REVIEW: CBS Innertube's Geek to Chic
Even though my college / fraternity days are fading faster than Tom Cruise's A-listdom, I know that Geek to Chic from the CBS broadband channel Inntertube needs a jolt. Maybe it's the blatant, shameless product placement or the DIY fraternity house makeover idea, but the show doesn't even rate a watery draft from a pony keg.
My beefs? No background on the two hosts Sandra Sanchez & Jonathan Redford - who are they (besides two more LA looking beatiful 20-somethings) ? Safe to say their not gonna give Martha Stewart a run for her money when it comes to interior design. So why do the frat dudes give these no name, wannabe DIYers any props?
And while the show's opening is slick, well edited, and rockin', it's too long! I felt like I was watching the music video to a song I didn't know with 'actors' that were lame; not at all like watching the title sequence of a show.
Kudos to CBS for taking the plunge to create content for the college crowd, but the Eye needs an opthamologist visit for Geek to Chic. Let's see, top row E, then --
ussa today on the 'maverick' Cuban
My primary travel paper, USA Today, profiles billionaire Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban in today's Sports section. So what's that got to do with all things webfilm related?
Let's see - in addition to owning the soaring, scrappy Mavs, Cuban and biz partner Todd Wagner own:
- a hot production company, 2929 Entertainment
- an upstart tech production company, HDNet Films
- two HD TV networks, HDNet and HDNet Movies
- a distributor, Magnolia Pictures, for said hot production company products
- the largest indie / art film theater chain, Landmark Theaters
But where's the web in this vertically integrated mastery? His online network, HDNet, piloted the download of July 26, 05's Space Shuttle launch, but since then, their features, Bubble and Akeelah & the Bee, are going theatrical release with DVD soon to follow. Not online.
I'm on the lookout for one these Wagner/Cuban companies to produce web-only content ... probably in 06. Hmm ... where do I submit my pitch?
It's a real market now ... Microsoft [re]joins the party
After sitting quietly on the sidelines during the recent Apple iTunes-broadcast network deal frey, Microsoft has reentered the Webshow game, after a premature gamble a decade ago. Microsoft Network (MSN) isn't just distributing repurposed TV episodes - Gates copying Jobs? - we're talking original web programming. Microsoft makes it official - online-only programming / broadband channels are a real market now.
MSN, under MSN Originals banner, tapped Ben Silverman and Be Jane Inc. to create 10 web pilots in the next year. Silverman's indie production company Reveille also has the option to take any of the webshows and repurpose for traditional TV. Not bad.
Four of the 10 webshows are greenlit:
- Untitled short-form commuter airline comedy
- Under the Influence - amateur musican paired with their musical god / goddess
- Face-Off, not a Travolta-Cage battle, but a pop-culture, current affairs show
- Chef to the Rescue (working title) - celeb chef tech support for those of us who have trouble with the mixes
Stay tuned for launch this fall, presumably with a noisy, multi-channel MSN ad campaign.
