The Brief

Forget film theory and consider game shows.

Breaking into Hollywood is never easy, so gaining any possible advantage makes sense. Now Cal State LA is working a unique path into a show biz career with a three-class series on game shows beginning this fall.

The first in the series slated is called, “Get in the game.”

“The whole idea is to provide not only a gateway into the industry, but to send people out to be eligible for jobs,” said Harry Friedman, the longtime producer of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, who helped create the classes.

Friedman was there for the announcement Thursday in a Cal State LA auditorium filled with students, professors, and entertainment industry professionals.

The backstory

The idea for the classes began in a conversation between Friedman and California State University administrators about how to help graduates enter the television industry.

Friedman said Cal State LA was the first campus to step forward to create a curriculum.

“There'll be internships, there'll be on-the-job training, there'll be field trips, there'll be all these things that will help them, hopefully, step right out of school and into jobs,” said Kristina Hackel, chair of Cal State LA’s department of television, film, and media studies.

Why game shows?

At a time when production for TV and the movies is struggling, game shows are a different story. The New York Times has reported how in even in this tough environment TV game shows remain popular.

“It's a pretty turbulent world out there, folks… there's a lot of conflict going on and this is a safe space,” said Bob Boden at the announcement.

Gameshow producers and hosts (L-R) Bob Boden, Harry Friedman, Brooke Burns and Rane Laymance on April 25, 2023.

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J. Emilio Flores

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California State University, Los Angeles

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Boden has been a consultant on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, and Massive Monster Mayhem, among other game shows. He’s also the co-founder of the National Archives of Game Show History, which aims to preserve "the history of game shows—from the earliest panel shows and quiz scandals to the classic games now in primetime."

Boden says it comes down to how you want to spend your work life. Here's his pitch:

“Imagine a job… where you make people happy for a living… we never lose sight of the fact that, we are a happy factory,” Boden said, adding that winning game show prizes helps people out.

Procuring those prizes is just one aspect of the game show business — an important one. Successful game shows also require casting directors, set designers, and production accountants.

Will the classes attract students?

Professors made the announcement on the opening day of Cal State LA’s annual film festival.

Some students who attended the announcement are TV, film, media studies majors and want to get their foot in the door in the entertainment industry.

“I'm really looking into music editing for films. I really just enjoy music and how it shapes a picture,” said third year TV, film, and media studies major Isaiah Nieves.

But now, after hearing about what goes into producing a game show, he said he wants to take the first class in the fall to find out if he can do that kind of work for game shows.

Professors expect the first class in the fall to attract about 25 students. If there's a big enough demand, they can expand the enrollment. And they're considering making it more widely available, hearing interest from people outside of Los Angeles in taking the class online.

While remote classes are not yet in the works, Hackel, the chair of TV, film, media studies, said that may change as they continue to offer the game show curriculum.

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Jan. 27, 2026.

East Los Angeles pastor Carlos Rincon stood outside a Minneapolis church on Friday, in below-zero temperatures, livestreaming what he was witnessing on the ground in the face of violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the region.

In a matter of weeks, he said, “an army of people” at Dios Habla Hoy Church in Minneapolis managed to distribute food packages to thousands of families — including green card holders and U.S. citizens — who were too afraid to leave their homes for food and worship.

“The persecution in Minneapolis is terrible, more cruel than what’s happened in Los Angeles,” the pastor said in his video. Federal agents “are going against anyone,” Rincon, who pastors the Assemblies of God church Centro de Vida Victoriosa in East L.A., told Boyle Heights Beat.

Rincon, who has attended vigils and protests against immigration raids in LA, was in Minneapolis for three days. He witnessed clergy getting arrested at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport in an anti-ICE protest. He marched with tens of thousands of Minnesotans amid the state’s general strike against ICE.

Since Rincon’s visit, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said some federal agents will begin to leave Tuesday amid outrage over the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration agents.

In Minneapolis, Rincon was struck by the number of white Americans showing up in defense of immigrants. He recalled elderly American women “battling the snow” as they kept watch for agents. He also saw as many as 500 or more people sorting food inside the church for distribution.

Rincon spent time with Dios Habla Hoy pastor Sergio Amezcua, who has denounced ICE as “acting like narco cartels back in Mexico.” Amezcua’s church set up a system — involving volunteers of all religious and ethnic backgrounds — to deliver food to thousands of families in the area.

“I got citizens, permanent residents, they avoid coming to church. … We preach to the world religious freedom and Minnesota people cannot go to church,” Amezcua said in a video on the nonprofit news site Mother Jones.

“And if they come to church, there’s ICE agents outside of churches waiting for them,” he said. “It’s really evil what’s going on.”

The Rev. Carlos Rincon spent three days in Minneapolis.

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Courtesy of Rincon

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A board member of the Latino Christian and National Network, Rincon said he went to Minneapolis to gauge the needs of Latino churches in the area. He said Dios Habla Hoy Church had to implement added security measures before letting anyone inside the church.

“I’m impressed by the city, people of Minneapolis, how selflessly they serve,” Rincon said. “They’re willing to risk their own lives.”

Rincon, who is part of the LA-based Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, wants more religious Latino leaders to denounce ICE violence.

His denomination, the fast-growing Assemblies of God, is made up of about 180,000 adherents in its Southern California network, many of whom are immigrants. Rincon said a fellow LA pastor is currently at risk of deportation. It’s a conservative denomination, he said, “that has been captivated by the Republican Party.”

“Although we are targets, the evangelical Pentecostal churches, they’re not speaking on this issue,” said Rincon, who is Mexican American. “I’m trying to change that.”

“I’m taking a risk because I wasn’t born in this country. I’m a naturalized American, but I believe in what I do,” he added.

In LA, Rincon and his largely immigrant church, which he has led for nearly 40 years, have helped provide funds to immigrant families in need during the raids. While not all congregants agree on everything, “they see me as their spiritual leader,” he said.

Rincon returned to LA on Saturday, just in time to attend a downtown interfaith vigil outside of the federal building, where he addressed clergy and others.

“I come in love with the beloved community of Minneapolis,” he said in Spanish. “They are rising up. They are fighting. “Thank you, Lord, for Minneapolis, because they have opened their doors and protected the vulnerable.”

“They are saving lives when others have built walls,” Rincon continued.

We're in for another mild day with partly to mostly cloudy skies. The National Weather Service forecasts that come Thursday, temperatures will rise more and the Santa Ana winds will return.

Coastal communities in the L.A. area will see highs mostly around 70 degrees today. Meanwhile, the Orange County coast will stay cooler with high temperatures around 62 degrees.

More inland, the valleys and the Inland Empire will see highs from 69 to 75 degrees, up to 76 degrees in Coachella Valley. In the Antelope Valley, highs will be mostly in the low 60s.