<p>It always interests me when a movie or tv show makes prominent reference to a particular university or college. Although it often reinforces stereotypes, I find it amusing to see how schools are viewed in pop culture. I would be interested in what people can come up with. </p>
<p>Please limit to actual reference (movie/tv show partly set at school) rather than "this movie is about school x even though they call it fictional school y". </p>
<p>Harvard: Legally Blonde, Stealing Harvard
MIT: Good Will Hunting, Knowing
Wellesley: Mona Lisa Smile
Stanford: Orange County
University of Alabama: Forrest Gump (Alabama football)
University of Nebraska: Yes Man (Nebraska football)
Princeton: Harold and Kumar
Yale: Gilmore Girls</p>
<p>there have been threads on this before. maybe someone will dig them up.</p>
<p>Risky Business: Princeton, University of Illinois
Girl Next Door: Georgetown
Last Rites: Tom Berenger wears a Boston College sweatshirt
Northern Exposure: doctor jogged in his NYU sweatshirt
Donovan’s Reef: Asian guy went to Amherst
Coach in “White Shadow” and Tim Daly’s character in “Wings” both went to Boston College
Jim Hutton in Where the Boys Are was a Michigan State student
Michigan mentioned in Eyes Wide Shut
Michigan mentioned on George Lopez Show: his daughter was applying there
Notre Dame in a bunch: Rudy, John Goldfarb Please Come Home, Knute Rockne All American, Full Metal Jacket
West Point is mentioned in about half the war movies ever made
The Rock: Nicholas Cage went to Columbia and Johns Hopkins
National Treasure movies: Georgetown and U of Maryland
Jack Ryan is mentioned as having gone to both Boston College and Annapolis as an undergrad, and Georgetown as a grad student
Cannery Row: Nick Nolte’s character went to U of Chicago and somewhere else.
Goodbye Columbus: Ohio State, Boston U
The Adam Sandler movie where he was a lazy lawyer, he went to Syracuse U.
Spiderman: Columbia
Breaking Away: Indiana U.
MASH: Henry went to the U of Illinois and wore a letterman’s sweater with “I” on it.
A lot were mentioned on the Sopranos, especially Columbia and Rutgers
“1776”: William and Mary and Harvard</p>
<p>That 70’s Show: they visit Marquette and U of Wisconsin when trying to choose a college
Mary Tyler Moore Show: she went to U of Minnesota
Altered States, Stealing Harvard: Harvard
Mirror Has Two Faces: set at Columbia
Happy Days: penants from several colleges in the burger joint; they went to U of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
The Exorcist: Georgetown
The Graduate: Berkeley
Oxford Blues: Oxford and UNLV
All the Right Moves: “Cal Poly”
Bob Newhart Show: Bob went to Loyola of Chicago, dentist went to William and Mary
Some Like it Hot: U of Illinois</p>
<p>Field of Dreams- Costner went to UC-Berkely
Mama Mia- bridesmaid wears Duke T-shirt
War of the Roses- Housekeeper going to William & Mary, asks if Harvard is a"good school too?"
Nim’s Island- Jodie Foster exercising in a William & Mary T-shirt
Cosby Show- Always wearing Temple shirt
West Wing- Jed Bartlett- Notre Dame, Rob Lowe Princeton/Duke Law</p>
<p>Bend it Like Beckham: they get scholarships to Santa Clara U.
Magnum P.I.: he went to Naval Academy
St. Elmo’s Fire: they were Georgetown alums
American Pie 2: Michigan and Michigan State
Crossing the Bridge: U of Toronto (story takes place in Detroit suburbs, and the guys know multiple people from their high school who go to the U of Toronto…not very likely)
The Sand Pebbles: they eat rice</p>
<p>In the 2nd Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie, Carmen is a student at Yale and is miserable because she has no friends. In the book, she’s at Williams but it seems more believable to happen at a big Uni.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great responses. I realize there have been other threads about schools being mentioned in the movies. That would probably take up an encylopedia. So, the niche of this thread would be to focus on movies/tv shows that not only mention a school, but also use the school as part of its setting.</p>
<p>There was a great ‘Sopranos’ episode, where Tony drops off his daughter to an interview at Colby and uses the time to strangle an informant who lives nearby.</p>
<p>Cut and paste this list and add new schools/shows/movies in the same format</p>
<p>Harvard: Legally Blonde, Stealing Harvard, 1776, Altered States, West Wing, The Paper Chase
MIT: Good Will Hunting, Knowing, A Beautiful Mind
Wellesley: Mona Lisa Smile
Stanford: Orange County
University of Alabama: Forrest Gump (Alabama football)
University of Nebraska: Yes Man (Nebraska football)
Princeton: Harold and Kumar, Spanglish, Risky Bussiness, West Wing
Yale: Gilmore Girls, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Michigan: The Big Chill, Sister,Sister, Eyes Wide Shut, George Lopez Show, American Pie 2
University of Illinois: Risky Bussiness, MASH, Some Like it Hot
Georgetown: The Girl Next Door, The Exorcist, St. Elmo’s Fire
Boston College: Last Rites, White Shadow, Wings
New York University: Northern Exposure
Amherest: Donovan’s Reef
Mich State: Where the Boys Are, American Pie 2
Notre Dame: Rudy, John Goldfarb Please Come Home, Knute Rockne All American, Full Metal Jacket, West Wing
National Treasure: Georgetown, U of Maryland
Cannery Row: UChicago
Ohio State: Goodbye Columbus
Boston U: Goodbye Columbus
Columbia: Spiderman, Sopranos, Mirror Has Two Faces
Indiana U: Breaking Away
Rutgers: Sopranos
William and Mary: 1776, War of the Roses, Nim’s Island
Bowdoin College:The Sopranos (Season 1, Episode 5, College)
Marquette: That 70’s Show
U of Wisconsin: That 70’s Show
U of Minnesota: Mary Tyler Moore Show
Berkeley: The Graduate, Field of Dreams, West Wing
Oxford: Oxford Blues
Cal Poly: All the Right Moves
Loyola of Chicago: Bob Newhart Show
Duke: Mamma Mia, West Wing
Temple: Cosby Show
Santa Clara: Bend it Like Beckham
Naval Academy: Magnum PI
U of Toronto: Crossing the Bridge
Tulane: The Pelican Brief
Howard: The Pelican Brief
Williams: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Syracuse: The Express
Colby: The Sopranos
Northwestern: Mean Girls
City College: West Wing
Emory: Into the Wild
U Georgia: Into the Wild</p>