Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe…oh my!

Commentary on bad television in the form of youtube shorts?  But wait, doesn’t youtube have a bunch of crap as well?  Yes, they do.  NBC Universal, Inc. flirted with the idea of giving Derrick and Will (producers of nobodyswatching.tv) from Union, Ohio a contract to create a webisode, then backing down to the young producers’ dismay. Ten Years of Friends in 90 Seconds sums up the progress of Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe sharing the hard times of being young and single in New York City.  We can finally relive the progress of love, jealousy, and love again in under two minutes with no commercial breaks in this touching glimpse into NBC’s biggest moneymaker, Friends.

view the entire clip of Derrick and Will’s introduction with a ”metrosexual headtouch” and giving NBC a playful reaction to NBC’’s decision to reject a contract

Laughing at Love Corner

Boston-based comedy troupe Zebro hosts their own show Tuesday nights at Improv Boston.  The comedy nightclub’s host and Zebro member Elisha Yaffe says, “the majority of the Internet world has too much time on their hands, making it a great tool to connect with a larger audience. I mean, YouTube tells us we have fans in Japan. I bet we’re huge in Asia.”  Zebro has received recognition from MTV News and the BBC for their rap video about Snakes on a Plane, which is…uh…cute.

Love Corner is a romantic tale of a bird’s eye view at the corner of Patience & Understanding, where lonely pedestrians minding their own business are caught in Cupid’s crosshairs.  It, along with other Zebro shorts, will be featured in a pilot in collaboration with Kevin Bright (Friends, In Living Color, Dream On) and The Emerson Channel.

(view Love Corner here)

Olde English Says: Video Art Can Be Funny!

Olde English is a comedy troupe that formed at Bard College in upstate New York in 2002 with their first performance, The Number One Show, which didn’t receive any acclaim whatsoever.  One of their first sketches that aired on the internet, Gym Class, gained the group popularity with its satirical perspective of competition in badminton. 

Olde English’s One Picture Every Day was released on October 13th, 2005.  It was inspired by artists Noah Kalina  and Jonathan Keller, both of whom took pictures of themselves each and every day for enough time to show a bit of aging on the face as well as a variety of hairstyles (and both of which are totally awesome and genius ideas).  Olde English’s version rocketed them to fame by having the honor of watching their piece aired on Good Morning America.

(view One Picture Every Day here)

I Love “I Love the 30s”

I Love the 30s is a co-production between Littleman Creative and Disposable Television, two production companies specializing in new-media formats, both of which are based out of New York City.  The collaboration has resulted in a series that can be watched via podcast or on Comedy Central’s broadband-supported website, Motherload. 

Today’s review showcases one of the episodes in the series I Love the 30’s looking back on the Berlin Olympics in 1936, famous for the Nazis’ loss of four gold metals to American Olympian (and black guy) Jesse Owens. 

(view I Love the 30s: Berlin Olympics here)

Barats & Bereta Seal the Deal

Barats & Bereta Productions have struck the big time!  After a bidding war between MTV, HBO, and NBC, the new-media duo struck a six-figure deal with NBC for a one-year contract, with option for a second year.  Luke Barats and Joe Bereta met at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington where they began cracking jokes as part of an improv troupe and later a comedy duo, winning the Brickwall Amateur Comedy Competition before their rise to fame.

Today’s review features one of the productions that put Barats & Bereta on the map.  Mother’s Day, as of today, has earned the duo much of their critical acclaim (or at least a marketing exec’s drips of drool off the chin) with over 1.7 million views and counting.   For today’s review, Mother’s Day, I’d like to congratulate Berets & Bereta on their rising success and would like to refer any network executives to oldtownfancy.com if they’re interested in any more bidding wars.

(view Mother’s Day here)

Thanksgiving Reflections

Sweet Tea Films is a video production company based out of Los Angeles, California.  Along with corporate training and marketing videos such as Hillview Acres Children’s Home and horrible commercials for church retreats, Sweet Tea Films has created a series of shorts following the life of fictional trailer-home owner Kelvin DuBall. 

For today’s review, Thanksgiving, Kelvin discusses the goings-on in his town every Turkey Day:

EIGHT GLASSES OF WATER

The Label Sketch Team consists of Eric Nigg, Bill Young, Mitch Hansen, Ben
Wyle, and other comedians from the Twin Cities area.  Their sense of humor
is smart, dry, and hungry to consume yo’ ass.

Eight Glasses of Water investigates the mysteries behind professional and financial success, which will boggle not only the mind of its protagonist,
but yours as well. 

View the video at: (view Eight Glasses of Water here)  

“Outtakes of the Christ”

The 11th Hour is a sketch comedy team based out of Los Angeles who were the Second City, L.A. graduating class of 2004.  The troupe consists of 6 women and two men and performs weekly sketch comedy acts on the stage followed by a screening of one of their short films.

For today’s review, Outtakes of the Christ is one such short that The 11th Hour screened after one of their performances in 2004.  It received critical acclaim from such critics as Danel Griffin (“This is a very funny short.  What Would Jesus Laugh At?  Probably at The Outtakes of the Christ“) and won ifilm.com’s Best Short of 2004 award. 

(view Outtakes of the Christ here)

The AV Club’s wealth of wisecracks…

The AV Club is a team of comedians, actors, and audio/visual technitions that churn out content for a hungry online audience and live performances in their hometown of Los Angeles.  Their work is damned funny!  Every performance, whether on the screen or on the stage, is improvised, including today’s review, “Hasbro Meeting Over Oozinator Launch.”

Advertising executives always seem to think they know exactly what consumers want in a product…sex appeal.  It doesn’t escape us:  the car you drive, the beer you drink…what about the toys we give our kids?  The Oozinator is one toy I’d love to have for a lonely Friday night.  (view Oozinator here)

26.5 Miles & a Mouthful of Muff…

Mike Strutter reminds me a lot of Bob Fuckin’ Murderer for all those Minneapolis readers out there.  I imagine him drinking a PBR slouched on his stool bitching at the bartender:  “You fucking wanker!  This pint has no fizz!”  He describes himself as “The Filthiest Motherfucker on Television” but in today’s clip I only see real practicality in the face of an issue we’ve all dealt with.

“Runnilingus” is the invention of Peter & Elkie Zpittvar, two lovers who find passion in both running marathons and giving fabulous head.  This is a problem because running 26-1/2 miles takes a few hours.  What if you need a moment for rug-munching or slobbing the nob?  My marathon times sometimes have increased by 30 minutes because I had to take a “dive-break!”  Peter & Elkie have solved this problem by a new technique both for marathon-running and giving head.  (View Runnilingus here)