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School's Out On June 1st For Two Of BET'S Most Watched Reality Shows College Hill 3 And Season Of The Tiger
Eight Virginia State Students Graduate From College Hill 3 at 9 p.m. ET While Season of the Tiger Ends its Run on a High Note at the Legendary Bayou Classic at 9:30 p.m. ET
(LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2006) - Two BET reality series set at a Historically Black College and University will cap their successful runs on Thursday, June 1, 2006 with riveting back-to-back
finales beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
First up will be COLLEGE HILL 3, a franchise series from BET and Edmonds Entertainment that has been described by TV Guide magazine as "the 'black college experience' goes beyond A Different World," The Richmond Times also gave props to COLLEGE HILL, calling the series "thought-provoking" and "addictive." In addition to its critical success, COLLEGE HILL was a hit with audiences for the third straight season, averaging over a million viewers.
This installment featured eight students from Virginia State University, at an HBCU in Petersburg, Va., trying to live, learn and love together over a three-month period in a cozy mansion with all of the amenities any college student could want. More often than not these students had a heaping plate of drama for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the finale is no exception as they all prepare to go their separate ways.
Following the COLLEGE HILL 3 finale at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT is the exhilarating conclusion of SEASON OF THE TIGER, a docu-drama that aptly chronicled the day-to-day, on and off field lives of two players on the 12-time Black College champion Grambling State University football team, along with three musicians from the 225-member world-renown GSU marching band. SEASON OF THE TIGER caps its run at the Bayou Classic, the Super Bowl of black college football. It's Grambling versus Southern. Four hundred million television viewers worldwide. Battle of the Bands. Survival of the "Hypest."
SEASON OF THE TIGER is cable's #1 "new" reality series among African-American households since its debut and has been hailed by critics as ". . . evidence of an intelligent, respectable programming strategy being executed by (BET President of Entertainment) Reginald Hudlin." The Hollywood Reporter calls SEASON OF THE TIGER "refreshingly unpretentious," also adding that "the producers have infused their work with a sense of heart and honesty." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also gave the show high marks, stating "Season of the Tiger displays some serious ambition," and "... (the show) offers ... fierce, riveting realism."
Putting these two shows together in a one-hour block will not only provide viewers one of the most entertaining hours this week, but according to Reginald Hudlin, BET's President of Entertainment, this special pairing provides a peek into the direction the network is heading.
"While COLLEGE HILL and SEASON OF THE TIGER are similar in the sense that they are both set at black colleges, there are two sides to this Thursday night time block," says Hudlin. COLLEGE HILL is fun, sexy and comical. Then you've got the human drama of SEASON OF THE TIGER. It's dramatic, heart-wrenching and emotional. This full range of black life is indicative of the programming that's going to be forthcoming on BET in the future."
COLLEGE HILL FINALE SYNOPSIS
After a season in which viewers saw Anya, Audrina, Deirdra, Bianca, Arlando, Will, Rodney and Ray party, fuss and fight, stress out during midterms, pay their respects to Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and work on an HIV Awareness PSA for BET's Rap-It-Up Campaign, the roommates plan to spend their last night together reflecting on their collective experience over an expensive dinner.
Dressed to impress, seven of the eight pile into limos en route to their last supper before moving out of Petersburg's historic, 10,000-square foot Ragland Mansion where they had been cohabitating for three months. The only roommate missing that night was Rodney, the cocky, but sweet cover boy wannabe who had to go on the road with the VSU basketball team.
It all started off so well, with each of the students recalling memories of good times under the watchful lenses of BET cameras. But one errant comment from the outspoken Anya about Woo-Woo girl Deirdra's sexual desires, and the weave starts hitting the fan! Pair that with a misunderstanding between Audrina and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brandon, and you have a classic "Bobby and Whitney" moment (as they are described by one housemate) on the streets of Richmond.
The duo who parted with the most sweet sorrow was Rodney and Deirdra - they had previously wrinkled some sheets together, but according to Deirdra, didn't consummate their season-long flirtation.
"I would have remembered that," she says.
Let's hope so-especially since she's a senior mass communications major and needs to get the story right! Rodney, on the other hand, just flashes a mysterious grin when questioned about their nighttime rendezvous.
CAST:
Rodney, 22, is a senior sports management major from Newport News, Va. He considers himself one of the more popular guys on campus, claiming that the ladies fight for his shirtless delight. He's a frat boy and a member of the basketball team.
Arlando, 21, is a junior business management major from Chesapeake, Va. He describes himself as a cool cat with a tendency to get wild when the situation calls for it. He's also a frat boy who gets a lot of attention from his female co-eds.
Ray, 22, is a senior mass communications major from Richmond, Va. When Ray's not in class or writing his newspaper column, Ray morphs into Mr. Trojan, the school's mascot. Ray is gay but doesn't consider himself "flamboyant" and doesn't want to be defined by his sexuality.
Bianca, 21, is a Puerto Rican freshman from Virginia Beach, who is just starting college. She's a little dilly, but not necessarily naïve. She thinks of herself as fun and flirtatious. "I'm a lot smarter than people think I am."
Anya, 21, is a senior mass communications major from Portsmouth, Va. She's outspoken, big on family and thinks it's perfectly rational and acceptable to date three or four guys at the same time, but "it's one at a time with the sexual thing."
Will, 18, is a white freshman from Lynchburg, Va., whose one goal in life is to play in the NFL. He's not the only white guy attending VSU, but he's probably the only one who imitates Paul Wall and openly admits that he "likes the black females."
SEASON OF THE TIGER FINALE SYNOPSIS:
"The Classic," the final chapter of this highly-rated, critically-acclaimed six-episode series, kicks off with scenes of the team and the band preparing for the 32nd Annual Bayou Classic, which was shifted from its traditional game site at the New Orleans Super Dome to Reliant Stadium in Houston because of Hurricane Katrina damage. GSU's Coach Melvin Spears describes the game as "sixty minutes of true warfare."
And it's also show time for the seniors - particularly the ones dreaming of future NFL glory. This is their one last shot to impress the plethora of pro football scouts who routinely drop by The Classic in search of the next superstar-in-the-making. But the day before the game, Bruce - the team's talented but slightly overweight quarterback - is late for practice.
As punishment Bruce has to endure the wrath of Coach Spears in front of all his teammates, as well as a kinder, gentler lecture from the assistant coach about "putting it all on the line" for the team. Bruce assures his coaches that he "ain't trippin.' Saturday ain't coming fast enough."
But, will he be ready?
Ironically, one of the band members was "M.I.A" for a while, too. Eva, the cocky freshman drummer who wants so badly to play in The Classic, missed the bus to the game! Fortunately, one of her more benevolent friends comes through and loans her his car for the weekend.
But will she still be allowed to march and play with the rest of the band?
Bringing up the rear in all this drama is Mancel, the Caucasian sax player who had to leave school and the band to deal with his legal issues. With an insatiable need to still feel a part of things, Mancel hitches a ride to Houston to support the band. That move so impresses the band's director that he's willing to give Mancel another shot if he can keep his grades up.
Can he do it?
The first two questions will be answered by the end of the show, but Mancel's fate is still uncertain. With multiple issues confronting them daily, these five cast members persevere and work hard to uphold
the traditions of the winningest Black college football program in history, and one of the most celebrated marching bands to ever hit the field.
CAST:
Shunnie, the female master drill sergeant of the band who continually has to fight for respect. Her goal is to become the first female drum major in Grambling history.
Eva, she's a homesick freshman and the only girl on the drumline. She's involved with another member of the drumline on the down low and her goal in life is to be a rapper.
Mancel, a White sax player in the band who has been kicked out of school and subsequently the band over a possession bust. His life is the band and his dream is to become a band director.
Bruce, he's the star quarterback from the 'hood with his eyes on an NFL career. But Bruce is coming off a season-ending knee injury, his father is in jail and his home was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.
Blue, a junior walk-on running back whom also has hopes of making the NFL. He's the team's practical joker and is also the father of a newborn who lives with his baby's mama.
ABOUT BET NETWORKS:
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 81 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; and BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices.
ABOUT EDMONDS ENTERTAINMENT:
Established by R&B superstar Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his then wife Tracey, Edmonds Entertainment Group has soared like a shooting star to the ranks of Hollywood's elite entertainment companies. Its major subsidiaries include Edmonds Record Group, creators of many of the world's most-recognized song titles; Edmonds Entertainment, producers of award-winning film and television projects; Edmonds Management, representing impressive artist clientele in film, television and music ventures; Edmonds Music Publishing, owners of an impressive library of original and acquired musical works; and the TracKen Place Recording Studio, offering state-of-the-art recording and production technology. Some of company's most noteworthy works include the critically-acclaimed Soul Food feature film, winner of five NAACP Image Awards; and the popular Soul Food cable television series, recipient of six NAACP Image Awards.
ABOUT DaftFilms:
DaftFilms was raised on the mean streets of suburban western Connecticut. Formed on nights and weekends by three childhood friends, Jesse Scaccia, Jimmy Higgins and Adam 'Baby Faced' Hall who taught, worked as assistant editors, and babysat to finance the footage which provided the basis for 'Season of the Tiger.' DaftFilms has also produced a documentary on American table tennis, and is in pre-production on a horror movie, a political documentary and a teen soap. For more information, contact Jesse Scaccia of DaftFilms at Jesse@daftfilms.com.
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