Screaming girls, predawn starts, and 6-day weeks are a lot to handle on $10 an hour—but NBC pages see success at the end of the tunnel, the New York Times reports. They know that hours of smiling schlep work—think photocopies and coffee—have led luminaries like Regis Philbin and Ted Koppel to stardom. What made them good pages? "We're all hams," one said.
They also overcame odds worse than getting into Harvard to get the gig, and passed a grueling test on NBC trivia. “We all have an unhealthy knowledge of NBC,” one admitted. They also have about a 70% chance of getting a job at NBC. By that time, they hopefully know the keys to the business. “It was a wonderful time,” said Koppel. “I dated my way through the Radio City Rockettes.”
(More NBC stories.)