8 -The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 26, 2006 'Earl': Anything but sitcom trash Feresten fails as late-night frontman By Michael Passman Daily Arts Writer White-trash comedy is sup- posed to be bad. Whether it's attempting to make fun of the NASCAR- loving, pick- SHOW: up-truck * *** driving, Bud- drinking SPECIAL FEATURES: culture (see **** "Talladega Nights") or My Name just a bunch is Earl: The of secretly Complete rich morons First Season yelling "GIT- NBC R-DONE" (see "Blue Collar Comedy Tour"), the results usually end up making everyone involved dumber. But for the first time, a TV show (of all things) seems to have given life to this failed genre - and it's all thanks to Earl. "My Name Is Earl" seam- lessly blends trailer-park trash with subtle humor in a package unlike anything else on network TV. The first season DVD set contains all 24 episodes with a dense offering of extra features in one of the better collection releases in recent memory. Not surprisingly, the show follows Earl Hickey (Jason Lee, "Almost Famous"), a small time crook who decides to turn his life around after losing his win- ning scratch-off ticket when he's hit by a car. Earl learns the finer points of karma in his hos- pital bed from the oh-so-wise Carson Daly and decides that if he's going to improve his life - or land a daytime music video countdown show - he's got to compile a list of all the bad things he's done in his life and fix them one by one. After get- ting out of the hospital and tell- ing his brother/sidekick Randy (Ethan Suplee, Frankie Stechino from "Boy Meets World") about his plan, Earl finds his lost lotto ticket and finally has the funds to hack away at his list. From there, the show devel- ops a fairly formulaic approach: Earl trying to cross a new item off his ever-expanding list each week. Fortunately for the view- er, the one-dimensional prem- ise doesn't bore. With the high profile guest stars the show is able to land - ranging from Jon Favreau to Christine Tay- lor - and the variety of loca- tions enabled by its film-like two-camera approach, the show manages to stay fresh and viable with each episode. The one logical problem with the show is that even though Earl is trying to repay his debts to society, he initially does it only "Yeah, that's right, one star for Feresten." because he thinks it will improve his life. But over time, Earl begins to realize the importance of being a positive contributor to society and makes his mission more than a means to achieve his own personal happiness. It's rare that a character in a TV comedy exhibits any kind of growth, but Earl genuinely does. The executive producers seem to have put a lot of thought and time into the special fea- tures on the DVD set, as they're numerous and worthy of the source material. There's a fairly lengthy feature on the making of "Earl" that spans from ini- tial network pitches to the final shoot of the first season. There's also a strange twist episode where Ea vengeance instead in the hospital and "Kill Bill"-esque li who've wronged hir episode commentar reels, deleted scene deleted scene comm also included. In the "making creator Greg Garciac trouble that "Earl" h network to give it a sI a testament to NBC f beyond the post-"Fri garbage they usually with season two air( in, fans of the show they did. By Ted Chen Daily Arts Writer In "Talkshow With Spike Feresten" - a speedy half-hourshow with blunt humor and on- the-street gags - Fox sets Talkshow another ship on with Spike a grand voyage Feresten doomed from the start. Saturday at Spike Midnight Feresten may Fox be an Emmy- nominated Courtesy of NBC writer with shows like "The Late Show With David Letterman;' on the pilot "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons" in rl discovers his back pocket, but can he host a of karma talk show penned by his very own compiles a hand? Cue the boos and you have ist of those your answer. n. The usual You couldn't ask for worse open- ies, blooper ing on premiere night when Spike es and even Feresten starts off with a crash entaries are course on the history of Fox's talk show failures. That's no promise of of" feature, longevity. The opening only creates discusses the doubt in the viewers' mind, rather ad finding a than the sympathy Fox seeks. hot. It's truly The tagline boasts "witty humor or expanding and spicy skits," but the action hardly ends" sitcom matches the words. Each joke lands go for, and straight in your face with no intellec- eady a week tual processing required. The dirty are thankful puns spark some laughter, naturally, but when has sexual humor been a challenge? One of the many farcical seg- ments is "Electric Lincoln" - a man in a beard blabbering out political comments in rhyme, against a backdrop of neon lights and hypnotic spinning circles. Another one, "Lot Cops" is des- perate to kill time by interviewing the studio's own secretary guards. These segments change each week, but the show will self-destruct if it continues with this sort of lineup. Severely lacking charm, Feresten should stick to writing and stay away from the hosting chair. Brimming with that nerdy smile, he begins to look more and more like the loner who's trying way too hard to be accepted. His nervousness shows when he chuckles blankly at the camera, tapping his pen repeatedly on the table. The only innovative part (sadly) of Feresten's script is his grand plan to let guest stars have a say over how things are run. Andy Richterhis first guest, wanted to play host and switch places with Feresten. Richter inci- dentally put Feresten to shame with a master class of how hosting should be done, likely a resultof his co-host- ing stint on "Conan O'Brien." Too short, too maniacal and too self-destructive. As Feresten says: "If you're watching (this) at home, you're either chronically unemployed or recently dumped." At least he gets one thing right. 1 'Six Degrees' of mellow mediocrity By Bernie Nguyen Managing Arts Editor When a trailer kicks off with the strains of a Goo Goo Dolls single, you know the show's gotta be great melo-camp. Six And when a Degrees curvy Erika Christensen Thursdays ("Swimfan") at 10 p.m. strips off her ABC top in the open air during the first three minutes, it all goes to hell. "Six Degrees," ABC's latest attempt at tickle-your-fancy drama, might just catch on. But the odds aren't working in its favor. With a pilot burdened by complicated sketches into the lives of the show's six main characters (six degrees - get it?) and heavy-handed attempts at inserting backstory, viewers get confused just trying to remember who's who, not to mention who's connected to who. Single mom Laura (Hope Davis, "American Splendor"), photographer Steven (Campbell Scott, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"), ad exec Whitney (Bridget Moynahan,"The Recruit"), gambling man Damien (Dorian Missick, "Lucky Number Slevin"), mysterious Mae (Christensen) and clean-cut policeman Carlos (Jay Hernandez, "World Trade Center"). Just looking at the list makes your eyes swim. Besides the difficulty the viewer will have keeping all the people straight, small details trip the pilot up. Overly cheesy dialogue, an over- load of face-capturing, soul-baring camera angles and a multitude of poorly acted sequences make it all too easy to walk away. There's no hook here, no draw alluring enough to keep us watching beyond the silly voiceover that attempts to connect the seemingly casual shots of each character to an overarching mono- logue of why everyone in the world is connected. There's a little whoosh- ing sound every time someone walks by another character that soon gets old. And does everyone in New York have this kind of bone structure? Beyond these trivialities, which are considerable, the show's emo- tionally brimming looks into each character's individual problems overwhelm the viewer and prevent them from really caring about any of his dilemmas. Sure, our hackles rise when we find out that Whitney's I A good jaw and tustled hair is all you need (and a British acc boyfriend might be cheating on her. Yes, we're intrigued by Mae's mys- terious midnight phone call. 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