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Art Exhibition...
"Tell Me a Story" looks at the work of
MFA degree candidates at the Art and
Archetecture building today from 3:30 to
4:30, with an ice cream social. Free.
michigandaily.com /arts

3idigim Da
ARTS

WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 26, 2001

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4


'Agency' stands out
despite violent plot

'Enterprise' goes where Star
Treks have often gone before

By Melissa Gollob
Daily Arts Writer
The doors to the Central Intelli-
gence Agency are now open. Never
before have television cameras taped
inside the C.I.A., giving us, the view-
ers, a chance to understand a little
more about the secret shrouded place

The
Agency
CBS
Thursdays at 10

simply known as
"The Agency."
The original
pilot will not air
tonight because
of sensitive
material involv-
ing a terrorist
plot in London
and direct refer-
ences to Osama
bin Laden. This
episode was
taped and writ-
ten well before
the events of two

der") in the agency.
"The Agency" also welcomes a new
member to their team in the form of a
graphic artist (Paige Turco, "Party of
Five"). Her skills include producing
exact replicas of passport stamps and
doctoring photographs used to solicit
help from foreign diplomats. Will Pat-
ton ("Remember the Titans") plays
the agent who always looks for the
gray within black and white parame-
ters. He assists in intelligence and
stays in contact with Matt to keep him
informed. These characters, like the
others, all work independently to
showcase the range of activities that
take place within the building. Other
notable stars include Gloria Reuben
("E.R.") and Rocky Carroll ("Chicago
Hope").
This show moves as a mini action
film. That's not surprising considering
director Wolfgang Peterson's credits
include "Air Force One" and "In the
Line of Fire." The twists and turns

with his scientist
Enterprise
UPN
Tonight at 8 p.m.
s

father. But the next scene shows how
cool this show can get. A Klingon
is running through a cornfield,
chased by several extra-terrestrials,
who have the power to slide under
doors. Finally, the Klingon destroys
the silo the chasers were in, and the
owner of the farm shoots the Klin-
gon with a plasma gun.
If "Enterprise," UPN's latest take
on the long running franchise, can
produce more of the second type of
scene, and fewer of the former,
then the show can be a blockbuster.
It could be UPN's dream show, an
anchor between "Buffv" on Tues-
days and the highly underrated

By Ryan Blay
Daily Arts Writer
"Broken Bow," the pilot episode of the latest Star
Trek series, begins with an obligatory stupid scene. Lit-
tle Sam Beckett, I mean, Jonathon Archer, future com-
mander of NX-Ol Enterprise, is building model rockets

4

4

"
,x

/~-

weeks ago but it is eerie to watch and involved in the
not believe that the episode was pelling televisior
inspired by the attacks. Whether or acters use simple
not the episode will ever be shown is point across just
still up in the air, but for now it's been "The Agency"a
shelved. Instead, CBS plans to pre- explosions and d
miere a comparable episode in its booby traps to b
place and continue forward with the "The Agency" s
series. both the behind-
Gil Bellows ("Ally McBeal") stars the C.I.A and th
as over-worked agent Matt Calhoun. sures taken to ke
He continues to work even though his "The Agency"
brother was killed in the line of duty. finest new drama
The details of the accident are Now all of usc
unknown to us at this time but it is secretive agency
safe to assume they will present them- order. This may
selves as the season moves forward. because of the
Matt's brother also left a grieving girl- "everyday we're
friend (Andrea Roth, "Diagnosis Mur- day we won."
New 'Schwartz
gets big laughs
By Ryan Blay dy series.
Daily Arts Writer Adam and1

drama make it com-
n to watch. The char-
dialogue to get their
as real people would.
also has its share of
daring escapes. From
bombs to gun fights,
trives to demonstrate
the-scenes aspects of
he more public mea-
ep the public safe.
stands as one of the
as of the new season.
can watch the most
in the world restore
be our only chance
Agency's idea of
not in the news is a

"WWF Smackdown" on Thursdays.
Taking place not too long after man achieves high-
speed space flight, "Enterprise" takes a rather tongue-
in-cheek look at life before the Federation pissed off
numerous peoples, before Seven of Nine was turning
people's heads. Actually, the show seems to take a very
similar approach that the "Star Wars" crew did with
"The Phantom Menace," in attitude and style.
Most of the premiere introduces the new characters,
which are played by different actors than in the other
series, but yet seem to follow the patterns of previous
shows. The fiery second-in-command, Vulcan T'Pol, is
perhaps the most intriguing. Watch as (Gasp!) she's a
vegetarian, finding it difficult to believe that people
still eat meat. She's the only female in the crew, and
basically is Spock with a nice body. She has so many
roles to play. She's the logic queen, occasional bitch,
and love interest to god knows how many of the male
crew members. It will be interesting to see if they give
her credible storylines, or if she just becomes "the

The cast of "Enterprise" quantumly leaps... oh, forget it.
female" on the ship.
The language expert, Ensign Sato (watch her tell a
Klingon to shut up - in English!), and the other
Ensign, Mayweather, don't have much to do right now.
Chief Engineer "Trip" Tucker is the humorous Southern
character (who, incidentally, has a VERY steamy rub-
down scene with T'Pol), and his accent together with
the British accent of Lt. Reed makes for a nice variety.
The doctor, Dr. Phlox, of course, is the funniest chai-
acter on the show. He seems to genuinely love his job,
and can make a nice discussion about Chinese food.
Of course, the clear focus is on the aforementioned
Capt. Archer. His father did much for the fledgling
space program, and he wants to make his own mark.
Scott Bakula has clearly studied Kirk and Picard's
facial expressions to prepare. That doesn't mean he's a
great actor, but he can at least look the part of "stub-
born but well-intentioned American." He's rash, and
T'Pol makes sure he knows it.
The cast appears to mesh quite well, and short of the
god-awful theme music and shameful hamming by
Bakula ("let's hope that's the last time someone takes a
shot at us!"), is as entertaining as the first two Star Trek
series.

4

4

Courtesy of CBS (top) and AP (bottom)
Top: (From Left) Bellows, Roth and
Patton. Bottom: Super-director
Wolfgang Peterson.

Famous comedian Sales plays
nights at Comedy Showcase

his

Generally, observing a parrot
Fnamed Larry Bird and lines such as
"do you believe in miracles," one
might expect only sports fans
would get any sort of enjoyment

Inside
Schwartz
NBC
Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.

watching this
show.
Surprisingly,
this is not the
case. NBC, in
its ever-contin-
uing search for
the missing link
b e t w e e n
"Friends" and
"Will & Grace,"
may have stum-
bled on a hit.
Sports aficiona-
dos and those
who don'ttknow
infield fly rule

\_ "

girlfriend, Eve
(Maggie Lawson)
recently split.
Besides the sheer
stupidity of having
a couple of Adam
and Eve, this split
actually provides
some comedy
(unlike other new
shows with similar
premises, like "The
Bob Patterson
Show"). Fortunate-
ly, Adam has a
solid support sys-
tem. His good
friends the Coberts
suspiciously
resemble the mar-
ried' couple on Meyer wants you
"Ed," making jokes
about not enough sex and helping
their single friends find dates.
Adam's-best friend Julie is there for
comfort - perhaps of the sexual
nature later in the series, but that's
looking too far ahead.
Some of the pilot's jokes are
forced. For instance, David Cobert
(Bryan Callen, "Mad TV") suggests
Adam look for some hot women
under "G for giant rack." The tal-
ented supporting cast, especially
Adam's father and David, shouldn't

etched a place in
$oupy
Ann Arbor
Comedy Showcase
Friday and Saturday,
7& 9 p.m.

By Jim Schiff
Daily Fine/Performing Arts Editor
"It's been pretty wild," says leg-
endary comedian Soupy Sales of his
career. It certainly has.
Since the 1950s, Soupy Sales has

our memories as a
zany, pie-in-
t h e - f a c e
c o m e d i c
genius. From
his nightclub
days in New
York and
Atlantic City, to
his celebrated
television
shows, to his
numerous other
t e I e v i s i o n
appearances,
Soupy has cap-
tivated two gen-
erations with

inside his brain.

Soupy thinks that making fun of his jacket is not very funny.

a thing about the

can together watch football legend
Dick Butkus call the lead character
a candy ass for not making a move
on his closest female friend.
Adam Schwartz (Breckin Meyer,
"Road Trip") wants to live out his
dream and become a sportscaster.
Sadly, the only sportscasters on the
show are Fox Sports News' Van
Earl Wright and Kevin Frazier, two
massive tools who don't belong
anywhere on TV, much less a come-

be stereotyped to making breast
jokes. But most of the show is wor-
thy of laughs. Having a referee call
dating "penalties" and Adam's
response to his less than subtle dad
(Richard Kline, "Three's Compa-
ny") hiring a "professional compan-
ion" for him - "maybe for my
birthday he'll get me some crack!"
- are chuckle-worthy at the least.
With all of the fantasy sequences,
the show occasionally brings to
mind an "Ally McBeal" for the
guys. With a little more effort, the
show could be so much more than
that. It could be, as ESPN's Stuart
Scott would say, "Silk, satin, so
smooth." Hopefully the show will
in time rival "ArliSS" for best ath-
lete cameos.

his screwball antics and trademark
jokes. Over 19,000,pies and still
performing, Soupy shows no signs
of slowing down. His biography
comes out in Oct., and he's starring
in three movies this fall, including
"This Train" with Liv Tyler.
A North Carolina native, Soupy
began his career as a radio script
writer for S20 a week. After some
standup comedy gigs and a stint as
a disc jockey, he moved to Cincin-
nati in 1950. There he hosted
"Soupy's Soda Shop," which
became the first teenage dance pro-
gram on American television. His
first talk show, "Club Nothing,"
also got a start that year, featuring a

U U
C.P. Cavafy Professorship

C.P. Cavafy Professorship
Inaugural Address
ModEreq as
OpposEd to
Whatt?
Fri, Sept 28 " 5:00 p.m.
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
9gi North University
(LOCATEDIN THE MICHIGAN LEAGUE)
Vassilios Lambropoulos
C.P. Cavafy Professor of Modern Greek Studies

variety of guests, music, and of
course, Soupy's unique brand of
humor.
Soupy got his big break in
Detroit, where he quickly became
one of the most recognizable faces
on television. Kids were glued to
"Lunch with Soupy Sales," which
was the first non-Saturday morning
cartoon program on the ABC net-
work. His Friday night show was
known for its surprise guests, such
as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Burt
Lancaster, Mickey Rooney, and
Jerry Lewis, all whom received a
pie in the face at the show's climax.
"The Soupy Sales Show" is prob-
ably the crowning achievement of
Soupy's career. With his colorful
array of character puppets, includ-
ing White Fang, Black Tooth, and
Hippie the Hippo, Soupy enter-
tained a national audience from his
New York studio. During this time
he also made a variety of guest
appearances on other shows, such as
"The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Bob
Hope Show," and "The Dean Martin
Show." Sullivan even invited back
Soupy for a second week after his
initial appearance - something he'
had never done before on his show.
Nowadays Soupy keeps busy with
writing books, creating comedy
albums, and returning to his home-

town of Huntington, W. Va, for an
annual festival. At "The Soupy Sales
Plaza," he hosts a jazz and comedy
extravaganza, which attracts people
from all over the country. "I love
working," said Soupy. "I'll keep
moving for as long as I can."
Soupy's trip to the Ann Arbor
Comedy Showcase is not only a
return to his standup comedy shtick,
but also a reminder of how comedy
has changed over the years. Soupy
has said that television nowadays is
overpopulated with sitcoms, and
ought to include more slapstick
comedy. Artists, he says, such as
Kathy Griffin, embody this kind of
comedy that is absent on television.
"There's no physical comedy any-
more," said Soupy. "I'd like to see
more natural comedy."
This Friday and Saturday, Ann
Arbor will be treated with Soupy's
"natural comedy," which has been
celebrated time and time again by
audiences and critics alike. And at
75, Soupy is still making us laugh,
even if he does so without a certain
formula for success. "I don't know
what it is that works for me," he
said. "It just does. The camera does
not lie."
For tickets and show information,
call the Comedy Showcase Box
Office at (734) 996-9080.

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