A two-man camera crew accompanied two comedian hosts around UA hotspots last night in search of the footage that will land them, and the UA, a television special.
Despite the confusion, no, MTV did not visit Coronado Residence Hall last night.
But comedians from L.A. visited the residence hall to create a humorous show depicting life at the UA, which will be proposed to several major networks, including MTV, Comedy Central, E! and Spike, said co-host and co-creator KT Tatara.
“”College Life: A guide to the U of A,”” is the tentative title to what Tatara said will be a “”travel-doc show, sort of ‘Wild On’ meets ‘Insomnia’ goes to college,”” describing college life at the UA.
“”Anyone can read the brochures and see statistics,”” Tatara said. “”This would be the stuff beyond the brochure.””
The UA was a prime location because of its close proximity to L.A. and its quintessential college nightlife, said co-host and comedian Justin Berkman.
“”We’re looking for a big school in a college town,”” Berkman said. “”Based on what we were looking for, we thought the U of A fit great.””
Berkman is familiar with Tucson from his prior visit to perform at comedy club Laffs, where he experienced the nightlife in the UA area.
“”To me, Fourth Avenue is very college-esque,”” Berkman said. “”The U of A has a fun social atmosphere with a big research institute.””
The UA’s “”fun social atmosphere”” has it ranked in the top 20 party schools for 2007, “”based on a combination of survey questions concerning the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day and the popularity of the greek system,”” according to the Princeton Review.
UA also makes the top-20 cut for its use of hard liquor and of beer, ranked 11 and 19 respectively.
Berkman and Tatara paid a visit to Coronado escorted by an entourage of resident assistants and hall directors.
“”Coronado has a reputation,”” Berkman said. “”Whenever we mention that we’re stopping by Coronado people laugh. You have to wonder why.””
Ahmad Fakhouri, a psychology junior and Coronado RA, said Coronado’s reputation is unwarranted.
“”If it was true, I’d have quit a long time ago,”” Fakhouri said. “”People come because they think it’s OK to party here, but we show them that it’s not.””
But Carolyn Parston, an undeclared freshman and Residence Hall Association representative, said because the hall has the largest number of students, it has the “”greatest amount of drama.””
Jake Kasper, the graduate hall director of Coronado, said about 650 students live in Coronado, more than in any other residence hall.
The size contributes to the hall’s diversity, Kasper said.
After touring the hall and squeezing in a game of foosball with the RAs last night, the comedians rendezvoused with the UA’s hip-hop and tap dance teams in the Stevie Eller Dance Theater, as well as the UA band and cheerleaders, Berkman said.
“”We’ll interview some parents tomorrow, go to the pep rally and football game,”” Berkman said. “”The band said we could be their kind of special guests. We’re trying to pack in as much as we can to get a glimpse of the Wildcat experience.””
Gaining camera access to the UA campus was one thing they were “”pleasantly surprised by,”” Berkman said.
“”Everyone has been really helpful,”” Berkman said. “”The agency helped us get permission to film on campus from UA lawyers.””
The next step is to compile the footage collected and take it to the networks for approval, Berkman said.
“”The final details of the show are still up in the air,”” Berkman said. “”We’ll most likely have to do it again.””