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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1998)
Marci tesday • March 3, 1998 Mtk The Battalion jot "m 'il B ■ ■» jllen’ sitcom suffers Nn sexuality content .OS ANGELES (AP) — “Seinfeld,” ch is about nothing, is wrapping up "line-year run covered with glory as 3 most popular sitcom. “Ellen,” a w,»w that is very much about some- (%*V,ig, is dying a slow and painful death. “Seinfeld” isn’t popular because it’s r nit nothing, and ‘Ellen’ isn’t facing can- ation because it has a point to make, difference between the two is more dor makes best of lutterfly’ stomach NEW YORK (AP) — Before show- up at co-star Jack Nicholson’s jse for his first rehearsal, Greg mear was hungry but too nervous know if he should eat or not. “So I decided to wolf down a bowl of aghetti,” Kinnear says in the March f<ue of Entertainment magazine. “It was that kind of nervous eating, read through some scenes, and u -m Jack said, ‘Would you like some •r^d' aghetti?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely! I’m Feu irving! ’ It was uncomfortable eating ” second time, but I dealt with it.” ' ' The ex-host of TV’s Talk Soup re- ^ S vered from the double dinner in '' ae to co-star as Nicholson’s down- -his-luck gay neighbor, a perfor- .ance that won Kinnear a best-sup- ^rting actor nomination. FULL SET 315 B Dominik College Station, Tx. 77840 THE NAIL STATION) opp ^..lor !h« ultimate In acrylic * natural Wl* I II Id CALL. USI (409) 696-6016 #$10.00 OFF# Mention coupon when calling tor appt. expiree 3-31-98 I'ANT TO EARN $$$ AND HELP l ADVANCE SCIENCE? divlduals are needed to participate in a search study investigating factors related to iving accidents. Participants will complete a ^..imbcr of paper-and-pencil and computer- Llministered tests. You will receive $20.00 for (hours of participation. Must be over 25 years d, have good vision (normal or corrected), id a>alid driver’s license. This study is being ■ inducted by researchers in the Psychology epartment of Texas A&M University. If teresied, please call (409) 845-3165 and 'ave your name and phone number. fundamental, at least in TV terms: One is funny, the other isn’t anymore. “I’m gay, the character’s gay and that’s the problem everyone has with the show. It’s just too controversial, no body wants to deal with it,” star Ellen DeGeneres said last week on “Enter tainment Tonight,” the TV program. She’s right when it comes to the network. ABC undoubtedly would love to bid goodbye to the headaches “Ellen” has brought it — but it could n’t, and wouldn’t, if the ratings for the show (9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday) were high enough. There is room on sitcoms for mes sages, sermons, even politics, when they are the seasoning in the stew. But when comedy becomes afterthought, too much is being demanded of viewers. Plots can revolve around teen-age drug use (“Home Improvement”) and drinking (“Boy Meets World” this Fri day), around cancer (“Murphy Brown”) and weight bias (“The Drew Carey Show”) because they are the exception, not the rule. The shows also know to follow the trail blazed by such 1970s TV pio neers as Norman Lear with “All in the Family” and Larry Gelbart with “M-A- S-H”; even racism, death and war can be dressed up as sitcom fodder with humor as the sugar coating. “My take has always been we can tackle any subject as long as we’re not preachy, as long as we remember we’re trying to entertain with it,” says Bruce Helford, executive producer of “Drew Carey” and an alumnus of “Roseanne,” which explored such is sues as domestic abuse. TAMU SCUBA CLUB meeting at ^ Paradise Scuba March 4th @ 7:00pm Free Discover Scuba— Call for Reservations Free Pizza from Double Dave's Guest Speaker on Nitrox Diving Door Prizes Class Specials Everyone Welcome! Scuba Trips Kroger Shopping Center on Texas Ave. 696-DIVE ■Paradise fcSScuba HISTORY CREDIiT. gMSli -r~mi 1 ifiSillL NO ANNUAL FEE SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY STUDENT INT THINK AHEAD. APPLY TODAY." CALL ■•SOO'CITIBANK citibank.com/us/campus © 1998 Citibank (South Dakota), N.A.