Pendelton State University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Pendelton State University |
|
|---|---|
| Motto | Unknown |
| Established | Unknown |
| Type | Unknown |
| Endowment | Unknown (apparently inadequate) |
| Chancellor | Duncan ("Dick Strikes Out" and "Dick Solomon's Day Off") |
| President | Dewey ("Proud Dick") |
| Staff | Unknown |
| Undergraduates | Unknown |
| Postgraduates | Unknown |
| Location | Rutherford, Ohio, United States |
| Campus | Suburban—22 acres |
| Colours | Red, Yellow |
| Mascot | Badgers |
| Website | None |
Pendelton State University is a fictional college, located in the fictional city of Rutherford, Ohio, that is featured on the NBC show 3rd Rock from the Sun. An alien being in the guise of Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) takes on the role of physics professor at Pendelton, where he shares an office with his love, Dr. Mary Albright of the Anthropology department.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The school was named after Admiral Pendelton, whose statue stands outside of Huff Hall. In the episode "Feelin' Albright," Dick tried to get Mary to raise money to restore the statue, which had fallen into disrepair.
The show repeatedly emphasized the bad state of the school and it is implied that most, if not all, of the faculty and student body are only there because they couldn't make it elsewhere. In fact, in the episode "Fourth and Dick" Leon, when asked why the students didn't go to another school, replies "because we choked on our SATs."
In the premiere episode, Dick described it as a "third-rate university" and it has since been called "mediocre" on a fairly regular basis. In "The Tooth Harry" it was mentioned that the campus was built on a reclaimed uranium mine and dialogue in that episode implies the materials available at the school are hopelessly outdated, that a large number students to attend the school have committed suicide and that the school is still "a little radioactive."
The library is notoriously inadequate. In "Stuck with Dick," it is revealed that the elevator turns off when the library closes and that the library is not open on the weekend. This strands anyone present in the library at that time for the whole weekend, since the stairway is blocked. In "Dick Strikes Out," Mary stated that the emergency exit has nailed shut for two years.
The school's football team, the Badgers, regularly lose to the Mustangs of the real-life University of Western Ontario.
[edit] Faculty and Staff
[edit] Departments
[edit] Physics Department
- Dick Solomon (John Lithgow)
- Vincent Strudwick (Ron West)
[edit] Anthropology Department
[edit] Women's Studies
[edit] Biology
- Liam Neesam (John Cleese)
[edit] Theology
- Father Rice (Bruce Morrow) - Morrow died in 1997, after which his character ceased to appear on the show without explanation
[edit] Unknown department
- Leonard Hamlin (John Mahoney) - died in season one
- Suter (Harry Morgan) - as of "Selfish Dick," he was still on the payroll despite having not taught a class in four years (at the end of the episode, it was stated that he was forced to retire, but he continued to appear on the show in the second season and he was mentioned as a member of the faculty in the fifth-season episode "Dick Strikes Out")
[edit] Other
[edit] Deans
- Sumner (William Bogert) - Dean of Arts and Sciences, seasons one to three (his wife, only identified as Mrs. Sumner, was played by Jennifer Rhodes)
- Mary Albright (Curtin) - Dean of Arts and Sciences, six months in season four
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Duncan (Lane Davies) - Chancellor in season five
- Dewey (Philip Baker Hall) - University President in "Proud Dick"
- Nina Campbell (Simbi Khali) - Secretary to Dick and Mary
- Lucy (Marianne Muellerleile) - Cafeteria cashier, later secretary to Mary when she became Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Dick's archenemy.
