Last year’s collection of Super Bowl commercials was awful, and while this year’s collection wasn’t totally impressive, it was a big step up creatively.

The big winners: Chevrolet, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia, Audi and Bridgestone (pretty much anything car related). Audi kicked it off in style with stylish hounds, a luxury prison, and Kenny G. Chevrolet impressed with the Lassie nostalgia bit, something usually dominated by Budweiser. Kia’s epic ride commercial was nothing short of its billing, and Bridgestone had a couple creative ones involving the beaver and the emails (not nearly as dirty as it sounds). Little Darth Vader stole the show in Volkswagen’s ad, by far the cutest one of the night.

The most impressive one, however, was from Chrysler. Going for the serious bit, their profile of Detroit and the hopeful resurrection of the American auto industry was stirring. Eminem, who was a clown during the Brisk ad, represented the Motor City well, and though I have no idea what their new cars are going to be like, I felt confident that they are heading in the right direction.

While the pile of garbage this year is smaller than last year, we couldn’t escape some terrible excuses for ads.

Doritos should be ashamed. In their three years of serious Super Bowl advertising, their one good commercial came this year, involving the use of Dorito crumbs as a reviver. Otherwise, their ads are mean, painful to watch, and sometimes revolting (i.e. licking Dorito dust off another person’s finger/pants).

Snickers, E*Trade, and CareerBuilder.com have had some winning spots over the past few years, but this year saw a return of the talking baby, monkey bosses, and obscure celebrities behaving badly due to hunger. It doesn’t work more than once.

What happened to Coke and Pepsi? Coke went twice for the cuteness factor, only to come off as boring despite vivid colors and decent premises. Pepsi’s bits were stereotyping both men and women, and none of their commercials were clever.

By Alex Sercel and Christian Romo

1/24/2011

Children and pre-teen television programming has developed a couple new faces recently. Recently, there’s been a renaissance of hand-drawn cartoons, most notably on Cartoon Network, aimed at the very generation that created the demand for entire channels of children’s programming. Shows like Animaniacs, Rugrats, and SpongeBob Squarepants brought us into the animated realm; Adventure Time with Finn and Jake and Regular Show are slowly bringing us back.

AS: Cartoon Network’s animated series Adventure Time with Finn and Jake is one of the best shows on television.  Adventure Time chronicles the adventures of its two main characters, Finn the human and Jake the dog, as they explore the Land of Ooo.  Finn is a twelve-year-old boy whose main motivation in life is to slay evil; Jake is a magic dog with the ability to change the size and shape of his body at will. 

What sets Adventure Time apart from all other animated shows on the air today is Finn’s sense of right and wrong.  Finn follows a strict moral code which leads him to defend the innocent and to vanquish wrong-doers.  Besides the morality, the show is surprisingly funny.  The sense of humor is often bizarre to say the least, but Adventure Time is a joy to watch.  Its vibrant animation and quirky writing make it an excellent series which has something everyone will enjoy.  A

CR: On the surface, Regular Show is a typical buddy comedy about a stoic blue jay named Mordecai and an eccentric raccoon named Rigby. The twenty-something bff’s work for and rent from Benson, the ill-tempered gumball machine, and are periodically visited by Skips the yeti, Pops the jolly British lollipop-shaped man, the High Five Ghost, Muscle Man, and Margaret the cardinal, Mordecai’s love interest. It’s a bizarre premise for a TV-PG rated show, but it has also caught our interest.

The interactions between Mordecai and Rigby are a little like that of Dag and Norbert from The Angry Beavers, but other than that it’s hard to find something that isn’t completely unique. In the show’s pilot episode, the two heroes create a choreographed dance routine with the help of a magical keyboard to coerce their friends to give them money. Rigby, however, abuses the power and accidently sends Skips, a bunch of baby ducks, and a soda machine to the Moon. It would take an inordinate amount of space to describe the rest of the plot.

Regular Show is undoubtedly targeted to males 13-24, but it brings me back to Saturday mornings, sugary cereal, and staying in my pajamas until lunchtime. It’s a landmark achievement, and I look forward to continue watching. B+

By Julian Vischer and Tim Nguyen

11/1/10

Outsourced is the most recent sitcom added to the NBC “Comedy Thursday” line-up. It’s a show about an American employee of a novelties company who must move to Mumbai, India to keep his position. The premise is that he must work with his Indian employees and explain to them the American culture while trying to understand the Indian culture himself. 

The show stars Ben Rappaport as Todd Dempsey, the Kansas-born native who must transfer to India to be the head of a company called Mid America Novelties. Second in command is Rajiv Gidwani, played by Rizwan Manji, who is sarcastic, stern, and always looking to get Todd’s job as manager. Todd has some very unusual employees. Take Manmeet, for example, played by Sacha Dhawan, a master flirter on the phone but a goofball when he meets women in person. Gupta, played by Parvesh Cheena, can never stop talking, but does have a sensitive side. Asha, played by Rebecca Hazlewood, is Todd’s love interest. Todd actively tries to pursue her but is hindered by her arranged marriage ideals. Todd finds familiarity in Charlie, another American manager who had to be transferred.

TN: Already into its sixth episode, I have grown to enjoy this series. It has quite a charm to it. It is not one of those slapstick or random sitcoms like The Office or 30 Rock. It ran a little slow at the beginning, but it is starting to build up. It has its quirks and moments. Ben Rappaport plays the charming manager well, and his relationship with Asha is beginning to grow. The story for Outsourced has started off slowly, but it could definitely end with a bang. B

JV: I can’t stand Outsourced. Every joke is based around the fact that Indian culture is different from American culture. Seriously, how many times do we need to hear Todd Dempsey say “Oh my God…” to which Gupta replies “Which one?” The jokes get old fast and I am ashamed to see that people would rather watch this trash than NBC’s Parks and Recreation, which it replaced. My Thursday night line-up used to be perfect with Community, 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Recreation, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and finally a recorded episode of South Park from the night before. Outsourced is quickly turning from a minor annoyance to an obnoxious stain on the formerly pristine shirt of television. NBC, I am disappointed. D-