With cameras rolling, Bob Saget sat in on PAM 2040: Economics of the Public Sector on Thursday morning, one of many appearances he is making around campus as he films an episode for the upcoming A&E television show Bob Saget’s Strange Days. The episode, which explores life in a fraternity, features Saget spending several days shadowing members of the Seal and Serpent Society, seeing sights on campus and attending fraternity events — including a formal and a toga party.
Saget, best known for his roles in Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos, said he is enjoying spending time at the fraternity and around campus.“I love this school. I was not smart enough to get in, but I did get 200 points for signing my name on the SATs,” he said.The television show — which Saget described as a “docucomedy” — is billed as an investigation of “some of America’s most fascinating and mysterious worlds,” according to an A&E press release.“It’s kind of a slice-of-life documentary,” said Claudia Wheatley, director of Cornell press relations.In addition to discovering life in a Cornell fraternity, “Saget immerses himself in different unusual cultures, from the world of mail-order brides to joining a survivalist cult prepping for the end of the world,” the press release said.
While Saget sat attentively for the duration of Thursday’s 75-minute class — minus one bathroom break — he may not have gained as much from the lecture as other students did.
“Economics is a complete blur,” he said after the class. “It does make me wish we had an open bar.”After arriving in Ithaca on Wednesday, Saget has been spotted by students on the Arts Quad and in Collegetown as he tours the campus and shadows some of Seal and Serpent’s members.“He’s here to get a sense of what it’s like in the fraternity,” said Jon Hermann ’12, one of the Seal and Serpent members Saget is following.“The experience is amazing for us, and it’s great for the house,” said Jordan Smith ’11, another fraternity member with whom Saget has spent time.The actor is attending several Seal and Serpent events this week, including the fraternity’s formal on Friday and a toga party on Saturday, according to Hermann. Hermann was unsure whether Saget would bring a date to the formal.Although he is not going to be initiated into the fraternity, Saget will become an honorary member of Seal and Serpeant, Hermann said.This is not the first time Saget has visited the University. While attending Temple University, he had a girlfriend at Cornell and visited the University often. He also wrote some of his earliest comedy in Uris Library, Hermann said, and performed a comedy show in Barton Hall in 2006.Saget was excited to return to campus and revisit some of his “old haunts,” Wheatley said.“[Cornell is] an amazingly special place,” Saget said. “The people work really hard, and they’re smart.”Besides touring campus, Saget is looking forward to the “big party” at Seal and Serpent on Saturday, he said. The toga party will include a live band and is expected to be crowded.“Make sure to get there early,” a member of Saget’s filming crew told an inquiring student on Thursday.The party is intended as “a celebration of [Saget] being here,” Hermann said.The Seal and Serpent episode of Saget’s television show is tentatively scheduled to air on A&E late this summer.
Original Author: Michael Linhorst