At
age 19, aspirant drummer and walking tattoo parlor Tommy Lee helped
form the hard-charging rock ’n’ roll band Mötley Crüe, so who had time
for a liberal-arts education? Now twice-divorced and the father of two
young boys, Lee is trying to put his infamous bad-boy rep behind him,
and one way to do this — since they haven’t yet invented body erasers —
is to go to college, specifically the University of Nebraska.

Comprised of a scant six half-hour episodes originally aired on NBC and VH-1, Tommy Lee Goes to College
can’t really gather the necessary downhill momentum to truly deliver on
the absurdist cachet of its concept. While it faithfully replicates
many touchstone freshman experiences and Lee is a respectful figure,
the sum doesn’t match the whole of the show’s parts. Further saddled by
an officious narration, the series comes across as a cycle of set-piece
vignettes strung together in rib-nudging fashion by an overactive
editor. This means the inclusion of washed-out effects and other
post-production gimmickry — tacks that rather quickly grow tiresome.

Still, it’s undeniable that there’s some fun to be had here. In the
series’ fourth episode, Lee’s English class debates the merit of his
autobiography, which opens with an imagined conversation between Tommy
and his penis. (The reactions of the co-eds are priceless.) Later, he
tries to pledge a fraternity, which births the priceless images of Lee
scrubbing a filthy toilet and trying to negotiate a bundle of laundry,
finally emptying an entire bottle of liquid detergent into the washer.
Pity that we don’t see the consequences of that, though — or much of
anything else. Instead of following this strand through to its logical
conclusion, Lee and another student get a house and try to start their
own frat. Wait… didn’t I see this in a Porky’s movie or something?

Again, the series works best when subverting expectation, and
thrusting the affable Lee back into a corner as the definitive butt of
the show’s joke. It’s savvy that they bestow upon him a smokin’ hot
blonde tutor, senior Natalie Reidmann, but do we really need a slow-mo
introduction complete with windswept hair? Likewise, the very idea of
Lee in chemistry and criminal law classes (he audited a semester, but
did not formally enroll) is rife with its own subtextual hilarity, but
the series indulges only fitfully in its subject’s self-effacing, himbo
confusion, which is actually quite endearing.

Tommy Lee Goes to College is presented in 1.33:1 full screen,
with an English language stereo track. Relatively sparse supplemental
extras represent a further missed opportunity, including a clutch of
self-touting music videos and behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage
(“Tryin’ To Be Me,” “Hello, Again” and the surprisingly soulful “Good
Times”) from Lee’s most recent, commercially underwhelming CD, Tommyland: The Ride. Hard-core fans of Mötley Crüe and other celeb-based entertainment will likely enthusiastically spark to Tommy Lee Goes to College, but for more casual audiences, this remains an elective course. C+ (Show) C- (Disc)