Lauren LoGrasso wasn’t saying goodbye to a character she played — she was saying goodbye to a companion on Saturday.
“She’s one of my first college friends,” said LoGrasso, a theatre senior. “I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to her today — I’m really sad about it.”
LoGrasso parted ways with Nina Acropolis, the slightly offensive but well-intentioned college girl in “The ShoW,” the longest-running college sitcom in the country.
“The ShoW” shot its 80th and final episode of the semester Saturday in front of a live audience of family, friends and MSU alumni.
The sitcom is run through MSU Telecasters, an organization that gives producing, acting and editing opportunities to students in the media arts.
The show’s episode was filmed using multiple cameras, something some cast and crew members were not used to since the show has been shot using a single-camera format since last spring. Producers of the show decided to use the multiple camera technique because of the uniqueness of the episode.
Nick Masters, a media arts and technology senior who is a producer of “The ShoW,” said the two styles of filming produce very different end results.
“It’s ‘Friends’ versus ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’” Masters said. “Multi-(camera) is more of that sitcom feel — it’s easy to carbon copy and produce quickly and that’s why they’re more popular. Single camera has more of a sentimental feel.”
Andrew Zeko, a media arts and technology senior and a director of “The ShoW,” said the cast and crew were hoping to emanate a sentimental feel for the last episode of the semester.
“We’ve got a lot of callbacks to old ‘ShoW’ episodes,” Zeko said. “We’re doing it in a style where it has kind of an ‘80s feel, since ‘The ShoW’ was started as a sitcom in the ‘80s. It ends on a real nostalgic note. … We wanted to pull some heart strings.”
Zeko said the reminiscent theme of the episode especially was relevant this year, as many cast and crew members are seniors, experiencing their final time filming the show.
“It’s the graduation episode because this is the last show of this semester,” Zeko said. “So it kind of takes off at the end of the last episode, where there was a pretty big breakup for two of our main characters, and that carried over into this (episode).”
Masters said he believes the hours of work dedicated to the show each week will pay off, as he’s seen the success of MSU graduates who were part of MSU Telecasters.
“It’s worth it because you see where (alumni) are professionally now — that used to work here 15 years ago,” Masters said. “I do it for the love of the game, just because, when I was a freshman, it gave me so much and I want to give that back — that experience that I have.”
Along with giving her professional experience, LoGrasso said “The ShoW” has made her feel at home and was a reminder that acting was her passion.
“(‘The ShoW’) was the first thing I did when I came to (Michigan) State that made me feel like I was on the right track,” LoGrasso said. “It made me realize I was pushing (theater) away, and this is the place where I belonged and I’m just so grateful for it.”
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