Craze: TV to become a thing of the past?

 

Gallery

Posted on 15 Oct 2008 at 16:22

TV writers, directors and even actors are ditching the small screen in favour of the web. The brains behind hit TV series including Family Guy, American Dad, Buffy, Angel, Saturday Night Live and Hammer Horror are all working on projects exclusive to the internet.

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy and American Dad, has launched his own website, which he's called Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. MacFarlane has produced a number of short, humorous animated clips, including parodies of Nintendo star Super Mario's pursuit of Princess Daisy and a humorous take on Bob Marley's confession that he "shot the sheriff".

Buffy and Angel writer Joss Whedon is going a step further by producing an entire series that is exclusively distributed via the net. Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog stars Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser, M.D. fame, and Nathan Fillion, who starred in the sci-fi flick Serenity. Each episode is available to download from iTunes for a small fee.

British horror production company Hammer has also launched a new title in partnership with MySpace. Beyond the Rave is a 20-part serial that users can watch for free at the social networking site.

Even Hollywood big-shot Will Ferrell is getting in on the action, producing exclusive content for Funny or Die. The website is a comedy version of YouTube, but with more quality control, and includes video clips submitted by celebrities as well as members of the public.

Users can give their rating for how funny each clip is. However, viewer discretion is advised.

Meanwhile, computer-animated sci-fi series Afterworld is making a shift in the opposite direction. The series rose to prominence on YouTube and MySpace, but now Channel 4 has commissioned the series and is broadcasting the series on UK television, as well as streaming episodes online at the channel's website.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota