by Marc Hustvedt on February 3rd, 2011
Relevant. It’s a word that all brands are striving for with their target audience, and, naturally so are the shows that carry their message. It’s also the word that one Hulu insider used to describe the early performance of Mattel’s Genuine Ken since its launch two weeks ago on the network.
Now just three episodes into its 8-episode season, we’re starting to get some early performance results in, and it looks like Genuine Ken is competing with the big boys now. While Hulu notoriously won’t reveal exact viewership numbers, the relative rankings on the site are pretty telling. When episode 3 of the Whitney Port-hosted series bowed on Tuesday, the series was the number 3 reality show—TV or web—overall on Hulu, besting network TV powerhouses like The Biggest Loser, Project Runway and Kitchen Nightmares. Only two shows were more viewed—The Bachelor, the #1 one show across all of Hulu that day, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
by Drew Baldwin on February 3rd, 2011
Looks like viewers prefer fake news over real news. According to Sportsnewser, the mid-January premiere of Onion SportsDome on Comedy Central beat out ESPN SportsCenter, the show it was mocking. And Onion News Network, which debuted on IFC at the end of January, has proven to be a big critical success.
The third episode of Onion SportsDome drew a 0.8 U.S. rating and 1.443 million viewers, even in ratings and up 22% in viewership from the episode one week earlier (0.8, 1.182 mil), and down just 8% and 5%, respectively, from the series premiere two weeks ago (0.9, 1.520 mil). Tuesday’s episode drew a series-high 2.0 rating among men 18-34, topping last week’s episode (1.3) and the series premiere (1.9), writes Sports Media Watch. The first episode garnered a 0.9 rating and 1.5 million viewers which beat out SportsCenter which earned a 0.7 rating and 900,000 viewers.
Former Fox News anchor Suzanne Sena, who has appeared in some of The Onion’s highly successful online video projects, has received great acclaim as the series’ lead anchor Brooke Alvarez. NPR’s Lind Holmes writes “Sena’s effortlessly brutal version of the modern television journalist is more than just a dumb, bland newsreader there to recite jokes, which would have been a very easy way to go.” Metacritic gave Onion News Network a score of 77 out of 100, with a score of 80 from both The New York Times’ Neil Genzlinger and Variety’s Brian Lowry.
Above: Alvarez and NBC’s Natalie Morales have a good old-fashioned “news-off” to see who could deliver the fastest and most articulate news copy.
by Joshua Cohen on February 3rd, 2011
The go-to online outpost for Hollywood celebrities looking to create atypical content outside the confines of a bureaucratic studio system has long been Funny or Die. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s comedy video website functions like a playground for entertainment industry elite. James Franco was one of the first to get in the sandbox.
James Franco Teaches Acting debuted in early 2008. The three episode web series features Franco, dripping with self-deprecating cool, dropping some Lee Strasberg knowledge on the audience and his little brother, Davey. It’s entertaining, and apparently some institutions of higher learning also find it educational.
The powers that be at Columbia University have tapped the movie star, conceptual artist, fiction writer, grad student, and cipher and his collaborator/editor Tyler Danna to teach a Master Class. It’s called ‘Editing James Franco…with James Franco.” From CNN from MovieLine:
The course, taught by Franco’s frequent collaborator/editor Tyler Danna, will have 12 of the film school’s students creating a 30-minute documentary using footage from Franco’s career.
Franco, 32, will provide the footage — largely taken from short films he has directed — and lecture students via Skype as well as attend the class when possible. Each classroom session will also be taped for inclusion in the final documentary.
by Drew Baldwin on February 2nd, 2011
Channel 101 has a new rising Los Angeles contender: Googy, a zany kids show that feels like a cross between Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Doug, and The Truman Show.
The series, created by Mike Mansewitsch & Willy Roberts and starring Roberts, features the character Googy, a grown man dressed in pajamas, oven mitt gloves, a red towel cape, yellow rain boots, a green bowtie, and goggles, who lives in a house that appears to be decorated by an eight year old with an unlimited budget.
In the first music-filled episode we meet Googy’s friends and neighbors: a drummer that lives in his inner ear, a talking toaster, two ne’er-do-well crows and a child police officer. The didactic storyline features Googy’s naive trespass into ‘Bad Town’ at the encouragement of the crows, despite the warnings of the kid cop, who later jails him in a bouncy castle.
A mixture of cartoon and stop animation adds color to Googy’s fantastical live action world, producing an unsettling yet captivating backdrop for his imaginative hijinks. It’s weird, but I can’t stop watching. Googy is currently in 4th place on Channel 101—we’ll see how it fares at the next screening
by Joshua Cohen on February 2nd, 2011
spiring and professional web series creators around the world, are you in need of some motivation? Do you have an idea you’ve been kicking around for the greatest piece of online entertainment ever, but lack of a production crew, minimal resources, or the overwhelming weight of inertia is holding you back from making it happen? Or are you all about creating web series all the time and want a great excuse to get another pilot under your belt and an aggregate 12 hours of sleep over the course of one week?
Celebrate the Web has just the festival for you.
Jenni Powell, Kim Evey, Taryn O’Neill, and Stephanie Thorpe are bringing back the event that celebrates the “new media/web video community of creators and supporters” for its fourth iteration, dubbed ‘Raising the Bar.’ This time, the event will take the shape of a 24 or 48-hour film festival stretched over the course of one week (or an installment of Channel 101 condensed into one week), in which teams of any shape and size will create a five-minute-or-less pilot for a potential web series.
Here’s how it works:
The first 12 interested individuals who supply the Celebrate the Web Organizers with a link to previous work showing he or she is “committed to finishing the festival and producing a pilot,” will be team captains. Topics, themes, lines of dialogue, items or whatever else the organizers deem you must include in your pilot will be announced during a lives streamed event on March 3. Final pilots must then be delivered by 9AM on March 9, with a viewing ceremony to follow on the evening of March 10 at the ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles.
The winner of ‘Raising the Bar’ will be determined by votes from the live in-theater audience and those watching the event’s live stream. Blip.tv is coming back on board as a Celebrate the Web sponsor and will award the winner with a TBD cash prize. (Others interested in sponsoring Celebrate the Web 4 should contact the organizers at this e-mail address.) And although the screening ceremony will take place in LA, content creators worldwide are encouraged to participate.
by Joshua Cohen on February 2nd, 2011
I met Zooey Deschanel once. She was volunteering at the ASPCA on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and I was looking to adopt a dog. One of the questions in the adoption application is “What are you looking for in an animal?” I wrote down, “Inner beauty and a kind soul.” Zooey laughed when she read it. Then we got married, but I had to jet because I was too scared she was going to eat my soul. That’s when she met Ben. Later she would describe that period in her life as “decided by fate.” But I digress…
Based on my 120-second or so interaction with the real deal, I can tell you aspiring LA-based actor and improv comedian Noel Kristi Wells does a great Zooey Deschanel impression. It’s not Adam-Sandler-impersonating-Axl-Rose amazing, but it definitely works. See for yourself on The Zooey Deschanel Show.
Wells nails Deschanel’s default face, a big-eyed distant stare, both thoughtful and confused that appears pretty with a thin veil of morose. Wells’ exaggerated lisp is good, too, but the writing and her pensive delivery are what makes The Zooey Deschanel Show worth watching. It’s all just a touch more absurd than you’d expect from Deschanel herself.
by Marc Hustvedt on February 1st, 2011
There comes a point when all the chatter around a new series, even if it’s on MTV, will in fact drive me to check out what all the hype is about. So when MTV’s racy new scripted teen comedy Skins was dropping advertisers like flies—nine in all so far, including Taco Bell, GM, H&R Block, Wrigley and now even Proactiv.
The Hollywood Reporter has been all over the Madison Avenue backlash over the new series, an adaptation of the British series about the secret lives of teenagers, which has its fair share of drug use and casual sex. Even the Parents Television Council has called it the “most dangerous show for teens,” which I don’t know about you, but just seems to drive more teens to watch it. Wasn’t KISS slapped with the same label back in the 70’s?
The full episodes of the hour long series are available for free on MTV.com with the first one notching over 550,000 views so far. There are a number of places for ad spots in the episode, though a 30-second pre-roll spot from Red Bull was all we could find.
by Drew Baldwin on February 1st, 2011
Who doesn’t like beer? Well, the folks at New York-based indie production company Overcrest Media are betting you do. Last month they launched their first original series, The Brewery Show, which dives into the craft beer movement, one microbrewery at a time.
“We explore the greatest microbreweries, brewpubs, and craft beer houses this country has to offer. From interviews with the trendiest brewmasters, owners, technicians, and home brewers, we find out what’s brewing in the world of craft beer and beyond,” says the series’ fledgling YouTube page.
For the uninitiated, The Brewery Show provides an excellent introduction to the process and philosophy behind craft beer production. And for those well versed, it provides a thorough behind-the-scenes look at some of the East Coast’s top artisinal breweries.
The first episode takes us to Pleasantville, NY’s Captain Lawrence Brewing Company—famous for their ‘Liquid Gold’ brew—and features interviews with Owner and Head Brewer Scott Vaccaro and Cellar Operator Justin Sturges.
Following episodes take us to Keegan Ales, Brewery Ommegang, Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, Cavalry Brewing, and Sixpoint. Thirsty yet?
