Are web series the way to go?

[Joe Washington]

I've been watching episodes of the web series The Third Age and I was wondering to myself if a web series is the way to go when it comes to serialized storylines these days over a regular TV show? Or will a regular TV show always trump a web series when it comes to their advantages and disadvantages?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I've never seen (read?) one. Which one is the best? Are they visual, text, what?

 

[Lindley]

I've never seen (read?) one. Which one is the best? Are they visual, text, what?

Most web series arrive in installments of 3-10 minutes each.
The ones I'm thinking of are video, although of course other formats exist.

My personal favorite is Red vs Blue, which is a comedy series created in the "Machinima" style (basically, using a game engine for easy 3D with voice acting). It ran for 5 seasons as Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, and has since produce two seasons of what is being called the "Re-" trilogy, RvB: Reconstruction and RvB: Recreation. (The working title for the upcoming season is RvB: Resolution.) Each season runs approximately 2 hours long on DVD, although the actual length is variable. RvB is sponsored by Microsoft. While Blood Gulch Chronicles was great, there's no question in my mind that Reconstruction is the best thing they've done so far, so that might be a good starting point if you wanted to take a look at it.

Some live action web series I've seen include The Guild (funny, but I've seen better) which is about a group of MMO players, and The Legend of Neil, which is a bit on the offensive side but still manages to be hilarious most of the time. The Guild got sponsorship by someone or other, and I think The Legend of Neil is officially a Comedy Central show, although I can't imagine it actually airing on TV.

 

[FordSVT]

What you're basically asking is whether or not a low-funded production that usually begins as a no-budget labour of love can match up with a mainstream, well funded, mainstream production.

Some kinds of shows, especially comedy, can be done relatively cheap and can be popular as long as they provide what they promise: laughs. What's funny is funny. Certain productions have a very niche audience (like Red v Blue which I also enjoy) and it touches subject matter that to be perfectly honest would be career suicide for a mainstream TV exec to approve.

At their best most of the time the writing, production values and actors in mainstream movies and TV shows on network and cable are immeasurably superior to the kind of thing you see in your average web serial.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I think there's room for both, since I also think neither one of those mediums are going to be leaving anytime soon.

 

[FordSVT]

Indeed. The idea some have that user-generated and low-budget Internet content will replace mainstream commercial media simply because the producers can control the distribution is incorrect.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Comedy aside, I haven't really seen compelling entertainment from webisodes. Also, I don't know if it can replace mainstream entertainment unless the total running time of the content goes beyond the running time of an episode of TV.

I find the running time problematic in other ways, with the short run time and usually an ad it's like watching an episode of TV with an ad break every two or three minutes and having to hit a button on your remote to resume play (which sucks) and they never seem to give you a play all option.

 

[JoeZhang]

The other problem is that what looks fine on a computer monitor looks like ass on a decent TV. When I turn on my TV, I want to be reminded of what I spent all of my money on.