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8A - Wednesday, February 7, 2007

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Silverman's act
doesn't translate

By IMRAN SYED
Daily Arts Writer
It's a rite of passage for any halfway-
decent comedian with even the-hint of a
future. And now Sarah
Silverman (veteran of **i
socially incorrect zing-
ers like "I was raped The Sarah
by my doctor, which is Silverman
bittersweet for a Jew- Program
lsh girl") has landed
her own sitcom. From Thursdays at
"Roseanne" to "The 10:30 p.m.
Cosby Show," "Martin" Comedy Central
to "The Jamie Kennedy -
Experiment," there really is no standard
operating procedure for the self-titled sit-
com: You just kind of roll with the direction
the star feels like goingin. While "The Sarah
Silverman Program" is certainly no "Sein-
feld," it isn't exactly "The Michael Richards
Show" either - showcasing with appropri-
ate zeal the often subversive, always rel-
evant musings of its star.

As is common in such shows, Silverman
essentially plays her real-life self - except
exaggerated, sarcastic and farcical for effect.
She's a middle-aged woman who never real-
ly grew up, dependent almost entirely on
her caring younger sister Laura (played by
her real-life sister, also named Laura). Her
life seems to revolve around watching a TV
show with her sister, called, "Cookie Party"
- where viewers watch a cartoon featuring
singing and dancing cookies and then call in
to vote off a different cookie every week.
Also included in Sarah's fictitious life is
a gay couple, Brian and Steve (one of whom
may or may not be bisexual), a police officer
who falls for Laura and a tiny dog that Sarah
talks to when she's sad (and if she does itjust
right, he talks back). The meager plot of the
pilot centered on Laura going on a date with
the police officer on "Cookie Party" night
and the grave consequences that has on the
extremely insecure Sarah - cough syrup,
car crashes and the Loch Ness monster come
into play.
While the show is amusing at times, the

Ho hum. At least the show has my name in it.
complete inanity of everythingit's built upon
becomes clear very quickly. The supporting
cast, besides Laura, is uninspired, employ-
ing mostly one-liners that probably wouldn't
even make it through dress-rehearsal on
a 12:55 a.m. bit on "Saturday Night Live."
The exception is when Silverman is directly
involved, but even her energetic, aggressive-
ly impulsive swagger can't keep the program
from stalling about as often as the average
cable sitcom.
In a way, the program - more so than
other shows of this genre - is a living
version of Silverman's standup routine,
complementing her spoiled Jewish-Ameri-

can-Princess shtick, but it only sporadi
cally hits home. Its ambitious triumphs i
satirizing American pop culture ("Cooki
Party" and the neurotic fanfare surround
ing it is a crystal clear mockery of "America
Idol") and political correctness (upon learn
ing Laura is Jewish, the police officer feel
compelled to remark, "You know, I think th
Holocaust was completely uncalled for," t
which Laura pleasantly replies, "Oh, don
worry about it.") are watered down by
pedestrian, lazy scenario.
While Silverman is at her best, there's to
much broken in her "Program" to make
worthwhile.


Insight comes from
all ircions.
 Oiect

TV( REVEW
Method
to the
'Madness'
By MICHAEL PASSMAN
Daily TV/New Media Editor
Last night, fans at a sold-out
Crisler Arena cheered on as their
Wolverines locked up the school's
first men's basketball conference
championship
since 1986.
i- As the team
n exited the floor
e to a boister- NCAA
I- ous crowd, it March
n almost looked Madness 07
- like the glory Xbox 360
s days of the Fab
e Five, except EA Sports
o this time, Chris
't Webber was in the stands - and
a paid for his ride.
Actuallythat's alittlemisleading.
o Crisler was packed to full capacity
it and Tommy Amaker didn'thave one
of those "uh-oh" looks on his face,
but this fantastical scene was just
the product of EA Sports' "NCAA
March Madness 07," for the Xbox
360.
The latecomer to this year's col-
lege basketball video-game scene
(behind "College Hoops 2K7" from
2K Sports), "March Madness" is
EAs first college basketball release
on a next-generation console. Like
many of EA's pilot releases for next-
gen, "March Madness" doesn't have
the variety of game modes that
previous-generation consoles were
treated to - but what the game does
offer, it does fairly well.
Like EA's "NCAA'Football 07,"
"March Madness" places a lot of
attention on the unique atmosphere
'March Madness'
in Ann Arbor?
Well, sort of.
of college athletics. The game fea-
tures meticulously detailed render-
ings of most of the major programs'
arenas. Everything from the place-
ment of the Maize Rage in Crisler
to the banners in Duke's Cameron
Indoor Stadium is carried over to
the game.
Tiedin with the detailed arenas is
a new Team Intensity feature,which
uses game momentum and crowd
involvement to impact the play on
the court. If your team is playing
well, you can trigger boosts thatwill
either raise the composure of your
players or bring down your oppo-
nents. Hoarding these boosts over
time can trigger an Impact Moment
which acts as a sort of super-boost.
The Team Intensity feature is some-
what similar to the Gamebreakers
seen in the "arcadie" "NBA Street"
series, but slightly less effective. The
boosts may be a little overblown and
unrealistic, but it does provide for
more exciting games.
The game mode depth is fairly
shallow with only a quick play
option, tournaments, online quick
play and a dynasty mode. Of all the
modes, the dynasty has far and away
the most to offer. Everything from
recruiting to disciplining players
and trying to get facility upgrades
from alumni is included. The depth
of the dynasty mode is comparable
to that of "NCAA Football 07," and
should satisfy gamers looking for
more than the occasional pickup
game.

As far as the gameplay goes,
"March Madness" is the best bas-
ketball game EA has released on a
next-gen console, easily surpassing
the lackluster "NBA Live" games.
For once, playing defense is as
enjoyable as playing offence thanks
to the addition of the new lockdown
stick. By angling the right analog
stick at the ball handler, defenders
can aggressively defend and pres-
sure their man. This adds another
degree of skill to the game, and a
much-needed one at that.
Offensively, a deep play-calling
menu is easily accessible and cre-
ating scoring chances is less about
crossovers in isolation than team
play. This is partly because the
canned animations mapped to the
right analog stick aren't veryuseful,
so you're going to have to be creative
to set up quality scoring chances.
There's a slight learning curve to
picking up the offense, but it's not
necessarily bad, it's just different.
For college basketball enthusi-
asts and EA fans who didn't take
to the recent "NBA Live" releases,
"NCAA March Madness 07" should
be greeted with open arms. There's
certainly room to expand the game
modes and fine-tune the offense
in future installments, but for its
freshman outing on a next-gen con-
sole, "March Madness" is a step in
the right direction.

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