ARTS- 9 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 9, 2003 Courtesy of NBC Rabbits x can't cut Y4 their own hair. That's crazy.f BACK TO THE BASICS MORGAN SHINES IN FAMILY-ORIENTED SITCOM Wacky 'Swim' gives cartoons an adult edge By Douglas Wernert Daily Arts Writer DVD REVIEW For most of the older crowd, cartoons have become a thing of the past. "Beavis and Butthead" has left our TV sets and we are left with no real alternative. Enter Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late night block of shows geared to the zaniest of the Generation X and Y crowds. Two programs in particular stand out as the network's most popular, and for good reason. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" Aqua Teen enters your living room, as an old- time superhero, trying his hand at Hunger hosting a late night talk show. With Force: celebrity guests ranging from Weird Volume 1 / Al Yankovic to Hulk Hogan, Space Space Ghost Ghost tries to find out each person's Coast to secret identity, which generally Coast: results in some hilarity. The show is V a bit scattered, as the quick-tempered Volume I Space Ghost will zap his mantis Cartoon Network bandleader and arch-nemesis Zorak, or argue with his producer Moltar, another foe, for no reason at all. This leaves audiences confused from time to time, even though that is just Space Ghost's character shining through. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" continues the trend of wacky cartoonery on Adult Swim. This offering chroni- cles the lives of three fast food products who double as detectives. The lovable, goofy Meatwad (who looks like, you guessed it, a wad of meat) teams with the brainy, No one sleeps with my grandmother[ By Niamh Slevin Daily Arts Writer Let's face it, friends: NBC is getting desperate. As the mid-sea- son marker approaches, more and more critics across the nation are hounding the network with com- plaints of its new-series stinkers. Even the quali- _ ty of old favorites has The Tracy quite obviously Morgan declined. The Show programming Tuesdays at8 p.m. executives must have had no NBC choice but to yank a few shows, send them to an early grave and quickly find decent replacements. Fortunately, they found Tracy Morgan. Unlike other comic-turned-sit- com-star rejects, NBC's latest ven- ture, "The Tracy Morgan Show," attempts to bring back some sem- blance of cheesy family program- ming with style, and its simple humor only adds to its charm. The show's premise is admitted- ly unoriginal. Morgan plays a father of two, trying to run his own mechanic business and teach his boys a few lessons along the way. The two kids (Bobbe Thomp- son and Marc Jon Jeffries) are of course, loving rapscallions, who occasionally cause trouble, but always do the right thing in the end. Mom (Tamala Jones) inter- venes when necessary and tries to maintain her image as the hip, young mother and understanding wife. But it is precisely because the plotlines are so unoriginal that the series shows any promise at all. Perhaps the downplayed plot serves to emphasize the SNL favorite Brian Fellows' flair in Morgan's caricature-like expres- sions and seemingly random jokes. Perhaps the irresistible smile of a young child sucks the audience in just like the Cosby and Keaton kids did for past gen- erations. Or perhaps the show's simplicity only seems tolerable in contrast to the outrageous alterna- tives on the air. Who knows? The point is it works. The show has the potential to draw a brief laugh from even the harshest critic. Of course, "Tracy Morgan" has its share of faults as well. Freddie, played by Kat Williams, ranks among the most annoying charac- ters in television history (although his Prince impression is pretty sweet). The family feel of the show can grate on one's nerves if served in doses any longer than its allotted 30 minutes, and dear old Mom is about as fake as they come. Yet, the series achieves a level of mediocrity severely lack- reasonable Frylock and the crazy, bossy Master Shake to fight such ene- mies as robotic rabbits and lep rechauns. The antics of Master Shake are laugh-out-loud funny, and when coupled with the creative hip-hop theme song, audiences will keep coming back for seconds. The extras are lacking, even when you consider it is just a television show on DVD. Aside from guest commen- taries and a single unique fea- ture on each set, the extras are nothing special. Still, the content of the shows themselves are a good enough rea- son for any cartoon fan to add this DVD to their collec- tion. With quality content from these two shows' first seasons, Adult Swim proves it will certainly not sink to the bottom of the TV pool. Show: *** Picture/Sound: ***** Features: ** Courtesy or NC Astronaut Jones. ing in NBC's current lineup. While "The Tracy Morgan Show" cannot save NBC's tar- nished reputation, it certainly can't hurt. If a couple of cute kids, goofy punch lines and an over-the- top sketch comic will do the trick, go for it. ----------- i *iiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 111111 liii 1111111 11111 I II 1111111 II 11111111 Ad ,.