Title Screen to Passing Reality
Most of the digitization work I do here involves old books and postcards. Don’t get me wrong, the Shakespeare Folios are amazing just to hold and the postcards collection is my favorite project, but every once in a while I’m lucky enough to get to do something a little different.
Enter Passing Reality.
Timothy Leary being interviewed on Studio 14 by Rick Ludwin
I’ll be curating an exhibit beginning April 18th on the history of student-produced radio and television broadcasts. We already have some pretty cool stuff thanks to donations from Rick Ludwin, who was very active in broadcasting during his time as a student at Miami.
Studio 14, a variety show produced by Miami students between 1968-1970 has some great material, including some pretty memorable guests on air – ranging from Phillip Shriver to Timothy Leary. It was in a conversation with Mr. Ludwin that I learned about some of the shows produced more recently, including one he had remembered in the early 2000’s called
Passing Reality, a student-produced sitcom that ran for five episodes in 2002, satirizing both Miami life and reality television.
With Mr. Ludwin’s help, I was able to get in touch with Chad Wollett, one of the show’s creators, who is now a producer at NBC. Mr. Wollett graciously agreed to let me digitize the masters he had kept of the show and add them to our collection. As someone who remembers both college and reality television in the early 2000’s, they get both of them hilariously accurate.
In addition to the 5 episodes, directors’ commentary of each episode, outtakes, and reflections on the show are also Passing Reality.
Happy viewing!
Marcus Ladd
Special Collections Digital Librarian
