At the MSU Telecasters Big Alumni Bash Saturday, alumni gave current club members advice on how to break into the entertainment business and reminisced about their time at school.
Aaron Bleyaert, who graduated in 2001 with a degree in telecommunication, information studies and media, was one of the five panelists who shared their own experiences working in entertainment. He stressed the importance of a first impression on a potential employer, in addition to the importance of working hard.
Later in the day, the six original cast members of “The Show” told stories about the creation of the show in front of the program’s set.
The romantic dream of growing up, being an actor and moving away to Hollywood when the first chance arrives is still alive and well among the cast of “The Show.”
“The Show” is a sitcom put on by the MSU Telecasters, MSU’s telecommunications club. Created 20 years ago, it is credited as the longest running college sitcom in the nation. David Cooper, the current executive producer of “The Show,” said being involved with the program involves a certain amount of pride.
“Having it going for 20 years, it’s a really cool thing to be a part of,” Cooper said. “Being the producer is really cool and I take a lot of pride in taking part in the experience.”
“The Show” follows a dorm room on the third floor of East Wilson Hall, and the people who cycle through the life of the room. Six cast members play the roles of the different students who come in and out of the room as the years go by.
The dorm is actually a three-walled set in the basement of the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. The only change the set has gone through in the past 20 years is the color of the walls and the posters hanging on them.
The original 6
“The Show” is the brainchild of Greg Harrison and Scott Grayson, who first pitched the idea for the program to the longtime adviser of the MSU Telecasters, Bob Albers. At the MSU Telecasters Big Alumni Bash on Saturday, some of the original cast members reminisced about the early days of “The Show” on the set of the program.
Tom Ingersoll, one of the original cast members, just had one question for the current cast and crew.
“Is it funny yet?” Ingersoll said, laughing.
The first cast and crew had far more ambition than they had talent, or means, to accomplish what they envisioned “The Show” to become, Harrison said. He said the original idea for the program was for it to be taped live, in front of a studio audience and a live band thrown in for spice.
To get the word out about “The Show” during its early days, Harrison said the cast and crew used to do something they called “The Tower of 10.”
“We created a team to (figuratively) bomb classrooms,” Harrison said. “We’d run into classes, make a human pyramid, scream, ‘Coming soon, “The Show!”’ scream and run out and film the whole thing.”
Grayson said the name of “The Show” came about through a mixture of procrastination and lack of originality. During the planning stages for the program, Harrison and Grayson kept putting off thinking of an actual name and referred to their project as “The Show.” When they pitched the program to the Telecasters and Albers, the name just kind of stuck.
The discussion session was used as catharsis for one original cast member who had to settle a longtime grudge with Harrison. Matt Koeplin reminded Harrison of his very first edit during the first episode of “The Show.”
“During ‘Show One,’ I gave you 17 seconds of culture and then it wasn’t there (in the finished episode),” Koeplin said to Harrison. “And you told me, ‘You made show history.’”
The creators, whether still working in entertainment or not, all said they treasured the lessons they learned while creating and working on the program.
“I use things I learned on ‘The Show’ everyday and I’m not even in the industry any more,” said Ingersoll, who is currently a partner in a high-end Massachusetts landscaping firm.
Real life, on-screen and off
During filming for their latest episode called “Night of the Living Drunks,” which is Halloween-themed, an on-location shoot was called for. Keeping with the theme of real-life MSU experience, the crew went for a popular spot on Grand River Avenue — just outside Taco Bell.
The cast and crew looked like 12 friends making an expensive YouTube.com video, joking and laughing at each other, especially when Kale Davidoff chased a witch’s hat that the cold October wind had blown across the street. Dressed in full costumes — a pirate, a fairy and a candy cane princess — the cast and crew received strange looks from passersby, but none of them seem to really notice.
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The current group of cast and crew working on “The Show” all say one thing about working on the sitcom: It’s a lot of fun.
“It’s such a different experience than class,” said Shushanna Uhe, one of the five writers for “The Show” and communication graduate student. “It’s very hands-on, very real world, it’s just really cool.”
Episodes such as “Night of the Living Drunks” aren’t just fun to act in, they prepare the cast for what sort of roles they can become accustomed to playing, actor Hazen Natzmer said.
“It’s a good way to really understand and explore sort of what you’re going to be typecast as,” said theater junior Natzmer, who plays the impulsive resident of the dorm room, Jeff. “When you go out in the world, you’re not going to be playing 40-year-olds, you’re going to be playing college students.”
Michael Jordan, Web director for “The Show” and telecommunication, information studies and media senior, said his four years working on “The Show” and with the MSU Telecasters has given him a perspective on telecommunications he can’t receive inside the classroom.
“I’ve considered it almost like a class, like it’s my most important class,” said Jordan, who was written into “Night of the Living Drunks” as himself. “In my other classes, they kind of teach you the basics … and ‘The Show’ is really where I’m able to apply all that stuff.”
Working on “The Show” is a great starting point for students looking to jump-start careers in Hollywood, writer Dave Suchanek said.
Suchanek, an English senior, said even if he uses the experience as a creative outlet to work with the writing team, it is the equivalent of just sitting down with a group of friends and making jokes.
“It’s a good show and it’s something a lot of people take very seriously,” Suchanek said. “It deserves more attention.”
