After years of moderate success in the tech and gaming industries, Michael “Burnie” Burns gathered a group of friends with similar low-paying jobs and created Drunkgamers.com. The website, which promoted the blissful combination of alcohol and video games, became a cult favorite for gamers and produced a brief short in early 2003 called Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles that caught the eye of Computer Gaming World months after the convivial site was off the air. The brief moment of success inspired Burns to call on friend Matt Hullum and fellow drunkgamers to start Rooster Teeth Productions – a production company dedicated to creating machinima. The site launched in 2004, and now produces arguably the most famous content of its ilk and is contracted by companies like IFC and MTV for game-specific promotional shorts. 

Of Rooster Teeth’s three web serials, Red vs. Blue is the longest running, most popular, and the one that put the site on the map. Using famous multi-player game Halo as the source material for its ridiculous shenanigans, the plot is wholly separate from the fighter game’s storyline and uses Halo mostly as a backdrop for odd site gags and gamer in-jokes. Spanning a handful of seasons since 2003, its video archive contains only new episodes and selections from the previous season (old seasons can be purchased on DVD). The Strangerhood is a Real World parody with seven strangers trapped in an unfamiliar world – the world of Sims 2 – for an unknown purpose. It was contracted by IFC and all 17 episodes (plus extras) are available in full. The four-episode series PANICS is a promotional program made for the release of the Windows-based game F.E.A.R., featuring an alternate storyline but set in the same universe of guns and military operations. A fifth and final episode of PANICS will only be available on the pre-order edition of F.E.A.R. For fans wanting to learn more, check out the hyperactive forums and Roosteeth news. For more entrainment, the comics are definitely worth a few laughs. 

Red vs. Blue is one of the most well-known machinimas around for a reason. While the other two series are good, the storyline in Red vs. Blue is more involved and entertaining, the characters and setting are manipulated to look much more natural than the other two, and the jokes are just funnier. Episodes come and go however, so you have to keep checking to find your favorite.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Zach Jones
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Red State Update is a comic video blog that has been going strong since October 2005.  The show was created by Jonathan Shockley and Travis Harmon of the duo Travis and Jonathan, whose tremendous web presence has led them to appear on the CNN/Youtube debates as their Red State Update characters, Jackie and Dunlap.  In addition to their quirky variety show and various parodies (whose targets include Werner Herzog, Johnny Appleseed, Rick Rubin , and the chupacabra), Red State Update is a sector of the Travis and Jonathan shenanigans where they rely on their Tennessee upbringing to examine all that is current in American life and culture.  Since the beginning of 2007, Salon.com‘s Video Dog has been ooffering up new videos every Tuesday, before they appear elsewhere on the web.

Jackie and Dunlap are two Red State-loving hicks who muse on the state of the Union with their own unique slant. Seated at a table brimming with Budweiser cans, Jackie – sporting lumberjack plaid and overalls – and Dunlap – rocking out an American flag tee – use the American flag as a backdrop to their Southern twanged barbs.  They examine all the liberal “hoaxes”, such as the 9/11 conspiracy, with a fervor that even Ann Coulter might envy. Red State Update, with its right wing supremacy stance, is possibly the polar opposite of the Daily Show.  

Dunlap is more attuned to the outside world than Jackie, and their rapport rests on Dunlap’s repeated attempts to clarify a given situations for  Jackie.  If The Dukes of Hazzard got their hands on a copy of US Weekly, they might come up with the kind of celebrity examination that Jackie and Dunlap deploy.

The show’s blog also categorizes the past video entries by date, so you can look back and reminisce on important events of the past few years.

Jackie and Dunlap spin things in such a zany way that any topic they cover is going to hold your interest, but 5^th Graders having sex is pretty special.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Tim Drucker
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JD Lasica has an extensive background in user-created media. Besides being a board member of the Media Bloggers Association, he’s a multimedia writer, co-founder of both Darknet and OurMedia, and president of the Social Media Group. Tired of the celebrity-driven culture fed to us by today’s media, Lasica created the Real People Network, showcasing interviews with real people (and occasional celebrities). He stumbled upon the inspiration for his first post in January 2006. Lasica encourages vloggers to run their vlogs on his site, as long as they meet his fairly simple criteria: be a real person, be creative, and have video content.

Although there are occasional home videos and content cross-posted from other vlogs, the site is focused mainly on cataloguing Lasica’s interviews with media professionals in 3- to 5-minute installments. Categorized by blogs, books, citizen journalism and media, film, law, moblogs (mobile blogs), music, podcasts, site news, remixes, tech, television, vlogs, and web, this man has been able to talk to everybody involved in independent content. From Elisabeth Shue, speaking out on behalf of Creative Commons, to Jack Valenti, head of the MPAA for over a quarter of a century, Lasica never varies his reporting style no matter whom he can squirrel into his hot seat. Shot on the street, in cafes, and outside convention centers, he asks his subjects to introduce themselves and prompts them with just enough questions to get them talking. Like in this interview with Josh Kinberg of FireAnt, Lasica prods enough to steer the conversation, but otherwise lets his guest talk unrestrained. It’s a simple but effective method that works well with the site’s casual, industry-specific videos.

It’s rare to find an industry vlog that’s casual without brimming with jokes. Besides being genuinely insightful, his interview with Michael Geoghegan, producer of Grape Radio and author of Podcast Solutions, is a great example of how to do a high quality tech podcast on a small budget. Know your subject matter, don’t be too peppy or too reserved, keep it short, and let your guests talk about that which they know most.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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Produced by TV360 LLC, Real Meals TV has been cooking on the air since May 2006. Hosts Allison Fishman, Samia Akudo, Jean Tang, and Jeff Lepine show viewers home-cooked specialties, both their own dishes and meals prepared by strangers who have graciously given the show an invitation into their kitchens.

Like the guest cooks, the hosts are a mix of professionals and hobbyists; Jean is a food journalist and Allison is a pro chef, while Samia and Jeff are both actors with an interest in sharing their foodie delight.

With categories like meat, chicken, seafood, vegetarian, pasta, and soups, Real Meals TV covers all the basics of home cooking. Each two-to-five minute video comes with an easy-to-read, easy-to-pause, and easy-to-rewind recipe for simple to moderately difficult entrees. It’s almost exactly like the Food Network—even down to the lighting and editing style—but the cooks here range from professional chefs to amateur cooks straight from their own kitchens.

There are a handful of main recipe categories – Pro Meals (pro cooks), Your Meals (home cooks), Healthy Meals, and RealSpirits – along with channels like tips, contests, most popular, and newest clips. Recipes include the standards like chicken soup and meatloaf to more advanced delicacies like Sweet Potato Soufflé and “Ants in a Tree,” which actually looks pretty good.  Helpful tips, like what to do when your onions burn and how to make the perfect grill marks, are sprinkled throughout the vids. Even the “pro meals,” like Chef Marc Taxiera’s piselli  and Chef Marc Murphy’s apple pork chops, are easy to follow with a press of the video player’s pause and rewind buttons.

And if you’re brave enough to submit a recipe that will be tested and judged by the viewing public, don’t forget to upload your own cooking video.

Personally, I’m excited to try the butternut squash macaroni and cheese. The site explains that it will “trick your kids into eating vegetables,” but I’m just hoping it will trick me into liking squash.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Zach Jones
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Vice TV is one of many ventures of Vice Magazine, a veritable guide to existence for urban hipsters in New York City that covers independent art, pop culture, music and fashion. In 1994 its creators, Suroosh Alvi, Shane Smith and Gavin McInnes, founded a government-funded magazine entitled “Voice of Montreal” in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They bought out their publisher in 1996, changed their name to Vice, and eventually moved the magazine to New York in 2002. Vice is published and distributed for free in a number of countries worldwide and has published collections in book form, including The Dos and DON’Ts Book, and The Vice Guide to Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. It also has its own retail clothing chain and record label, Vice Records. Vice TV, or VBS.tv, the group’s online broadcast network, was launched February 5, 2007. In Vice’s mission statement, Smith explains how the travel articles the creators began to feature in their magazine (which lead to a well-received DVD: Vice Guide to Travel) opened their eyes to ways of living that were much different than “cocaine, whores and denim…We want to do the real deal on VBS, not just the usual bullshit.” VBS is produced by Eddy Moretti, who also produced the Vice Guide to Travel DVD, and oh yeah, its creative director is the incredibly accomplished Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being Josh Malkovich).

Vice shows are divided up into a number of categories. There’s Music World, which follows the lives of musicians all over the world; Dos & Don’ts & Friends, which feature celebrity friends of Vice (like David Cross) discussing good or bad fashion; or Inside Sudan, the site’s most serious news broadcast about the genocidal war in Darfur in which Shane Smith and other Vice crew members travel around Sudan interviewing people about their lives. The production expertise fueling VBS TV is evident as the majority of the vids appear to have all the trappings of similar programming you’d find on traditional television (except perhaps the Dos and Don’ts and Friends shows, but they’re still hilarious). Live at the Old Blue Last, recordings of live shows at the Vice owned London pub, is especially well done. Also good is Soft Focus, where legendary musicians are interviewed by lyricist and performer Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, Make-Up) in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Many shows are divided up into episodes, which can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes and viewers can also make comments on the VBS forum.

While VBS promises to go all over the world to bring back the coolest music and culture, there ain’t noting wrong with staying right here in America. Check out Americana, Vice’s take on weird and awesome subcultures in the good old US of A. I thoroughly enjoyed the episode on Voguing, in which Vice interviews two professional voguers from the House of Ninja and the House of Extravaganza about the history and politics of this dance culture. Fascinating.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Kate Dundon
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When Radio Playhouse’s host, PK, brought the radio show from West Palm Beach to Portland, Oregon’s Jammin 95.5 FM in 2000, it quickly gained popularity. The show airs in Portland from 5-10am weekdays and various other times on its affiliates in other states, and has also become a nightly TV show, on Comcast channel 14 in Portland and Eugene. If you don’t live in the area, you can listen to the show through a live stream, subscribe to the podcasts, or watch clips from the past week’s shows, all on the Radio Playhouse site, managed by the producer, Ivan.

If watching a guy being tortured by nipple-pinching until he gives up a family secret, or seeing a producer try to make his own nose bleed suits your fancy, there’s plenty to whet your appetite. Radio Playhouse is boy humor at its raunchiest. PK’s cast and crew (consisting of both men and women) continually humiliate themselves in the name of comedy. News reporter Sonie is to PK what Robin is to Howard, and DuRyan, the show’s stuntman, has even been featured in a clip on VH1’s Web Junk 2.0 TV show. The boys are vulgar, rude, and often offensive (see the Mexican immigrant clip), but they’re also willing to do so at their own expense. There’s even a contest at the end of each show to see which cast member threw out the most insults. Like what you see? Subscribe to the podcast and see an extended version that lasts a more substantive 2 or 3 minutes compared to the 30 or so second regular clips. 

Like Howard, Radio Playhouse is a little sex-obsessed. In one especially raunchy clip, a female guest watches an adult video (not shown) to learn a few tricks as the boys crack up at her disgusted reactions.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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Cure all your dating woes at 39 Second Single , where a two-woman team of television producers including Liza Persky and Mary C. Matthews have put together a show dedicated to the comic encounters of the single, stressed, and looking for love.

Persky, the main host of the show is an Emmy award winning producer, best known for her work with the Rosie O’Donnell Show . Matthews is a writer and producer with a background in comedy writing for television and the web. She has previously worked with Buena Vista Television, American Movie Classics, and FUSE. 39 Second Single was launched in December 2006, just after the two women established Pound Productions, a company which focuses on original programming for television and the web.

In addition to 39 Second Single, they collaborated with Jeff Jarvis‘ Exploding Video Productions in February 2007 to create the Idol Critic, which featured Persky delivering delightfully snarky reviews of American Idol season 6 episodes and the wanna-be pop kings and queens that were competing to win the nation’s heart.  The women also produce web shows, Debate Porridge, related to the 2008 presidential race, and Fabulous Tonight, which covers gay lifestyle topics.

The pair appeared on the Today Show in April 2007 to discuss their web shows – Matthews described 39 Second Single “as a way to embrace the struggles of being single but also the humor of it.”

Get ready to laugh, especially if you have taken more than one ride on the mad, loopy, and at times ridiculous, New York dating roller coaster that all hopeful singles living in the city must inevitably board. The concept of the show as well as its content is inspired by Persky’s own dating experiences as a 39-year-old single woman in Manhattan ardently seeking her perfect match.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Anusha Alikhan
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On May 11, 2004, Pure Pwnage released its first episode online from Toronto, Canada. Not long after that, this show-within-a-show became a global cult phenomenon that’s translated into 30 different languages (including Estonian and Faroese). A little too obsessed with World of Warcraft and Counter Strike, Jarett Cale (Jeremy), Geoff Lapaire (Kyle), and Joel Gardiner (Doug) play gamers who could be themselves in this popular farce on the tech/gamer lifestyle where fictional geeks vlog their geekdom.

The site is written in leet (l33t sp34k), the colloquial online language that’s half programmer slang and half IM vernacular that the characters are disturbingly fluent in. (For example, “Jeremy” explains how his vlog got started in this in-character interview with Absolute Insight: “1 day im liek ‘hey kyle y dont u stop filmin ghey stuf like that leaf falling n mebbe u could actualy b less n00b’ n hes all like ‘im a total n00b so i dunno what 2 film so pls help me jeremy’ so im liek ‘just film me then omg.. i pwn so much peeps will totaly watch it.”)

With a new episode once every couple of months, it’s surprising that Pure Pwnage has such a massive, active, and insanely dedicated fanbase. With episode titles like “Game Over” and “Teh Best Day Ever” and characters with names like fps_doug, it’s pretty obvious what the satire is all about. In low budget videos that last about 15 minutes on average, Jeremy improvs about uber chat skillz, tells girls how good they look in hi-res, and explains how much he owns you. I’m sorry, I got that wrong. He actually pwns you. (A phrase that is often said with a pelvic thrust.)

Episodes like “I <3 U in RL,” in which Jeremy and girlfriend Anastasia play separate games while in a single apartment, and “LANageddon,” in which Jeremy and Doug face off at a gaming tournament, are frightening pieces of faux cinema verité that have that wonderful combination of making you belly laugh and making you feel awkwardly sad about humanity.

In addition to the main show, there’s also an ongoing comic series and downloadable original music all in the same vein. There’s all kinds of extra content too, including an unofficial podcast and a listing for Pure Pwnage “gaming clans” so that fans of the show can meet and play in their favorite games.

The music video for “World of Warcraft is a Feeling” expresses everything that Pure Pwnage represents. It was made for the hilarious “Imapwnu of Azeroth” episode, in which Jeremy decides to buy Warcraft after a gamer’s lifetime of disdain for the game because he realizes Anastasia, the woman of his dreams, is a Warcraft addict and his newly-created character Imapwnu of Azeroth is his best shot at winning her heart.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Zach Jones
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Pulp Secret, a Next New Networks launch from March ‘07, prides itself on being “the world’s first comic book network.” That means three weekly shows, A Comicbook Orange, The Stack, Comic Book Club, Pulp Secret Report and Pulp Secret Confessions, that provide reviews, discussions, and humorous asides about new storylines, new series, and new issues of comic books of all panels, colors, and illustrations.

Pulp Secret’s slew of shows covers all the bases.

A Comicbook Orange, hosted by Casey McKinnon and Rudy Jahchan – creators of Galacticast (Tilzy.TV page) – features right-to-the-point reviews (rated from one to five “oranges”) of the latest comic books to hit stands. Casey and Rudy display a natural camaraderie in the brief but adorable sketches that come between reviews.  And the reviews themselves are critical, informative, and knowledgeable, whether it’s on the merits of DC’s All Star Superman or discussing the “competent, but not spectacular” the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Between the shows and the site’s extensive blog, there’s little that won’t satisfy your daily comic book fix.

Again, you can’t miss here, but some great episodes feature The Stack boys talking new X-Men and their list of the most controversial moments in comic book history; Pulp Secret Report’s, errr, report on the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and Mad magazine headquarters; and various artists trying to create a new superhero in ten seconds on Pulp Secret Confessions. You don’t need to wait for the next issue to find out if they succeed.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Michael Joshua Rowin
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In an effort to extend his long arm into new media, former Disney CEO MichaelEisner has taken on web video. In March 2007, Eisner’s investment firm, The Tornante Company formed Vuguru studios to take on the task of creating edgy and interesting internet programming. Sponsored by Hairspray the movie, Prom Queen, a PG-13 teen serial launched in April 2007, is the studio’s first endeavour. The show is co-produced by Big Fantastic, who also produced the widely successful internet series Sam Has 7 Friends, the rights of which were recently purchased by Eisner’s Tornante. Prom Queen has become the favorite of new media-minded cool kids, reportedly averaging approximately 200,000 views per episode. The serial originally launched in partnership with video-sharing site Veoh, which is also partially backed by Eisner, but premiered on its very own MySpace page.

Daily installments of the 80-episode teenage soap are released in bite-sized 90-second chunks that typically end with a stirring cliffhanger. The plot follows the lives of a group of high school seniors anxiously awaiting Prom as a murder mystery eerily unfolds. A rumbling gossip mill, hot actors, impending innuendo, sexual tension and of course, secrets and lies all make for apt comparisons to teen dramas like the O.C. or One Tree Hill and hit Vuguru’s teenybopper demographic right on the money (though if you’re a post-teen and still enjoy re-runs of 90210, go for it, we won’t tell). While episodes are brief, they are executed to include the kind of subtle detail which takes talent, allowing viewers to get intimate with the players, and gradually upping the stakes.

Among the thirteen main characters are the usual suspects with a bit of a twist. There is: Ben, “most likely to succeed,” Lauren, “class flirt,” Curtis, “most likely to destroy the world,” Courtney, “most likely to be famous,” and Danica, the British foreign exchange student. In the first episode a disoriented Danica wakes up in the woods outside her home, unable to explain how she got there. In the second show Danica attempts to interview her classmates to understand American teenagers’ obsession with prom night, while Ben receives a mysterious text message—”U r going to kill the prom queen.” Subsequent episodes seem to foreshadow an eerie upcoming disaster, as the class prepares for biggest night of their lives.

Start from the beginning with the first episode, and watch them in order, or you’ll feel lost in all the petty gossip, emotional roller coasters, and everything else that made high school so much…fun(?).

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Anusha Alikhan
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Playing host to a big idea, Project Pedal is dedicated to the encounters of two twenty-something cyclists traveling 4,300 miles, cross-country from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine. Since 2002, Graphic designer, Michael Ambs, has been developing the project in conjunction with friend, Amanda Walker. The Black Sheep, a Brussels-based film crew, known for their direction of Belgian band Milk Inc.’s 2006 re-make video of “Tainted Love,” jumped on board in December 2004. In an interview with JetSet, Ambs said the project is neither a “how-to” documentary, nor a tribute to adventure cycling. It is mainly about the people that the cyclists meet along their journey, and how each personal story they encounter becomes entwined with the travelers’ own experiences. The first installment of the video podcast won Ambs his budget, coming in first in a network2 “How to Watch Internet TV” contest, which reaped a $25,000 award. Traveling the Adventure Cycling Association’s Northern Route from June to August 2007, Ambs plans to use the vlgos and other footage collected along the way as the starting point for a feature-length documentary.

The concept of the show is intriguing and the developers have painstakingly thought-out project details, from practical concerns such as the cost and timeline, to creative intent including a focus on the diversity of people’s experiences. In his synopsis of the project, Ambs explains its roots and discusses his desire to examine what motivates an individual to take on a journey of such magnitude. For other insightful details, the project pedal blog provides a clear evolution of the concept, as well as its design and aspirations are shared on, which is updated regularly, while an interactive map clears-up any route questions users may have. The roughly five-minute weekly episodes pack in a lot of information, relying on innovative technique coupled with an easy narrative style that hooks viewers and succinctly tells a story. The second episode outlines the logistics of the project with the help of a sharpie, an expert stick figure artist, and a little video manipulation. Episode 3 serves as the show’s “casting call” and films Ambs’ daily routine, using captions and a soundtrack of tranquil techno beats to provide would-be cast members some sample submission guidelines, and subtly communicate the type of connection the developers want to establish with travelers along the route. For more info, each page contains a varying set of endnote links about the crew, contributors, how to get involved, Ambs’ 2005 Pacific bike trip or the budget. On the whole, the site is definitely one to watch.

Episode 1 which describes Ambs’ first experience with long-distance cycling in 2001 is informative and inspirational. He touches upon the importance of random connections and the drive it takes to accomplish a something that is both intimidating and unknown.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Anusha Alikhan
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Jeff Jarvis, “studio mogul” responsible for PrezVid, is a major name in the world of pop culture analysis. Current Buzzmachine blogger, Media Guardian columnist, and Daylife consulting editor, Jarvis also created Entertainment Weekly and served as a TV critic for TV Guide and People. Not a shabby resume, and PrezVid, a blog launched in January 2007 covering YouTube and other online videos of the field of presidential candidates, proves his credentials.

PrezVid makes claims for substantial relevance by picking up on the growing influence the web and sites like YouTube hold for presidential candidates in gaining exposure, spreading their messages, and, more frequently than we’d like to think, catching them in irreversible embarrassments. Everything YouTube and presidential (at least vying for presidential) is accounted for on PrezVid. There’s plenty of analysis, as Jarvis grades individual candidates’ YouTube campaigns, Peter Huack criticizes Barack Obama for saying nothing in his speeches, and Jarvis uses arrow charts to graph the candidates’ relation to each other and their stances. There’s also updates on new candidate ads, independent commentators’ takes, and comic relief. Despite a consistent penchant for typos, the writing on PrezVid is sharp and unafraid of bashing a candidate’s phoniness or lack of media savvy. Perhaps best of all for politics junkies, PrezVid contains links to each major candidate’s Myspace, YouTube, blog, and official site.

As he did for that YouTube grading seminar, PrezVid comes into its own when Jarvis takes centerstage to appear in the “PrezVid Show.”  Here he gives advice to John McCain, whose ads have him looking wooden, pompous, and away from the camera. Jarvis points out how McCain could improve his appeal to online viewers while also complimenting the Republican for his interactive website. Maybe McCain’s listening, maybe not. Either way, Jarvis is a good teacher from whom to learn.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Michael Joshua Rowin
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