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There's a number of "TV" series being created specifically for the web with many things in mind: it's an idea that a production company would like to see migrated to TV; it's a showcase for the director and performers; it's content that needs the uncensored venue that the web provides; it's a content play to help promote a product or website owned by a third party; or any combination of the preceding. Adult Swim's "Childrens Hospital" and Showtime's "Web Therapy" are examples of shows that migrated from the web to TV as well as Funny or Die's HBO show which somehow turned into less than what you could get online but they deserve kudos for the effort (we haven's seen the last of them).
Several shows deserve mention, including "Leap Year," a comedy with drama aspects about life in a startup. As someone who suffered through several startups, the reality of the story arc and characters was compelling as well as the appearance of notable figures in the startup world like Guy Kawasaki. For those interested in finding out more about how these shows are created and come about, Wilson Cleveland, the producer of "Leap Year," joins other creators at Tubefilter's Hollywood Meetup tomorrow night at Busby's East at 7pm (go to the website to RSVP). "Leap Year" just finished its run yesterday but all the episodes are available for viewing online (a benefit of web-based shows), see the first episode below:
On the comedy side, Funny or Die focuses primarily on one-off videos but has had incredible success with its Zach Galifianakis series "Between Two Ferns" a series that shouldn't overshadow the incredible "RUNYON: Just Above Sunset" 'documentary' about Eddie Peppitone's 6-day 'expedition' in Runyon Canyon has somehow been overlooked - you must check out the first episode below:
RUNYON: Just Above Sunset - Everest spoof starring Eddie Pepitone Ep. 1 - watch more funny videos
Atom Comedy also seems to focus on one-off videos but they are so well-produced I had to share a recent effort of their's, "Ferris Bueller's Last Day Off":
There's also a website called Comediva that is dedicated to female comedy writers, creators and performers, which is not to say that Funny or Die, Atom Comedy, FEARnet, etc. are devoted to male content creators... Feel free to check out Comediva and their series, which includes "Guy Time" whose first episode I've embedded below:
