Even as the internet continues awkwardly wearing its mantle as the Second Coming of Television, and the network executives tremble in fear of such a future, it’s been a rough go of it. Legitimate “internet TV stations” haven’t really popped up, and nothing originating from the web has made the level of money or reached the level of popularity even a CW show might.
Using a combination of internet publicity and live events, though, the Channel 101 and 102 screenings in Los Angeles and New York, respectively, have shepherded some of their biggest hits onto television networks. The Vh1 show “Acceptable.TV” is essentially Channel 101 but on cable, and 102 classic “Gemberling” has joined the Adult Swim lineup, with 102’s “Shutterbugs” appearing as part of the Human Giant show on MTV.
Channel 101 and 102 function as monthly contests for short filmmakers, who make 5-minute “pilots” that are intended to serve as TV shows. Audiences gather monthly to vote on the 5 returning shows and 5 new shows that have been selected for screening, and five shows get to return for the next month. With a five-minute time limit (they love their fives, don’t they?) the shows tend toward the high-concept. 102 recently went through a spate of “man with one special power” shows, with a man who could rewind time, a man who was God’s weatherman, and a man with a bionic finger.
The two shows that have recently been picked up for cable, however, took high concept to a new, glorious level. “Gemberling,” created by John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn, followed a hot-shot computer programmer in his mysterious journey through the land of the Internet, encountering strange creatures, redneck bounty hunters, and inevitably, Steve Perry of Journey. “Shutterbugs,” which ran in 2005 not long after “Gemberling” self-cancelled, starred Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel as high-octane talent agents...for children. They’re prone to saying things like “Get the fuck out of our office” to 4-year olds, and are essentially the kind of awful people you never really expected to see on actual television.
“Gemberling” debuted in mid-May as part of the Adult Swim lineup, and “Human Giant”-- including a “Shutterbugs” sketch about “Lil’ 9/11” --recently secured a second season on MTV thanks to their 24-hour marathon on the network. It's a refreshing thought that the kind of independent, riotously funny voices that could only find an outlet on the internet are getting this kind of wide exposure, though impossible to say what kind of wringer the humor will be put through in the process. Regardless of what happens in the future, the full original runs of "Gemberling" and "Shutterbugs," along with all the other hilarious 102 shows, are available at the Channel 102 website.
