An important component of studying entertainment television is the opportunity to learn first-hand from the professionals who create it.

The Visiting Professionals Program enables The Center for the Study of Popular Television to bring a wide range of television professionals to the Syracuse University campus to meet with students studying at the Newhouse School.

The program has three components: Artist-in-Residence, Guest Lecture Series, and Symposia.

Artist-in-Residence

The artist-in-residence component of the Visiting Professionals Program brings a television professional to campus each semester for a short residency. Students apply for the privilege to participate in intensive seminars that immerse them in the skills needed for success in the television industry.

The first artist-in-residence was Mark Tinker, a 1973 alumnus of the Newhouse School and winner of four Emmy awards for his work on “Brooklyn South,” “NYPD Blue” and “St. Elsewhere.” He led two days of instruction on producing and directing for entertainment television.

Subsequent artists have included Peter Mehlman, writer and producer for “Seinfeld”; George Verschoor, director, writer and producer for “The Real World” and “Austin Stories”; Gerry Leider, producer, “My Favorite Martian” and “Payne”; Joe Reinkemeyer, writer, “Law & Order”, “L.A. Law”, and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”; and Alan Rafkin,who has directed more episodes of tv than anyone else in history, including: “Love Boat”, “M*A*S*H”, “Coach”, “Murphy Brown”, “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show”, “Veronica’s Closet”, “Suddenly Susan” and “Friends”.

Guest Lecture Series

The guest lecture series is active in bringing people from every area of the television industry into classrooms to speak to students.

A wide range of guests participate in this component of the Visiting Professional Program -- writers, directors and producers of entertainment television programs, network television executives, cable system and broadcast station managers, professionals in advertising and promotion, and government regulators.

Guest lecturers have included Sherwood Schwartz, creator, executive producer and writer of “The Brady Bunch” and “Gilligan’s Island,” who spoke to students about his Emmy-winning career. Students also heard from Terry Semel, chairman and CEO of Warner Brothers Studio & Warner Brothers Music; Ron Meyer, chief operating officer of MCA Inc.; Maury Povich, talk show host; Gerry Thomas, inventor of the tv dinner; Meg LeFauve, president of Egg Pictures; Jack Helmuth, writer, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, “Saturday Night Live”, MTV, and VH1; and Robert Halmi, Jr., president and CEO of Hallmark Entertainment.

Symposia

The Center hosts symposia to address important trends and practices in the television industry. Each symposium gives students and professionals a forum to grapple with ethical, economic, societal, cultural, and technological issues that affect the way we make and view television.

The first symposium, “Network News in the Age of Cable,” was moderated by television critic and author Steven Scheuer and included a panel of distinguished broadcast journalists, editors and executives.

The second symposium in this program was entitled, “Criticism: The State of the Art,” and featured a panel of television critics moderated by David Bianculli of NPR and the New York Daily News.