5 Super Successful Web Series
I’ll tell you what, folks. I’ve got web series on my mind. What several years ago may have seemed like a fad is coming back around. Web series aren’t just BACK, they’re feeling more important (and impactful) than ever. We may very well be entering a new golden age of web series.
Full disclosure, perhaps I’m in a bubble (thanks to GOLD’s Late Bloomers and my own Rat Czar). But it doesn’t seem like it. I think web series are here to stay, but are also especially key right now for emerging writers and TV-makers. The industry is a dark place right now and it can feel lonely waiting by the phone (or email) for that meeting to get confirmed, only for it to fall through. Having a web series can feel like taking control of your own destiny.
I’ll be writing a few articles about web series over the next couple of weeks. We will cover the WHY and the HOW later. Today, let’s look at the best of the best and remind ourselves that people do this (and have done this) with much success.
Broad City
The prototype. What started as little more than video-recorded bits of UCB alums Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer walking around…became (dare I say) a once-in-a-generation show. This show inspired so many comedians and creators alike to say “EF the studio system, I’m going to make my dream show with my besties instead.” And thank goodness.
High Maintenance
Before becoming an episodic masterclass on HBO, this show was an extremely well-received web series. Film boys and Comedy dorks came together in their love of the simple, but oh-so-effective structure and edgy-but-chill vibes. It has all the trappings of a great web series: episodic premise, roles built to showcase the talents of celebs and friends alike, and sticky pitch. Boom!
AWKWARD Black Girl
If all that came from this show was Insecure, it would be a banger. But it did far more than that by thrusting Isa Ray directly into the spotlight. Hollywood is not the same as it was when Isa started this web series. Yet, the rise of this show (and Isa) still feels so salient and dreamy. If we can just tap into that trajectory, maybe we too could become superstars. But then again, Isa started as a superstar and that’s the whole point.
Strangers
I love this show. I fell into it early on, before it had gotten its second season picked up (and funded for the GODS) by FacebookWatch. (Yes, for a moment, Facebook also tried to be a streaming service. Real ones remember.) I felt seen in my early twenties–by both the struggles and gayness of the characters. Season 2 completely upped the game, it went from short webisodes to full-length 30-minute episodes, and the drama got deeper. It left behind (some of!) its episodic hijinks in favor of an overarching narrative–which I also LOVED. This didn’t hit the big time like its predecessors on this list, but it still got picked up and absolutely launched some stars.
Dinette
Another home for rogue queerdos. Third places are such an iconic part of television shows. Never has that been more true than in Shaina Feinberg’s Dinette. Again, while the popularity of this show never reached Broad City levels, it was a critical darling. Launching directing and acting careers alike, as well as proving (again? more?) that queer communities are valuable subjects for television and engaging for audiences.
Help make Rat Czar a success too! As I said, I have web series on the brain lately, and that’s partly because I’m making my own! Under the direction of four-time Emmy-nominee, Ana Breton (and an incredible cast and crew featuring Rachel Dratch and Harvey Guillen), we go into production in June 2024. But, to make this show possible, we need FUNDING.
Watch this space for my next article in this Web Series Blog Series (say that three times fast) all about funding, but in the meantime–support THIS dreamy TV writer by pledging some support to Rat Czar.