NBC's Tommy Lee goes to College:
Test Questions
Answer either (1) or (2), in essay form:
1. Why?
2. Seriously, why?
Answer three (3) of the following questions:
1. The hot blonde tutor versus the chubby brunette tutor. Contrast and compare, with reference to worn-out adolescent jokes.
2. The producers have crossed The Simple Life with Porky's - badly. Agree or disagree?
3. Define the following terms: tight, killer, rad, crackin'.
4. Is this: (a) a reality show? or (b) an unscripted comedy?
If (a) justify use of crane shots.
If (b) explain where the comedy went. Use examples.
5. Tommy Lee's presence on a Nebraska campus is less shocking for his plethora of tattoos and piercings than it is for his advanced age, dripping nose and eye bags. Discuss.
Multiple choice section:
1. Making Tommy report to a professor called Dr Gay is:
a) hilarious - the dude's name is Gay!
b) sort of amusing
c) I'm sorry, I'm in a coma
2. Showing the reactions of students to Tommy walking round campus is:
a) hilarious - they're freaking out, cos it's Tommy!
b) interesting the first time
c) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
3. Tommy proves that higher education is:
a) a valuable commodity in today's market
b) something way too hard to understand
c) anyone got some blow?
Please hand in all tests before the end of class. Extra marks will be given for those who can correctly predict the date at which NBC considers pulling the series due to low ratings.
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Article comments
1 - Webbie
". The producers have crossed The Simple Life with Porky's..."
Got it in one.
NBC were hoping that this would be their version of The Simple Life but it has backfired.
Instead of them getting what they were hoping for (party animal, rock and roll rebel lifestyle/trash everything) they got a grown up rocker who does occasionally wander but is taking this seriously and is actually trying. Especially on the drum line - taking that VERY seriously.
If Tommy Lee keeps this up - buckling down a bit, trying to learn something, behaving himself. Then I can't see it lasting.
They want: "WOOH ! PAAARTY ! SHOW YOUR BOOBS !"
We want: Yet another celeb reality show.. ?
I don't want either thank you.
2 - teletart
Agreed, Webbie! Mr Lee, bless him, just isn't naturally funny or outrageous enough to justify the whole premise. He's gotta be the thing that drives the show, and he's just too passive. And hint to producers: when you tell us that Tommy is going to 'pimp' his dorm room, it's ultimately not so interesting to have a team of makeover experts arrive to do it. And I repeat... zzzzzzzzzz
3 - Bob A. Booey
I disagree, darling.
I thought the show was fairly enjoyable, but I may be one of those stupid male somewhat recent college grads who can relate to Porky's meets Simple Life. I'm a bit of a sucker for reality TV, though, so maybe I have lower standards for what's amusing.
Tommy comes off like kind of a sweet guy on the show and it's somewhat amusing to see him try to keep up in classes -- the "Eye of the Tiger" studying montage was pretty good self-referential genre irony.
From what I understand, NBC's agreement with Nebraska as well as the focus of the show meant that the show won't be a bunch of drunken frat parties, amateur porn films, and stupidity.
The "hot tutor" thing is a little overfocused in the show, I agree. It turns out that the "hot tutor" girl is an example of the beauty pageant chicks that were debated on Teletart's other topic -- she was a runner-up Miss Nebraska 2005 and has been doing them for years. She's also going to medical school in the fall, but beauty pageants have nothing to do with that. She's kinda hot, but not super-hot. Tommy's had so many hotter women he probably doesn't even notice anymore.
I do think it sucks a little bit that the show is based on a false premise somewhat. Tommy was never enrolled for credit, showed up in the middle of a semester, wasn't being graded in any of the 3 classes he was auditing (chem, horticulture, and English), and stayed for only 2 months.
I think the ratings will be pretty decent. We'll find out soon, I guess.
That is all.