Although college is a time when most people separate themselves from youth-oriented television, for two U students, college is their springboard to the exciting world of teenage-positioned entertainment.
Starting next week, University of Utah communication sophomores Arika Jones and Lara White star in the WB?s ?Red and Redder,? which airs Tuesday?s after ?Dawson?s Creek.?
?These two redheads from Utah came to us with an idea,? said Matthew Brock, president of the WB. ?And we?d just lost ?Buffy? to UPN so we figured?what have we got to lose??
Jones and White star as Tami Iwonnaman and Tiffani Gitsalot, two childhood friends who made a pact that they would become Hollywood media stars when they grew up. While the girls were in fifth grade, the Iwonnaman family moved. Tami and Tiffani are surprised and delighted their freshman year of college, when the two are made roommates in the University of Utah dorms. Their childhood friendship?and dreams?are brought back to life.
?We work as waitresses at the local juice bar in the campus recreation center,? Jones said of the ?Red and Redder? characters. ?Because when we were little girls, we thought it would be a great way to meet directors and screenwriters and other people. You know?boys.?
?Which is actually where we were working when they ?discovered? us!? White said enthusiastically. ?I mean, Arika and me. So we thought it would be a good place to put Tami and Tiffani.?
All is not well for the ?Red and Redder? characters. In the first episode, we learn that Tiffani (White) doesn?t really want to become an actress. She wants to quit the theatre program, pursue an undergraduate degree in engineering, then get a joint MBA/law degree. Her loyalty to Tami (Jones), however, prevents her from divulging this dream and breaking Tami?s heart.
?The writers said they needed some conflict, or something,? White said. ?First, we wanted to just make me allergic to juice. You know, because that would be very ironical for someone working in a juice bar. To be allergic to juice.?
?Red and Redder? producers decided against juice allergies as the show?s primary source of conflict.
?I get lots of kissing scenes!? Jones said proudly several times in The Comical interview. ?That?s another source of conflict. I get all the boys, and Lara [White] is jealous of me, because when we were kids, she was the cute one .?
Licking her lips, Jones continued, ?The director is a real hotty.?
But as fate would have it, Tami and Tiffani?s on-campus director, Stan Sondheim (played by famed off-off-Broadway performer Giles Hampton) doesn?t have eyes for the very interested Tami, but the career-minded Tiffani, who sneaks reading The Wall Street Journal behind everyone?s back.
?Yeah, it?s kind of funny, because he?s interested in me, but I just don?t care,? White said.
Hampton declined to comment on the brewing love triangle between him and the girls, but mentioned something about ?needing to pay his gambling debts? in a phone interview with The Comical.
Thrown into the hilarious theatrical mix is the show?s token ethnic character: Moesha Brown. WB officials deny accusations of any similarity between their Moesha character and UPN?s Moesha.
Fellow U student Shauna McFarlane, who plays Moesha, described her character as a mix between Malcolm X, Sacajawea and Carlton from ?The Fresh Prince.?
The real question on everyone?s mind, though, is which one is red and which one is redder.
?I?m tons redder than she is,? White said, then mouthed the words, ?She dyes it!? White then hand gestured to indicate taking photographs and winked.
?My hair isn?t even red!? Jones said. ?It?s strawberry blonde!?
Insistently, Jones continued, saying the title ?Red and Redder? doesn?t refer to hair color, but rather blushing. The girls get involved in zany schemes, which makes them blush, then they try to solve their problems with even zanier schemes, and it makes them blush even more.
This reporter suggested the title ?Zany Schemes,? but studio officials said it would have infringed upon a WB show of the same name which aired last year and was canceled in November. ?Schemes? followed the story of two redheads trying to become interpretive dance stars.
?Did I mention I get lots of kissing scenes?? Jones said.
Disclaimer: The Comical is pure satire and appears at the beginning of every week on The Chronicle?s Web site. Please take the stories as jokes and don?t call your lawyer. Thanks.