News Segment

SHOW MIGHT PAIR TOMMY LEE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN:

October 7, 2004

Rocker Tommy Lee – a Nebraska cornhead?

The former Motley Crue drummer has said he will enroll in college to film a new reality TV series for NBC.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman said Wednesday that NBC planned to film a reality TV series about a person continuing his education on the UNL campus. Perlman declined to name the star of the show.

University of Nebraska Regent Chuck Hassebrook said that he didn’t know the new student’s identity but that “it could end up glorifying a rock star and have no redeeming qualities. It really depends on how they do it.”

Perlman said he hopes the show will help the university in recruiting.

“We were convinced the show had a positive message and that it will provide considerable exposure on a national basis,” he said.

With Motley Crue, Lee has recorded such hits as “Dr. Feelgood” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.”

But it’s his personal relationships that have left him with a wild reputation. During his marriage to actress Pamela Anderson, the couple made a sex tape that landed on the Internet. He also was married to actress Heather Locklear.

Hassebrook said the university was taking a gamble on the show. “If this ends up being a story about someone making a serious intent to complete college education, it could be a good thing,” he said.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Nicole West said producers recently were on campus auditioning students for a reality show. They were looking for extras age 21 and over because they want to film the “bar scene,” she said.

Regent Drew Miller said he hopes the show, whoever the star, will portray the university in a positive light.

He said he was not familiar with Motley Crue.

“I’d rather it have been the Moody Blues,” he said.

Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald