Review of Channel 102

Born in 2005, Channel 102 is the New York equivalent of the Los Angeles short comedy festival and television site, Channel 101. Its creator, Tony Carnevale – who has written for VH1 and National Lampoon – started the site with the approval of the creators of the original, Don Harmon and Rob Schrab. Like its well-established predecessor, the series running on 102 are voted on by live audiences at monthly screenings, and have started to earn their own recognition – occasionally featuring some big names, such as Rob Corddry of Daily Show fame. This drawing power is due directly to the nature of the festival

, which invites amateur creators to submit their own five-minute pilots, in the hopes of having them voted onto the site, and exposed to a wide audience that has come to expect a certain level of originality and humor.

Like Channel 101, Channel 102 a constantly shifting list five shows are voted onto the sought-after list of Prime Time. As the shows age, they are either killed by their creators or voted out, ending up on the Cancelled list. While in broadcast television, such a list would be a dubious honor at best, here you can view the series that were good enough to make it to the big time, before they suffered their inevitable decline – like the extremely well-produced, well-acted The Bicycle Thief. Shows that were never quite outlandish enough to make it, end up in the Failed pile. Don’t discount them out of hand, however, as they represent some of the most creative, perhaps to a fault, of the bunch. While the latter two lists aren’t as extensive as their West Coast counterparts, they are growing monthly, so be sure to check back regularly.

One show to watch is Shutterbugs – a four episode self-cancelled series (their last installment ran over five minutes, leading to an automatic disqulaification) about two child actor agents that fight losing battles against disgruntled clients and rival agencies. You might recognize co-creator Rob Huebel from those pre-movie reminders featuring Inconsiderate Cellphone Man. The show also Also know that the And although the show was cancelled, anything involving diva child actors and martial arts battles is good enough for this writer.