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 âThe Show.â
âThe Showâ is a sitcom put on by the MSU Telecasters, MSUâs 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 âThe Show,â said being involved with the program involves a certain amount of pride.
âHaving it going for 20 years, itâs a really cool thing to be a part of,â Cooper said. âBeing the producer is really cool and I take a lot of pride in taking part in the experience.â
âThe Showâ 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
âThe Showâ 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 âThe Showâ on the set of the program.
Tom Ingersoll, one of the original cast members, just had one question for the current cast and crew.
âIs it funny yet?â Ingersoll said, laughing.
The first cast and crew had far more ambition than they had talent, or means, to accomplish what they envisioned âThe Showâ 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 âThe Showâ during its early days, Harrison said the cast and crew used to do something they called âThe Tower of 10.â
âWe created a team to (figuratively) bomb classrooms,â Harrison said. âWeâd run into classes, make a human pyramid, scream, âComing soon, âThe Show!ââ scream and run out and film the whole thing.â
Grayson said the name of âThe Showâ 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 âThe Show.â 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 âThe Show.â
âDuring âShow One,â I gave you 17 seconds of culture and then it wasnât there (in the finished episode),â Koeplin said to Harrison. âAnd you told me, âYou made show history.ââ
The creators, whether still working in entertainment or not, all said they treasured the lessons they learned while creating and working on the program.
âI use things I learned on âThe Showâ everyday and Iâm not even in the industry any more,â 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 âNight of the Living Drunks,â 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 â 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 witchâs hat that the cold October wind had blown across the street. Dressed in full costumes â a pirate, a fairy and a candy cane princess â 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 âThe Showâ all say one thing about working on the sitcom: Itâs a lot of fun.
âItâs such a different experience than class,â said Shushanna Uhe, one of the five writers for âThe Showâ and communication graduate student. âItâs very hands-on, very real world, itâs just really cool.â
Episodes such as âNight of the Living Drunksâ arenât just fun to act in, they prepare the cast for what sort of roles they can become accustomed to playing, actor Hazen Natzmer said.
âItâs a good way to really understand and explore sort of what youâre going to be typecast as,â said theater junior Natzmer, who plays the impulsive resident of the dorm room, Jeff. âWhen you go out in the world, youâre not going to be playing 40-year-olds, youâre going to be playing college students.â
Michael Jordan, Web director for âThe Showâ and telecommunication, information studies and media senior, said his four years working on âThe Showâ and with the MSU Telecasters has given him a perspective on telecommunications he canât receive inside the classroom.
âIâve considered it almost like a class, like itâs my most important class,â said Jordan, who was written into âNight of the Living Drunksâ as himself. âIn my other classes, they kind of teach you the basics ⊠and âThe Showâ is really where Iâm able to apply all that stuff.â
Working on âThe Showâ 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.
âItâs a good show and itâs something a lot of people take very seriously,â Suchanek said. âIt deserves more attention.â
Discussion
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