by Marc Hustvedt on February 18th, 2010
Atom.com is extending its reach within the broader network of properties owned by its big media parent Viacom, with news today that The Atom Show, a new 15-minute “best of Atom.com” series that will air on cable network MTV2 on Friday nights at 11:15 PM. Also announced was that Comedy Central has picked up a third season of the similar format half-hour Atom TV, which airs at 2:30 AM on Mondays.
“We are thrilled to return to COMEDY CENTRAL and to start spending our Friday nights with MTV2,” said Scott Roesch, Atom’s general manager. “Playing on both networks is going to give us access to an even bigger audience seeking original comedy on every platform.”
It’s part of the more fluid model of talent development that we’re seeing out of Viacom, one that uses Atom as an incubator for budding comedians and their web originals to see what piques an interest from fans and TV development execs. Atom’s animated news comedy 5-On was one such success story for creator Devin Clark who had the series picked up as a half-hour show on Comedy Central under the new name Ugly Americans—which debuts March 17.
Several comedians in Atom’s stable with web series have appeared on the Atom TV include Andy Dick, A.D. Miles, Nick Thune, Dan Levy, Bryan Tucker, Waverly Films, Team Tiger Awesome, Dutch West, Jason Nash, and The Landline. Clearly the added exposure of Atom’s series will help lure and retain up and coming comedy talent that might otherwise be drawn elsewhere. Funny or Die’s new HBO series Funny or Die Presents offers a similar appeal for series creators.
by Marc Hustvedt on November 21st, 2009
Remember 5-On? Devin Clark’s animated alien and robot obsessed news show on Atom? Well it was a year ago this week that news of Comedy Central ordering up Clark’s Ugly Americans for a pilot. Now the pilot turned into pickup with the series set for a March 2010 debut on the cable network and a sneak peek (below) via the Atom blog shows hints of the monsters-living in a modern world.
As a web series, the 8-episode 5-On (above) debuted back in June of 2007 with an intrepid reporter, Alan Whiter, interviewing “five of anything about everything”—five aliens, five robots, five monsters. Comedic writers Nick Kroll (Cavemen) and John Mulaney wrote and voiced the series along with Clark.
Ugly Americans is another example of Comedy Central tapping its web comedy arm, Atom, as a form of development pipeline. Already it showcases the best of the online comedy site weekly on air via its AtomTV block, but more recently it seems to be ordering full series based on web originals like Secret Girlfriend and Michael and Michael.
by Marc Hustvedt on November 13th, 2008
Production has begun on the pilot of Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans, the spin-off of the popular 5-On animated web series from creator Devin Clark that struck a chord last year on Atom. The series, about the adventures of a social worker from the Department of Immigration trying to help various human and nonhumans adjust to New York’s bustling lifestyle, is being animated out of New York by Brooklyn-based Augenblick Studios. David M. Stern (Monk, The Simpsons) is executive producing the pilot with creator Clark producing in New York.
In its web form, the 8-episode 5-On (above) debuted back in June of 2007 an intrepid reporter, Alan Whiter, interviews “five of anything about everything,” which can be anything from five aliens and their thoughts on the Sopranos ending, or five robots on the immigration debate. Comedic writers Nick Kroll (Cavemen) and John Mulaney wrote and voiced the series along with Clark.
