Tubefilter News was at the NTV Pier Screenings in San Francisco Thursday night, where we got a chance to take a look at six pilots for episodic web shows. The pilots ranged from sci-fi thrillers, all the way to sketch-comedy and single camera shorts. In the end, our favorite show was Tertiary Productions‘ Park Bench, although all the pilots had great potential.
Even though Park Bench can be described as simply “two guys sitting on a park bench and talking,” this show amazed us with its powerful dialogue and great comedic timing. The dynamic between the two main characters is one we’ve seen before – Matt is level-headed, but has relationship problems, while Adam is insecure and overcompensates for it. By using the freedom that the internet provides, the two guys get into some hilarious scenarios that we would never see on primetime TV. In the pilot, the guys are approached by a volunteer to get tested for STDs, but they decline and explain the “process of elimination” that (allegedly) keeps them disease-free. The videos are hosted on Moli, a custom social networking site, similar to Ning, for “both enterprising individuals above the age of 18 and small business owners.” Although it seems like an odd choice, the partnership has obviously worked out for Tertiary, who have announced on their blog that a second season of Park Bench is on the way (although no release date has been announced).
Also worth mentioning was Visit, a sci-fi thriller from Gray Miller. Originally created as a feature length film entitled ‘2k3,’ it appears that it will instead be released as a series. Although the story is a bit complicated to figure out at first, this is one of the best episodes we’ve ever seen in terms of overall production value – video quality, sound quality, directing, and camera work are all top-notch. Considering that web video is heavily focused on comedy, we’re excited to see a sci-fi series with this much potential, and look forward to watching more.
