With new Web TV shows, forget the remote
Several major websites -- or, as they would prefer, "web destinations" -- recently announced with much fanfare new shows that will compete directly with the new offerings of the major networks, at least for advertising dollars.
You've heard, perhaps, of the network "upfronts" -- which begin tomorrow -- the presentations for advertisers at which the fall schedules are announced? These upstart presentations were dubbed the "newfronts."
So, what was new? Here's just a sampling of what will be available later this summer and coming in the fall:
YAHOO
More than half a dozen new shows will be launched by the end of the year, including "Inside & Out," a celebrity fashion and fitness show; "Burning Love," a send-up of dating competition shows like "The Bachelor," co-produced by Ben Stiller; "Commando," starring Zachary Levi ("Chuck") and Gillian Jacobs ("Community") about a very small (4-inches tall-small) P.I.; and "Losing Your Virginity," hosted by John Stamos, who asks celebs about you know what.
HULU
The website announced 11 newcomers, including "The Awesomes," an adult animated series about super superheroes co-created by Seth Meyers and Michael Shoemaker of "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and voiced by "SNL" cast members including Bill Hader and Kenan Thompson; and "Quick Draw," a Western sitcom about the citizens of a Kansas frontier town, starring John Lehr of the TBS mockumentary "10 Items or Less."
NETFLIX
Netflix will launch "Orange Is the New Black" July 11, about a New York socialite jailed for a year because of her ties to a drug dealer (based on the Piper Korman memoir). It stars Taylor Schilling ("The Lucky One") and is produced by Jenji Kohan ("Weeds").
CRACKLE
Eight new programs, including "Extraction," a 90-minute feature starring Danny Glover as a Black Ops member who survived a prisoner extraction; "Cleaners," about a pair of contract killers, starring Emmanuelle Chriqui ("Entourage"), Emily Osment ("Hannah Montana"), Gina Gershon and David Arquette; and "Play It Forward," an unscripted series about musical street performances.