Yes, following in the web chat shoes of Tom Green, tatooed, leather-clad, and make-uped Navarro welcomes a ragtag group of personalities on his Spread TV. You just need to read the tagline – “arts and the human condition” – to know that this artist takes himself a little too seriously.
Already into its fourth season, each week Dave Navarro’s Spread TV features call-in guests (give him a ring at 310-486-6142), live musical performances, love advice, and interviews, not to mention guitar lessons from a host of famous actrors (Andy Milonakis, Margaret Cho), musicians (Gene Simmons), and celebrities (Adam Rifkin, Sasha Grey) – all to the sound of four audience members clapping.
It was only a matter of time before a web show targeting Baby Boomers popped onto the scene, and now that time has come. 50 to Death is a delightfully clever take on growing old at the turn of the 21st century, and in a sea of shows featuring scantily-clad teens obsessing over boys, fashion, or the supernatural, it’s refreshing to see a group of 50-pluses reflecting on how the AARPis getting them down, or how best to enjoy their 60th birthday.
Norm Golden(Law and Order), creator and star of the show, is reminiscent of a slightly more huggable Larry David. Woeful about getting older, and about to give up on an acting career that consists largely of auditions for prescription medication commercials, Norm is immediately both likeable and relatable.
Golden says the show was inspired by one of his own auditions in real life. “I was looking around the room seeing a few people my age and many older than my parents, and realizing I was caught in this ‘old’ category,” he says.
“Joan, my significant other, falls into the same category,” Golden continues. “She’s been a Broadway performer. She’s been an actress her whole life. And now she’s in that age range where it’s tough to get a gig. There’s this quiet age discrimination going on. If you’re not on the A-List, you’re just ‘old.’ So I suggested we do something to show we are viable and capable and funny and intelligent. I said, ‘let’s get our buddy Jon and bring the three of us together, and play on this concept of age, and jousting with the 21st century.’ We’re always one technology behind, and we may need occasional naps, but we’re capable, and vital.”
Joan Barber, and Jon Freda round out the cast, supporting Golden in his occasional senility with dead-on jokes like, “I told you a million times, you put your key on your thing.”
Barber is particularly enjoyable to watch as Golden’s spouse. Their back and forth banter is reminiscent of a classic sitcom like Mad About You. It’s equally spunky, but there’s no doubting that Golden, Barber, and Freda are not your average web stars. Putting a chick in a bikini is just not an option for this show.
When asking Golden if the show will be able to find it’s audience, he is completely confident: “I do not have a doubt in the world that this show will find a major audience. The boomers are a big population. And we have the children of baby boomers. And the boomers say ‘that’s just like us, that silly thing we just saw, that happened to us.’ And the boomer’s kids, they say ‘that’s my parents.’ And teens say it reminds them of their grandparents at their silliest. Even though all this is directly connected to the boomers, it transcends just that generation. There’s a universal appeal.”
Golden makes an excellent point when it comes to quality entertainment in general. “Funny is funny,” he says. “Humor is humor. Good humor isn’t generation specific, it’s universal.”
Golden and his crew plan to release new episodes of 50 to Death once a month for the next year.
The first episode briefly encapsulates the career of former-pro-turned-big-wave-rider Brad Gerlach, aka ‘Gerr’, before he introduces his creation – the ‘team surfing’ format. Like the Ryder Cup in golf, the team format was developed as a way to turn the individual, cut throat aspects of surf competition – which seems to have induced Gerlach’s burn out, though he never explicitly says it – into more of a love fest. Each high school team goes out into the water, collaborating for the best combined score.
School of Surf series takes us slowly through the various rounds, beginning with 32 high schools and ending with the National Championship match between Orange County’s San Clemente and San Diego County Carlsbad High (Spoiler alert: Unless you live in one of these SoCal beach towns, you won’t particularly care who wins).
Gerlach describes the competitions as three innings of a baseball game (the first, middle and last) and as a “fan-friendly team sport.” Perhaps it’s fan friendly, but that doesn’t mean it’s what fans want to see.
Channel 101 NY‘s “Prime Time” show The Defenders of Stan is gearing up to debut its 19th episode, continuing its streak as the longest running show on the site. The series, which debuted in late August of 2006, has been going strong ever since; at the monthly Channel 101 NY (fka Channel 102) screenings, where the audience chooses which shows are worthy of “Prime Time,” The Defenders of Stan has rarely fallen out of the top 2 positions in the audience vote.
The Defenders of Stan is a superhero story, although not in the traditional sense. Co-creator Austin Bragg, who plays Stan, explained, “The idea of the show originated from the concept of an X-Men universe taken to it’s logical extreme. We always see the beginning of the genetic evolution, where a handful of heroes battle it out in a world filled with humanity…but what happens at the end of that bell curve? At some point down the line, normal people will be the minority…and then eventually just a handful of the population.” The writers soon realized, however, that while they had created a new universe, they needed a story line. Bragg continued, “What began as a look inside the world of one of the last remaining humans really turned the corner after three episodes, when we began to focus more on the brother dynamic — which is itself just a smaller scale version of what’s happening in this universe.” Added writer (and musician) Meredith Bragg, “I think we realized the the show has more to do with the brother dynamic then the fact that there are superheros around. Just having guys in tights isn’t enough.”
The Defenders of Stan is, like most shows on Channel 101, relatively low budget. Compared to the top-notch quality of some web shows we’ve seen recently, this can get in the way at times, because it reminds us that we’re watching people play other characters and makes it tougher to immerse ourselves in the alternate universe. On the other hand, there are some great moments as well, such as the scene where Stan feeds a King Kong-sized version of himself. Overall, the story lines and dialogue more than make up for any production shortcomings. Whether it’s the detailed comic references, or the moments where superheroes and everyday life collide, the show is extremely entertaining, and it’s not hard to see why it’s been online for over two years.
I asked co-creator Hunter Christy (aka Captain Ultra) what he thinks audiences find most appealing about the show. “I think people are torn with the brother dynamic we always sort of base the stories on. On the one hand, they feel for Stan. In a way, Stan represents them. On the other hand, Stan lets Captain Ultra walk all over him. I think that sort of sibling rivalry is something most people can relate to.” He went on to say, “Aside from that, I’m constantly surprised by what the audience finds funny. They pick up on all the tiny little comic references we throw in, and the miniscule details we try to weave into every scene.” Meredith Bragg broke down the audience response for me- “95% positive, 3% hostile and 2% perplexed we titled a superhero show The Defenders of SATAN.”
The next screening of The Defenders of Stan is on November 3rd, and I’m hoping to see many more episodes in the future.
This December, Patch Adams finally gets the ribbing it deserves and online, episodic programming becomes officially, hands-down, no-questions-asked awesome with the release of Rob Corddry‘s Childrens’ Hospital.
That lineup’s like the 1927 Yankees of online originals, or the Ocean’s 13of web shows, except there are only 11 actors, and it looks the opposite of terrible.
Childrens’ Hospital is still finishing up in post-production but look for it to drop on www.TheWB.com before the New Year.
Update: According to the press release, “Childrens’ Hospital is created, written and directed by Rob Corddry. The executive producers are Rob Corddry, Jonathan Stern (The Ten, Wainy Days), David Wain and Studio 2.0’s Rich Rosenthal. The series is produced by Studio 2.0.”
The average web series has a lifespan somewhere between that of a BBC sitcom and a helicopter gunner in ‘Nam, which is why the premiere of the 6th season of venerable web soap-comedy institution, Something To Be Desired, is nothing short of impressive. Season 6 kicks off Monday October 20th.
Starting in 2003, series creator Justin Kownacki dared the unthinkable: to make us care about people in Pittsburgh, specifically, 20-somethings as they negotiated life after college. Over 100 episodes and five years later the production is still going strong, even nabbing a 2008 Yahoo Video Award nomination this year. The cast still includes three original characters (unlike, say, ER) and is still run on one camera, one tripod, and the formidable ‘preditor’ (prodcuer/editor) skills of Kownacki.
But now the 20-somethings are becoming late 20-somethings and Kownacki is once again daring the unthinkable – He’s letting them age, and, with it, the show. Season 6 will feature a road trip Out Of Pittsburgh (a first), so characters can work for…Habitat For Humanity. “It’s becoming less coffee-shop-chatter and more Life,“ Kownacki told us. “I could see the show in 10, 15, 20 years, with the characters aging naturally, he added, “my actors will probably kill me for saying that, though.”
Also new this season are 1-2 minute teaser excerpts placed on YouTube in an attempt to draw more ADD-minded viewers into watching the full 10 minute episodes.
The series, never sponsored, has flirted with product deals, but remains fiercely independent. Kownacki has endured the same shadowy proposals from vague, possibly European entities that most series creators have experienced, and states, “We’ve gotten so used to doing it on our own, we know we can do it, and wouldn’t want to mess with that.”
His advice to new viewers is, “If you start with Episode 1, you’re starting in 2003. While I’d love to have you get to know the characters, it’s easier to start with Episode 1 of the most recent season. We do a summary of the past season and introduce you to the central characters.”
With no end in sight, Something To Be Desired has achieved a rarity in the internet world – staying power. According to Kownacki, “I’m like a painter who will paint and paint until I run out of paint. I will edit until my time is up.”
Deleted: The Game is more than just another mystery thriller web series. It’s creators at NY-based Gen247 Media call it, “an indie web TV show where you can interact with the characters through their MySpace and Facebook pages, (along with several other fictional sites) and influence how the story progresses.” Throughout this complex alternate reality game (ARG), the producers have seeded a hidden trail of clues in each episode and all over the internet setting up “a massive online treasure hunt of sorts.”
The story begins with a young woman, Tyler Mills (Charlie Miller) , who loses her memory and is looking for her boyfriend Ethan (Shawn Parsons). Sadly, her boyfriend has been “deleted”, meaning his identity has been stolen. What’s a girl to do? Teaming up with her two best friends Nicole (Elia Monte-Brown) and Zac (David Rudd) seems like a good start.
Broken down into four episode acts, the series focuses intensely on memory, identity, and time shifting, deftly combining these elements across multiple interaction points throughout the Internet. Directed by indie filmmaker Ryan Gielen, the series runs about $10,000 an episode, despite being “shot entirely with consumer grade camcorders, webcams and phonecams.”
Each episode ends with a question. Answering correctly gets registered players points. And what do you win?
Point earners get access to “Tyler’s Circles of Friendship”:
Inner Circle: Top 20 Point Earners – Tyler’s Online Phone Number.
Close Friend: Top 50-21 Point Earners – Tyler’s Online chat Address
Good Friend: Top 50% – Tyler’s Email
New Friend: Top 90% – Private Messages on Social Network
Acquaintance: Registered Players – added to Friend’s List on Social Network
For reasons of personal preference, we will avoid exploring how incredibly creepy it seems to go on a huge web scavenger hunt in order to receive some fake girl’s phone number. But, please, by all means, you go forward with it.
DTG premiered a month ago and is up to Episode 9, so there’s time to get in on the action and actually influence the outcome. Comment anywhere on the various Tyler Mills fake vlogs, MySpace and Facebook profiles and even company websites set up and you’ll receive a response. One YouTube viewer commented on the mediocre acting and was immediately hit up with a response asking, “Thanks. Which actor and how can they improve?” That’s service!
The show itself is well-shot and seethes with appropriate tension. Fans of interactive story-telling experiences like The Lost Experience, The Dark Knight promotion and Halo 2’s impressively vexing I Love Bees will find this a worthy addition to the genre. Interactive experiences like this are what the Internet was built for. (Also see newcomer ARG web series The Prisoner.) Maybe if the rewards for participation weren’t tantamount to stalking, more people will be excited by this curious puzzle.
With names that belie their ethnicity and a client roster comprised solely of child actors (mainly under the age of 5), Bill (Ansari) and Samir (Huebel) make no friends in this ruthless world of kinder-talent super-agents.
When the Sugarplumbs – a competing agency comprised of Nasim (Scheer) and Steve (Ali Reeza) – are eager to scoop up toddler clients with false promises of ice cream and candy (“You want candy? I got a guy at Snickers I could call tomorrow!”) and veiled guarantees of diaper endorsements, you have to play rough.
Last fall The Guild took the web by storm. Now, another gamer web series is about to hit the scene. Goldbrings to the table a high-stakes medley of fun and drama, featuring role-playing (RPG) table top gamers battling it out against their rivals from around the globe. It’s the whole world against the hodge-podge American team who battles demons, both personal and professional and in-game, as they fight to regain their title as Goblins and Gold world champions. Can the team get back in shape in time to beat their arch rivals from Britain? Will team leader Jonathan Drake recover from his gaming injury in time to play? Tubefilter caught up with Gold creator David Nett to see if he might give us any hints.
Tubefilter: When will the show launch?
David Nett: Our target for launch is this fall. We expect to drop Episode 0, the prologue, in mid-November. Once Episode 0 drops, subsequent episodes should follow every couple of weeks. The first season is six episodes, plus a prologue. The second season is sketched out at six episodes as well. Those two seasons tell the full story I originally wrote, so with luck we’ll get to shoot both of them. Right now, of course, we’re just focused on season 1.
Tubefilter: What was the genesis of the show?
DN: I’m a long-time tabletop gamer. Mostly D&D, but also Palladium Fantasy, Heroes, the White Wolf Vampire and Werewolf games, Call of Cthulu, etc. I started playing in junior high, and played all through college, but, sadly, only sporadically as an adult. I really love it, and if I could find time to play I’d still be doing so every week, much to my wife’s dismay.
So a few of years ago, missing my old gaming buddies badly, I wrote a short screenplay called Gold which imagined Dungeons & Dragons as an Olympic sport. It sat in a drawer for a long time while I continued to pursue my acting and writing careers. Then, last year, I had a sort of “upsight” moment: the rise of web series like The Guild and Clark and Michael collided with me just feeling like it was time to grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and make something on my own. I dug Gold out of the drawer and began to adapt it to a series format.
I gathered a horde of really talented friends I’d met over the years acting in short films and working with my theater company (Lucid by Proxy), and tried to get them excited about it. I was shocked and delighted to find that it wasn’t too hard. From there we just gained momentum. A huge number of people have been key to assist in the creation of Gold. This is a lot of work — our near-zero budget means that everyone involved wears a lot of hats. I’m really lucky to have so many truly talented, dedicated friends — without them, Gold would not have been possible. Read On…
The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series in a hundred years. A lot has happened since then – a Great Depression, the advent of velcro shoes, the invention of tacos, another Great Depression. One. Hundred. Years. So, as all of Cubdom looks back at another season of dashed hopes, they should be thinking one thing: we should have started the model.
Scott Zakarin and his Iron Sink crew are responsible for some benchmark web series, including The Spotand more recently Roommates, the first original web series on Myspace.com. They continue their string of pretty girl successes with Model Ball. And it’s…wait for it…a homerun. Okay, maybe more like a triple.
Grif and Simmons dispense sound financial advice (never take financial advice from machinima characters) and in an upstanding display of bipartisanship, Sarge reaches out across the battlefield.
