Harvard Undergraduate Television (HUTV) was a
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
student television station
A student television station is a television station run by university, high or middle school students that primarily airs school/university news and in many cases, student-produced soap operas, entertainment shows, and other programming.
At the h ...
broadcasting to the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
between 2009 and 2013.
HUTV carried original, student-produced content from eleven shows and from individual Harvard students. HUTV shows included
''Ivory Tower'', ''On Harvard Time'' (an award-winning comedy news show
[2008-12-29.]
OHT Wins Pan-Ivy Recognition!
" The On Harvard Time Blog. Retrieved on 2009-04-17.), and video reports by ''
The Harvard Crimson
''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...
'' (Harvard's daily student newspaper). The network had a full production studio and post-production editing facilities in
Pforzheimer House
Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (''FOE-hoe'') and formerly named North House, is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr, major University and Radc ...
, a Harvard dormitory.
[Shen, Brian (2009-03-16).]
Inside the vision to reinvent Harvard's television
. ''The Harvard Voice''. Retrieved on 2009-04-17. HUTV last updated its programming and website in 2013, and is now defunct.
HUTV, under the guidance of co-President Derek Flanzraich, replaced then-defunct Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV) on April 6, 2009, inheriting HRTV's shows and staff.
History
Harvard-Radcliffe Film Workshop (HRFW)
In 1975, Bob Doyle who was then working as a
research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...
in Harvard's Department of
Visual and Environmental Studies, founded the Harvard-Radcliffe Film Workshop (HRFW), which offered
filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
instruction and
film screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle. To show the film to best advantage, special screenings may take place in plush, low seat-cou ...
s in the Morse Music Library in the basement of
Pforzheimer House
Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (''FOE-hoe'') and formerly named North House, is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr, major University and Radc ...
, which was then known as North House.
[Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV)](_blank)
at Desktop Video Group. Retrieved on 2009-04-17.
In the 1980s, Doyle helped form th
to "support undergraduate
video production
Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
and television distribution" at
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Universities.
Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV)
In 1992, Emily Brodsky founded Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV).
That same year,
''Ivory Tower'', the
Ivy League's oldest
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, became one of HRTV's first shows.
[Estes, Adam Clark (2009-01-13).]
The Birth, Death, and Soggy Afterlife of Ivy Soaps
" IvyGate Blog. Retrieved on 2009-04-17.
Until 1996, HRTV's shows were
edited
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
using Desktop Video Group equipment. In 1996, the Morse Music Library, which had previously been the site of HRFW's instruction sessions and film screenings, was re-organized into a
television studio
A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for t ...
for HRTV, overseen by Doyle and aided financially by
Pforzheimer House
Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (''FOE-hoe'') and formerly named North House, is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr, major University and Radc ...
.
In its early years, HRTV screened its shows in dormitory common rooms and dining halls,
as well as on various
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
Public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
channels. In 2006, HRTV began posting all of its shows exclusively online, though episodes of ''
Ivory Tower
An ivory tower is a metaphorical place—or an atmosphere—where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits, usually mental and esoteric ones. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an e ...
'' had been posted online before then.
Several prominent Harvard
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
in the film and television industries have been members of the HRTV Honorary Board of Advisers, including
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
,
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
,
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995).
She also starred in the films ...
,
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
,
Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), '' Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' B ...
, and
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...
.
Harvard Undergraduate Television (HUTV)
On April 6, 2009, HRTV relaunched as Harvard Undergraduate Television, under the direction of co-president Derek Flanzraich.
The transformation included a new website and a short promotional video featuring Harvard professor and prominent psychologist
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.
P ...
smashing a television and telling viewers to "get with the times" by watching television online.
Current Shows
HUTV Productions
HUTV currently produces eight shows.
[Home page](_blank)
on HUTV's site. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
*''Ivory Tower'' - Created in 1992 by Sara Alexandra Bibel and Andrea N. Moore,
''Ivory Tower'' is HUTV's longest-running show and the
Ivy League's oldest
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, and according to the show's staff the oldest college soap opera. In fall 2008, ''Ivory Tower'' switched from a soap opera format to a
situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
format. It has been popular not only on the Harvard campus but also, since being posted online, in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
.
[About ''Ivory Tower''](_blank)
at HUTV's site. Retrieved on 2009-04-17.
*''Respectably French!'' - A
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
show created by Nicholas Krasney, Ho Tuan, and Matthew Tai, ''Respectably French!'' is currently in its fifth season. In addition to popular sketch comedy programming, the show has interviewed and been endorsed by
celebrities
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
such as
Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1995, acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series '' Weeds'', and pr ...
of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'',
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...
of
Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
,
Homestar Runner
''Homestar Runner'' is an American Flash animated comedy web series and website created by Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps. The series centers on the adventures of a large and diverse cast of characters, headed by ...
, and
Pleasureman Gunther
''Pleasureman'' is the only album by Swedish singer Günther. The album was originally released in Sweden in 2004, and an uncensored American version was released by Warner Bros. Records in 2006. In 2007, the album was released in Japan.
Trac ...
. In 2008, Respectably French! has also covered
ROFLCon and the
2008 Republican National Convention
The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...
.
*''On Harvard Time'' - HUTV's
satirical news show, modeled after ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'', presents and comments on news at Harvard in a
comedic
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
fashion. Currently in its fourth season, ''On Harvard Time'' produces weekly episodes as well as periodic humorous interviews with both Harvard and national public figures, such as Harvard
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
of
Admissions William Fitzsimmons,
Deputy White House Chief of Staff
The White House deputy chief of staff is officially the top aide to the White House chief of staff, who is the senior aide to the president of the United States. The deputy chief of staff usually has an office in the West Wing and is responsible ...
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...
, and 2008
U.S. Presidential candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* t ...
Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...
. ''On Harvard Time's'' November 2008 "Harvard Yale Aid" video, mocking
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
before the annual
Harvard-Yale football game, was named 2008
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...
Video of the Year by
IvyGate Blog.
[All ''On Harvard Time'' Videos]
" at HUTV's site. Retrieved on 2009-04-19. Founded and created by Derek Flanzraich in 2006, today it is "HUTV's most popular show."
*''Crimson Edition'' - A long-form news
documentary show, ''Crimson Edition'' made its debut in 1995. It was relaunched with a more serious focus in 2006 by Executive Producer Eric Paternot, and is inspired by television
news magazines
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
such as ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
''. Past topics have included Harvard's
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
community and the situation of the
homeless
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
in
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
.
[About ''Crimson Edition''](_blank)
at HUTV's site. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
*''HUTV News'' - Founded in 2007, ''HUTV News'' is HUTV's short-form
news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
show, producing shorter reports than ''Crimson Edition'' on a wider range of topics. Before HRTV became HUTV, ''HUTV News'' was called ''HRTV News''.
*''Harvard Hooligans'' - This
comedic
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
show follows a group of college roommates. Most ''Harvard Hooligans'' episodes depict them speaking into a
webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...
and portraying a
stereotypically
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
nerdy
A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tech ...
students commenting on Harvard events. However, members have also interviewed
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
, covered the
2008 Democratic National Convention
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...
, and run for president of the Harvard student body over the course of the show.
*''Love@Harvard'' - Modeled after ''
The Dating Game
''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it c ...
'', ''Love@Harvard'' is a show in which three students compete to win a
date
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
**Group dating
*Play date, an ...
with another student contestant. It debuted in November 2008.
*''H-Biz Tonight'' - Formerly ''HBS TV Market Minute with
Mia Saini'', ''H-Biz Tonight'' features short daily reports from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
student
Mia Saini on
economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
news.
Content Partners
HUTV also currently features three "content partners" on its site.
These shows are not produced by HUTV staff, but according to HUTV's website "HUTV distributes their content as part of
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
mission to connect media groups on the Harvard campus."
*''The Harvard Crimson Video'' - Video reports from ''
The Harvard Crimson
''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...
'', Harvard University's daily student
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
. ''The Crimson'' began producing videos in March 2009 as part of it
"Project Sorrento" an effort to modernize the paper's website through the use of
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
.
*''UCTV'' - Biweekly addresses from the President of the
Harvard Undergraduate Council
The Harvard Undergraduate Council, Inc., colloquially known as "The UC," was the student government of Harvard College between 1982 and 2022, when it was abolished by a student referendum after a series of scandals.
The UC had faced widespread ...
(UC), Harvard's
student government
A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
, to the Harvard
student body
A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
, modeled on the weekly
United States presidential address.
*''The Yard'' - An
improvised
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
"docu-soap" about six Harvard undergraduates, premiered in 2009 and produced jointly by students at Harvard and
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...
.
[About ''The Yard'']
" at HUTV's site. Retrieved on 2009-05-24.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Harvard Undergraduate Television (HUTV) WebsiteHistory of Harvard-Radcliffe Television at Desktop Video Group
Harvard University
Student television stations in the United States