Arts ^Entertainment
Matt Woody
Legacy of
‘Star Trek’
carries on
It’s one of television’s longest
running shows, and it just keeps on
going. Some say it lacks the magic it
once had, that its best years are now
behind it.
No, it’s not “Murder, She Wrote.”
It doesn’t look like that will ever
die.
Its Star Irek, which, er, doesn t
look like it will ever die.
Yes, “Star Trek” is alive and well
in the form of two television series
in production, not to mention an
other feature film.
But no longer is the debate be
tween Trekkers one of Kirk vs.
Picard, but rather “Deep Space 9”
vs. “Voyager.”
Just as the answer to the first
question is obvious (Kirk, and his
death in the last movie didn’t do the
character justice), so is the answer
to the second one.
“Deep Space 9,” in its fourth sea
son, is once again the best “Trek” on
television, a status it has enjoyed
since its second season, which also
was the final season of “Star Trek:
The Next Generation.”
“Voyager,” in its second season,
has yet to hit a stride. The “Gilligan’s
Island” bit (the ship and crew, on the
other side of the galaxy, 1 ikely won’t
see home again) seems to have lim
ited the producers. As one fan told
me: “I wish they’d just get off the
island.”
Meanwhile, the dullness of the
plots is matched only by that of the
characters. While plenty of poten
tial for character development has
been introduced, only the holo
graphic doctor has been realized to
any extent.
On the other hand, DS9 was
able to overcome its slow character
development early on with innova
tive and clever scripts.
But “DS9” never got the ratings
that “TNG” did. So executive pro
ducer Rick Berman and his team
pulled out all the stops for this new
season.
They’ve given Avery Brooks’
Capt. Sisko a goatee and shaved
head, making him look like Brooks’
Hawk from “Spenser, For Hire.”
They’ve re-orchestrated the
“DS9” theme song, trying to make it
sound more hip.
And, most noticeably, they’ve
brought in Michael Dorn to reprise
his role as gruff Klingon Lt. Cmdr.
Worf, in an attempt to lure back
some “TNG” viewers.
The changes weren’t needed to
make “DS9” a good show. It already
was. And it hasn’t made it a better
show yet; Worf has barely produced
a blip on the sensors.
Nevertheless, the show’s writers
continue to churn out intriguing and
unpredictable stories.
No one knows what will happen
between the Federation and The Do
minion.
The long-standing peace between
the Federation and the Klingon Em
pire has been shattered.
And Garak, the station’s resident
Cardassian tailor, is as enigmatic as
ever.
Get on board while you still can.
am——h^mbbbk _j
Tanna Kinnaman/DN
Andree Molyneux, BBC producer and director, lectures at Howell Theatre Tuesday.
Good taste
V.yv a.
Filmmaker pushes TV ethics
oy jbh nanuan
Senior Reporter
Andree Molyneux used to think that making
films was simply about making films.
But through her experience as a producer/
director for the British Broadcasting Corp.,
Molyneux has learned to recognize the impor
tance of film and the filmmaker.
And she brought that knowledge to Howell
Theatre Tuesday afternoon with her lecture “TV
and Social Responsibility.”
Employing a combination of speech and vi
sual examples from her catalog of film work for
the BBC, Molyneux discussed the importance of
self-censorship and good judgment in the modem
filmmaker.
“You have a powerful weapon in the screen,”
Molyneux said.
And the screen’s power, she said, is multiplied
by the wide availability of filmmakers’ work on
television around the world.
Molyneux urged future filmmakers in the au
dience to give sincere consideration to even the
smallest details in their work. The result of these
considerations, she said, is a less vulnerable and
more auuienuc representation oi reality.
“When dealing with political subjects, the
drama producer/director is bound to come under
attack from someone,” Molyneux said.
And, in her years of work at the BBC, Molyneux
has been the focus of several points of criticism
because her films have examined British social
and political problems ranging from drug use to
racism in the armed forces to the Catholic-Prot
estant conflict in Northern Ireland.
The best defense against critics, Molyneux
said, are the facts.
“If s not the filmmaker’sjob to pass judgment.
We feed the people information to allow them to
make decisions for themselves.”
Another aspect of self-censorship arises in the
filmmaker’s decision to portray violence and sex
in a blunt or more subtle manner, she said.
“It turns into a question not of morality or
personal beliefs, it’s just a matter of good taste,”
Molyneux said.
But allowing government agencies to censor
film and television is not an answer, she said.
“What it comes down to, and I think it always
has, is the individual. You have the final say in
what you are willing to put up with.”
Comedian Buckley performs tonight
By Patnck Hambrecht
istatt Reporter ~ —
Kathy Buckley, a hearing-impaired comedian,
performs tonight at 8 at Pershing Auditorium.
Buckley was dared by a friend into her first
stand-up performance in 1988, and since then,
she has appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “Comic
Strip Live” and “Live With Regis and Kathy
Lee.” A documentary about Buckley, “I Can
Hear The Laughter,” won an Emmy in 1991.
In addition to her comedy act, Buckley speaks
from personal experience about the challenges
facing the handicapped. From second to seventh
grade, she attended a school for the mentally and
physically handicapped until she was diagnosed
with a hearing impairment.
Buckley was then mainstreamed back into the
regular high school system from which she gradu
ated. She was hit by a lifeguard jeep in a beach
accident, and she struggled with paralysis and
cancer for years.
Preceding Buckley’s act, Dr. Bob Rook will
do impressions and show off the wacky props in
his “doctor’s bag.” Rook graduated from Lincoln
East in 1985, picked up a degree at Wesleyan,
and went on to play a role in the TV miniseries
“Amerika.”
Since “Amerika,” Rook has appeared in “To
Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie
Newmar” and “The Devil Inside.”
Tickets for tonight’s show are available at the
door. Admission is $4.75 for the general public
and $2 for students.
B.B. King
plays tonight
in Omaha
By John Fulwider
Senior Reporter " --
Blues legend (or is that demigod?) B.B.
King will grace Omaha with his presence
tonight.
King, 70, has been singing and playing the
blues for more than 60 years. He takes the
stage at the Orpheum Theater,409 S. 16th St.,
tonight at 7:30.
King started off playing for dimes on the
streets of Itta Bene, Miss., and today is a
seven-time Grammy Award winner with more
than 50 albums to his credit. He was inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Armed with his trademark guitar, Lucille,
King plays on the road 250 days a year. His
average of275 concerts a year have taken him
to more than 15 foreign countries and all
across the United States.
King has given free concerts at more than
50 prisons nationwide. He recorded two live
albums from prison performances: “Live at
Cook County Jail” in 1970 and “Live at San
Quentin” in 1990.
His distinctive style of combining tradi
tional blues, jazz, swing and mainstream pop
has influenced other artists like Mick Jagger,
Eric Clapton and Sting.
King performed with U2’s for “When Love
Comes to Town” off the “Rattle and Hum”
album.
King’s most recent album, “Blues Sum
mit,” won the Grammy Award for Best Tradi
tional Album in 1993. “Blues Summit” in
cludes duets with John Lee Hooker, Koko
Taylor and Joe Louis Walker.
Tickets are still available for S22 and S25.
Two exhibits
open today in
Love, Sheldon
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
Art lovers rejoice! Two art exhibits open
today at UNL, one at the Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery, and the other in Love Library as
a part of the Great Plains Studies Art Collec
tion.
A traveling exhibition entitled “Critiques
of Pure Abstraction” runs through Jan. 7 in the
Sheldon.
“This seemed to be an opportunity to bor
row several works that would be very instruc
tive and beneficial to both the campus and the
general population,” said Daphne Deeds, chief
curator at the Sheldon.
The exhibit features the works of 20 con
temporary artists, in the forms of photographs,
sculptures and paintings, Deeds said.
The Sheldon, located at 12th and R streets,
is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday
evenings 7 to 9, and Sunday 2 to 9 p.m.
In Love Library the works of Paul Goble,
an author-illustrator of children’s books, will
be shown in an exhibit running through Dec.
15.
Martha Kennedy, curator ot the Great Plains
Art Collection, says Goble has always had an
interest in American Indians, although he was
bom and raised in England.
“He was fascinated from boyhood onward,”
Kennedy said, “and this strong interest grew
through extensive research and studying arti
facts in museum and private collections.”
Goble’s works will appeal to many different
people for many different reasons, Kennedy
said.
“His works are vividly colored, beautifully
executed and have fascinatingdetail,” Kennedy
said.
Goble will be available to autograph books
at the Center for Great Plains Studies Art
Collection—located in 205 Love Library—
on Sunday from 3:30 to 5 p.m.