Bottom Line: Musical web series are a rare breed, and finding one with songs that are actually catchy is rarer still. Taryn Southern, cast and crew have done an amazing job showing us what High School Musical might have looked like if it were rated PG-13.

Welcome to Private High…where sex and drugs are “always cool.” It’s the middle of senior year and shy Sandra Smith is the new girl in town. As if her virginal status isn’t horrifying enough, things go from bad to worse when Sandra suddenly experiences the joys of womanhood…in first period.

Created by and starring Taryn Southern.

Details

Creator: Taryn Southern
Website: Private High Musical

Facebook: Join Them On Facebook
Vote For It: Private High Musical

Ratings

It’s wacky, raunchy and did I forget to mention — it’s also a musical? Since the Internet loves catchy songs and funny videos, Private High Musical is a near perfect example of how to take a standard high-school procedural and make it watchable again. (Style 4.5)

Pacing 3.5

Storytelling 3.5

In some of the episodes the sound, especially during the musical numbers, leaves something to be desired. Overall, however, it is a well shot and well edited series. (Polish 4)

Watchability 4

If you’ve ever wanted a version of High School Musical that might actually make you laugh, this is it. (Novelty 5)

Overall Rating: 4.08 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: They need to make more episodes of this one. I know that Brett is doing a series of experiments and that it wasn’t necessarily designed for an extended run, but this is sharp, entertaining and has just the right amount of mystery to keep the plot from being overrun by camp.

It’s a web series about a mysterious set of cards and a group of people trying to uncover their, er, mystery.

Details

Cast: Katy Stoll, Brett Register, Craig Frank, Haley Mancini, Nellie Barnett
Blip.tv Channel: Absolute Disaster
Website: Brett Register
Support the Show: Watch The New Season Of The Crew At Babelgum

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Twitter Page Brett Register

Ratings

Style 3.5

This is another show from Absolute Disaster, the people who brought us Craig: The Werewolf Roommate. Unlike Craig, this one is a lot easier to follow and because they use the same device — the cards — in every episode, they manage to drum up some suspense with their comedy. Overall, this show is really well paced for having videos that come in at under 3 minutes. (Pacing 4)

J.J. Abrams says that when he’s designing a show he always tries to set it up with mystery boxes, which is to say, he wants to leave unanswered questions in the minds of his audience to keep them coming back. Lost and Found is not Lost, but as a series that takes more than a few nods from Mr. Abrams, it manages to hold true to the idea. It’s short, punchy and leaves you hoping that they develop the series further. (Storytelling 4)

Polish 4

Watchability 4

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 3.91 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Yea, yea, yea, viewer discretion is advised but to be perfectly honest I have seen raunchier stuff on late night television.

This series is a hysterically funny take on a hysterically funny concept. That is hysterically funny squared for everyone keeping track.

Jax and Donny are hunting MILF’s for their homemade pornsite… too bad they don’t know you’re supposed to pay pornstars to be moms…

Details

Cast: Greg Burke, AJ Morales, Lou Perez
YouTube Channel: Milf Solicators
Website: Greg And Lou
Support the Show: Vote For Their Videos On FunnyOrDie

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Facebook Page Greg and Lou

Ratings

…so…many…one…liners, the beauty of the dialogue in this series is blinding. That and the “MILF dance,” really you just have to watch it. (Style 4)

Pacing 4

It’s a parody of a pornsite, which is kind of like a parody of a parody. Believe me when I say it works. (Storytelling 4.5)

Polish 3

While there isn’t any sex, nudity and pretty limited strong language the fact that it’s a show about two guys going around soliciting sex means that it’s not for everyone. Considering the theme, however, they manage to keep it about as clean as your average episode of Family Guy. If you can get past the fact that it’s a series about “MILF Hunting” you will find that it’s incredibly funny. (Watchability 3)

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Sometimes this is almost too good a parody, IKEA has never seemed so angsty. The fact that they managed to film all of this in the store while people were busy shopping makes it all the more amazing.

This is worth watching if only for the sheer level of creativity that went into something up the shoot.

Ikea Heights is a melodrama shot entirely in the Burbank California Ikea Store without the store knowing.

Details

Creators: Dave Seger, Paul Bartunek, Delbert Shoopman, Spencer Strauss, Tom Kauffman
YouTube Channel: Ikea Heights
Website: Ikea Heights
Support the Show: Watch Their Show On Channel 101

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Vimeo Channel Ikea Heights

Ratings

Style 3.5

Pacing 4

Storytelling 3.5

Polish 3

If you hate even thinking about watching a soap opera then this isn’t for you. It has amnesia, murder, infidelity, gritty detective work and all sorts of other day time television tropes. The parody is spot on though, so if you love to hate soaps start watching this now. (Watchability 4)

This show is filmed inside a real IKEA store with real customers shopping during the shoot. Add to that fact that it’s a brilliantly creative parody of over-dramatic soap operas and you have a recipe for a show that deserves at least one viewing. (Novelty 5)

Overall Rating: 3.66 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: This show needs more episodes. It’s a brilliantly executed parody of every bad ghost hunters show you’ve ever seen and even some you haven’t.

Losers by day – ghost hunters by night. From the garage of his disapproving grandmother’s home, soldier of all that is good, Ken Livingston, leads a team of supernatural investigators in a search for truth, justice and poltergeists.

In each episode, our heroes confront para-abnormalities that no other team would dare — busting ghosts caught on sex tapes, braving motel rooms that kill (and have no cable or turndown service), and seducing succubi.

Details

Cast: Ken Livingston, Alexander “Bunky” Hunt, Joe Schmidt, Tony Kryczeskiwicz and Wendy.
YouTube Channel: Paraabnormal
Website: Paraabnormal
Support the Show: Join Paraabnormal’s Facebook Fan Page

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Facebook Page Paraabnormal

Ratings

As parodies go this works perfectly, it’s structured just like television Ghost Hunter shows, from the black and white to the ultra-tight camera angles to the quirky assortment of “scientific” gadgets. You couldn’t ask for more. (Style 4.5)

Pacing 4

Clear characterization. When dealing with web series far too often you end up with generic characters that would be completely interchangeable if they got a little Nicholas Cage style Face/Off treatment. Especially when you’re dealing with an ensemble cast good characterization is critical to give the series flow. Even though it’s still really early in the series, if ParaAbnormal keeps this up they’ll have something really entertaining on their hands. (Storytelling 4.5)

Polish 3.5

Watchability 4

I always thought that the Ghost Hunter show on Discovery Channel was a parody, but ParaAbnormal has proved me wrong. You can’t go wrong with Ghost Sex Tapes. (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 4.08 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: If you have the slightest inkling what Yu-Gi-Oh is then you are doing yourself a disservice by not watching this series.

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series (often abbreviated to Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged or simply YGOTAS) is a popular fan parody of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime as dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. It is created by Martin Billany, better known by his screen name LittleKuriboh, who originally strived to update the series weekly, although this has not always been possible.[8] The series has become incredibly popular with the number of visits to the main site ranking over 30 million. The show’s increasing popularity has shown, with several new Abridged Series’ being created for other shows, following the precedent set by LittleKuriboh.

Each “episode” of the Abridged Series parodies the original Yu-Gi-Oh! equivalent and is typically four to six minutes per episode (though episode length has steadily increased with time). The series is made using clips from the original series while voicing most of the characters and placing in sound effects, music clips, and other references to popular culture. LittleKuriboh voices all of the Abridged Series characters with the exception of Rebecca Hawkins and various other bit characters, who are voiced by his wife Abigail (”Abi”), better known by her screen name Safty.

Details

Cast: Martin Billany
YouTube Channel: Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series
Website: Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series
Support the Show: Visit The Store

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Revver Page: YGOTAS

Ratings

Style 4

Pacing 4.5

I’ve never seen a television parody this well executed. Every single episode manages to hit the mark, which is almost unheard of in the uneven world of web series. (Storytelling 5)

Polish 4

This series is geektastic, in fact, it is even more insidery than that it is anime geektastic. If you don’t care enough about anime to sit around laughing at it for a while then you probably won’t be able to sit through more than a few episodes of this. However, if you do this is an absolute masterpiece and you should probably be watching this right now. (Watchability 4.5)

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 4.33 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Michael is a fantastic voice actor and he brings more life to these iconic characters than you’ll see outside of the pages of the comics.

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy is the alias of Michael Agrusso, an American voice acting teacher, writer, and performer working and living in Los Angeles, California. He currently hosts the channel of the same name with Brinna Li. The channel is the source of the YouTube video parody series “Hi, I’m a Marvel…and I’m a DC”, which spoofs the Macintosh “Hi, I’m a Mac…and I’m a PC” Get a Mac television commercials.

Details

Creators: Michael Agrusso, Brinna Li
YouTube Channel: Marvel / DC
Website: Marvel / DC
Support the Show: Buy Audio Commentaries From The Store

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Watch Them Live: BlogTV

Ratings

The things they do with action figures. This is one of the most entertaining films shot entirely with toys I’ve ever seen. (Style 4.5)

Pacing 4

For what amounts to a sketch show they have developed a really solid world for the characters to exist in. Whether it’s Spiderman and Batman chatting at the bar, or Deadpool serving up the snark the characters really start to grow on you. (Storytelling 3.5)

Polish 4

Even if you aren’t a comic book fan, after a few episodes you will “get” most of the characters. That being said, there are still some times when it feels a little bit too “insidery.” (Watchability 4)

Novelty 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: I don’t review Tube-famous entertainers very often. Mostly because I don’t find their stuff particularly entertaining, but NigaHiga is a notable exception. He mixes music videos, movie spoofs and original sketches in a way that keeps his channel fresh and his wit is over the top without being cloying. I only wish that other YouTube creators would take a few notes from his playbook.

Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi are Japanese-American comedians from Hilo, Hawaii. They are known for their YouTube comedy videos, which have been viewed over 230 million times. Their YouTube channel nigahiga is currently the most subscribed of all time.

Details

Creators: Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi
YouTube Channel: NigaHiga
Website: Ryan and Sean’s Movie
Support the Show: Buy The Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure DVD

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Twitter Feed: Feed
MySpace Page: NigaHiga

Ratings

Style 4.5

The real reason I like this show so much is that they consistently maintain the “joke ratio.” They aren’t beating you over the head with so much funny that it becomes cloying but they also don’t drag things out so long you lose track of the plot. (Pacing 4)

Storytelling 4

Polish 4

Watchability 5

NigaHiga has a good mix of rants, “music videos,” and parodies to put it a cut above your average YouTube series. Add to that their feature length stuff and you can see why they are YouTube’s most subscribed channel (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: While I could probably live without so much auto-tuner in my life, Barely Political does a job I would usually reserve for Comedy Central’s faux-news programs and that is to make current events interesting again.

Barely Political is the leading political satire site on the web. Here’s some history: Barely Political launched in June 2007 with the debut video “I’ve Got a Crush on Obama” featuring Obama Girl. That quickly made us one of the most talked about and blogged about political satire sites online. Since launching, Barely Political videos have been seen over 150 million times worldwide, and featured on shows including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show and The Colbert Report. President Barack Obama called Barely Political videos an “example of the fertile imagination of the Internet,” and he’s really important.

Details

Cast: Amber Lee Ettinger, Ben Relles, Rusty Ward, Mark Douglas, Tom Small, Michael Stevens, Jake Chudnow, Mike Gregory
Blip.tv Channel: Barely Political
Website: Barely Political
Support the Show: Advertise With Barely Political

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iTunes Feed: Barely Political

Ratings

They make watching clips from C-SPAN 2 fun again. (Style 4.5)

Pacing 3

It has as much storytelling as single purpose, pop culture inspired music videos and political tinged sketches can have. (Storytelling 3.5)

Polish 3.5

It’s one of those series that can start to get grating if you watch too many in a row. It’s the auto-tuner. Luckily, new episodes don’t come out too often. (Watchability 3)

In the world of political parody you’re working in a pretty saturated playing field, the fact that they manage to keep it entertaining video after video is saying something. (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars