You there in the side row, had a question about the college comedy days. First of all, go cats! Second of all, back before the turn of the century, I was fortunate enough to have been involved in NSTV. A little history:
Northwestern Student Television (NSTV) was created as a student run television production company to provide students with an opportunity to produce, write, and direct their own television shows.
NSTV produced three different shows: a game show, “Get a Clue,” a talk show, “Weekly Edition,” and an experimental sitcom called “Stinky’s Pub” that explored improvisation based scripts well before shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” became hits with the same technique.
The production company was prolific: NSTV managed to produce multiple episodes of the game show and talk show, and between nine and twelve episodes of “Stinky’s Pub” per year.
The university became more interested in teaching of television studies, and actor, director, and producer Garry Marshall was generous enough to build a professional quality television studio for students’ use. The television studio was and continues to be a fantastic resource and learning opportunity, but because the space is used for classes, the amount of time allotted for extracurricular use is limited. Ironically, then, the building of the television studio limited the production capacity of NSTV, and the organization decided to change its focus.
In 1995, NSTV ceased to be a production company, and instead directed its energy at producing only one show: a sketch comedy television show, which assumed the title of the former production company. Adhering to a format similar to Saturday Night Live or HBO’s Mr. Show, NSTV, was written, produced, and directed by students, shot at the Garry Marshall studio in front of a live studio audience. NSTV continued to grow and change, experimenting with format, process, and production technique, the writing and performances became more improvisation based.
As studio time became even more limited, NSTV began to shoot more sketches on location. The production values improved immensely, and with the achievement of more experience, the writing and directing of NSTV reached new heights. 1999 and 2000 have brought perhaps NSTV’s most professional episodes yet: clever comedy showcases that have proved to be a great success.
NSTV always promises to be a show full of laughter and entertainment. NSTV is shot on Betacam on location around Chicagoland.
Transcript from ‘Art & Performance’ Magazine:
By, John Tchernev
Even though it’s been around for more than a decade, if you mention the acronym NSTV to most Northwestern students, you’ll most likely get a blank stare. This year, though, the students behind NSTV (short for Northwestern Student Television) hope to gain wider recognition by revamping their creative process and producing some hilarious shows.
This year, NSTV will produce two one-hour SNL-inspired sketch comedy shows. The show, which is entirely acted, written, directed and produced by students, will premiere the first episode on March 9 at Annie May Swift and the second at the end of spring quarter.
The first episode will contain more than 12 sketches, including a parody of The Gap’s “Khakis Swing” ad. Another skit entitled “ESPizza” involves psychics who deliver pizza to people before they order it.
The process behind this year’s shows has changed drastically. This season, head writers Joe Grazulis, a Speech junior, and Robb Emmett, a speech senior, worked together with executive producer Alexander Hughes to integrate aspects of the show’s live and taped productions.
“In the past, the actors were just handed scripts and told to perform,” Joe says. “There was no communication between the people who wrote the jokes and the people who performed them.”
This year, NSTV looked for people who could both act and had an interest in writing to better integrate them in the creative process.
“We chose a cast of people who worked really well together and also had a great deal of creative ability,” Robb says.
The skits are taped on location both on and off campus. “We had to do one shoot at 7am on Deering Field, after a snowfall,” Joe says. “Everyone showed real dedication – they’re willing to do anything to make the sketch good.”
Several of the skits are also quite complex and require significant preparation. One sketch/publicity stunt was taped at The Rock this fall and involved a death-defying bicycle jump by cast member and daredevil “Super Tadd” Wamester, a Weinberg junior. Along with months of intense exercise to prepare “Super Tadd” for the physical exertion of the stunt, setting up for the event required a great deal of effort. Amid the chaos, two cameras were taping, hundreds of curious onlookers were kept under control by security, and emergency medical personnel stood by with fire extinguishers. Luckily, the stunt ran smoothly; no one was injured.
Along with shoot on location, a large portion of NSTV’s winter show was taped in a studio in front of a live audience. “Taping in front of a live audience really enhances the show for the cast,” says studio director Lauren Gussis, a Speech junior. “Having an audience present gives the actors much more energy.”
When it premieres, the format of the show will be different than that of previous years. Along with the integration of writers and actors ant single troupe, several other changes are in the the works.
“Two years ago, the show’s presentation was very similar to ‘Saturday Night Live,’” says Joe, who has written for NSTV for three years. This year, the goal is to provide a unifying therefor the sketches. The winter episode will have an overall theme of changing television channels. Instead of punctuating the beginning and ending of each sketch, the scenes will switch quickly in an effort to create a faster pace.
Another change will be in the kind of humor the show focuses on. “This year we’re making an active effort to avoid the crude gross-out humor of the past in favor of slightly more thoughtful sketches,” says executive producer Alexander Hughes, continuing, “We’re trying not to turn off too many people and go as broad as possible with the humor since this will screen on Evanston Cable after the in-theater premiere,”
The cast and crew’s reactions to the show’s new format and the season in general have been positive. “We’ve had a really good time putting it together,” says Speech junior and cast member Carrie Sipple. “If [the fun we’ve had] comes across to the audience, we’ll really have a fantastic show. a+p
CAST & CREW – CIRCA 1999
Executive Producer: Alexander Hughes
Associate Producers: Shampa Chatterjee, Carey Swanson
Head Writers: Joe Grazulis, Robb Emmett
Actor/Writers: Sam Cassel, Jessica Goldstein, Lauren Markofsky, Karl Muller, Terri O’Reilly, Ethan Sawyer, Kevin Seldon, Carrie Sipple, Tadd Wamester
Writers: Dave Anderson, Chrissy Pietrosh, Prescott Tolk
Editors: Robb Emmett, Joe Grazulis
Studio Co-Director: Lauren Gussis
Technical Director: Michael Lieberman
On-Set/Crew Director: Regina Bunye
Camera Operators: Brian Weiss, Michael Russo, John Tchernev, Paul Jury
Audio Tech: Andrew Suprenant, Benita Naschold
Key Grip: Michael Helenek
Grip: Sean Gannet
Choreographers: Melody Morris, Sara Newcomb
Still Photographer: Diana Brostow
Animation/Graphics: Alexander Hughes, Eric Kutner, Matthew Henkelmann, Robb Emmett, Joe Grazulis
Set/Production Designer: Marshall Layne
Assistant Prod. Designer: Christian Catlin
Costumes/Wardrobe/Props: Catherine Imperatore, Megan Merrill, Melissa Rosen, Carey Swanson
Advertising Coordinators: Dave Krause, Katherine Lippert
Production Assistants: Marisa Wong, Anna Chritopher
Faculty Advisor: Michelle Citron
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