This week I learned a lot about what makes web shows click. I believe that this is destiny, fate, or what have you. I have been sent here to teach you and school you in the ways of web series watching. This week we run the full gammut, from awful racist comedy to stoner sketch comedy to a (surprisingly good) comedy about a group of terrorists.
It appears we’ve come out of the baby-step stages of web shows and now the medium just needs to take the safety wheels off. I’ll be really simple right here. If you’re someone who makes web series, ask yourself these questions:
Who will watch this?
Why will they watch this? Why should I care about your show?
What will bring them back for more?
What is the focus?
Can I send lots of money to Ned so that he will give my show a great review? (answer: yes)
It seems basic, it seems sophomoric, but we’re still in the developing stages of web shows as an artistic medium. Consider me the ‘Rufus’ to your Bill & Ted. I will separate the wheat from the chaff as best I can, but until that point, here’s this weeks contenders.
Mister Chan: Misunderstood Man
This animated show focuses on Mister Chan and his Chinese restaurant and it’s racist and unfunny and two episodes in it’s boring. Sigh. I’m not looking for Citizen Kane here, people, but this just misses the mark entirely. It’s just sort of sad. It’s badly thought out, badly written, and so grossly unfunny it almost conversely becomes funny. Look, its shows like this that make people think webshows are a sub-par medium. People really need to stop making shows like this, because when The Wire of internet shows comes along (and it will) people will put it next to crap like this and as per the law of averages shitty shows like this will bring down the entire medium.
I’m all for bad jokes and vaguely racial humor but this misses the mark so entirely I had to – and I’m not making this up – take a walk around the block just to get back in the mood of watching more web shows.
