TV SHOWS HAVE FOUND A new home — the web

IN A CONSTANTLY COMMUNICATING WORLD, OUR REEL LOVES LIVE ONLINE AND MEET US ON DEMAND

The Internet has become the perfect counterculture in the world of entertainment — streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are proof. Creative entertainment is going through a kind of renaissance. There’s potential for the metaphorical walled-garden to become an open world, where the possibilities to make some magic are endless. Ankit Ojha Film critic & YouTube creator, The 20 Second Verdict

Have you watched a web series lately? Hold that thought; because there’s no way you haven’t. Hear us out. Those episodes of the House of Cards that you binge every weekend? Web series. Remember watching Orange is the New Black? You guessed it; web series. Similarly, One Day at a Time, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Transparent are all web series. You might have watched these shows on television or online. But, the fact remains that they qualify as web series. So, what exactly is the difference between a digital series as opposed to a regular television show?

While traditional shows are first broadcast on television and then made available online, web series or web episodes release online first. Another key difference is the duration. Television series fall between 45 minutes to over an hour whereas web dramas tend to have shorter time stamps (usually under 10 to 25 minutes per episode). In most cases, web series have a lower budget for production and usually turn around quicker between seasons. Digital series have niche themes such as feminism, youth empowerment, and people of determination.

There’s no doubt that digital series are evolving as an increasingly popular format with stars like Shah Rukh Khan jumping on the bandwagon. The Badshah (king) of Bollywood announced his banner Red Chillies Entertainment’s collaboration with Netflix to produce a multilingual series based on the book, Bard of Blood. The series will explore the story of Kabir Anand, an expelled spy, who sets out to save his country and long lost love.

While television losing viewers to online platforms is old news, there’s a new ‘onstage to online’ transition underway with the BroadwayCon2018 on January 26, 2018. The makers of popular Broadway-themed web series will discuss the behind-the-scenes of their work and its production for a largely online global audience. Meanwhile, stories that have long been forgotten resurface in online series like ALTBalaji’s nine-part Bose: Dead or Alive. In terms of language, Netflix has released Netflix Anonymous, its first Arabic web series, featuring Egyptian actor Ali Azab. The lead character thinks he’s Pablo Escobar on the show. Similar to the old school series Mind Your Language, the new Language Academy is a crowdfunded comedic web series about teachers of English as a second language. Then, there’s Amanda Montell’s language focused web series, The Dirty Word, which focuses on the language we use to talk about dogs, puppers, and floofs. What’s your favourite feature on the web?

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