Lampoon President Writes New Sitcom for CBS-TV

A former Lampoon president will have the opportunity to see his dreams realized when the situation comedy he designed airs tonight on CBS.

Andrew Borowitz '80 produced and wrote "Dreams", a series about young musicians struggling to put together a rock band while supporting themselves in blue-collar jobs.

While many other former writers for the Lampoon, a social club which occasionally publishes parodies, have gone on to write for such shows as "The David Letterman Show" and "Saturday Night Live", Borowitz is the first to write and produce a show himself.

"Andy is the first (Lampoon) person... to be the general all-creative force behind a prime time show," said Lampoon President Conan C. O'Brien '85.

Borowitz said the idea for the show came when executive producers of "Dreams" John Peters and Peter Guber, who produced the hit movie "Flash Dance," told him they wanted a situation comedy with a blue-collar background and a lot of music.

"I feel really lucky," said Borowitz of his recent success, adding that out of 1000 entries, CBS bought the five most promising scripts.

Before working on "Dreams." Borowitz had been writing scripts for "Archie Bunker's Place," and for "Square Pegs," both prime time series on CBS.

Norman Lear hired Borowitz for CBS after the producer met him his senior year at a Lampoon function. "I think it was a gut reaction," said Borowitz of Lear's job offer.

Before he graduated, Borowitz was already famous on campus. The creator of the Hasty Pudding show "1000 Clones," Borowitz was also known for pulling such pranks as taking the tops off of all the salt shakers in the Kirkland House dining hall.

Borowitz said the Lampoon helped his writing, but that he can't remember any classes that honed this skill.

"It's hard to remember what I woke up in time for," he said of his Harvard courses.

But Borowitz's past is all academic for CBS, which has high hopes for the series. "If (the American public) doesn't like this, I don't know what they like," said his co-producer Ron Fraiser, who produced the series "Taxi."