Vampire Mob S01E04 “Through the Tunnel” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Vampire Hitman Comedy Web Series

3 Swirlies

“We’re gonna need a much bigger donation.”

This is the broadest episode of the series, featuring a very funny blood salesman that our vampire hero goes to in order to make sure his wife has enough blood to drink.

This series is very well regarded, and they’re in production on their second season. The star, John Colella, is really strong in it (deliverig dialogue with those teeth isn’t as easy as you might think.) But it’s just not for me. It just doesn’t make me laugh. It makes me lightly snort from time to time, but it is just not my sensibility. Other people can’t get enough of it. That’s just the way of the world.

From YouTube Description:

Available with closed-captioning for the hearing impaired.

Episode Four - “Through the tunnel” Starring: John Colella and Chris Mulkey. More about Vampire Mob at http://www.VampireMob.com

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Vampire Zombie Werewolf Ep.8 “There Wolves” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Comedy Horror Web Series

3 Swirlies

“Yes yes, dear. You’re very brave.”

This is a long but funny episode where the Vampire, Zombie Werewolves must hide their werewolfy secret from the assembled vampires.

I really like the producer now that he has something to do. He’s clearly our POV on this, and since his fate this evening is tied with that of his hosts he has a reason to be a proactive character.

There’s a bunch of “breaking the fourth wall” type gags about the logic of the show, which I found pretty funny, and there’s a great scene about Tad not understanding the pictures showing the moon cycle on the calendar.

What I didn’t love was when the episode became about a play within a play, which was sort of a stall for the cliffhanger ending.

From YouTube Description:

The moon is full, the party’s hit a snag, and the Vampires’ blood is boiling. It’s time for Tad and Bunny to act.

VZW is a new Webseries from KATR Pictures.

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Out With Dad Ep.5 “Blind Date with Nathan” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Family Drama Web Series

4 Swirlies

“That must be a lot of weight to carry around.”

One of the intersting things about this episode is that it is sort of the flipside of the previous one - they are happening at the same time.

The locations are nice - a rooftop patio (with a gorgeous background of the city) and a streetcar. I think maybe this si the first time I’ve seen a web series scene shot on a streetcar - or a movie or TV, for that matter. At least in Toronto. Even though the shots on the patio seemed a little out of focus.

What’s nice about this episode is that is talks a little bit about the impact coming out can have in the people around you. Especially what can happen if you spend your life trying not to be gay. It’s a bit of a cautionary tale for Nathan, and it underlines the stakes that both he and Rose face.

From YouTube Description:

Nathan (Will Conlon) is out on a blind date with Angela (Kelly Marie-Murtha).

This episode features the song “Insomnia” by Trio Arjento. Visit their website at:
http://www.trioarjento.com

Please tell us what you think! Your comments will be appreciated!

Visit: http://www.outwithdad.com
Join: http://www.facebook.com/OutWithDad
Follow: http://www.twitter.com/OutWithDad

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Tights and Fights: Ashes – April 2nd to May 6th – Super Hero Comedy Web Series

A Watch List Original Web Series

Tights and Fights: Ashes is a comedy web series and transmedia story about super heroes, told over YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. You can jump to the Tights and Fights website, or you just keep watching from here.

Two weeks worth of Tights and Fights hilarity!Fantabulous Gal starts up a new super hero team, with an old name. They say buy an existing business, right? Even the Plumber gets involved! Meanwhile, Leopard Woman’s worries about Ronin Force’s less than stellar new hires gets interrupted by an urgent phone call… from the underground kingdom of the cats!

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Space Hospital S02E03 “Nebulous!” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“Turning dead patients into new patients could be a big boost in profits to Space Hospital if we could just figure out who to bill.”

There’s a whole heck of a lot going on in this episode - Space Hospital always could pack in the story - but man is it funny!

It feels like their pieces missing, a couple of times the plot jumps around and I’m not sure what the character’s are talking about, exactly. I’m also not 100% sure who the zombie guy at the end is supposed to be. Am I supposed to recognize him? Is it supposed to be a mystery? I’m really not sure.

There’s a lot of great bits. The gun having a communicator function. Nurse Radknee’s reaction to Draco’s transformation. Sneed trying to interrupt the zombie from snitching on him. All hilarious.

From YouTube Description:

Re: Intergalactic Battle Fatigue, Effects of…

Re: Unauthorized Early Retirement of Nurses, Policy Regarding…

Youtube Summary: Futuristic Jekyll and Hyde Lizard Monster seduces Hot Nurse.

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Microwave Porn Ep.9 “Pornography Anonymous” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Of course I’m alive. I’m the main character. The fucking show is named after me.”

In the continuation of episode 8, Dave takes Allen to a clinic to cure Allen’s addiction. And hilarity ensues.

This episode is like the earlier two parter (episodes 5 and 6) where Dave took Allen to a cottage in to cure Allen’s addiction. It takes us outside the “home base” set and outside of the standard set up for the series. But like the previous two parter, these feels both fresh and perfectly part of the show.

I could go on about how funny this episode is - cause it is pretty effin’ funny - but instead I wanted to talk a bit about all the subtle things that the Cancel Proof guys behind this show do to make it sing. Some we notice and some we don’t. It’s easy to say to yourself, “Oh this is a silly show that makes juvenile references to porn,” (which is true) and dismiss it even as you watch as a cheap, guilty pleasure. But here’s some of the things that say to me that there’s a lot of thought and talent that goes into making Microwave Porn.

First all, I’m always amazed by the amount of emotion that they manage to give Allen, using mostly his animated eyes. (The voice work is great, too.) Just making those things move and blink probably takes a fair bit of work, and they don’t just drop in a loop and move on, in a hurry to get the thing done, each shift of the gaze and each blink is designed to match the microwave’s thoughts and feelings in that moment. And more than just a range of emotions (he’s angry so he looks like this, he’s surprised so he looks like this) subtle movement of the eyes serve to underscore the jokes and gags - all those subtle mannerisms that separate a good comedian from a great comedian. In a microwave with cartoon eyes.

And like any show, it starts with the writing. In the scene during the drug trial, the microwave and the other two participants watch an instructional film. The film is pretty funny on its own, and in lesser hands this scene might have played out with the spotlight on the film - especially with an inanimate object watching it. But the creators skillfully gave Allen little bits of dialogue - sharp, specific - that keep the focus of the scene on the microwave even as they allow the film room to be funny.

Ash Catherwood, who plays Dave, gives just as strong and nuanced a performance. His small bit of business while seated behind the nurse’s desk is just pure play - and perfect for the character at that moment. Maybe he improvised it, maybe they scripted it, but they didn’t leave it in just because it was fun and funny, it spoke to the character’s pleasure after flirting with the nurse.

Still with me? I hope this stuff isn’t too dry. One more, I promise.

What really got me, and made me want to talk about this stuff, was their nice use of sound to create a sense of geography and connection at an important moment. They go to great lengths to use the porn music of the film to identify the drug trial room to the audience. I mean, it is a funny gag, having the music. But they make sure to keep the music playing after we no longer see the film. Why? So that, for that very last gag, as the doctors carry the other drug tester out of the room, we hear the music and we instantly get what room they’re coming out of and why. Sure, if they didn’t have the music, most people probably wouldn’t be lost. But using the music creates an auditory call back to the previous scene, underscoring the joke - as silly as it is. Plus-ing it.

So yeah, at the end of the day it is a silly little show about a talking microwave. But it is the execution of it that sets it apart from many other shows, whether web or otherwise. I think I have talked about its release schedule before, which runs counter to accepted wisdom about releasing web series, but works. If you wanna make yourself a web series, you can learn an awful lot from these guys.

From YouTube Description:

Allen tries an experimental drug to cure his pornography addiction.

Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

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Space Hospital S02E02.5 “Curse of the Draco” [Part 2] | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Dr. Drake is the new chief of staff… and the father of my baby.”

I didn’t realize the last episode was a two parter.

This season seems much more focused on the long arc than the individual episodes, but at the same time the episodes are still strong each on their own.

Part two of Curse of the Draco has a lot of nice gags and a really amazing space battle scene, with some of the best visual effects that this series has done. Very impressive.

It ends on a darker note - but still funny. I’m eager to see where they’re going with this. I also like how they are continuing to build on the mythology of the first season.

From YouTube Description:

Re: Intergalactic Battle Fatigue, Effects of…

Newly appointed Dr. Drake must navigate the murky recesses of Dr. Goode’s mind just as Space Hospital attempts to navigate the murky outskirts of the dark nebula while bombarded by the relentless Dracos. Now reunited with her half-robot offspring, Nurse Ratknee reveals a further truth with frighteningly technological implications for a troubled and confused Yeoman Lindsay Long.

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Vampire Zombie Werewolf Ep.7 “The Great Vampsby” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Comedy Horror Web Series

3 Swirlies

“Just because some asshole bit me, I gotta like blood?”

This show is picking up nicely.

The main body of the episode had a nice pacing, with the Vampire/Zombie/Werewolf darting in and out of the scene and the producer having a chat with an old buddy. And then the ending had the turn that I was waiting for, that should really push the story through the rest of the series.

I haven’t had a chance to watch this series in a while, and what struck me was how well lit it is. It has always been a well produced series; the opening and closing titles are nicely done. My favourite character so far was the vampire hating vampire that the producer meets. He comes across as earthy, but he’s still talking about vampire myths - debunking them with total disdain.

Oh, I’m starting to think they had me fooled - the character Balthazane the vampire has his own blog reviewing vampire web series. I thought he was a real reviewer who focused on vampire shows, and they hired him to be in their show. Now I’m starting to think that he was a character and they made his blog up as a promotional platform for the show. If that’s true, it is kinda brilliant. Not only to help increase the show’s discoverability, but as a marketing gimmick. I’ve written about it twice now. It’s Lonely Girl 15 all over again!

From YouTube Description:

Watch ALL of our Episodes HERE: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E259CBF1BECE072A

With the vampire-impressing party in full swing, Tad and Bunny learn that people can change when you least expect them to.

Watch Vampire Zombie Werewolf at http://www.vampirezombiewerewolf.com/

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Space Hospital S02E02 “Curse of the Draco”

A Sci-Fi Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Why this old thing? It’s a baby.”

I love that Lovable Robot gets more screen time in this season.

Nurse Ratknee discovers that she has a son/daughter in this episode that builds on Space Hospital mythology. Hilarious as always. The first half, dealing with the return of Nurse B. Arbabra, the addition of Dr. Draco and the ongoing attack on Space Hospital, was the purely funniest, and the second half reveals the back story behind the new character for this season, the eye patch wearing Lyndsay Long.

I’m constantly blown away by the set. Not only is it awesome retro-future awesomeness, but it must be giant! There’s a wonderful shot where the camera dollies through a wall from one room into another. I wonder where it was built? Was it a large basement? I would be very surprised to hear they rented a studio for the build, because then they’d have to store it and rebuild it for season two - a little known fact of production is that it costs almost as much to store a set between seasons as it does to build it in the first place.

From YouTube Description:

Re: Evolution: Fact or Fancy?…

Re: Proper work attire for gender-ambiguous androids…

Love revisits Space Hospital with a vengeance, dark and ominous. Nurse Ratknee’s old rival returns with a new suitor and a poorly kept secret. Yeoman Long reveals the true circumstance of her recent engagement as newest crewmember, and is unexpectedly reunited with an (emotionally) distant relative. Meanwhile, the ship is left vulnerable to attacking Draconoid forces while drifting all too close to an ominous dark nebula.

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Space Hospital S02E01 “Great Ape Race”

A Sci-Fi Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“All your patients are belong to us.”

I was holding off starting season rwo of Space Hospital because I was pretty sure I would love it. And I do.

There’s been some cast changes, which were written into the show. If you want a little background on the in story changes between the two seasons, you can check out this prologue…

They’ve definitely stepped up the production. Maybe they just wanted to have a big first episode for the season, but there’s a lot more special effect shots and model scenes than in the average season one episode. They have two robots now, and they both work a lot better than Lovable Robot did in the first season. There’s also a new rival hospital, Ape Hospital. I hope they use the apes as an ongoing adversary.

I know I tend to gush about this show, so just as a balance I’ll make a point of mentioning something I think could be a lot better - the acting. I feel, in particular, that some of the better actors from season one are no longer with the show. It also seems like they have reduced the cast, maybe due to what seemed to be some hurried production in the first season. Less cast in any scene will make that scene go by a lot quicker.

The real strength of the series is the writing. Will it win a Pulitzer? No, but as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, being able to tell a tight story with a strong beginning, middle and end and work in a bunch of gags and jokes isn’t as easy as many starting out web series creators think.

Still one of my favourite shows, for whatever flaws it may have - and in some cases even because of them. You’ve got a lot of gushing to look forward to!

From YouTube Description:

Re: Evolution: Fact or Fancy?…

In a desperate race to save Space Hospital from the scrap-heap, recently demoted Snead hatches a plan to save a nearby space station and make heroes of himself and the crew. Unfortunately, the Central Computer, newly appointed Commander Plodd, and rival practitioners “Ape Hospital” stand to foil his plan.

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