Rider Grad’s Sitcom to Air on NBC in June

Tom Papa, a 1990 communication graduate and star of several Rider Theatre productions, has his own sitcom, Come to Papa, air on Thursday, June 3 at 8:30 p.m. after Friends.
      He has the distinction of serving as star, writer, producer and co-creator of the sitcom in which he plays a struggling comedy writer.  The four-episode series is based loosely on his life.  As he noted, “More than anything else, the show is about me and my friends and family hanging out in New Jersey and all the funny things that happened.”
      He said that he wrote it with “the very funny” Greg Malins from Friends.
      To achieve this success, Papa worked seven nights a week performing at various New York City comedy clubs for several years until he was given a half-hour special on Comedy Central. He has since appeared on several shows including: David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Colin Quinn, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has also toured with Jerry Seinfeld, and will be the lead act for Seinfeld’s Philadelphia shows May 28-29.
      On the Rider stage, Papa had major roles in Equus, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, was the lead character in Dracula and the romantic lead in The Man Who Came to Dinner. He also played the plant in Little Shop of Horrors.
      Dr. Patrick Chmel, fine arts department chair, said, “I never thought Tom would be in comedic roles.  I know of his power in portraying serious roles in drama.”  Chmel said the department considers his performances in Equus and All My Sons to be two of the very best by a Rider student actor.
      Papa, who grew up in Montvale, NJ, said he wanted to be a comedian from a very young age, and that although he was a communication major, he spent 90 percent of his time in the Rider theater.

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