“We hope people become attached to the characters, ultimately, and care about them from a storyline perspective,” he said. “I think that there is perhaps a humor in the concept of the soap opera, but what we’re going for is realistic interaction and emotion. Don’t expect an outlandish spoof—an Airplane! or Scary Movie.”

“Don’t expect an ensemble drama like “Friends,” either, said Presser. “It’s not going to be about a gang of friends and things that happen to them, but rather a big web of 10 characters who all know each other in different capacities. There’s going to be a lot of different tensions going on.”

“There’s all these different connections. You should see the writers’ diagram for this thing,” added Madrigal.

Building the Tower

Presser expects the new season to exhibit a marked evolution from the show’s first incarnation, which, in spite of its massive popularity on campus, was often said to be undeveloped and somewhat crudely executed. Presser has organized an all-new team of 11 writers, 10 actors, 10 technical crew members, five associate producers and several directors.

The selection process was rigorous, according to Presser, who administered the writers’ comp and oversaw the actors’ auditions.

The 35 interested writers were first asked to submit a page-long original character sketch and to write a dialogue involving that character. The second round of the comp involved writing a dramatic climax for a long-term storyline given to them by Presser and the associate producers. Ultimately, the pool was narrowed down to a cohesive, diversely talented staff of 11 writers.

“I think in that final product we have a group that meshes very well, and each member provides very distinctive strengths that support the others,” said McGee. “We just throw out ideas and they congeal together in a very exciting style.”

Acting auditions, fairly traditional in procedure, required actors to read lines from published theater works as well as scenes written by the producers.

“The best thing, I think, is that the cast is just really hot,” joked Madrigal.

Aside from the regular cast, Presser also promised that there will be cameos from “some Harvard celebs” and “well-known personalities” as early as the first episode.

Taking It to the People

Although “Ivory Tower” will only be broadcast on Cambridge Community Cable, Harvard audiences will be able to tune into the show’s season premiere in house common rooms and via webcast on the “Ivory Tower” website. Though a definite screening time has not yet been decided, Presser and the associate producers are already planning an extensive publicity campaign for the show’s Dec. 7 debut. Furthermore, they hope that the screening will be a celebrated, unifying event on campus.

“I think it’ll add a lot to the Harvard community,” said Rebecca J. Levy ’06, an actor and associate producer. “I think it’ll be a real big bonding thing.”

While production schedules will vary, new episodes, with the exception of the Monday night debut, will be shown approximately every other Sunday; Presser intends to complete 11 episodes by the end of the academic year. He also hopes to organize future screenings at the Science Center and Loker.