College professor: We're typically portrayed as ultra-cultured, rich snobs who only listen to classical music in our fancy, suite-sized offices filled with thousands of books. TV professors are also real assholes in the classroom, speaking in ridiculously rehearsed, dense language and humiliating students who dare to ask a "stupid" question. The male professors are also likely to be shown behaving inappropriately with female graduate students or undergrads.

In reality: Most of us are thousands of dollars in debt from 10+ years in higher education. Even if we make a decent salary, a good chunk goes to paying back student loans. Unless you're in an Ivy League school, your professors are much, much more likely to belong to the middle class than to be wealthy (new professors are typically in the lower middle class). Full-time, tenure-track jobs are becoming increasingly rare, though, so many of your professors are probably making around $20,000 a year or less to teach as an adjunct.

Offices usually aren't that big or fancy - we may bring a few decorations (posters and houseplants), but again - we're not rich. We're probably not going to line our walls with priceless tribal masks or any of the other assorted, nonsensical rare artifacts that you see in the TV professor's office. Those of us who are pre-tenure care a great deal about how our students perceive us; promotion is based heavily on course evaluations. Many of us actually care whether you learn regardless, and we are invested in growing as educators. The type of person who receives tenure is very unlikely to be the abrasive prima donna on TV - we like what we teach, and we want you to appreciate it, too. I've never gotten upset with a student for asking a question, and I'm patient even when students ask a question again right after I've answered it.

As for cultural snobbery, I know more professors who enjoy rock, jazz, and the blues than those who are into classical, and we watch most of the same TV shows and movies that you do. If you make a grammatical error in a casual setting, we're very unlikely to notice or care (and we dislike people who do). And while professor-student affairs do happen, they are generally frowned upon, and can land a professor in real hot water. Worst case scenario, most of the offending professor's peers are going to think that s/he is a creep, and his/her reputation for inappropriate behavior will spread. Academia is a small world.