“What would McGuiver do?” Brian
*warning, spoilers*
Last night I accidentally ended up watching the pilot of ‘Glory Daze’ on E4. Happening to wander in I laughed and then I was stuck to my seat. There were many elements which made this show memorable. Firstly the characters are likable and stick with you. Secondly it was just one laugh after another. Thirdly it was set in the 80s so I was a big fan of the soundtrack. Given that I’ve only seen it once and it’s now been twelve hours since, a lot of the quotes are me paraphrasing what I remember.
The protagonist is Joel Harrington. He’s an all around nice guy who wants to make his dad proud by sticking to his studies. However events and his new group of friends all conspire to get him to try join a fraternity, in particular Omega Sigma, the party fraternity. One of his most memorable moments was when he met future love interest Christie. Having never spent much time around girls after going to an all boys school he’s quick to offer pens, pencils or anything she may need. When she calls him a lone wolf for deciding not to join a fraternity he responds by howling like a wolf. And embarrassedly trying to change the subject thereafter. Joel befriends Eli, Brian, Jason and Alex on the first day.
Eli’s opening scene sees him gyrating in his eighties style briefs in front of the mirror. He later admits that despite talking about sex all the time he’s actually a virgin. The boys fake shocked expressions. Brian is cast as the jock, getting into college on a baseball scholarship but he is eager to make friends with people who are not baseball players. “My roommate has posters of players all over the wall. Do you know how hard it is to have sex with *baseball player’s name I can’t remember* staring down at you?” “Yeah totally” say the other guys staring down at their food.
Jason is a politician in the making with cookie cutter girlfriend and a room filled with posters of Reagan. However things end with the girlfriend when he is rushed by Omega Sigma and he experiences ‘The Beast’, an industrialized beer bong. “But I still love Bob Dole!” he proclaims, trying to get her to stay. Alex Chang disappears for most of the show after he goes to the Asian Fraternity. From the outside it looks quiet and boring but once inside he is taken to a basement filled with half naked girls and robots.
Joel arrives at college and while his dad talks about keeping his eye on the prize Joel’s eyes fill with wonder as he sees girls hanging around in bikinis and fun being had. He meets the other guys who warn him that if he doesn’t join a fraternity he’ll end up like his roommate Zack who sprays fungicide everywhere and makes a volcano from his mashed potatoes. They go around campus looking at the different fraternities eventually settling on Omega Sigma. Joel talks to Christie who convinces him to try and join by saying they’ll see a lot more of each other. Jason gets wasted from the Beast and Eli gets baked upstairs.
Eli, after hearing about the history behind the poster sitting in the main room of the fraternity house, decides to steal it and place it in the hall of fame. After hearing the worrying messages left by Eli, Joel and the others go and try to rescue their friend. They get sighted by security and quickly come up with a plan to escape by tying their clothes together and making them into rope. At which point you see all the main characters in their underwear. But of course a security guard was standing outside the whole time and they go to jail, later being bailed out by Brian’s coach.
Omega Sigma don’t want them to join after stealing their poster but are eventually won over by one of the upper class-men Mike, who convinces them that they should instead be honoured as legends for their amazing prank. The four are allowed to join but Joel is disappointed when he discovers that Christie is going out with Damon, one of the leaders of the fraternity.
The best way to describe the humour would be to say that one of the professors is played by the principal from Mean Girls, Tim Meadows. Similarly to Mean Girls the laughs come from one-liners, unexpected scenes and physical humour. For example at the Zheta Rho house one of the main guys introduces Jason to the fraternity by saying that they’re dedicated to affirmative action and that they had their first African member. He introduces a white guy who turns out to be from South Africa and laughs stating “That always makes me laugh. You were expecting a black guy weren’t you?”
A lot of it has been done before; the archetypal characters, wild college partying, the girl who is dating someone else. You might be forgiven for mistaking the show as a series stemming from Van Wilder or American Pie. But the show is atmospheric, funny and just fun to watch. The next episode airs at 9 on E4 next Thursday.