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Ohff Campus is, in all respects, a direct copy of the Hot Race. The latter is based on Rachel Reid’s famous gay love story. Kale is an adaptation of the same-sex romance novel by Elle Kennedy. It’s a fun, soapy, world-class comedy about hot twenty-something college students playing hockey instead of pro hockey teams and their hot twenty-something stars. I can recommend it to all those who appreciate hot twentysomethings, bums, boobs, hockey (although as with Hot Race there are only a few of them and mostly making them naked in the shower again) and good trash TV. Sit back with your beverage of choice, turn off your brain and relax. As with its competitor, Off Campus knows exactly what it’s doing, where it’s going and why – and so should you. It’s so comforting and so amazing.
The first manager is Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), the captain of Briar University’s hockey team and the son of hockey legend, Phil Graham (Steve Howey). They seem to have it all – but don’t they? He has his share of sex but refuses to be friends with anyone. Is he a playa as opposed to a football player, just to be fair as they say, because his heart is for hockey, or could there be a deeper reason for his mental absence? Is it something to do with his mother, who died of cancer years ago? What can we make of the hatred he has for his father? Or memories of a childhood filled with loud voices and broken hooves? Hmm. Maybe he will take a bath again while we meditate. What a handsome – I mean tough – boy.
The second protagonist is Hannah Wells, played by Ella Bright. This means that UK viewers will have to pause and adjust their thinking, as Bright is currently known for playing Darrell Rivers in Enid Blyton’s brilliant adaptation of Malory Towers. Without a little brain preparation, the sight of Blyton’s heroine here in a hormonal surge will not help you at all. So consider this a health warning.
Such a caveat is all the more important because Bright has been cast in the positives he brings to the role. Hannah is a musician (who is considered a “dorky outsider to the glamorous world of jocks”) whose education – so she is poor, but bright like her name! – is terminated suddenly. Now they have to sing, for reasons I don’t know a bit about, but I suspect the script writers do too, so here we go, writing pop songs for the show instead of the “classics” they like to make money. But how can he write words from his heart when he has never heard… his heart? It’s confusing.
And why did he never hear his heart? Could it have something to do with the fear they feel whenever they get too close to school comics – the ones you read about in the love stories that make the headlines? Maybe he’ll meet Garrett in the shower while he’s cleaning up the changing rooms (one of his many jobs, being poor) and we ponder.
Garrett is failing a class that Hannah is crushing. Will they teach him? No. Although he needs the money, he hates hockey and jojo a lot. Will she teach him to pretend to be her boyfriend to get Justin (Josh Heuston), the singer in her favorite band, to like her? Yes. Does this make any kind of sense? No. Is that the question we should be asking? No!
Throw in the secondary essentials and B-plots: the helper, Hana’s best friend named Allie (Mika Abdalla), who has a long-term relationship but is bored and attracted to Garrett with a wife, Dean (Stephen Kalyn); various girls known as “puck bunnies”, who hang around the hockey team and hope to be honored with… well, lettuce or a puck I guess, to be given a name. A woman my age watching this is entitled to choose ignorance from time to time, and we’re all set to fall in love flawlessly (believability is enhanced by the beautiful chemistry between the two leads). The romance is heightened with real wisdom and warmth, and given a little boost with back pains that are handled with more grace than you might expect.
It’s classy, cute, and I love it. If it does Rivalry statistics It will be because there are more viewers in the world and not because it brings the novelty of Rivalry with it, but it has to do well what it can get.
