One production company is looking to merge MTV’s The Real World, NBC’s Friday Night Lights and a little bit of Jersey Shore into one to highlight the Southeastern Conference football life of students.
Atlanta-based Crazy Legs Production Company hopes to feature six or seven students from major universities in a reality TV show that follows them for the six-month football season.
The show, Saturday Night Lights, would highlight a group of die-hard students from the start of practice to the culmination of bowl season.
Tom Cappello, executive producer, said his idea sparked from a straightforward strategy.
“Plain and simple, we love Southern football,” he said. “And the rest of the world needs to see inside the passion of Southern college football fans. Sports networks have done feature stories about football in the South, but no one has seen the season through the eyes of the fans.”
The show would film their home lives, tailgating, pre and post game.
Crazy Legs has started casting and hope to film in the 2011 football season. The company is generating interest through their Facebook page and email.
Cappello said the company is looking for passion in submissions. He said there is a lot of competition.
“Any SEC or ACC school would say they have the best fans and this is your chance to prove it,” he said. “This is your chance to settle the argument once and for all. What are your lives like outside of football? What will we see when football season starts. Don’t hold back.”
Stephanie Skipper, a senior majoring in marketing, said she thinks the show would be a hit.
“I think it’s funny,” she said. “When it all is said and done, I don’t know if I would actually try out for the show. But I think it would be interesting to see how the production company goes about presenting each college.”
Cappello said the company is currently in discussions with a major cable network. The network wants to see video of the cast.
“We are compiling the craziest, most passionate fans we can find until we find the right mix,” he said. “We hope to have cameras rolling for the 2011 season and airings to happen sometime in the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012.”
Cappello said he won’t know if the students will be paid until the series is cast. He also is still determining casting and when students can start applying to participate.
Robert Fender, a senior majoring in business, who will also be returning in the fall to complete his degree, said the show does not appeal to him.
“I just think it would be boring,” he said. “Why would I want to watch on TV what I can I step outside of my house and live and breathe on gameday?”
Henry Thomas, a junior majoring in journalism, also said the show does not appeal to him.
“All it sounds like to me is a bunch of girls getting too drunk to even make it to the games,” Thomas said. “If they want to highlight SEC football fans, they should talk to die hards, not some college kid who knows nothing about the sport.”
