At the Hoff, top-rated TV trumps movie offerings

They can't promise Jack Bauer will save Los Angeles from another nuclear attack, but Hoff Theater now promises showings of 24 nearly every week.

Audiences of at least 50 of the show's fanatics have experienced Bauer in his daily race against time for the past three Mondays at the Hoff, and the free event is gaining popularity, said Lisa Tropea, the Hoff's program coordinator.

Jim Andrews, a generally unenthused sophomore civil engineering major, counts down every minute leading to 24. Last Monday, he trekked through the cold from his Leonardtown apartment for his first viewing of 24 on the big screen.

"It was awesome," said Andrews, who attended the showing with a friend. "It's much better than watching it on our dinky little TV in our apartment."

The Hoff is viewing the show every week, except for the few upcoming Mondays such as tonight when a student group has already reserved the theater. Instead of showing the regular movie, the Hoff's student programming committee decided to try showing 24 late last semester, Tropea said.

"We're closed on Mondays, so we thought we'd test out the waters, but then we realized everyone would be watching 24," said Tropea, who has witnessed the students' growing excitement. "I was very happily surprised."

Previously, the Hoff has shown the university's athletics, like the women's basketball game against Duke for the national championship last year and Wednesday's men's basketball game at Duke.

The popularity of 24 may lead the theater to play more television shows in the future, such as expanding the Monday night lineup to show Prison Break because it caters to the same audience, Tropea said.

"We looked into doing Lost, but that's on Wednesdays, and we do a lot of sneak previews and stuff then," Tropea said.

The general popularity of 24 is so widespread on the campus that it may be taking students away from other events on the campus, according to Student Entertainment Events President Noreen Tahir.

"[A TV show] is not something that would cause SEE not to have an event," Tahir said. "But it was definitely noticed that a lot of people will receive [an event] flyer and be like, 'Oh, that sounds awesome, but Grey's Anatomy is on,' or 'I'd like to go, but 24 is on.'"

Tiffany Shelhorse and five or six of her friends are regular attendees of 24 at the Hoff.

"Each week more and more people come," said Shelhorse, a freshman pre-veterinarian major who would like to see the weekly gathering grow in popularity.

Students and Tropea said overall, the advertising could be better, but Tropea is concerned that advertising the show may cause confusion because the Hoff does not play television shows.

Jim Spano, a sophomore letters and sciences major, came last Monday for the first time and plans to return.

"It was exhilarating," said Spano as the episode came to an end.

Contact reporter Nadine Simpson at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.