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(well, that's how they spell it, using Sigmas for Epsilons!)

I know this TV show (on ABC Family) is already the subject of a thread on Greek Life, but I thought it would be interesting to get a purely Lambda Chi take on it.

I watched the first episode last Monday and, even though the writers threw in many of the usual silly stereotypes, it wasn't half bad.

Did any of you guys watch it? What did you think?

In ZAX,
Jono

I actually thought it was kind of funny. It doesn't mean a thing to us because we don't haze. I think it's still too early for me to form an opinion.

Never heard of it.

Laughed my aSS off.

Woke up and saw the last 15 Min. of it and wonder what the heck!:rolleyes:

Or did you laugh your aEE off? Haha.

Toward the end of the first episode last week, the girl emerges from the guy's room in the fraternity house following the big "rush party". Saw that coming a mile away.

What I didn't see coming was the black guy emerging from the white guy's room in the same fraternity house, saying, "I'm not gay, I was just drunk". It will be very interesting to see how the writers handle that situation from here on.

Episode #2 airs tonight on ABC Family (not ABC). Check your local cable listings. Where I am, it's on channel 49 and airs at 9:00pm.

Time will tell if it's a good show, or just another piece of Hollywood nonsense, but it has potential.

Oh God. Please tell me they aren't going to use Fraternities as some sort of metaphor for social commentary.

What do you mean?

"black guy emerging from the white guy's room in the same fraternity house, saying, "I'm not gay, I was just drunk"."

It seems to me that the show is trying to push an agenda.

Finally watched last weeks episode (gotta love DVR). I thought it was really funny and suprisingly accurate. Sometimes I think that we forget that sterotypes are based on something.

I agree. Sure fraternities are stereotyped by the wild stories everyone has heard. That's because each of us has one or two stories that we tell over and over that eventually become the stuff of legend. String those stories together and attribute them all to one fraternity, and you've got Caligula's palace. What people don't realize is that those stories are the standout moments of a four or five year undergraduate experience. In between, there were months of classes and studying and unbearable tedium that is college. If that was the show, no one would watch it. The fraternity that Rusty is pledging had a lot of things that reminded me of my experience. I thought the clean, well groomed mansions were a bit of a stretch.

I saw part of the first episode when they reran it over the weekend. I figured it would be discussed on message boards (this one and others.) I expected to see comments ranging from, "It's a show with some potential," to, "It was stupid and I won't watch it again." I did not expect to see the petitions (on other boards) trying to get the show canceled.

I waited to comment until they ran the second episode, and of course I missed 2/3 of it. To me, though, if there's an objectionable stereotype on the show, it's Rusty's roommate, the "Christian." Amongst the "greeks," so far I've seen cool, not so cool, rich, poor, drinkers, spitters, gay(er...I mean "drunk",) straight, nice, mean and slutty. Meanwhile, there's only one so-called "Christian" character, and he's the one with poorly developed social skills and a confederate flag on his wall. He goes around blaming God when his roommate passes out and doesn't get his homework done.

Still, the worst stereotype of all is the GLO members on the web who are calling for the show's cancellation. What's the stereotype? That we as a society have become so uptight and bitchy that we have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. It's funny how so many people are against censorship until something offends them.

Of course they don't portray fraternities and sororities as they are. Real fraternities are not a monolith of rich narcissists and they don't all have fancy houses. The president of the college I went to didn't have a house as nice as those fraternity houses. And the women at the parties don't all look like Victoria's Secret models.

That's because it's not a documentary, it's a soap opera. Western's don't show the American West as it really was. Shows about the middle ages don't show the middle ages as they really were. It's an entertainment show. As long as it continues to entertain me, and so far it does, I'll continue to watch it.

Ottor, you make a lot of good points, not the least of which is that the show is not a documentary, but entertainment. I laughed so hard when a passerby dropped a dollar bill on Rusty and he protests, "I'm not homeless!!!"

It's also true that we tend to remember the fun, unusual moments while most of our time in college was pretty boring. Hell, even most of the parties we had were pretty boring, never mind the endless hours of studying or just going out to grab a midnight snack. No TV show there.

As EM1843 said, stereotypes are based on something, so what else would they put in the show to make it entertaining? If high school kids are watching this show, are they going to be pleasantly surprised or disappointed when they finally get to college and find it's not really like this? Hmm...

I felt this show was great. This show has a lot less problems in it then Animal House. I LOVE ANIMAL HOUSE and never once did I think that Greek life was anything like it. If people base their stereotypes off of an ABC Family show they have too many problems to deal with already. But if you are going to stereotype, stereotype Rusty. I was thinking about it, and I do not believe he has drank once since pledging. He tried with the tequila but spit it out on the hot girl.

My favorite was when they played beerpong, that game has so many variations. I did not know until recently it was played places with an actual ping pong paddle.

i saw what i guess was the pilot, and lmao when Rusty said he had a roommate who he "thinks is a little racist"!

i guess since i didnt pledge at a college i see it a bit fresher than most greeks, but i thought it was ok. not enough to tivo it, but enough to watch it while folding laundry on a Saturday afternoon.

I actually identified a lot with Rusty in the second episode. I know how hard it is to juggle difficult classes and Greek life, as I'm sure we all do.

JConley, I too loved Animal House.

Funny thing, my greek experience was almost exactly like the movie.

Animal House is a classic... One of the new Greek interns in our Greek Life department beats the whole "We're Not Like That" into the ground to the point where it becomes obnoxious.

I have seen photos from scrapbooks as to what our alumni did that were "OK" in those times. In the 70's and early 80's it looked SO MUCH fun. They could have mass quantities of kegs, raft races, concerts, and homecoming with beer trucks. Now at our college if three of more brothers are together in a house hold, it is considered a party. This isn't even in a fraternity house. Technically since there are three of us that live together, in campuses eye's it is a Lambda Chi Alpha event. God forbid if someone is drinking underage even worse if there is a keg. A keg will get you kicked off. If there are 50 GDI's together in their place with a keg. They are lucky to get anything but underage drinking.

LOL, never thought of it that way!:)

Oh yepper some of the Partys were awesome! In the old days of course!:cool:

Guess I won't be watching much of this fine GEEK Show.

Yes Ottor, you are correct.

I think the pinnacle of fraternity indulgence was in the 70's with a slow decline to the mid to late 90's.

When I tell stories to my non-greek friends, they are either in awe, or they simply don't believe me. I actually refrain from certain facts and have to make my stories more plausible for them to believe it. Some of my stories seem like they came right out of the movies.

JConley is also right: "One of the new Greek interns in our Greek Life department beats the whole "We're Not Like That" into the ground to the point where it becomes obnoxious."

I think we can agree that this new generation is a little too uptight.

People need to RELAX. I'm not saying to do something illegal, or morally wrong, or break the rules ALL the time. But come on. This is college guys. You have to LIVE a little.

Get in trouble once in a while. Break some rules. Get a few stories to tell so when your kids go to college and think you aren't "cool" or "understand them", tell them about the time you........

Being a greek is supposed to be FUN. Of course do good things, get your priorities, but don't let it overtake your life or college experience.

You're both right.

The show depicts the outstanding events that reflect the fun times we all had in college and with the fraternity. I too could tell some stories, and yes there are some you wouldn't believe if I didn't tone them down (the huge bubble bath comes to mind).

But I can count those memorable moments on my fingers. That leaves approximately 1,070 days that were fairly uneventful.