our friends who
live on the bor-
der of Detroit.
Instead, it
focuses on a
parody of five
stereotypical
actor s who
hegin to look
like old miiem-
hers of "Bever-
ly Ilills, 90120"
as they try to
get ahead even
to have it all.

highlighting the ironic fact that
actors do not possess the personali-
ty of their characters. Quentin (Kohl
Sudduth) is H unter's soap opera
boyfriend. He tries to hide his bald
spot by wearing a toupee and doing
every t h ing possible to keep it a
secret.
Meanwhile, new girl Courtney
(Bonnie Somerville) becomes so
over-whelmed by the lack of moti-
vation and preparation by the rest of
the cast, so different from "actual"
acting, that the token gorgeous guy,
surfer Johnny (Al Santos), eventual-
ly shows her the tricks of the trade
when he teaches how to hold her
script so the camera can't see it. His
own motivation is driven purely by
his loins and his desire to surf and
smoke as much as he can.
Rounding out the cast is Marcy
(Lindsay Sloane. "Sabrina, The
Teenage Witch"). ier Tori Spelling-
like looks and antics help the show
emphasize the outrageous personali-
ties that befall teen icons as their
fame grows. Marcy is so self-con-
scious about her weight and popu-
larity that she ridiculously repeats
the mantra "I love myself. I only eat

good foods. Everyone likes me."
Marcy is a nice girl with low self-
esteem, too sweet to be in such a
ruthless business. By being gullible,
she gets continually gets stepped on
by everyone on the show as they
feed their need for stardom.
"Grosse Pointe" is a direct shot at
the teen television genre that
stemmed from Darren Star's rela-
tionshiip with Teen K ing Aaron
Spelling. Much of this satire is
based on the Spelling hit "Beverly
Hills 90210" and other popular WB
teen dramas like "Dawson's Creek."
It reinforces the idea that these high
school dramas are more interested
in good-looking actors than talent
or real-life storylines.
Exploitation is a major theme
throughout the show. From IIunter's
daily scheming to a Make-A-Wish
Foundation kid who blackmails
Quentin into getting him a line in a
scene, the show illustrates that
everyone can easily exploit actors,
Just as long as their image doesn't
get damaged.
Like watching TR L's top ten
videos, the show boasts hit soncs
from N'Sync, Brittany Spears and

By Rebecca Parks
For the Daily

I i
Photo courtesy of The Wt3
Grosse Pointe: "Hate us because we're beautiful."
Limp Bizkit. Although it makes an
honest effort to enhance the charac-
ter's personalities, the music falls
short when the sound bites last only
ten seconds. Along with all the
actors "real" problems, they actual-
ly do tape a primetime soap opera
coincidently named, "Grosse
Pointe. however, the taping of the
show, and the actual show run so
closely together that most of the
time it's hard to tell where the soap
ends and the show begins.
"Grosse Pointe" may not be a
thought provoking comedy like Dar-
ren Star's other hit "Sex and the
City,"' but a half hour of watching
good-looking people mess Nwith
each other's heads is worth a look.

Cosigner makes the kind of endear-
ing indie folk-pop that grabs you and
sticks with you for days.
The band is primarily the work of
Stephen Tootle, a
.vh R native of Visalia,
Calif. and a doc-
Cosigner toral student in
history at Ohio
The Gun Shop University in
Tonight at8p.m. Athens, Ohio.
After playing
with a'number of
bands in Califor-
nia, Tootle had to
leave them
behind after
deciding to go to
Ohio for his doc-
torate.
Tootle decided to tour as Cosigner.
because he didn't like the idea of
"being a solo guy with just his name
out there." These days, Cosigner is a
solo act during the winter months and

more of a band when Tootle is at ho*
in California.
In keeping with its roots as a solo act,
Tootle writes and sings all of Cosigner's
songs and also plays most of'the instru-
mernts. The songs are mainly about the
pressures of relationships and school
and come off as a cross between Neu-
tral Milk Hotel and the Beach Boys.
The band has a new seven inch single
out on Visalian Records for the song
"Soft Drowsy Song," a sweetly ambiva-
lent tale of being in love with the wrC
girl.
Also appearing at the Gun Shop on
Friday night is A-Set. Another solo act
with a band's name, A-Set is the brain-
child of California-born Alfred Men-
duno. After playing in several
California-based bands, Menduno
moved to Chicago and formed A-Set as
a means to showcase his own songwrit-
ing ability.
Appearing at the Gun Shop this F@
day with Cosigner and A-Set are East
Lansing's Brand New Blue and Royal
Oak's Whitey. The Gun Shop is located
at 1315 Sheehan in Ann Arbor.

Lcading the cast is HIlunter (Irene
Molloy), the spoiled trouble-making
star who is threatened by the new
girl on the set. While Hunter back
stabs behind the scenes, her charac-
ter is the victimlized, cirl next door

r

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