Why, HRTV? Why?
These are dark days for Harvard-Radcliffe Television. First, they gave you Love|Hate, a Harvard version of Best Week Ever that somehow failed to retain any of the positive qualities of Best Week Ever. Now they’ve applied the same winning formula to that holy of holies, The Daily Show.
We haven’t seen any actual episodes of On Harvard Time — and we fully intend to keep it that way. The five-minute trailer alone, watchable (only in the most literal sense) below, nearly made us pull an Oedipus and reach for the darning needles. A full half hour of this stuff and we’d probably emerge nothing but a mumbling husk, rocking back and forth, eyes distant.
The sad part is, On Harvard Time could have worked. Just look at something like The Onion TV, which gets the tone right. Unfortunately, OHT is a lot closer to Fox’s tragic attempt at political satire, The Half Hour News Hour, only without the ideological bent. Sure, experimentation is important. It also takes courage to put yourself out there, especially in the arts. But some dogs — even puppies like On Harvard Time — just need to be put down out of mercy.
P.S. — Negativity is bad for your health. Will someone please e-mail us about some good campus shows?
