As soon as the infamously politically incor-rect cartoon Family Guy came out on DVD after previously being cancelled by the Fox network, its sales soared and the show became a hit. It had finally received the acclaim it had been asking for since its debut. After three seasons of lovingly poking fun at every race, age, class and gender possible, it was pulled from the airwaves due to its grown-up language and controversial comments regard-ing religion, sexual preferences and the physi-cally disabled. Fox thought the show was too risqué for its network and did not want to have anything to do with it. That is, of course, until tremendous sales in DVDs, posters, t-shirts and plush dolls started to bring in more money for the show’s name. Soon Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy creator/writer and the voice of Brian, Stewie and Peter Griffin, was invited back to the network that made him famous. The two kissed and made up, and it was decided that Family Guy would be “uncancelled” (as Fox’s website announced it) and will re-premiere on May 1, 2005. In the three years since the show’s cancellation, reruns have been sporadically played to fill space, most-ly in the past few months, but May 1st will mark the first new episode since February of 2002. The show is expected to continue its success once it comes back on the air, but in the off-chance that it doesn’t, MacFarlane has another project up his sleeve to double his chances this year of being invited to Fox’s Christmas party. Just like its big brother, American Dad was born right after the Super Bowl. With new characters and a new idea, American Dad appears to be a much cleaner show than Family Guy was, but

isn’t as original. The new show is about the Smiths, an aver-age American family. There is the perfect stay-at-home mom, the military dad who works for the CIA, the liberal teenage daughter and the pre-pubescent teenage son with glasses. The talk-ing family pets are now a goldfish and Roger the Alien. It was obvious that American Dad was trying to follow the successful formula of its predeces-sor but without familiar, lovable characters it appeared as though it was trying too hard. One of the tricks that Family Guy was able to execute flawlessly was cutting away for moments at a time in order to show a scene referenced by a character. The most used “cut away” goes something like “Hey! Remember that time when (fill in the blank),” and the referenced incident is played right from the character’s memory. This random and often unnecessary effect was what made Family Guy adored and unique. On one

hand it would be too easy for American Dad to try the same trick, but on the other, that’s one of the things the show is missing. American Dad had a few hilarious moments, but when you’re waiting for a main course of veal Parmesan with a side of angel-hair pasta, you don’t want a chicken nugget dipped in tomato juice served with a piece of macaroni. When it comes down to it, American Dad would be a great alternative in a world where there never was a Family Guy. But come May 1 when Family Guy returns followed by new episodes of American Dad, why stick around to see the opening act if it airs after the main event? Sure both shows can be watched and loved, but when the going gets tough and shows have to be written, MacFarlane and his staff of writ-ers won’t necessarily be giving the Griffin family the attention they rightly deserve if they need to worry about what jokes to give the Smiths that week.

Hide the children and say your prayers, the end is nigh! ‘Why?’ you might ask. William Shatner, the man formerly known as Captain Kirk, has released a new album entitled Has Been and, here comes the weird part, it’s not half bad. Yes, hell has truly frozen over. For those who remember Shatner for his acting career, as opposed to his musi-cal abilities, his style is a combination of spoken-word vocals and rock, jazz and country instrumentals. The lyrics have a poetic feel and are read with an actor’s pre-cision by Shatner himself. They are backed up competently by musical arrangements composed by none other than musical genius Ben Folds. Folds’ involvement is the glue that holds Has Been together. Shatner’s spo-ken-word delivery is a difficult one to accompany, but Folds backs him up with precision and grace. Most importantly, his musical arrangements do not compete with Shatner’s emotional rhetoric. Rather, Folds complements the personal numbers, such as “It Hasn’t Happened Yet” and “That’s Me Trying,” with soft, piano-driven melodies and kick-starts the more tongue-in-cheek ones, like “Common People,” and “Ideal Woman,” with rol-licking guitar-led assaults. Without him, this album could have become the joke many thought it would be. While Folds may be ultimately respon-sible for Has Been’s success, Shatner’s own contributions cannot be overlooked. His lyrics are like diary entries that paint the picture of a man looking back on his life

while worrying about his own death. Such a personal approach to song-writing can often kill an album’s momentum, but Shatner has lived an incredibly interesting life and his candidness draws the listener in. Also, his lyrics are humble and avoid alienating his audience. This can be heard on the track, “Real.” “I have saved the world in the movies/So, naturally, there’s folks who think I must know what to do/But just because you’ve seen me on your TV/Doesn’t mean I’m any more enlight-ened than you.” Despite its strengths, Has Been is still far from perfect. There are a few tracks that just don’t work. Among these is Shatner’s duet with Henry Rollins, “I Can’t Get Behind That.” The pair’s furi-ous vocal delivery coupled with Folds’ jazzy backing end up creating nothing but chaos. Shatner’s reading of a list of dead celebrities in “You’ll Have Time” just feels wrong. After saying each name, he has a gospel choir chant the word “Dead!”. The lyrics are meant to inform listeners that they should “Live life like you’re gonna die/Because you’re gonna,” but it’s also distasteful and only serves to elicit a cheap laugh. Despite these shortcomings, Has Been is still an excellent album. The songs are well arranged musically and Shatner’s vocals work well in this kind of atmo-sphere. So, to all those who scoffed at this CD, swallow your pride and give Has Been a listen. You just might enjoy yourself. Now we just have to worry about that whole Armageddon thing…

6 7Friday, February 11, 2005

‘Homecoming’ to find home in Yvonne Theater

With only five minutes before she had to be in class, junior Kim Hausler sat down in the Fine Arts secretary’s office and began reading the play The Homecoming. Act I, Scene I. With her coat on and her book bag still slung over her shoulder, she flipped through the pages, confused about what she was reading. “I kept going and I kept seeing all these silences,” she said. “I was like, ‘What the heck are all these pauses about?’” That was before Hausler auditioned and was cast as Ruth, the only female role in Rider’s pro-duction of the play. Written by Harold Pinter, The Homecoming is a story in which silence is sometimes more important than words. “Pinter is a very specific writer. He literally writes in pauses where he thinks the actor should take a moment and reflect on something,” she said. “My character, she talks very little. For the most part, I’m listening and I think I’m still able to say just as much when I am not speaking.” Set in the 1950s, the play tells the tale of Teddy (junior Matt Cook) returning home to Northern England with his wife of six years, Ruth, who his family has never met. Conflict arises when Teddy’s brothers become interested in Ruth. “It deals with the role of a woman in an all-male household. It asks, ‘what is the role of a

woman in general and then what is the role of a man?’” she said. “It is interesting to see how all these brothers, sons and uncles and such com-pete for affection and compete for power.” The character of Sam, one of Teddy’s broth-ers will be portrayed by freshman Joe Sabatino. According to him, it is a unique drama because there are no minor characters. “Everybody in this show holds a secret or a clue,” he said. “If you took one character out of this show, nothing would work at all.” Pinter’s complex set of characters is one of the aspects that makes the story so interpretive. Hausler said that it is up to the audience to decide who “comes out on top.” “Who the victims are and who the aggressors are changes from moment to moment. They all sort of lose something and they all sort of gain something in the end,” she said. “The characters contradict themselves all the time. Their opin-ions change constantly.” The audience should not be “swayed” by what they see on the surface, according to theater adjunct and director Brian Chichoki. “What’s happening in the play is seem-ingly bizarre. This particular family, these men I should say, because it’s a family of men, are verbally quite brutal with one another,” he said. “What is said is not always what is meant and, though on the surface, these things seem funny but it’s important that the audience understands what’s happening underneath.” Chichoki said that he was inspired by the

English department to choose The Homecoming, which is Pinter’s most famous work, as his Rider directorial debut. “It was brought to my attention that the English department and the theater department were hoping to be a little more in connection with each other,” he said. “Pinter was one of the author’s the English department was interested in featuring.” Though the drama is centered around seri-ous themes and is not categorized as a comedy, it offers the humor to the audience members who pay attention, said Sabatino. “A lot of people go to a play and expect to be fascinated by the fancy dialog and the side-splitting humor and the flashing lights,” he said. “This is a play where if you go, and you watch and you listen, then its going to be hilarious.” Viewers may find themselves relating to what they see on stage. Everything that happens in the play happens can happen in real life, said Chichoki. “To quote Pinter, it’s about ‘love and lack of love.’ People really do this stuff,” he said. “This is the epitome of a dark comedy. These things really happen.” While putting together the production, Chichoki said, he and the actors are being cautious not to provide the audience with any answers. “You have to preserve the ambiguity of the script,” he said. “I hope the audience gets a good laugh and is disturbed at the same time.”

Why would a boatload of pirates attack a boatload of sci-entists? Because another pirate told them there was treasure on board, of course. Although this rationale may seem faulty to non-pirates (i.e: everyone), in the world of Gideon Defoe’s debut novella, The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists, it makes perfect sense. This short novella follows the piratical and often stupid adventures of the dashing Pirate Captain and his crew. The crew is a salty lot, composed of humorously named and, at times, literally disposable pirates, including the pirate who acts like a hippie, the sassy pirate and “the stupid pirate who had got in the Pirate Captain’s way when he was trying to eat pancakes.” On a tip from pirate rival Black Bellamy, the crew boards the HMS Beagle en route to the Galapagos Islands, expecting to find gold. Instead, they find a young Charles Darwin and his pet monkey, Mister Bobo, a trained gentle-monkey that com-municates with an impossibly eloquent array of flashcards. If it sounds confusing—well, it is. Catch 22-style logic per-vades the plot, which barrels along at a madcap pace from the West Indies to the dark streets of London. Throughout it all, Defoe’s wit is razor-edged. While in London, the Pirates disguise themselves as scien-tists so that Darwin can report his findings concerning Mister Bobo (apparently, evolution wasn’t his first theory). While there, the Pirate Captain chats with James Glaisher, one of the first meteorologists, who used a dirigible to conduct experiments. The very concept of a floating, cannon-less ship mystifies the Pirate Captain: “‘So what on earth is it for?’ asked the Pirate Captain. ‘For? What is all science “for”!’ exclaimed the scientist. ‘Pushing back frontiers! The thrill of discovery! Advancing the sum total of human knowledge and endeavor! And looking down ladies’ tops.’” In this way, the ridiculous adventures of the pirates disguised as scientists (later disguised as scientists, disguised as ladies) are interspersed with tidbits of actual science, ranging from the atomic weight of Osmium to the prevalence of trilobites in the Prague Natural History Museum. The Pirates!, which Defoe wrote to convince a woman to leave her boyfriend for him, has only a few failings: one, it’s only 130 pages long and ends too soon; two, the $15.95 price tag is too steep for such a short book; and three, the juvenile humor might turn off mature, serious-minded readers. If the spray of the salty sea, the gleaming instruments of science and king-sized portions of Monty Python humor sounds appealing, then pick up a copy of The Pirates! and set a course for adventure, which, defined by the Pirate Captain for those who don’t know in which direction adventure lies, means south.

‘Pirates!’ of the brainy deep

Americans favor ‘Family’ values

By Lacey Korevec

By Charlie Olson

Shatner no longer a ‘Has Been’

Photo by Pete Borg

By Jodi Cantor

Photo copyright 20th Century Fox Television

A preview of the new show American Dad was shown on Fox following the Super Bowl on Sun-day Feb. 6. The show will premiere on Sunday, May 1.

Photo copyright Shout! Factory

William Shatner’s album, Has Been was released in October.

Photo copyright Pantheon

1. Has Been - William Shatner2. American Idiot - Green Day3. From a Basement on the Hill - Elliott Smith4. Collision Course - Linkin Park & Jay-Z5. Shake the Sheets - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists6. Ascendancy - Trivium7. Hide Nothing - Further Seems Forever8. More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley9. Almost Here - The Academy Is10. Vehicles & Animals - Athlete

The Homecoming, directed by Brian Chichoki will open on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m., in the Yvonne Theater.

By Bill Greenwood