Over the years, Channel 101 has grown into an elaborate community of talented people who work together on pilots, developing fruitful and interesting collaborations. To contrast, Mike McCafferty has thrown all notions of camaraderie and teamwork out the window for the one-man-band production, Quest. On the surface, the show is a journey for raisins, but at it's core it is an experiment in form: demonstrating that you don't need an ensemble of actors and elaborate locations to tell a good story. You don't even need a crew. You just need a McCafferty and a Camcorder.
I don't have any time right now to write a long goodbye for Lunatic. I feel bad about that fact because it was a very good show. The performances were stellar and the writing was fresh and funny. It got cancelled on its second episode. Why? How can we ever be sure. Let's all have a moment of inner torture for Lunatic. There, I kind of pulled off a long goodbye anyway.
Creators Dan Harmon and JD Ryznar, first in line to parody themselves, brought the power to the people with this exciting anthology show that overflowed with energy and interactivity.
"Intriguing, engaging, mystifying," those are words that describe Stripey. "Hilarious," that's another one. In an era of action-packed pilots and dynamic at-home effects, only Falconer & Tam could make a show about a bunch of guys sitting on a couch so entertaining. But with its second episode, Stripey walked out of all of our lives forever.
Dave Hartman's second Prime Time show's unspoken premise was simple: Vote for me, and every month, I will bust my ass on mind-blowing visuals, channeling the resultant sleep-deprived schizophrenic breakdown into the story and characters. The result was a truly magickal blend of refined technical expertise and stream of conscious mythology. As with all of Hartman's stuff, Magick Haus was a particular favorite among internet viewers, but the live audience foreclosed on the property in February of 2005, perhaps feeling free to do so because of their knowledge that the creatively addicted Dave Hartman will always be back for more abuse.
Before anyone can forget their names, Yonda and Sloan of Wisconsin jump back into prime time with Fun Rangers. It isn't as high concept as "McCourt's" or "Chad Vader," but it's a testament to their ability to create great characters that carry a show to success.
After a long stint of failed and top failed pilots, Wade Randolph cracked back into Prime Time with a mesh of live-action & cartoon reminiscent of Roger Rabbit or perhaps Cool World. When the judge who created a town for murderers is framed for murder and sent to Murder Town, he becomes Sheriff.
A charming hostage-situation show that strutted into Prime Time on a shocking gimmick, Not Without My Fucking Country lasted for two months in the 2007 season of Channel 101, falling out in August and proving the long-standing myth that dudes kissing are more powerful than shit jokes.
The show follows Michael as he surprises people at their homes, finds out what they have in their fridge, and then cooks a delicious meal. The secret ingredient is homicide.