UTTV has teamed up with television station The CW (WT05-Toledo) and gathered 15 qualified freshmen together for a reality TV show aptly named “The Freshmen 15.”
Premiering on television in the early morning hours of Monday, March 22, the selected first-year students battled Survivor-style (minus an exotic island) for the grand prize: one semester paid tuition at the university as well as being deemed “the ultimate freshman,” said Carrie Theuring, student president of UTTV and a senior majoring in film.
The show is broken down into eight episodes in which the students will be competing against each other in a series of challenges serving as the elimination procedure. Some situations featured will be a scavenger hunt as well as a cooking competition, which will place all of the freshmen in a challenge to create the best meal as judged by the head chefs at Aramark, UT’s dining and hospitality service. Another challenge, “Lost in U-Hall” sounds exactly like it is.
The Freshmen 15 is a concept drawn up by UT graduate and former UTTV president John Andosca. “We would have rather had it be ‘The Freshmen 50’,” added Andosca jokingly. “We really liked a lot of the students who auditioned, but I am really thrilled with the 15 we have.”
Andosca also produces, directs and edits the show. “It has been challenging to wear that many hats. It can be taxing at times,” he said. “But all in all it’s a great time. There’s a good crew working on the project.” Student government helps organize the events, while UTTV is there to film everything that happens.
Andosca graduated from UT in 2007 with degrees in both communication and film. It was during his time at UT that the concept for the reality show was first birthed. “I wanted to do something for the university while also helping out a student with a financial need,” he said.
Joe Repka, a freshmen contestant on the show called it, “the chance of a lifetime.” Repka is majoring in communication at UT and hopes to one day go into radio broadcasting.
“An opportunity like [The Freshmen 15] is one of the greatest encounters one can have during the college experience,” Repka said. “I have made a number of great friends and the chance to win a semester’s tuition is incredible.” He likened the experience to that of “Big Brother,” a CBS reality show.
The 15 freshmen were chosen by a panel of judges last semester.
According to Theuring the judges, including Andosca, were looking for academic students who were personable and fun to be around.
“UTTV’s job for the show is to provide the film crew,” Theuring said. UTTV began filming for the show shortly after winter break and does most of the shooting on weekends. “We have a pretty solid crew of eight, working on most shoots. But some people volunteer to help out.”
Theuring went on to say the filming is always an enjoyable time. “The freshmen contestants are great to work with,” she said. “Aside from normal, technical issues, we really have no difficulties when filming.”
As for the future of the show, Andosca hopes to continue into another season. “I have a lot of new ideas,” he said. “But for now, we’ll just take things one step at a time.”
–Full episodes of “The Freshmen 15” will be viewable on the show’s Web site, www.f15Show.com.
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