Classless, Penn’s favorite (and only?) student-run online sitcom series, is finally back! And if the first webisode is any indication, the newspaper-staff-definitely-not-loosely-based-on-the-DP has a lot in store as it make moves into its second year. Viewers are sure to meet some fresh faces, reconnect with old stars, and finally have something to do during that awkward 30-minute gap between classes.
We laughed, we cried, we ran to class.
These new TVs now located on the floor of Houston Market just might distract you from the slowly rising prices. (Zing!) These screens, coupled with the ones already in the seating area, could make Houston the new Crave.
Update: Apparently these nifty things were installed in all of the dining halls on campus. Which is great news, because we didn’t know what tomatoes looked like before.
Geraldine Laybourne graduated from Penn in 1971 with a master’s in Elementary Education. Diploma in hand, she created Early Bird Specials, an independent company that produced programs for children.
Early Birds Specials teamed up with Nickelodeon, where Laybourne made sure that 90′s kids had a collective identity they could always fall back on. Unless they didn’t own a TV. Or had immigrant parents who made them watch Russian cartoons. Under Laybourne’s reign, Nickelodeon became the first global network to profit from ad sales geared towards children.
After her stint at Nickelodeon, Laybourne teamed up with Oprah to create Oxygen Media, programming intended to target younger women. She was the company’s CEO until 2007 when it was bought by NBC Universal. In 1995, Laybourne was the youngest person to be inducted into the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame, and she was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time Magazine. And get this—she managed it all without a degree from Wharton! (There may be hope for you yet.)
It’s Saturday and hopefully you’re off doing whatever it is that Street‘s planned for you this weekend, but if you need that extra push to try something new, this Penn alum should provide just the right dose of inspiration.
After graduating from Wharton in 1982, Wendy Finerman strolled straight past Wall Street, taking instead the road less traveled by. And that has made all the difference. Finerman scored a career in TV and film production, and now she’s best known for winning an Oscar for Forrest Gump.
Finerman is also the mastermind behind The Devil Wears Prada, and her other projects include Stepmom, Drumline, as well as Fairy Tale, for which she won a BAFTA.
Moral of the story: Life is a box of chocolates. Try new things and become a Hollywood producer.
From Amy G in a tweet from Arianna Huffington and the Engineering school’s scary acrobatic builder bots on Stephen Colbert’s ThreatDown, Penn has enjoyed quite a spell basking in the attention of the national media. But while Penn seems to be appropriately prominent in the realms of news and reality-based television, our alma mater remains relatively irrelevant to mainstream pop culture. Or, at least, until this past Monday.
Raina Thorpe, a brand new character revealed on this week’s “Gossip Girl,” went to Wharton. An inevitable love interest for Chuck Bass and the daughter of a billionaire being positioned to do financial battle with the Bass/Van Der Woodsen family — Raina is the kind of character that it isn’t hard to imagine prancing down Locust, having to make the impossible decision between Theta and Tabard and eventually being a shoe-in for Wharton’s notoriously Scene-y Lantern Senior Society. But what’s so great about that? Read the rest of this entry »
The Jeopardy College 
Championship starts airing at 7 pm on Monday, November 8th, and we’ve got one of our own in the running. Senior Siddharth Chandrasekhar will be representing Penn, and even though he told us that he can’t disclose any details about how things went, we found it telling that he only referred to the upcoming “episode” (singular). Here’s hoping that Siddharth takes it all the way and makes it past the first round. If he doesn’t, let’s hope he at least squeezes in a few SNL-Connery-style jabs at Alex Trebek while he’s there.
You know you’ve made it big when you get a cameo on South Park. And from the looks of this screenshot from last night’s season premiere, the Penn football team helmet has done just that! In a scene that spoofs ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, the Penn name is displayed proudly next to an ESPN Etch-a-Sketch and behind that dude’s shoulder. We assume that first letter is a P, at least. Hollywood, here we come!
Pumped to be Above the Influence
For those of you who watch MTV (or appear on it, whatevs), you may have spotted Mask and Wig’s own Jonah Meyerson, who appears in a new Above the Influence commercial. It’s super-legit, especially because it comes on every five seconds.
We must admit that Jonah is pretty dreamy in it, and we’re a little jealous of the girl who plays his love interest. But then again, not everyone can be a WigWAG. Or, for that matter, a college-age male dressed in women’s clothing.
Ever wanted to be famous for whoring yourself out to television cameras? Your second chance has arrived!
A sorority listserv was informed that “a new documentary style series” is looking for “outgoing and adventurous women between the ages of 18-25 who are new to the Philadelphia area, are looking for work and trying to get to know the city better.” Sound like you or someone you know? Check the full email (and casting criteria), paragraphs in caps-lock included, after the jump.