Harvard Undergraduate Television (HUTV) was a
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
student television station broadcasting to the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
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 at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students.
His ...
'' (Harvard's daily student newspaper). The network had a full production studio and post-production editing facilities in
Pforzheimer House, 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 p ...
in Harvard's Department of
Visual and Environmental Studies, founded the Harvard-Radcliffe Film Workshop (HRFW), which offered
filmmaking
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
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, 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. 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 drives, SSDs, ...
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 and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
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 (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
, 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 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 ...
for HRTV, overseen by Doyle and aided financially by
Pforzheimer House.
In its early years, HRTV screened its shows in dormitory common rooms and dining halls,
as well as on various
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
Public-access television
Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...
channels. In 2006, HRTV began posting all of its shows exclusively online, though episodes of ''
Ivory Tower'' had been posted online before then.
Several prominent Harvard
alumni
Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...
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. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...
,
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...
,
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born ) is an American actress. She rose to stardom with her performance as a prostitute in the comedy film ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), which won her both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Academy Award for Best S ...
,
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...
,
Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...
, and
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...
.
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 psychology, cognitive psychologist, psycholinguistics, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psycholo ...
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 (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
, 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 (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.
[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" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
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 due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
such as
Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He has earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
He first gained widespread attention during his tenure as a cast member on ...
of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'',
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...
of
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
,
Homestar Runner, and
Pleasureman Gunther. In 2008, Respectably French! has also covered
ROFLCon
ROFLCon was a biennial Convention (meeting), convention of internet memes that took place in 2008, 2010 and 2012, featuring various internet celebrities. All three events were at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ROFLCon was first organi ...
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 (United States), Republican Party's convention fell on Labo ...
.
*''On Harvard Time'' - HUTV's
satirical news show, modeled after ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
'', presents and comments on news at Harvard in a
comedic 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 of
Admissions William Fitzsimmons,
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and 2008
U.S. Presidential candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...
Mike Gravel. ''On Harvard Time's'' November 2008 "Harvard Yale Aid" video, mocking
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
before the annual
Harvard-Yale football game, was named 2008
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
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
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
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 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 distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''. Past topics have included Harvard's
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
community and the situation of the
homeless
Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
in
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...
.
[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 te ...
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 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, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...
and portraying a
stereotypically nerdy students commenting on Harvard events. However, members have also interviewed
comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...
, covered the
2008 Democratic National Convention
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...
, and run for president of the Harvard student body over the course of the show.
*''Love@Harvard'' - Modeled after ''
The Dating Game'', ''Love@Harvard'' is a show in which three students compete to win a
date 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 school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which 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. Offi ...
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 at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students.
His ...
'', Harvard University's daily student
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...
. ''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 (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
.
*''UCTV'' - Biweekly addresses from the President of the
Harvard Undergraduate Council (UC), Harvard's
student government
A students' union or student union, 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, organizatio ...
, to the Harvard
student body, modeled on the weekly
United States presidential address.
*''The Yard'' - An
improvised "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 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
.
[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