TV/New media
CBS goes young, steals no viewers
- Angela Cesere
BY MARK SCHULTZ
The characters of "Smith" are, to be frank, a bunch of assholes. They deceive their loved ones, taser innocent bystanders and steal expensive paintings, all in the name of their profession. Such are the demanding, high-profile lives of professional thieves. And with "Ocean's Eleven" and its sequel such big hits, it's inevitable that CBS would try to steal some of the audience for a poor man's version with Ray Liotta ("Narc") standing in for George Clooney.
Imran Syed: Survival of the fittest
- Jonathan Duggan
BY IMRAN SYED
The executive decision by "Survivor's" producers to divide up its contestants by race in this, its 13th season, is by now well known. As misguided (and ultimately ineffective) a publicity stunt as that is, the buildup to the premiere involved largely positive dialogue.
Dead on arrival: Fox's latest flop
BY IMRAN SYED
Whose idea was this? No, not this show about newlyweds moving in next door to a miserable older couple, I mean whose idea was it to put Brad Garrett ("Everybody Loves Raymond") in such a demanding lead role? Sure, it's a good deal for Fox that stands to steal fans of Garrett's three-time Emmy-winning turn as Ray Romano's lazily defensive brother, but, should the show fail, Garrett stands to lose that inexplicable air of comedic brilliance it took him a decade to build.
'Shark' bites off too much
- Angela Cesere
BY MARK SCHULTZ
William Shatner recently used "Boston Legal" to gain back a good deal of the credibility he lost from those Priceline.com commercials. So it's not surprising that now-obscure James Woods is trying to do the same thing with his new show "Shark."
Woods plays Sebastian Stark, a vicious criminal defense attorney who has a crisis of conscience and takes on a relatively innocuous new job as a prosecutor. Think of him as an uglier Jerry Maguire, except Stark certainly retains most of his former immorality even after his transformation.
Third-grade 'Class' dismissed
- Morgan Morel
BY IMRAN SYED
There are many solid concepts for sitcoms that just don't pan out. Here is one of them: A group of people who may once have known and even liked each other meet up again years later in a wildly different setting. Comedy ensues.
HBO's 'The Wire': A B'more love story
BY EVAN MCGARVEY
HBO's "The Wire" opened its fourth season by narrowing its scope to a group of four inner-city Baltimore youths. The cusp of manhood, family and friends, burgeoning personalities - at first it seems like so many other nearly maudlin, barely entertaining documents of ending boyhood. Except all the boys are learning how to traffic crack.
HBO's 'The Wire': A B'more love story
BY EVAN MCGARVEY
HBO's "The Wire" opened its fourth season by narrowing its scope to a group of four inner-city Baltimore youths. The cusp of manhood, family and friends, burgeoning personalities - at first it seems like so many other nearly maudlin, barely entertaining documents of ending boyhood. Except all the boys are learning how to traffic crack.
The B-side
Gamer's paradise
The walls are covered with graffiti-esque murals of Mario and Megaman. The shelves contain every imaginable object of the gaming world, from the latest PlayStation 3 releases to the rulebooks to the latest edition of “Dungeons & Dragons.” Welcome to Ann Arbor's gaming Mecca.
Join us
The Daily is always looking for students interested in writing, journalism, photography, multimedia, business or Web development to join its staff. Everyone is welcome.
