The Case of The Societal TV
Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash
By: Leah Oake
This is going to be elaborate, so bear with me.
The society fair is about to start. Music is playing and everyone is ecstatic. All the booths are set up and the executives are prepared to embark on an extra special day. They’ve worked hard on the pitches they will deliver to possible new members and have talked with the nearby societies about possible collaborations. But, before the fair is about to start it begins to rain. The rain is slow at first, with the sun still peaking through. Slowly the sun disappears and the rain becomes harder and faster. The wind picks up and the accessories on the booths begin flying away. Everyone is drenched. The rain is coming down too hard for anyone to see. Slowly the booths and executives get picked up into the storm! Almost as quickly as it began the storm ends. The hopeful new society members stare in shock at the now empty quad. No booths, no executives, and no music. There’s nothing there, except a TV. The new members gather cautiously around the TV, one of them picks up the remote and clicks the power button. As they go through the channels they are shocked when they see that some of their favourite show lead characters have been replaced by the society executives! What societies were put into what TV shows, and why?
The first TV show they watch is Glee. The characters of Glee have been replaced by the Drama Society executives. They are dancing and singing on stage and preparing for Nationals. The original Glee focused on a club and its mixture of oddball members as they tried to restore the club to its former glory. It is a musical comedy in which the eager and ambitious students not only compete to win the Nationals but also have to deal with the tough and cruel realities of their school, McKinley High. The description has been changed! Now it reads: The society and its mixture of oddball members try to restore love for the Arts and bring SMUDS back to its former glory. It is a musical comedy in which the eager and ambitious students not only compete to win the hearts of their audience members but also have to deal with the tough and cruel realities of the restrictions of being a theatre group at a non-theatre university. As the hopeful new members watch the new version of Glee they see the members practicing songs from their upcoming musical The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals. The episode comes to a close and they change the channel.
Next, they turn on the Big Bang Theory. That too has been replaced, this time by The Chemistry Society They are laughing and working on incredibly hard-to-understand equations. The former description read: Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper are both brilliant physicists working at CalTech in Pasadena, California. They are colleagues, best friends, and roommates. They are also friends with their CalTech colleagues mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali. The foursome spends their time working on their individual work projects, playing video games, watching science-fiction movies, or reading comic books. Now it reads: The chemistry executives are all brilliant aspiring chemists studying at Saint Mary's University. They are all friends and they even collaborate with other academic societies. These academic intellectuals spend their time working on individual projects, playing board games, participating in study halls, or attending journal clubs. The episode comes to a close as they all work diligently on their upcoming assignments as a fun-loving group!
Next, they turn on The Amazing Race, and behold, it's the Outdoors Society! The members prepare to embark on their race before the president begins. The former description reads “the best of reality TV, with 12 teams of 2 players each racing around the world, trying not to be eliminated at a series of checkpoints in which the last team to arrive is booted from the show”. Now, the description reads: The best of society events, with 12 teams of 2 players racing around the world, trying to stay ratified based on a series of checkpoints in which the last team to arrive is de-ratified. The hopeful new members watch the anxious teams begin their race. They change the channel.
Shark Tank appears next. They watch the sharks accept and reject new products. This show is a little bit different from the others because this show consists of two societies, The Commerce Society and the Sustainable Business Society. The former description read: The Sharks – tough, self-made, multimillionaire and billionaire tycoons – continue their search to invest in the best businesses and products that America has to offer. The Sharks will once again give people from all walks of life the chance to chase the American dream and potentially secure business deals that could make them millionaires. But now it reads: The Commerce Society – tough students and ambitious multimillionaires – start searching for the best ideas from the sustainable business society to invest in. The Commerce Society will give the society the chance to chase their dreams and potentially secure deals that could make both societies succeed. The members watch the incredible ideas the Sustainable Business Society shares and the deals the two societies collaborate on.
Finally, Criminal Minds is on the TV and both the Psychology and Criminology Society are on screen! The former description read: An elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country's most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators' next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the "mind hunter" team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators' motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. Now, the description reads: An elite squad of trainee psychologists and criminologists team up to analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, learning how to anticipate the perpetrator's next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the society brings their own expertise to pinpoint motivations and emotional triggers that will stop them. The aspiring new members watch the show as the members work together to solve crime and learn as one.
They keep switching channels, seeing executives of the Pride Society in Heartstopper, executives of the F1 Society in Drive to Survive, executives of the Gardening Society in Grow, Cook, Eat and executives of the Debate Society in Never Have I Ever. Eventually, the TV goes dark. The new members tilt their heads in confusion. The TV then starts to shake, more aggressively by the second. They stumble backward, frightened by the sight. Before they know it, the TV is shaking so fast that it is almost invisible! With a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning the TV is gone and the executives, booths, and music are back like nothing ever happened. The students look around as they bask in shock. The storm has passed and now it is up to them to find out what happened. The first step you ask? Join a society and find out if the TV’s projections were, in fact, true!