Writing
Jack Black, Channel 101, and VH1 want to introduce you to their new interactive sketch comedy show: Acceptable.tv. Each week you'll see five mini TV shows made by the Acceptable.tv team.
It's a tough gig working for the Water Department, and it's also a tough gig working in Power. Dan Harmon and Ryan Ridley show you why.
In 2009, Danny Jelinek and Jason Whetzell teamed up to bring Channel 101 an offbeat, ridiculously well-made series consisting of five short segments from five different creators. Two years later, the show was cancelled. In between, "Everything" set a slew of Channel 101 records and produced a mind-blowing nineteen episodes. Clear your schedule and soak in every episode of this show - it's truly a Channel 101 classic.
When Phone Sexxers premiered in the summer of 2006 the audience granted the simple show about Phone Sex the honor of another episode. Ryan Ridley and Abed Gheith took their good fortune and ran with it, re-inventing themselves with every episode, right up until the end of the 2006 season. They managed to juxtapose the inner workings of the male phone sex industry with situations ranging from high-rise bloodbaths to the depths of hell, and did it with the kind of class and skill that landed the show Best Editing, Best Special Effects, and Best Writing at the 2006 Channy Awards. In January of 2007, Phone Sexxers ended their legacy with a touching self-cancellation that would make Mike Nichols proud.
Since the 2005 cancellations of Laserfart and MESI Dan Harmon has lingered in the background of Channel 101, sneaking into various hit shows while working on "real" television for VH-1. Before 2006 was complete, Harmon delivered this poignant gem to October audiences and strolled back into prime time. Exposure tells the story of Dylan Carter, a struggling creative drawn to the power of Channel 101, who must overcome his own limitations and cope with rejection. On the show's similarities to Channel 101: The Musical, Harmon writes: "It's Last Temptation of Christ to Makiaris' Jesus Christ: Superstar."
When asked to say a few words about Reporters, Justin Roiland replied, "It's a modern tale and struggle of... uhm... I dunno. A fantastic epic following the struggles of two well-meaning newspaper reporters and their out-of-the-ordinary boss." He then left the room and returned moments later to add: "A.K.A. a slapdash turd of a Channel 101 show." This insane attempt from Roiland, Vatche Panos, and Kelsy Abbott charmed audiences just enough in January of 2007 to fill the Prime Time void left by the Phone Sexxers self-cancellation. Even later, Justin returned to add that "Reporters is the only Channel 101 show that has AIDS. You should put that."
The existence of Channel 101 led to a show on VH-1 called Acceptable.TV. Director/Actor Drew Hancock wrote a mini-show for Acceptable.TV about the dangers of swords, but VH-1 hated it so it was never produced. Now, in the post-ATV era, Hancock has brought the show to the Channel 101 audience to great success. Sit back and enjoy as Trip Fisk warns you of the dangers of owning swords, and always remember: Don't Fucking Touch Swords.
After the success of Your Magic Touched Me and Your Magic Touched Me: Nights, there were a lot of people figuring that Ryan Nagata needed the lovable Shizuki Thornburg to crack prime time again. But those people are morons... and wrong. In The Forgotten Classics, host Jeff Davis takes us back in time through the hidden cinematic gems you've never seen.
Amigo Undead is the story of Kevin Ostrowski as he attempts to reconcile with his estranged, underachieving brother Norm on a camping trip. They're accompanied by several of Norm's unusual friends. When one of these friends dies accidentally, the decision is made to bury him out in the desert with some very unforeseen supernatural consequences.
Ryan Nagata, while overcome with separation anxiety for the elegant magician Shuzuki Thornburg (Your Magic Touched Me), wowed August 2006 audiences with an energetic and crisp spin-off focusing on Sex Crime Investigation. Gaining momentum in 2007, the spin-off eclipsed the original and began to reinvent itself with every episode. From the Japanese Mafia, to ghosts, to clones, to outer space, Your Magic Touched Me: Nights kept the energy fresh and exciting enough to last nine months of competitive screenings.
Nagata's charming Shizuki won everyone's heart and his consistently well-executed episodes kept him in prime time. Now as we say goodbye to Shizuki, something tells me it's not all magic that makes Nagata's stuff so great.
A middle-aged science fiction nerd role-plays as his favorite space hero out in the desert when he hits his head and becomes convinced he is a space hero for real. When he starts to suspect his role-playing buddy of being an enemy alien, what started as a ridiculous fantasy game becomes a matter of life and death.
