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Monday, December 2, 2013 - 7A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, December 2, 2D13 - 7A

"Check, please?"
'Betas' shows potential

"I'm a grown-ass man."
Give thanks for
n ew 'SNL' special

Clip episode and rewatch some of their beloved
old seasons.
revisits holiday Without a doubt, the best part
is seeing the old cast members in
0 sketches their prime. The older sketches
remind viewers why they still
By EMILY BODDEN watch even when some weeks are
Daily Arts Writer subpar at best. Let's face it, when
"Saturday Night Live" is funny,
"Saturday Night Live" has his- it's hilarious. These legendary
torically compiled special holiday sketches hold value through ideal
episodes, and this year's Thanks- combinations of cast members
giving was and writing. The Thanksgiving
no different. A- Special gives hope to more con-
With baby- sistent humor going forward by
faced Amy Satirday forcing viewers to remember why
Poehler and Night Live: they began watching in the first
Seth Meyers - place.
not to mention ThankSgnIYllg Considering that "SNL" has
Luke Wilson Special been airing since 1975, it's a bit
in the opening strange that they had to stretch
sketch - the Available for some of the sketches to fill the full
Thanksgiving streaming two hours. Understandably try-
special was on Hulu ing to theme the episode around
something to Thanksgiving, the producers still
give thanks NBC seemed to struggle to find exactly
for. what they wanted. One of the very
While specials that compile old last sketches, "The Loud Family,"
sketches can induce groans, spe- had nothing to do with Thanks-
cials allow producers to unearth giving outside of centering around
past favorites. With a show that family interactions. The sketches
boasts as many episodes as "SNL," that didn't touch on the holiday
it's easy to get caught up in recent stood out because most others did.
sketch flops and forget all of the The contrast was awkward and
successful skits that have come not addressed at all by the creators
before. But that's not the case; of the special.
the Thanksgiving Special surely With no formal transitions, the
inspired some viewers to go back special feels thrown together. Lit-

tle planning seems to have gone
into how the clips play off of one
another. A lot of potential lies in
using the juxtaposition of sketch-
es to contextualize and promote
humor. Unfortunately, the pro-
ducers of the Thanksgiving Spe-
cial didn't use this approach to
their advantage. The transitions
between clips are stark, black
screens that are quickly replaced
by the start of the next sketch.
Little to no planning seemed
to have occurred for the order-
ing of the sketches, either. Aside
from the attempted central theme
of Thanksgiving, no cohesion
exists between one sketch and the
next. With different casts in each
sketch, producers could have gone
in chronological order or played
with an ordering that allowed,
and promoted, the continuation
of either a type of character or
similar situational humor. The
disjointedness is distracting from
the great material.
"Saturday Night Live" is in
the TV big leagues, and this spe-
cial reminded us why. Years of
producing a show each week has
resulted in a litany of hilarious
sketches. The Thanksgiving Spe-
cial brought up feelings of nostal-
gia for casts of the past and made
us believe in the potential that the
current, as well as future, seasons
hold.

By KELLY ETZ
DailyArts Writer
After a much-lauded pilot was
released inApril, Amazon's "Betas"
seemed a timely and immensely
watchable
endeavor forg
the behemoth B
corpora-
tion. "Betas,"
cherry- First three
picked (along episodes
with "Alpha available for
House") from streaming
an original
lineup of Amazon
eight comedy
pilots, was an
immediate standout. Hidden amid
almost-witty dialogue, fumbling
innuendoes and an extremely
unfortunate archetypical, porn-
loving 35-year-old was promised
a series to rival Netflix, and other
original content powerhouses.
The series, produced exclu-
sively for Amazon and created
and written by Josh Stoddard and
Evan Endicott, tackles the world
of Silicon Valley start-ups and
the-next-big-thing mentality of
app developers in a tech-infused
landscape. Following four friends
and colleagues, the series focuses
on the development of a Facebook-
like social media app, "brb," that
goes a step further. As one charac-
ter aptly describes, "It's a stalker's
wet dream."
The app doesn't make a whole
lot of sense, which hampers the
pilot but becomes less important
as the series progresses. The irony
FRAGMENTS
From Page 1A
The breadth of this exhibi-
tion is impressive: It spans 11
centuries, five countries and
will include all types of objects,
from bowls to figurines. How-
ever, this exhibit seeks to give a
broader overview of Islamic art
than other temporary exhibi-
tions might.
"It's really just to give a taste
of some of the collections we
have, and yes, it is broad," John-
son said.
Think of this exhibition an
introductory course in Islamic
art that prepares you for more
advanced classes. In January,
there will be a showcase of
art and architecture from the
mansion, appropriately titled
"Shangri-La: Architecture,
Landscape, and Islamic Art," of
famed art collector Doris Duke.
Then, Christiane Gruber,
associate professor of Islamic
art, who recently organized a
symposium on the art of the
Arab Spring uprisings, will be
curating a more in-depth exhi-
bition of Islamic art next fall.
As part of her exhibition, Pro-
fessor Gruber will showcase
pieces that cannot be shown in
the transparent Stenn Gallery.
"It's all glass, and it has very

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oup of socially inhibited pling with a unique medium;
attempting to develop the each episode works to create a
ajor player in social media delicate balance between how
y played, ifa bit expected. much to show and where to
esuccessofappslikeSnap- hold back. Unfortunately, more
id Foursquare, it's at least often than not, the series trips
to imagine young (well, awkwardly over the line. Sopho-
ly) and eager college drop- moric humor, ironically, is often
hting for a place in the big hard to pull off without divulg-
ing into jackass territory. Unlike
ing to capitalize on this cable shows like "The League,"
positive, pilot-driven which toe the line with elements
tum, "Betas" released an of class, "Betas" takes too many
aal two free episodes in wild stabs without checking
vember - with the bulk of itself - often spewing from the
es available only to Ama- mouth of the series's most unin-
me subscribers. Unfortu- spiring character Hobbes (Jon
or the series, version 2.0 is Daly, "Bride Wars").
sincere than fresh, leaning Even so, the most notable
o "The Big Bang Theory" thing about "Betas" has noth-
he Social Network" -right ing to do with the story or the
the inevitable matchmak- characters - instead, what's
ian-parents storyline. important is the opportunity
the series presents. As a series
that can cater uniquely to view-
enesers, "Betas" is a solid win. It isn't
iazon enters perfect, but its much more put-
eaming war. together than most of the failed
network pilots that debuted this
fall ("Dads," "Betrayal," "Super
Fun Night," need I go on?). What
very unique, subtle char- "Betas" exemplifies is a TV
rc, "Betas" answers with design that gives viewers more
ssarily raunchy, over- control than ever before.
one-liners and crudely The question to be asking now
plot twists. Nash (Karan is whether or not "Betas" can
afety Not Guaranteed"), garner enough clout to entice
on-esque character, likes viewers to Amazon Prime, and
Loggins, doesn't do pants if Internet mediums should seri-
nbles with his sexuality, ously consider crowd-sourcing
d up by an electric vagina pilots as a viable alternative.
less-than-eloquent line "Betas" just might be a glimpse
cking-missed." Really? at "TV" of the future. And you
bvious "Betas" is grap- know what? It's not bad.

Next generation hardware
launches underwhelm

By JULIAN AIDAN
Daily Arts Writer
The next generation is fully
here but has arrived with more of
a whimper than with triumphant
fanfare.
While games for Nintendo's
WiiU and 3DS rake in the rave
reviews, the average aggregate
appraisals on Metacritic for four
of the most anticipated Xbox
One exclusives - "Dead Rising
3," "Forza Motorsport 5," "Killer
Instinct" and "Ryse: Son of Rome"
- sits at 73 on Metacritic. "Ryse"
was the only original IP of these,
and developer Crytek's open-
world brilliance in its past fran-
chises ("Crysis," "Far Cry") didn't
translate: A 60 average for their
action-adventure launch title, with
reviewers citing linearity and rep-
etition as major issues. "Fighter
Within" clocked in as the latest
Kinect-dependent abomination
to frustrate players worldwide,
drawing ire from all corners of the
industry.
For the PlayStation 4, the pick-
ings are pretty slim as well. The
two best looking exclusives prior
to launch, "Killzone: Shadow Fall"
and "Knack," failed to deliver any
AAA-level punch, receiving a 74
and 55 on average. "Killzone" is
a great addition to the FPS genre
and for shooter lovers everywhere,
delving deeper into the series' uni-

verse than ever before and allow- adventure thrill.
ing players to blow up enemies in The real hope is in the future
shinier and better looking ways for both of these consoles. Early
than ever before. adopters were saddened to hear
Additionally, "Resogun," that the heavily hyped, dysto-
"Contrast" and "Warframe" are pian action-adventure game
downloadables for PS4, with "Watch Dogs" was pushed back
the last being free-to-play. Each to early 2014, but the year seems
has received generally favorable ripe with next-gen heavy hitters.
reviews. Enough, at least, to buf- "The Elder Scrolls," "Diablo" and
fer the inevitable disappointment "Final Fantasy" series will all
diehard Sony fans will probably be coming to the Xbox One and
feel knowing that the immediate PlayStation 4, each providing a
future for the PS4 is kind of bleak? hugely immersive multiplayer
Probably not, but, hey, it's some- experience. "Titanfall," a mech-
thing. based, first-person, multiplayer-
_ only shooter, will drop on Xbox
consoles exclusively before Bun-
Still hope for gie's awe-inspiring shared-world
shooter, "Destiny," is released for
the future. both Sony and Microsoft consoles.
*Survival-horror addicts can
find shelter in "Dying Light" and
"The Evil Within," the former a
Fortunately for both, multi- post-apocalyptic zombie game
platform, high-qualitytitles allow in an urban setting and the latter
hardcoredevoteesofeithertosplit a hellscape populated by night-
the difference. Sports fans have mares.
"FIFA 14" and"NBA2K14" toturn Though nothing is a remark-
to, each hailed as one of the best able stand-out from these con-
in the genre to date; adrenaline sole-exclusive games, the looming
junkies have multiplayer shoot- promise of "better" is keeping
ers like "Battlefield 4" and "Call of fans waiting for the unavoid-
Duty: Ghosts." "Assassin's Creed able spike in gaming quality and
IV: Black Flag" tacks a pirate excitement. With these and many
chapter onto the increasingly other long-awaited titles lined up,
complex and convoluted timeline 2014 seems like it's going to be a
of the series, offering booty-plun- great year for the newest genera-
dering to those seeking an action- tion of console gainers.

high light levels, so any of our
wood objects, any of our tex-
tiles, the light levels are too
high," Johnson said. "So we
could only show things that are
metal, are glass, are ceramics."
But with the only constraint
being a material one, Johnson
had a wide variety of pieces
to pick from while curating
the exhibit. She followedthe
interests of the family who
originally brought the pieces
to the University. According to
Johnson, much of the collec-
tion was collected by former
University president Alexander
Grant Ruthven and the Ruth-
ven family. Ruthven focused on
the aesthetic - the big, beauti-
ful objects that had very ornate
details.
"That's kind of how we chose
some of our pieces, for their aes-
thetic quality, the beauty of the
objects even though they were
used for everyday use," Johnson
said.
The title of the exhibit -
"Fragments of the Past" - is
appropriate as many of the
pieces are literally fragments of
larger objects worn from use.
"There are a number of glass
shards that have very intricate
detail on them, but they still
give clues to the cultural back-
ground of the pieces, the influ-
ence of culture," Johnson said.

It isn't that surprising that
something like a glass bowl
might be very intricate and
detailed. But even objects used
for more rigorous tasks were
endowed with beauty by their
creators.
"There are these beautiful
ceramic filters, and there's very
ornate detail on them, but they
were used to filter the Nile,"
Johnson said. "The Nile is, and
always has been, very dirty, so
it's a very functional piece, but
you also see that the artisan
gave amazing attention to that."
The artisans of the Islamic
world endowed the mundane
objects of their daily lives with
beauty. Now, "Fragments of the
Past" will take these objects
and appreciate them for the art
that they are and always have
been.
At the very least, this exhibi-
tion will allow viewers to appre-
ciate Islamic art as it exists
beyond the mosques and mosa-
ics. But after appreciating the
beauty of a humble water filter,
perhaps viewers will appreci-
ate the beauty of the mundane
objects of the present.
"It's kind of this dialogue
that's happening from the past
to the present in response, and
I thinks that's something that's
really important at the Univer-
sity,"'Johnson said.

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