6A — Monday, September 28, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
By ALEX INTNER
Daily Arts Writer
Over the past several years,
the
Muppets
have become
increasingly
prevalent
in
culture.
Starting
with the 2011
film
“The
Muppets,”
which
was
a
modest
success
for
Disney,
they’ve
been
making
appearances in a wide array
of talk and variety shows.
Their
renaissance-of-sorts
continues with a new television
show on ABC. At its core,
“The Muppets” is a workplace
sitcom that happens to star
the Muppets instead of human
actors; it has the same beats
and humor as a conventional
sitcom. These characters have
jumped between genres (from
children’s television to heist
movies), but this show crosses
into
more
standard,
adult
fare. It strips away some of
the energy of the recent film
iterations of the characters, but
once it settles into its rhythms
and style, it could become one of
the better sitcoms on network
television.
“The Muppets” takes place
behind
the
scenes
of
the
fictional late night show “Up
Late with Miss Piggy.” Her
ex-boyfriend, Kermit the Frog,
is
the
executive
producer.
Other Muppets fill various
roles throughout the show,
including Gonzo and Pepe the
Prawn as staff writers, Fozzie
as the warm-up comedian and
announcer and Animal as, of
course, the drummer in the
band, to name a few.
“The Muppets” ’s weirdest
aspect is how it puts these
adored
characters
into
conventional
sitcom
roles,
using
the
mockumentary
format popularized by “The
Office” and “Modern Family.”
The most prominent of these
tropes involves the relationship
between
Kermit
and
Miss
Piggy, who are presented as
fighting exes, having broken
up a few months before the
pilot. The romance between
the characters has been a key
part of their shared history,
but the show chooses to go in
a different direction (in fact,
Kermit is porking a new pig,
Denise). Yet, the way the two
characters interact is identical
to most “will-they-won’t-they”
couples who are in a lull. There’s
a coolness to every scene they
share.
It’s not just the romance
subplot that relies on sitcom
conventions; “The Muppets,”
developed by Bill Prady (who
co-created
“The
Big
Bang
Theory”)
and
Bob
Kushell
(“3rd Rock from the Sun”), uses
other sitcom tropes to middling
effects. The Muppets universe
has utilized a wide array of
Hollywood talent. The first
episode guest stars Elizabeth
Banks (“The Hunger Games”)
and Tom Bergeron (“Dancing
with
the
Stars”),
both
of
whom earn laughs by playing
themselves. Plus, Jere Burns
(“Justified”)
continues
his
streak of giving the best reaction
shots on television, playing the
father of Fozzie Bear’s human
girlfriend. However, the show
uses the sitcom trope of trying
to keep two people separated at
all costs (in this case, Banks and
Piggy) only to have them meet
each other in a big blowout.
It’s no fault of Banks’s, but
the seven-minute sequence is
awkward and humorless.
It’s a little disappointing that
this show is a different version
from other stories with the
characters, because the scene
like the powerful closing of the
2011 film (with the characters
getting together and singing
“Rainbow Connection”) can’t
exist in this world. (Though
a
performance
by
Imagine
Dragons did add a necessary
musical
element.)
However,
it’s hard to knock the show for
not doing something it’s not
trying to do. “The Muppets”
attempts to be something more
conventional and adult, but it’s
doing a shaky job of achieving
those
goals.
The
executive
producers of this show are
seasoned
veterans
in
the
comedy world, so it’s not hard to
imagine it growing and finding
its distinct voice. However, it’s
just not there yet.
ALBUM REVIEW
Drake and Future
don’t deserve hype
Buzzy mixtape
doesn’t bring fire
by RACHEL KERR
Daily Arts Writer
The diamond emoji found its way
into every phone’s “recently used”
section on Sunday night, when
Drake and Future dropped their
collaborative
mixtape, What A
Time To Be Alive.
The cover image,
a
stock
photo
of some bright-
ass
diamonds,
seems an unusu-
al choice for the
artists’ collabo-
ration – until you
remember
that
it’s 2015. Oh, and
what a time it is
to be alive — a time of Vines and
memes, hashtags and retweets.
And so the diamond emoji littered
my Twitter feed — and the com-
ment section of Meek Mill’s Insta-
gram — because that’s exactly what
Drake and Future intended for it to
do.
Even before the tape debuted
on Drake’s OVO Sound Radio, the
Internet was already in a frenzy.
For weeks, there were rumors of
a mythical project in the works.
Coming off of successful summers
— Drake’s If You’re Reading This
It’s Too Late went platinum and
Future released the highly antici-
pated DS2 — there seemed to be a
spark catching between the two.
And then when Meek Mill, first,
claimed Drake used a ghostwriter
and, second, told a DJ to turn off a
Future song at his Made In America
Festival set, he ignited the fire.
Unfortunately, this fire is out-
shined by that now-relevant dia-
mond emoji; the tape’s Internet
presence is stronger than the
actual content on the tape. It’s
already been memed, tweeted, Ins-
tagramed and whatever the fuck
else you can do on the Internet. Its
lyrics have already settled nicely
under Instagrams because Drake
and Future know their audience.
They know we prefer sound bytes
to full-length songs and emojis to
actual words.
And when the two biggest rap-
pers in the game announce a col-
laboration, it almost goes without
saying that it won’t live up to the
hype (Watch the Throne, anyone?).
They have radically different styles,
making it hard to create a cohesive
sound. The result: DS2 scraps with
Drake features on them. Because of
trap-heavy production by Future’s
go-to guy, Metro Boomin, Drake
sounds completely out of place.
And, let’s be honest, can anyone
understand what the fuck Future is
saying? If you can make out words
through his codeine-induced mum-
bling, you realize he’s actually rap-
ping about some serious shit. And
then we get Drake, still just, like,
talking about women. The tension
between their chosen subject mat-
ter makes it, at times, almost awk-
ward to listen to. Like in “Live From
the Gutter,” we feel like Future’s
actually been there, and Drake —
well — he definitely hasn’t.
Still, the tape is not without
strengths. “Jumpman” is a straight
banger — one of Future’s verses
is just “NOBU, NOBU, NOBU,
NOBU, NOBU, NOBU.” “Change
Locations” gives us the Drake-iest
Drake verse we’ll find on the tape
— “2 in the morning, my mind is
on you / 4 in the morning, it still
hasn’t
moved.”
“Scholarships”
finally manages to meld together
Drake’s pop-like delivery and
Future’s trap-like production per-
fectly.
And part of the appeal of the
whole project, the initial reason
the Internet exploded, was its
unlikelihood. These two artists
don’t need each other’s help. They
didn’t need to collaborate, and see-
ing as they reportedly recorded in
a mere six days, it doesn’t really
seem like they had the time to
either. They did it purely for us.
So it doesn’t matter if you find
the diamond emoji luminous or
lack-luster because, chances are,
it’ll be around for a while.
B-
What a
Time to
Be Alive
Drake x Future
Cash Money/
Epic Records
TV REVIEW
‘Blindspot’ tries to
elevate usual drama
By MATT BARNAUSKAS
Daily Arts Writer
A gray duffle bag rests in
the middle of a crowded Times
Square. Amid the mass of
people, a sole police officer
notices
the
bag and reads
the
red
tag
attached
to
it,
“Call
the
FBI.”
Cut
to
a
now-empty
metropolis,
a
lone
bomb
squad
officer
walks
toward
the bag through
the
desolate,
LED
screen-
lit streets. He feels for wires,
but instead finds movement.
Stumbling back, he watches a
naked woman emerge, covered
head-to-toe in ornate tattoos.
Dazed, the woman looks out at
the world, trying to cover her
eyes from the harsh brightness
of her new reality.
Taken into custody by the
FBI, the woman, known only
as Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander,
“Thor”), has no memory of who
she is or what happened to her
— completely lost in her own
existence.
It’s a hell of a hook devised
by creator Martin Gero (“L.A.
Complex”) to introduce viewers
to his latest series, “Blindspot.”
Produced
by
the
prolific
Greg Berlanti (“The Flash”),
“Blindspot” offers up a visually
enticing concept for a series
— tattoos containing clues to
solve a crime — while remaining
generally
formulaic
in
its
execution and structure.
Using the crime-solving duo
trope that has been common
since the days of Sherlock Holmes
and John Watson, “Blindspot”
pairs Jane with FBI agent Kurt
Weller (Sullivan Stapleton, “300:
Rise of an Empire”), whose name
happens to be tattooed on Jane’s
back. This pairing of an authority
figure
with
an
unknown
wildcard is highly overused in
this TV season — new shows like
“Minority Report,” “Limitless”
and
“Rosewood,”
which
all
incorporate
variants
of
this
formula. However, “Blindspot”
allows itself to stand out from
its contemporaries by giving the
more intriguing maverick role to
a woman.
Alexander is “Blindspot” ’s
best asset, portraying the trau-
ma Jane has undergone with
a vulnerable humanity. Jane’s
like a child in many ways — she
understands the world and how
it works, she but lacks a sense of
belonging within it. While dra-
matic scenes like Jane breaking
down as she looks at herself pro-
vide emotional gravitas, small
moments truly give Alexander
the ability to flesh out her per-
formance. In one such scene,
Weller tells Jane she should
get some food to eat. Her quiet
response, “I don’t know what I
like,” reflects how lost Jane real-
ly is as Alexander stares, wide-
eyed, looking for answers.
Stapleton,
unfortunately,
has less to work with than his
onscreen
partner.
Weller
is
given, in many ways, a parental
obligation to Jane, trying to
guide this complete unknown
through the world, and these
moments give Stapleton his
best opportunities to display a
dynamic character. But, Weller,
as of right now, is given minimal
character detail. He has no
home, family or anything to
distinguish his work and private
life from each other. It goes
to show that by the end of the
episode, more information is
given about Jane’s cryptic past
than Weller’s present situation.
Jane’s search to uncover the
secrets of her past brings her
to work with Weller. In this,
Jane finds purpose, as she goes
into the field alongside Weller
when one Chinese tattoo gives
the day’s date and an address.
As
the
layers
of
mystery
behind the markings unravel,
so do the layers of Jane Doe.
Certain aspects of her past life,
including expert marksmanship
and
fighting
skills,
slowly
unfold throughout the episode.
While
the
show
relies
on
the
relatively
traditional
procedural
crime
structure,
“Blindspot” lifts up its approach
by adding a personal motivation
of self-discovery for the show’s
protagonist.
“Blindspot” relies on well-
known storytelling methods that
are essential to the crime drama
genre. However, it introduces
enough reconfigurations to its
layout to make its premise not
feel completely derivative, and
uses its talented lead to sell
the emotional necessity of each
weekly case.
B-
Blindspot
Series Pre-
miere
Mondays at
10 p.m.
NBC
ALBUM REVIEW
Disclosure’s misstep
By CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer
Disclosure knows what works
for them — a radio-friendly com-
bination of rolling house beats and
soulful vocals. While the response
to this tem-
plate on their
first
album,
Settle,
was
overwhelm-
ingly positive,
following
the
same mold on
a second record
may have been
a misstep for the English duo. As
is sung on “Echoes,” “Such repeti-
tion calls for concern.”
Bringing back Sam Smith, as
well as numerous other heavy-
hitters, Disclosure is flexing their
newfound star-power. Artists like
The Weeknd, Lorde, Miguel and
Gregory Porter all make cameos,
each catering their voices to Dis-
clocure’s electro-soul sound. The
record’s first track, “Nocturnal”
feat. The Weeknd, is by far the lon-
gest song on the album and plays
like a remix of a remix of a pre-
existing song by the artist. It plays
on both of the artists’ strengths —
Abel Tesfaye’s syrupy vocals and
Disclosure’s funky-house beats.
The second track features
Smith of “Latch” – “Omen”
is clearly trying reconjure the
popularity of it by highlight-
ing Smith’s silky voice and
Disclosure’s blooming, crescen-
do-ing beats. But while catchy
and dynamic, “Omen” still lacks
the playful, infectious nature of
“Latch.”
“Holding On” feat. Gregory
Porter is the only song on the
album that doesn’t start with a
recurring beat, but rather with
a powerful cry from Porter. The
track continues in typical Dis-
closure fashion from there on –
establishing a basic beat, layering
in a repetitive chorus and inter-
jecting a brief bridge.
The peak of the record comes
in Lorde’s feature on “Magnets”
and “Jaded.” Lorde’s vocals are
unlike any other featured on the
album, cheekily bobbing in and
out of the melody, with a staccato
singing style that complements
the succinct backbeats of the track
perfectly. Moving into “Jaded,”
the same kind of punctuated bass
beats are used in combination with
the duo’s UK garage sound and
expressive vocalization.
From that point forward, little
is done to break the monotony of
each track. The rolling, punch-
ing beat of “Superego” and the
smoky chorus of “Masterpiece”
attempt to pull the second half
of the album up from its droning
trenches, but they ultimately fall
short. The signature groove-based
beats of Disclosure may have been
able to carry them on Settle, but
even with its myriad of big-name
features, Caracal is in need of a
little something extra. While not
overtly unpleasant or dull, the
tracks simply lack diversity. Cara-
cal would be perfect sprinkled
throughout a house party mix but,
when listened to in one sitting,
blends together into an unidentifi-
able mush.
Disclosure’s reliance on guest-
star appearances caused them to
forget what made them so suc-
cessful in the first place — their
innovative sound. Settle was so
well-received because it pushed
the boundaries of what Top 40
music could and could not do
— “Latch” was a game changer.
Instead of continuing down their
inventive path, Disclosure stuck
with exactly what worked in the
past. Though Caracal delivers the
kind of sound that Disclosure fans
have come to love, it also leaves
listeners reaching for something
more — and it just isn’t there.
B
Caracal
Disclosure
Island Records
ISLAND RECORDS
Blinded by the white.
Adult ‘The Muppets’
needs time to grow
B
The
Muppets
Series Pre-
miere
Tuesdays
at 8 p.m.
ABC
ABC
Admit it, you’ve pictured it too.
TV REVIEW
Disclosure
forgets what
made them.