MTV has announced they are once again committed to scripted shows. A successful run at reality, and faux reality, shows has helped the network turn from a place for music videos to a viable cable network. Now they’re looking to follow the success of shows like College Humor with even more scripted programming.
The network has greenlit a new animated series and ordered five pilots. Five! The animated series is DJ and the Fro, a 20-episode run about two office schlubs who trade viral videos at work. Sounds like what really happens at an office, rather than the antics of the Dunder-Mifflin crew.
The 5 pilots have not all been given deals, but MTV has a keen interest in all of them. And they’re not all traditional pilots, with two being based on current web series. Private High Musical, created by Taryn Southern, is a web series based on the High School Musical phenomenon. Only it’s based on what really goes on in high school.
MTV has decided that these nontraditional shows deserve a nontraditional chance. The network gave Dave Thomas a little seed money to produce an idea, which turned into Popzilla. Rather than set everything in place ahead of time and taking up months of production time, the new procedure reduces production down to weeks (or even days).
Other shows include Hard Times, produced by David Katzenberg (Jeffrey’s son), about a high school geek who’s endowments are both physical and mental. After accidentally exposing himself at a basketball game his social status shoots through the roof. Who’s Your Daddy? from Les Firestein takes on celebrity couples who adopt in an animated way.
