it’s the talk of the town. the internet revolution has finally hit the television. if you don’t know what acceptable.tv then you must not be a twenty-something hipster or a wannabe netlebrity (like myself). here’s the dealio: dan harmon and rob schrab creators of www.channel101.com have teamed up with jack black and VH1 to create a new type of show. a type of show that the viewers can control. basically, they put up 5 sketches and viewers can log on to acceptable.tv and vote for their two favorites. the top two get “picked up” for another “episode” the other three get cancelled. on top of that, viewers can be users or viewsers and upload their own 2 and half minute “pilots” for consideration. the top viewser pilot as voted on by other viewsers gets put on TV!
frankly, there are a lot of mixed reviews out there and i myself have a love/hate relationship with channel101. i love it because it’s amazing. i hate it because i wish i had thought of it. i’m not afraid to say that I’m jealous of dan and rob’s talent and their ability to really foster an amazing community of young filmmakers, actors, make-up artists, camera operators, production desigers. in fact most people including myself who make shorts for channel101 end up becoming all of the above aka slashies (i.e. director/actor/editor/gaffer).
it’s all about the love of filmmaking and creating something from scratch and so NOT about the money. but this is the inherent hippocrasy with their TV show. it has to be about the money because VH1 is viacom and viacom is certainly about the money. but the beauty is that they can have both. channel101.com still lives and you can make really anything and if it’s halfway decent it’ll find it’s way into a screening and onto the site. you don’t have to worry about paying SAG or AFTRA wages, swearing, getting rights to music, or whether a joke is too racy. i do love both eating and having my cake. it’s way more fun that way.
when you get a chance check out the sketches that i’ve done for channel101:
raptor
blood aath of 3 men and a baby
my other favorites include classroom, wastelander, quest , kill patrick sullivan and many more that i can’t think of right now.