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Arts & Sports
Friday, November 13, 2015 — 7A

TV REVIEW
Aimless ‘Donny!’ has 
yet to find its footing

Uninspired comedy 
relies on tasteless 

jokes

By SAMUEL ROSENBERG 

Daily Arts Writer

One of the most common 

tropes in television comedies 
also seems to be one of the most 
entertaining: 
famous people 
playing fiction-
alized versions 
of themselves. 
Watching 
celebrities 
poke 
fun 
at 

their 
fame 

and 
fortune 

has 
become 

somewhat 
of 

a 
captivating 

concept for audiences. But while 
this formula has created some 
of the most critically acclaimed 
TV shows in history (“Seinfeld,” 
“Louie,” “Curb Your Enthusi-
asm”), it doesn’t always work. 
Unfortunately, USA’s new origi-
nal series “Donny!” seems to 
prove that.

Despite 
being 
sporadically 

funny, “Donny!” falters as an 
uninspired comedy that relies 
mostly on tasteless jokes about 
the media and celebrity culture. 
Playing the show’s womanizing 
eponymous protagonist, real-life 
TV personality Donny Deutsch 
certainly has some experience 
in the industry. Deutsch has 
led a successful career in busi-
ness as an ad executive and in 
television as a judge on NBC’s 
“The Apprentice” and a former 
host of CNBC’s “The Big Idea 
with Donny Deutsch.” Though 

Deutsch plays a fictionalized 
version of his real-life persona 
in “Donny!,” he exaggerates 
himself to the extreme and the 
results are neither as original nor 
as clever as they could be.

In the pilot “A Sext Ruined 

My Life!,” Deutsch’s character is 
introduced as the host of a talk 
show called “Donny!,” which 
looks like a cross between “Dr. 
Phil” and “Maury.” On the show, 
Deutsch’s first guest is a young 
woman named Becky, whose 
racy sext photo has become a 
viral meme on the Internet and 
deemed her as the “Psycho Sex-
ter.” Rather than sympathizing 
with Becky and her situation, 
Deutsch shows her picture to 
the mortified live audience, leav-
ing her in tears and even more 
distraught. While this scene 
may have intended to satirize 
the exploitative qualities of talk 
shows, it doesn’t provoke any 
laughs nor offer any insight.

Throughout the rest of the 

episode, Deutsch continues to 
squander every possible come-
dic moment with bland, insipid 
humor. In a brainstorm meeting 
with his thick-skinned associ-
ate producer Pam (Emily Tarver, 
“The Residuals”), Deutsch uses 
lesbians and cancer as ideas for 
topics to boost ratings for his 
show. Later on, while defending 
his relationship with his Rus-
sian girlfriend Galina (Tina Cas-
ciani, “Jane the Virgin”) to his 
concerned assistants, Deutsch 
suddenly breaks the fourth wall, 
promoting a product placement 
of Hak’s BBQ Sauce to the audi-
ence. Though this scene is prob-
ably a tongue-in-cheek reference 
to Deutsch’s real-life advertising 
repertoire, it feels incongruous 
with the show’s overall tone.

As Deutsch recently told Rot-

ten Tomatoes in an interview, he is 
intentionally playing an “idiotic” 
version of himself on “Donny!” 
Deutsch does indeed play an idiot, 
but one whose stupidity seems 
more obnoxious than hilarious. 
In this episode, he continually 
misunderstands the difference 
between a visual sext and a “sug-
gestive picture,” when they are 
clearly the same thing. In addi-
tion to denouncing Becky for her 
sexting situation, Deutsch takes a 
shirtless selfie, which is intended 
for Galina and accidentally sent to 
his daughter’s teacher. Of course, 
the racy selfie becomes viral like 
Becky’s and immediately causes 
bad publicity for Deutsch. At 
this point in the show, you would 
expect some sort of character 
growth from Deutsch, who would 
learn from his mistakes and rec-
ognize the irony of his actions. 
But instead of taking responsibil-
ity for his hypocritical behavior, 
Deutsch acts on this viral mishap 
for his own self-interest. When 
appearing on an MSNBC morn-
ing show, he markets the selfie as 
part of a made-up charity for car-
cinoma, dismissing the inherent 
issue of his sext, or what he con-
siders a mere “suggestive picture.” 
Though Deutsch has the charisma 
and natural delivery, his character 
is in dire need of some develop-
ment.

The one aspect that is surpris-

ingly refreshing about “Donny!” 
is the predominantly female cast. 
Deutsch and his young son Jag-
ger (newcomer Jacob Thomas 
Anderson) are the only two male 
characters present in the epi-
sode. But even then, the women 
on the show are portrayed in a 
stereotypical, 
one-dimension-

al fashion. Deutsch’s snarky 

two assistants Jackie (Hailey 
Giles, “Hustle & Flow”) and Zoe 
(Meera Rohit Kumbhani, “Weird 
Loners”) come off as mean-spir-
ited and his newest assistant 
Violet (newcomer Jessica Renee 
Russell) acts naive and desper-
ate to win Deutsch’s attention. 
His daughter Coco (Fiona Rob-
ert, “Law & Order: SVU”) is the 
typical spoiled, vapid teenager, 
who gets in trouble at school 
for cussing out a kid in Man-
darin. During her brief screen 
time, Galina is a purely sexual-
ized spectacle, canoodling with 
Deutsch and acting out a cheeky 
roleplay with him, in which she 
plays a Russian figure skater to 
Deutsch’s Vladimir Putin. Even 
Becky the “Psycho Sexter” from 
the opening scene is made out to 
be crazy and hysterical. Howev-
er, as conventional and clichéd 
as these roles may seem, the one 
character who mostly subverts 
the female TV stereotype is 
Pam, who uttered the funniest, 
sharpest lines by far.

While “Donny!” lacks the 

depth, heart and genuine humor 
of other meta comedies, the 
premise of a middle-aged, self-
obsessed talk show host could 
potentially 
make 
the 
show 

interesting. But at the moment, 
“Donny!” doesn’t really know 
what kind of show it wants to 
be yet. “A Sext Ruined My Life!” 
plays out like any other generic 
pilot, rushing and overlooking 
small details and not giving any 
room to develop an intriguing 
storyline. Perhaps its late time 
slot and its presence on a televi-
sion network filled with dramas 
that could be the problem. Nev-
ertheless, “Donny!” fails to make 
a lasting impression, even with a 
celebrity at its helm.

C-

Donny!

Series 
Premiere 
Tuesdays at 
10:30 p.m.

USA

FIELD HOCKEY
Lubbers a key 
to ‘M’ midfield

By LELAND MITCHINSON

Daily Sports Writer

Many 
athletes 
who 
come 

to 
Michigan 
from 
different 

countries go through a period 
of adjustment to get used to 
their new surroundings and the 
traditions that go along with 
them.

For 
the 
Michigan 
field 

hockey team’s Veerle Lubbers, 
a 
sophomore 
from 
Arnhem, 

Netherlands, 
one 
American 

tradition 
has 
stood 
out 
as 

especially strange.

“It’s definitely the pumpkin 

carving,” Lubbers said. “I found 
out about it this Halloween. 
I tried the pumpkin carving 
myself, and I do not have the 
patience for it, to tell you the 
truth. I got frustrated, but it 
turned out my pumpkin that 
I picked was not a good one 
because it was yellow. Maybe that 
was it, because it was really thick 
and I could not cut through.”

Though some of the United 

States’ 
stranger 
holiday 

traditions may not make sense to 
Lubbers, the midfielder has had 
no trouble adjusting to playing in 
the States.

“Especially in Holland, where 

she’s from, field hockey is their 
No. 1 sport,” said Michigan coach 
Marcia Pankratz. “They start 
playing field hockey when they 
are maybe 3 years old, so it’s like 
a basic motor skill for them. They 
learn it really early. Our players in 
the United States don’t really pick 
up a stick and play until they’re 
maybe 12, 13, 14 years old.”

On the field, Lubbers had an 

instant impact despite being in a 
system with completely different 
tactics than the one she grew up 
playing in. Accoding to Lubbers, 
Dutch players spend a lot of time 
focusing on stick skills while her 
time at Michigan has been very 

focused on being fit.

Last August, Lubbers made 

her debut against then-No. 2 
North Carolina and went on 
to start all 20 games for the 
Wolverines while setting the 
team record for assists in a 
season. This season, Lubbers has 
continued her strong play in the 
midfield — her nine assists in 19 
starts this campaign are good for 
second on the team.

“She reads the game really 

well,” 
Pankratz 
said. 
“Her 

instincts are really good and 
strong because she has been 
playing for so long at a high level.”

Saturday, Lubbers will help 

lead the 10th-ranked Wolverines 
into the NCAA Tournament 
against No. 7 Wake Forest.

Throughout 
her 
time 
at 

Michigan, her teammates have 
been there to support her any 
time she needed help, on or off 
the field.

“My teammates helped me 

out really well,” Lubbers said. “I 
mean, of course transitioning to 
school was difficult with all the 
new words that I had to learn 
for all the subjects, especially 
for biology and all that, but they 
were really helpful.”

In playing field hockey for an 

American 
university, 
Lubbers 

has an opportunity she wouldn’t 
have in the Netherlands. In her 
home country, academics and 
athletics are completely separate, 
making scheduling conflicts more 
difficult to work around.

“Here, 
(athletics 
and 

academics are) connected, so 
they understand each other,” 
Lubbers said. “If we have to 
travel, the teachers understand I 
am on the team here and you can 
make up for it another time.”

Lubbers is still transitioning 

to her new home, but pumpkins 
aside, it appears she’ll carve out a 
nice career at Michigan.

‘M’ hosts Niagara after bye

Wolverines face 
injury-plagued 
Purple Eagles in 
single game at Yost

By MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

After the his team’s 4-0 loss 

to Robert Morris on Oct. 31, 
Michigan hockey coach Red 
Berenson said 
he wished the 
Wolverines 
could 
play 
a 

game the next 
weekend.

Instead, the 

Wolverines 
had 
12 
days 

to 
prepare 

for their next 
opponent, 
Niagara 
(0-1-

1 
Atlantic 

Hockey 
Conference, 
0-5-2 overall), which they will 
face Friday at Yost Ice Arena.

But after Michigan’s first 

loss of the season, the bye week 
allowed the Wolverines (5-1-1) to 
regroup and work on individual 
skills.

“I wish we could’ve come back 

and played the next weekend 
coming off the Robert Morris 
weekend,” Berenson said. “But 
we couldn’t, so we had to take it 
the way it’s scheduled.

“I thought (the bye week) 

was a good combination of 
improvement 
and 
our 
team 

getting together with a little less 
pressure on them. Now we’re 
getting the team back to game 
mode this week, and I can feel 
a better sense of urgency this 
week from last week.”

In addition to the individual 

improvement, at least one roster 
change will be made — senior 
forward Boo Nieves will return 
to the lineup after being held out 
against Robert Morris due to a 
concussion.

Nieves’ return also allows the 

Wolverines to keep four separate 
lines, instead of shuffling players 

between lines every shift, which 
should create more fluidity and 
chemistry among the four lines.

“It’s good to have him back,” 

said 
senior 
forward 
Justin 

Selman. “He compliments me 
and (freshman forward) Kyle 
Connor very well. Having a guy 
like him playing in the middle 
so I can get back on the wing is 
great too. He brings a lot of speed 
to our line.”

But 
for 
a 

team 
that 

has 
averaged 

just 
under 

four goals per 
game, creating 
offense 
isn’t 

the 
problem. 

Rather, 
the 

problem is that 
Michigan has 
also given up 
an average of four goals per game.

While it hasn’t been entirely 

the goaltenders’ fault, neither 
junior Zach Nagelvoort nor 
senior Steve Racine has been 
able to establish himself in goal.

“You look at our goalies’ goals-

against (average), and it’s too 
high,” Berenson said. “It’s pretty 
hard for me to tell you that I like 
anybody’s game when our save 

percentage is under .900 and our 
goals against is over 3.00.”

But if there were any time 

for one of the goaltenders to get 
their game going, a game against 
a winless Niagara team could 
be it, especially for Nagelvoort. 
Last time the two squads met in 
2013, Nagelvoort earned a 6-0 
win for the first shutout of his 
Michigan career.

In 
that 

game, 
junior 

forward Tyler 
Motte had a 
goal and two 
assists, while 
his line mate, 
junior forward 
Alex 
Kile, 

registered his 
first goal as a 
Wolverine.

This 
time 

around, 
the 
Purple 
Eagles’ 

resume doesn’t leave much room 
for doubt that the result will be 
any different this time around.

Niagara comes into the game 

winless after a late Penn State 
goal denied the Purple Eagles 
their first win of the season. 

The biggest problem Niagara 

has faced this season, though, 
is the injury bug, which has 

forced underclassmen to play big 
minutes.

One example is in goal, where 

freshman goaltenders Guillaume 
Therien and Joe O’Brien have 
split time between the pipes due 
to an injury to seasoned veteran 
Jackson Teichroeb, who started 
32 of 37 games for the Purple 
Eagles last year.

Niagara is also missing its top 

two centers, TJ Sarcona and Rob 
Angiolella, as well as a top-four 
defenseman, Matt Chiarantano.

Despite all of the Purple 

Eagles’ 
struggles, 
Michigan 

won’t be taking them lightly.

“They’re one of those teams 

that we don’t see very often, 
so we don’t know too much of 
what to expect,” Selman said. 
“They’re going to be excited to 
play us on the road, especially 
at Yost. They’ve tied two good 
teams in Penn State and Robert 
Morris, so we definitely can’t 
take them lightly.”

And the Wolverines shouldn’t, 

because 
college 
hockey 
is 

an 
unpredictable 
game 
and 

anything can happen on any 
given night.

Michigan will just need to 

work hard to make Niagara as 
predictable as possible.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Senior forward Justin Selman will be back alongside Boo Nieves and Kyle Connor on a high-scoring line for Michigan.

Niagara at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Niagara 0-5-2; 
Michigan 5-1-1

When: Friday 
7:35 P.M.

Where: Yost 
Ice Arena

TV/Radio: 
MGoBlue.com

“We don’t 
know too 

much of what 

to expect.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan opens 
vs. Binghamton

By BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball 
team 
may 
not 

be 
opening 
with 
marquee 

opposition, but 
playing on back-
to-back days is 
the type of initial challenge coach 
Kim Barnes Arico wants to see 
her team respond to.

Binghamton will visit Crisler 

Center on Saturday for the 
Wolverines’ first game of the 
2015-16 season. Michigan will 
then make the short trip to 
Detroit on Sunday to finish the 
weekend doubleheader.

With the end goal of a return 

to the NCAA Tournament, a place 
they haven’t been since 2013, the 
Wolverines are hoping to grab 
momentum right from the start.

Michigan already appears to be 

firing on all cylinders after several 
players put together impressive 
performances in last Sunday’s 
exhibition win over Ferris State.

The 
Wolverines’ 
freshman 

trio of center Hallie Thome and 
guards Lauren ‘Boogie’ Brozoski 
and Nicole Munger had an instant 
impact against the Bulldogs.

The 
freshmen 
showed 
no 

signs of wearing down against 
Ferris State, but Barnes Arico will 
monitor how her younger players 
deal with the fatigue of playing on 
back-to-back days.

“With the freshmen, it’s going 

to be the grind of the season,” 
Barnes Arico said. “How much 
they can handle bouncing back 
from 
playing, 
then 
playing 

another game a few days later. 
That determines how ready they 
are.”

Neither 
the 
Bearcats 
nor 

Titans are expected to put up a 
huge challenge for the Wolverines 
— the two teams had a combined 
16-44 record in 2014-15 — but 
they will give Barnes Arico the 
first chance to evaluate her young 
players’ fitness.

RULE CHANGES: Saturday 

will also be the first competitive 

matchup for Michigan under the 
new NCAA rules package.

Most changes are related 

to the switch from 20-minute 
halves to 10-minute quarters. 
There will be one media timeout 
at the first stoppage under five 
minutes in each quarter. Team 
fouls will also be accumulated 
by quarter, and teams reach the 
double bonus on the fifth team 
foul of each period.

After made baskets or once 

possession is secured with under 
a minute left in the fourth quarter 
and overtime periods, teams will 
be allowed to advance the ball to 
the frontcourt when a timeout is 
called. The change is meant to 
add exciting possessions at the 
end of games, replicating a similar 
rule used in the WNBA.

Other 
major 
adjustments 

include a reduction in the shot 
clock from 35 to 30 seconds, 
a decrease in allotted team 
timeouts from five to four and a 
policy lessening the frequency 
of hand-check fouls on post 
defenders.

SIGNING 
DAY: 
Michigan 

announced on Wednesday the 
signing of four players for its 2016 
class. Guard Kysre Gondrezick 
has received the most national 
attention. The Benton Harbor, 
Mich., native was ranked No. 70 
in ESPN’s HoopGurlz ratings 
and is regarded as the top-rated 
player in the state. 

Toledo 
Rogers 
teammates 

Akienreh Johnson and KeAsja 
Peace will stay together when 
they arrive in Ann Arbor next 
fall. Johnson, a 6-foot guard, and 
Peace, a 6-foot-3 forward, were 
each given three-star ratings by 
HoopGurlz and will add much-
needed height to Barnes Arico’s 
lineup next season.

Rounding out the class is 

6-foot-1 forward Kayla Robbins. 
The 
Maryland 
native 
is 
a 

natural small forward who has 
great rebounding and shooting 
ability. Robbins, rated No. 93 by 
HoopGurlz, will add versatility 
and athleticism to Michigan.

NOTEBOOK

