Jessie Cantrell Could be Good, Just Not on 'The Clicker'

I love Hulu. Love love love love love. I want to take Hulu out to a fancy dinner then back to my place, and I’m always keen to check out the webshows they’ve picked up, but this time, the Hulu curators have let me down.

Produced by Broadband Enterprises (a video network behind branded, well-conceived, but short-lived online originals), The Clicker aims to provide a quick rundown of what people are watching, online and off. As an aficionado of all things video, I was excited to check it out.

Think about The Soup on E!.  Now remove everything that makes it tolerable and you’re left with The Clicker.

The show is divided into recurring segments, each complete with a cute name, graphic, and sound effect.  One of the segments, the “Honda Crave Rave of the Week,” begins with an engine rev and is the only reason that this show is in existence, and that Honda should make better choices in what online shows to sponsor. 

Hulu commenter, Conquistador

sums it up nicely:

“Do we need 8 different voices and accents in a minute in a half video? NO! So please stop. Spend less time on the voices and more time on punchlines and the show would be much more interesting. But at least she’s cute, which makes her watchable. Matter fact if you mute her, the show get’s better. then you can pepper in your own lines.”

Conquistador has a point.  If host Jessie Cantrell could tone down her schtick just a bit, she could be the one redeeming aspect of the show.  Jessie, who is a writer/actor/comedian, according to her website (and a former slave to Carson Daly, according to IMDB ), also hosts a show on Black20.com.

Black20 News is a weekly program that is reminiscent of Epic Fu or Rocketboom‘s Cogdon era.  It provides little tidbits of culture from here or there -I learend that the Pez Museum is just a few minutes from me – and is a perfect use of Jessie’s fun, relaxed style.

So what gives, Jessie?  Do the Honda folks dig the goofy manic thing?  Chill out; be yourself.  Though it would probably take a complete overhaul of the show to make The Clicker worth watching, perhaps a few tweaks to the potential-laden host could at least allow us to enjoy the show as much as the pre-roll ad, and be a vehicle to drive the host to bigger and better things.