When Kansas University’s KUJH decided to restructure the channel in December, it excised student TV programming. The fallout meant a handful of original, student-created shows were left without a home.

Fortunately, two of the most prominent of these series have found an unlikely venue. Every Sunday night in July, the cast, crew and fans of “Evil Kansas” and “Anything But Everything” gather at Buffalo Wild Wings, 1012 Mass., for an evening dubbed “KUTV Presents.”

“When the show was on the air, I know lots of people were watching it,” says “Evil Kansas” creator Steve Deaver. “Our Web site hits were pretty high – in the hundreds and sometimes the thousands for each month. I know the actors were getting stopped on the street to be told about how people like the show.

“But right now, a venue for screening is pretty much the only way to see it.”

Deaver, who co-wrote, co-directed and co-produced the show with Josh Efron, says the station had garnered a strong variety of programs from KUTV, the student organization dedicated to creating original content. Some of these showcased short films, while others dabbled in sketch comedy.

“What I really thought would be interesting was to have an action show on the station,” he says. “I just finished watching a great deal of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ I thought if they can do that, there’s no reason something similar couldn’t be done and set in the environment of KU itself.”

Director of photography Jeff Wrensen, left, and Grace Waltz, who plays Alex, shoot a scene for the KUTV series Anything

“Evil Kansas” gave Deaver and Efron an opportunity to reference KU history, use multiple locations on campus and tie the storyline into the university itself. The premise involves a trio of crusaders (played by Jim Laigle, Katrina Alford and Rob Hecht) who are members of the clandestine KU organization Students Against Very Evil (S.A.V.E.).

Deaver cites the third episode of the action-comedy as a perfect example of the tone for which the project aspired.

“In that episode, an evil band manager uses black magic to curse a local band’s CD (the fictitious Hookers on Smack) so that anyone who downloads it gets electrocuted,” says the 2003 film studies graduate. “I like it because it’s got a topical flair to it that – while maybe not as important in a broad scale – is certainly important to KU students, especially those who have recently gotten busted for software piracy.”

‘Friends’-style TV

Partnered with “Evil Kansas” on the Sunday night screenings is the slightly more conventional “Anything But Everything.”

“It’s about three best friends who have just graduated college and their adjustment to the real world,” says Misti Boland, writer-director of the series.

Partially based on her own experiences, Boland compares the quirky humor of the 20-minute show to “Friends,” although she stresses it’s more of a “dramatic comedy.”

“My favorite episode is being shown this Sunday,” she says. “There’s a surprise birthday party that takes place at a roller skating rink. One of the characters is surprised by an ex-boyfriend who has moved away and is now coming back.”

Boland is so fond of the episode because it allowed her to stage flashbacks of when the characters were young.

“We had a bunch of elementary school kids, so we tried to recreate the ’80s,” she explains. “Then we placed them in high school, so we had references to the grunge stuff like Kurt Cobain.”

Boland mentions she received extensive cooperation from the Lawrence community, which allowed the cast and crew to shoot at places such as Lawrence High School and Buffalo Wild Wings – one of the reasons the Sunday night gatherings ended up at the local eatery.

Evil

Both shows were crafted by a combination of students and recent graduates.

What’s ahead

While “Anything But Everything” has finished its run of episodes with no more on the horizon, “Evil Kansas” still counts a few new installments currently in production.

Boland is working to have all her episodes available in downloadable form on the show’s Web site at abe-tv.tripod.com/index.html. “Evil Kansas” already has streamed three online at www.evilkansas.com.

So just how evil is Kansas, anyway?

“I haven’t run into any vampires or evil mad scientists or anything like that,” Deaver says. “However, there are certainly a lot of things going on in the state that concern me, and I would like to see someone perhaps challenge them in a more meaningful way.”