by Marc Hustvedt on October 7th, 2009
Some people cringe when you refer to the web as a development ground (or minor leagues) for TV. And rightly so, the moniker is too limiting for what amounts to a super-fragemented online community of millions of avid surfers. Not every web series is meant for TV. That doesn’t stop network development execs from scouring video sites for the latest tweet-worthy vids.
With tonight’s premiere of Secret Girlfriend on Comedy Central, we have the latest data point to test the development lab theory. What started as a mobile phone series, that was later released as a web series through Atomic Wedgie, was able to catch the eye of development execs enough to order up six half-hour episodes.
The show’s creators, Jay Rondot and Ross Novie, have been at the online content game for a while, finding some success with their series The Rascal for Sony’s Crackle as well as the mobile-turned-web series for Fremantle that would become Secret Girlfriend, the TV series.
The concept of the series takes the same viewer-as-the-first-person perspective as the web series, albeit drawn out into two 11-minute chunks per episode. Sara E. R. Fletcher, who starred in the web series, takes the leading role as the viewer’s “secret girlfriend” Jessica sending frequent video voicemails to you while hanging out with your stuck-up ex-girlfriend Mandy (Alexis Krause) or your web video wannabe roommates Sam (Michael Blaiklock) and Phil (Derek Miller).
by Marc Hustvedt on October 27th, 2008
B&C is reporting that Comedy Central has ordered an 11-minute pilot based on the Secret Girlfriend web series from FremantleMedia’s AtomicWedgieTV. Created by Rondovie Industries — Jay Rondot and Ross Novie, the creators of The Rascal and Space is the Place, the series features an adorable and possibly “unstable” girl gabbing to the camera about her relationship. There’s a new girl every few videos, letting you break up with one and move on to another, so to speak.
The TV pilot will grab from the original series, though apparently more from the male perspective following the “a twentysomething guy and his slacker friends, ‘living the dream’ in the pursuit of sex, beer and more sex.”
If it’s picked up, it will be the first time Comedy Central has ventured into the 11-minute program length, taking a nod from competitor Adult Swim’s shorter-form time blocks. Comedy Central’s Atom TV block on Monday nights, which features web content sourced through Atom site, still stands at the half-hour length despite being a collection of short web videos and series.
by Lindsay Stidham on August 29th, 2008
The Rascal, a fast-paced, action-packed comedy on Crackle, achieves what few other web series do–- it fires off action and laughs at lightening speed, while looking convincingly high-budget. Even in the rare times when one location may double as Los Angeles in one instance and Dubai in the next, The Rascal still manages to [...]
