Rocker becomes a Husker
BY MICHAEL BRUNTZ / Lincoln Journal Star
Tommy Lee learned an important lesson on his first day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: If you're going to wear a foam corn hat, make sure it's facing forward.
Camera crews and wide-mouthed Nebraska students watched as the Motley Crue drummer adjusted the foam corn cob on his head.
He turned the cob sideways, then backward as he eyed himself in the mirror.
Students masked their gawking by flipping clothing items while watching Lee in the University Bookstore. Others were less coy, feverishly pushing buttons on cell phones to relay the celebrity sighting to friends.
"It's like a big circus," UNL junior Paul Penke said as Lee emerged from a dressing room wearing a white Nebraska football jersey. "This is what it's going to be like for him for a month."
NBC crews will be on campus for six weeks filming a reality show that will have Lee sampling college life at UNL. Susan Ross of NBC said the network hopes to get six episodes worth of footage for a series set to air next summer.
Producer Brad Wyman said Lee would be taking classes in chemistry, literature and — naturally — the history of rock and roll.
Lee will be enrolled in Dr. Charles McLaughlin's Chemistry 109 class. He said producers made every effort to minimize distractions for other students in the large lecture class.
If the taping impedes learning, McLaughlin has the option to halt filming in his classroom.
"This in no way endorses Tommy Lee's life," McLaughlin said. "What it does endorse is the redemptive aspects of being a teacher."
Lee also will enter familiar territory Monday when he tries out for a spot playing drums in the Nebraska Marching Band.
The high school dropout will be living in an off-campus apartment and employ a tutor to help with classwork.
"Tommy is taking this very seriously," Wyman said. "There isn't a good show if he doesn't try."
During a break in shooting Thursday afternoon, Lee answered the question on many people's minds — why Lincoln?
"Because it rules, man," he explained.
The show will net millions of dollars worth of free advertising for the university, but many are skeptical of how UNL will be portrayed, given the nature of reality television and Lee's own turbulent history.
In a letter to university faculty Thursday, Chancellor Harvey Perlman acknowledged the risk involved in sanctioning the filming, but said the potential for improving recruiting efforts was worth the risk.
"I hope that turns out to be the right judgment," Perlman said in the e-mail. "I am tempted to say something like ‘if it doesn't work you can vote me off the island,' but I've already used that line. All I can say is join me in keeping your fingers crossed."
The contract between the university and NBC states Lee must adhere to the Student Code of Conduct, which specifies acts for which a student can face disciplinary action.
Should Lee violate the code of conduct while on university property, NBC can't use the footage. UNL spokesman David Fitzgibbon said a campus representative would be present with production crews at all times.
Officials say they've been assured by NBC that UNL will be portrayed in a positive manner, but some still aren't convinced...
a good feel for college life during his time in Lincoln.
"A little music, some education, some partying, the whole college experience," he said.
After spending more than an hour shooting scenes inside the student union, Lee and production crews lingered outside as people approached the drummer for autographs.
He signed a Motley Crue record and posed for several pictures wearing a new red Nebraska hat. He smoked a cigarette with his manager before being whisked away in a mini-van with the production crew to another spot on campus.
Just another day in the life of a rock 'n' roll college student.
*this is pretty long but I thought it was cool.*
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