Indie Spotlight: ‘Jaggy Lines’ Animates Life’s Awkward Moments

We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here. 

Who better to poke fun at the eccentricities of daily life than a bunch of crudely-drawn cartoons? Jaggy Lines, a web series from creators Steve Gallant and Scott Spivack, uses short, static episodes to illustrate awkward moments.

Jaggy Lines features an improvisational style, and its characters barely move as they banter with one another. The series’ awkward moments can happen anywhere–from a funeral to a high school reunion to a wedding–but Gallant and Spivack seem to have a particular fondness for food, which shows up in many of their sketches. The most-watched Jaggy Lines installment takes place in a Denny’s:

In an e-mail, Gallant refers to animated TV series like Home Movies and Dr. Katz as inspirations. Both of those shows left the air before the launch of YouTube, but they would’ve done great on the Internet, where short, amusing videos are preferred. Jaggy Lines continues the legacy of its televised precursors, and it is a well-executed spiritual successor. 15 episodes are currently available.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Teenagers. This buzzy web series rolled up solid view counts in its first season. Now its second has begun.
• Shades of Bad. A suburban woman navigates her life through a series of tense twists.
• Dog House. A pair of men, both recently dumped by their wives, team up for bizarre adventures.
• Reasons I Don’t Have A Boyfriend. This one is pretty much self-explanatory.

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