January 2, 2011
The Ivory Tower as Comedy Gold Mine
A Web video series created at Juniata College parodies academic life
Jay Hosler, a Juniata College biology professor and science cartoonist, drew the storyboards for the Web comedy series "Office Hours." Mr. Hosler also plays the nerdish history lecturer, Mark Deacon, on the show.
What it is: a Web-based sitcom that parodies academic life.
What it's like: The Office, 30 Rock, Dilbert.
Who created it: a group of Juniata College employees, alums, and students.
How long it lasts: Five episodes are already online, and each one is four to five minutes long. The sixth and—for now—final episode goes live on January 10.
Where you can find it: http://junipercollege.gloriousrobot.com
Huntingdon, Pa.
No Nielsen-savvy sitcom writer would drop the phrase "curricular glut" into a script aimed at America's sought-after 18-to-49 age demographic.
But when viewers of Episode 2 of the Web comedy series Office Hours hear a character use the phrase, most are at least familiar with it, and some even grasp it like a secret handshake. That is because this parody of academic life is aimed at a narrow slice of humanity, the kind of people who read publications like The Chronicle of Higher Education, people just like you.
Nathan Wagoner, who produces the series, is director of new-media communications at Juniata College. He is a faculty brat, son of an emeritus philosophy professor at Juniata, and has long known that academe is a uniquely absurd place. It has its own vocabulary, its own customs, and quite possibly the funniest-looking hats not sold in novelty stores.
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