Tuesday
September 17, 2002
michigandaily.com/arts
mae@michigandaily.com
iR rr s
8
0
'Life with Bonnie' evokes'
viewer pity for poor show
Lollipop Lust Kill
offer candid advice
on life, radio, death
By Christian Smith
Daily Arts Writer
Watching "Life With Bonnie," it is hard not to feel
sorry for Bonnie Hunt, walking her way through such
a busy jumble of a television show. Through much of
her career, the charming Hunt, who bears a stunning
resemblance to an older and uglier Reese Witherspoon
or younger Goldie Hawn, has been unfairly relegated
to supporting roles in schlock like the David
Duchovny work, "Return to Me." Once again, this
time as soccer mom/TV personality Bonnie Molloy,
she is the best thing about this muddled
and blatantly unfunny mess.
That doesn't seem like too much of
an achievement though, as it's almost
too difficult to even describe the plot LIFE'
of the pilot episode or the intention of Boi
the show. As far as one can tell, there
is some sort of blend between Bon- Tuesdays a
me s inanely aggravating home life as
a wife and mother and her working A
life as the host of a fictional morning
talk show called Morning Chicago. Seemingly with-
out any purpose or direction, we see Bonnie deal
with her family commitment to her husband, a hard-
working family practice doctor, (playedby the bland
Mark Derwin) and their three annoying children
who look absolutely nothing like either of their par-
ents. Meanwhile, over at Bonnie's other obligatory
dedication, we get another handful of uninteresting
characters, including, but not limited to, a makeup
artist, a cue card guy, and a noisy producer played
by an unwelcome David Alan Grier.
While Hunt can probably stroll through "Life"
with her eyes closed, everyone and everything
else about the show is the artistic equivalent of
James Traficant's hair. The structure is absolutely
slapdash chaotic, not sure if it wants
to be a behind-the-scenes satire, a
family sitcom or an actual morning
talk show. But with the cue card guy
WITH as a main character, not much more
should be expected.
NIE The only interesting and slightly
8:30 p.m. amusing parts of the show are the on-
camera interviews Hunt conducts with
C real-life guests (non-actors) of Morn-
ing Chicago. In semi-improvisational
style (this knowledge actually make the scenes more
entertaining), Hunt cracks wise with and at the visi-
tors of the day, and demonstrates why she is consid-
By Sonya Scott
Daily Arts Writer
N
Nt
at
B
Courtesy of ABC
Kids are the best, aren't they?
ered one of the consummate talk-show guests today.
It's not clear how much of these interviews are
unscripted, but Hunt, whose background includes a
stint in the improv comedy group Second City,
exudes more delight here than the rest of the sup-
porting cast combined.
In the end, these scenes are nowhere near enough
to save this aimless drought of laughter and makes
us pine for her previous foray into television, the
critically acclaimed but Nielsen-depraved 1995 CBS
sitcom, "The Bonnie Hunt Show." While it's hard to
blame Hunt for this hapless clutter, it's easy to be
upset at her for taking part in it.
'8 Simple Rules' remembers to
include substance in new sitcom
By Douglas Wernert
For The Daily
Imagine being a father with a
goofy 13-year old son, a discouraged
teenage daughter and a stunning
blond-haired, slightly rebellious high
school senior who has questionable
boyfriends. Now make yourself total-
ly inept at handling the daily prob-
lems of parenting, and you have the
life of Paul Hennessey, a
journalist/father on the new ABC
show "8 Simple Rules for Dating My
Teenage Daughter."
Apparently, rule one for dating one
of Hennessey's (John Ritter, "Three's
Company") daughters is to be some
degree of normal. Take, for example,
the opening scene featuring Ritter,
and his son Rory (portrayed by Mar-
tin Spanjers). They are watching
James Bond when Kyle, the obnox-
ious boyfriend, comes
to the house to pick up
the gorgeous Bridget
(Kaley Cuoco). Ritter *
plays the typical over-L
bearing father type by 8 SIMP
referring to his "black FOR DA
belt" and the like. DAU(
Immediately, you think
to yourself "Another Wednesda
silly dysfunctional fam- A
ily sitcom".
However, this show
actually contains some believable
characters and plots, even though
they switch from one to another a
little too fast for most viewers to
appreciate. In the first show, Kerry
(Amy Davidson) gets suspended
from school, and with mom Cate
(Katey Sagal, "Married with Chil-
dren") busy at the hospital, it's up to
Paul to handle all developing con-
flicts from the homecoming dance
to a boss who causes Paul to worry
about his daughter's "study habits."
Being in. a house with all these
LE RULES
kTING MY
GHTER
ays at 8 p.m.
kBC
girls with only one
energetic, yet some-
times loony, son is cer-
tainly a challenge for
our man Paul. (What?
"Three's Company Jr.")
Cate is clearly in
charge of the house-
hold, inasmuch as that
Paul's big accomplish-
ment of tbe day is tak-
ing the kids to school.
Kerry is the troubled
Courtesy of ABC
Better than "Problem Child." Maybe.
ent worry about their child.
Paul may act a little juvenile at
times, which shows he has no idea
how to handle girls, but he also
expresses a realistic, loving side at
times, and that's what gives the
show a human touch. Unlike a typi-
cal "Full House" ending with one
family member saying "You're right.
I'm sorry", "Eight Simple Rules"
has a ending you would expect in an
ordinary American household. One
touching scene at the conclusion
will give you a sense of satisfaction
and the notion to come back next
week for another taste. Unless, of
course, AI3C cancels it.
People are often complain about
living in Michigan. Some may
retort, "Well, at least I am not stuck
sniffing glue in Ohio." But it seems
that there are other things going on
besides huffing and pollution with
our neighbors to the south. Spawned
from a fascination with murder,
dead girls and probably boredom,
Lollipop Lust Kill has emerged
from the Toledo scene as a domi-
nant force in the darker side of psy-
chadelic metal. Their new album,
My So Called Knife, holds its own
in the context of the greater sea of
this fall's heavier rock contenders,
and if singer Evvy Pedder's sere-
nades concerning torture and
necrophillia aren't enough to com-
pel one to stop by and listen to these
boys as they ready themselves for
stardom, then certainly their clever
stage outfits are.
The Michigan Daily: What have
you been doing lately?
Pill: We have been driving
around in a van.
D. Human: Yeah we have a van.
We don't have a bus - we have a
van. Our suits stink, we drive a van
and we are on an independent label.
We are more punk rock than most
punk rock bands.
TMD: Do you ever think the road
is depressing?
Evvy Pedder: I feel at home. I
don't want to go home. I want to
stay on the road. I like it.
TMD: What kinds of things do
you do to pass the time?
Pill: Sleep, pass the time, it's real-
ly a simple life.
EP: Drink Nyquil.
D. Human: Hang out at the ven-
ues. We do this.
TMD: What movies do you watch?
D. Human: I fall asleep during
movies a lot unless I'm awake.
TMD: Where did you get your
stage outfits from? They are fantastic.
EP: We got our suits from this
cool-ass suit shop that specializes in
all these freaky suits. And we saw
those suits and we figured they were
cool.
TMD: Would you say you are
more lollipop, lust or kill?
Pill: More kill.
TMD: Then where does the lol-
lipop come in?
EP: Sugar-coated sex and death.
That's wh'at the name stands for.
Pill: Have you ever heard of peo-
ple wanting ugly sex and death? No,
they like something pretty.
D. Human: Sweet and innocent
on the outside and then dark and sin-
ister on the inside
EP: Its kind of like an evil M&M.
TMD: The album: What do you
have to say for yourselves?
D. Human: We said it already, on
the album
EP: I don't know what is there to
say about the album. It's called My
So Called Knife. It's dark; it's mean.
TMD: Well, would you rather be
bludgeoned to death with a large lol-
lipop or stabbed to death with a
small butter knife?
D. Human: Bludgeoned to death.
EP: How big of a lollipop?
TMD: Oh, it would have to be a
very large lollipop.
EP: Oh, um ... I'd rather be
bludgeoned with a large lollipop. I
want to die fast.
Pill: Stabbed.
EP: You get stabbed, dude, you're
going to die slow.
Pill: You get bludgeoned, you're
going to die painfully.
D. Human: If you get hit hard
enough in the head, you are going to
be knocked out.
Pill: Oh - lollipop then.
TMD: Do you view the bands that
you share nights with as competition?
D. Human: Oh yeah. Fuck the art.
There is no art. We're in battle here.
We have to fight. There are lines
drawn here every day we have to
fight. We are the underdog. We let
the music speak for itself.
TMD: Do you feel like you are
going somewhere fast?
Pill: No, we are going somewhere
steadily.
EP: I-refuse to answer such a
retarded question
TMD: Why did you guys cover
"Personal Jesus?"
EP: We tried out like fifty cover
songs, and it took us years to come
up with one where everyone was
like, "yeah cool." So we kept it.
Pill: Because it's socially accept-
able to do cover songs.
TMD: How do you feel that
Gravity Kills covers it too?
Pill: We don't care.
EP: We decided to do it way
before we even knew they did it,
and their version sucks.
TMD: If you could eliminate
people from the music scene who
would it be?
D. Human: I'd take the whole
radio, every one on the radio, and
just wipe it. Good bye.
Courtesy of ABC
So many Ritter jokes to make.:So many.
teen who slips in and out of various
moods, while Bridget is the party-
girl whose "it's all about me" atti-
tude is guaranteed to make any par-
0
a
Courtesy of Murder Rock Records
As bad as they want to be.
6
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