Emerson College’s school news station is known for its flagship shows like EIV News and Good Morning Emerson, but a new program called The Uplink is bringing something different to the Emerson Channel.
The Uplink is a show similar to that of G4’s Attack of the Show! which focuses around reviewing and discussing all things new in the world of technology, movies and video games. The idea for Emerson’s newest show was stewing in the head of senior and Uplink co-creator/host Steve Selnick about a year ago.
After finding a crew interested in bringing Steve’s initial idea to life, the team had to pitch the idea to Emerson Independent Video, which has to greenlight all programs before they appear on the school’s network.
“The pitching process was actually kind of difficult,” Selnick recalled.
“I was actually in Los Angeles during the process, so the pitch had to be done on Skype. The Internet bugged out a few times during the meeting, but the network loved the idea and gave us the OK.”
That OK lead to the creation of a show that Selnick regarded as “Different than anything I know of [on the Emerson Channel].”
Phil Rosenberg, The Uplink’s resident movie critic, said the reason for the uniqueness is because “It consciously steps away from being a college show. We stay clear of the Emerson name. It’s a different style of content about things so many people love.”
The show currently has several staple segments, such as Rosenberg’s “Reel Talk,” as well as a video game review segment and “Hackers,” which shows audiences easy ways to improve your Mac Book’s hard drive or Xbox 360’s WiFi.
As with any critic, Rosenberg has his own checklist that helps determine his rating for a film.
“As a writer myself, I look at the dialogue between characters very closely. I expect it to be visually stunning and to be in line with the technology available today. If it’s a comedy, I expect a lot of laughs. I’m expecting what the trailers gave me.”
While the aforementioned portions of the show have been featured since the pilot episode, the third installment of the series brought new features to the show. The third episode marked the first time The Uplink added industry news to the video game and movie review segments, with plans to potentially expand into features for television or other media segments.
“Personally, I think [adding the industry news portions] gave a more depth and we should keep with it,” said Rosenberg.
With the show still in its infancy and just one more episode left before calling it a wrap for the semester, there are certainly things from the current format that will change heading into next fall. But the show’s crew is feeling optimistic about what the future will bring.
“It’s a learning process. There’s things we need to work on, of course. But I hope it develops and becomes a staple on the Emerson Channel,” Rosenberg stated.
“We’re still figuring our identity out. Everyone has awesome ideas. We have an awesome crew that I have confidence in. It’s been a blast,” said Selnick.
