A lot of Web TV content originating from the States is geoblocked. Here’s one you can access north of the border and it’s from a major network, NBC Universal: CTRL. It streams on NBC.com, Hulu.com and USANetwork.com and can be viewed in Canada here.
The 10-part series, broken into five-minute webisodes, stars former Arrested Development Bluth brother Tony Hale (“Buster”) as an office shleb who discovers he has a magic computer keyboard. By keying certain controls, such as “Ctrl Z,” he can jump back in time, clone himself, and generally screw with real time and reality as well as his jerk of a boss (Reba‘s Steve Howey).
The 10th and final webisode just went up today so you can see the entire series. It is a fun, simple, very web-friendly concept. The comedy starts slow but builds, with Hale (also a producer) getting funnier as the series goes on. Joining the regulars are a cast of extras that is staggering for a Web production; I’m guessing they’re not getting scale.
Although they are getting paid. Writer/director Robert Kirbyson says in an interview posted at the CTRL site that the idea sprung from a short film he made with friends. Many of the original cast and crew are involved in the sponsored (by Coca-cola) NBC version. “Everybody here’s being paid,” says Kirbyson. “That’s new.”
The series kicks off with a rather obvious but still relevant bit of product placement, perfectly integrated into the storyline. If this is the future of television, and announcements today out of the States that traditional cable and dish providers are hedging their bets that it is, NBC is smart to seed this turf with talent like Hale and projects like CTRL.
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