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Wonderland Sound and Vision’s Jeff Grosvenor has joined Rashida Jones & Will McCormack‘s production company as Evp overseeing development. The hire stems from the two-year pod deal Parks and Recreation co-star Jones and her writing partner, fellow actor-writer McCormack, signed with Warner Bros. Television in January to develop, write and produce comedy and drama projects for broadcast and cable. “Jeff is the perfect fit for us,” McCormack said. “He has a sharp eye for story and development. We are ecstatic he has joined our team to help bring our voice to TV.” The new gig keeps Grosvenor in the Wbtv fold as McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision also was based there. Grosvenor joined the company in 2005. He was promoted to Manager of Television in 2007 and to VP Television in 2011. During his eight-year tenure at Wonderland, Grosvenor worked on such shows as Chuck, Human Target, Supernatural and Nikita. In addition to television,...

Happy Endings‘ Dave will be haunted by a hottie from his past when his very first rebound girl, after Alex left him at the altar, resurfaces.

TVLine has confirmed that in a springtime episode of the ABC comedy, Mikaela Hoover will return as Jackie, the sexy (and surprisingly young!) brunette Dave hooked up with immediately after his non-wedding. (If it jogs your memory: She misplaced her tongue ring during their romp.)

Sources tell us that when Jackie crosses paths with the gang again, it will evolve into a bit of a confrontation with Captain V-Neck, seeing as their fling didn...

Chris McCaleb his team at Big Fantastic have been making shows on the internet even before anyone called them web series or channels. Those pre-YouTube days were ruled by the video podcasters, with iTunes one of the main funnels for distribution. Their early standout series like Sam Has 7 Friends and Prom Queen for Vurguru, and later Sorority Forever for Warner Bros. and live-streaming experiment ControlTV, gave him and his team a unique perspective on the shifting ebbs and flows of the online entertainment. Now, as the internet medium of transforms into its next iteration, we thought we would solicit some of that perspective. In our recent interview with Chris at VidCon, he talks about the early days of television they were just filming radio, but then I Love Lucy came around and changed everything, citing fellow video peers Tim Street and Steve Woolf. He cites YouTube family man ShayCarl...

Individuals who haven’t cut their television cords may recognize web starlet Taryn Southern from her stints on Rules of Engagement, Attack of the Show, The Golden Globes Post Show, The Grammys, and other TV programs and specials. Online video aficionados will be familiar with her work on the TheWB.com and Big Fantastic teen drama Sorority Forever, the version of High School Musical made for kids over the age of 18 Private High Musical, a number of sexually suggestive music videos on YouTube and Funny or Die, and a handful of as of yet unnamed projects that will come out of her recently made partnership with Break.com. Southern signed a six-month, first-look deal with the 13-year-old(!) humor website that will give her use of the company’s production, distribution, and promotion resources. Break will get an exclusive first look at all of Southern’s project in exchange. This is...

Warner Bros. had high hopes for original web series when it launched its own network back in 2008. TheWB.com came out with guns blazing, part of a re-launch of the defunct former TV channel TheWB, signing big productions from the likes of McG (Sorority Forever) and Gary Auerbach (Rich Girl, Poor Girl). Now there are just 10 web original series still available on TheWB.com, and all of them are mid-2010 releases or earlier. The summer 2010 release of a flurry of series like Downer’s Grove and Exposed was thought to be the return to original web series on the network, but turned out to be its final bow. This week’s email newsletter (below) from the network plugged full episodes of aging (and off-air) TV series like The O.C., One Tree Hill and Friends and movie trailers for the The Hangover Part II: Related News:‘Ghostfacers’ Pairs McG and...

Earlier this week, Taryn Southern released her latest video, Keep it in Your Pants a raucous and not-safe-for-work song about a poor girl driven to the brink of insanity by her simple desire that the men around her keep it down. The multi-hyphenated web celebrity is no stranger to raunchy comedy having found success earlier in the year costarring in a Funny or Die produced video about the secret joy of experimentation. In fact, Southern has carved out a niche for herself as the sweet-faced girl next door whose lyrics would turn the saltiest of sailors scarlet. She quickly rose to both Web and mainstream celebrity with her love song to a pants-suited Hilary Clinton during the run up to the 2008 Presidential election. Her video Hot4Hill was a success, which allowed Southern to erect a substantial Internet following. Since then she has stared in various online projects including Big Fantastic's drama,...

A cocktail party so crazy you have to sign a waiver just to get in? I was intrigued. Intrigued enough to hop on the freeway a few miles up to a dark corner of North Hollywood to find the undisclosed home base of the web’s latest live-streaming reality show. Walking up to the three-story loft building it became clear this wasn’t going to be my run-of-the-mill Saturday night drinks at a friend’s place. Before entering the ControlTV loft, I’m hustled into a back room filled with producers and burly Pa types ushering me through a waiver and some ground rules. “Try to keep this PG-13,” said one of the younger producers on duty that night. “Just basically don’t drop the f-bomb too much.” She mentions the 30-second delay on the live stream they’ve set up just in case we get out of hand. And...

Back in August of 2008, when we covered the launch of TheWB.com along with their impressive list of their upcoming web originals, it seemed like WB was going to be a major force in web series. After starting with a strong push behind series like Sorority Forever and Rich Girl, Poor Girl, the teen network cooled on web originals, opting instead for reruns of TV shows like The O.C. and Gilmore Girls. Several of the original 2008 slate of web shows stayed on the shelf despite being largely anticipated, including the animated Chadam and the McG-backed Exposed. Two years later, these two still have yet to hit the web. That all changes today, as TheWB.com releases their slate of summer programming. And in a unique move, they are not only launching four shows, but also releasing half the episodes of each of the shows in one huge chunk. Says Blake Calhoun,...

The Webventures of Justin & Alden might have one of the deepest casts of web series notables that we’ve seen to date. Fitting, since the new five-episode branded comedy web series from Cjp Digital Media and lead sponsor Trident Layers (disclosure: Trident is also a Streamy Awards sponsor) is all about two would-be internet-famos set to find web video glory by making “the greatest Web series Web show that’s ever been on the Web computer.” Justin Tyler and Alden Ford, both regulars at sketch comedy theater Ucb in New York, star as the hapless titular duo in this Bill and Ted’s-style (yes, there’s even some time travel) road trip. The destination of this road trip is the Streamy Awards in Los Angeles in hopes of finding the perfect web star. Guests of this year’s Streamys may have noticed these two crashing the red carpet and even...

After their pilot episode snagged the Grand Prize at the 2009 Escapist Film Festival, creator Brett Register and his producing team of Rick Rey and Paula Rhodes knew they were on to something. At that point the show was called Dorian's Quest, but after a name change to A Good Knight's Quest, the team set out to shoot a 24-episode gamer comedy web series that would run on The Escapist Magazine's site in weekly installments. "I'm a huge fan of the Escapist, I have been for years, ever since I was in college," said Register. "I always wanted to do an 80's style show, like my own Masters of the Universe web series—the bad movie not the cartoon TV show." To launch the series, the team hosted a well-attended La premiere at the Capitol City Hollywood on Monday night. When a video game princess crosses over into the real world,...

Big Fantastic has one of the more impressive track records in the web series circuit, tent-poled by their international breakout franchise Prom Queen. For years they have been the goto production house for studios like Michael Eisner’s Vuguru (Prom Queen, Foreign Body), 60Frames (Cockpit) and Warner Bros. (Sorority Forever). But now as the company prepares its first non-studio original series since their debut Sam Has 7 Friends, the company announced they have signed on as a new media signatories to the Writers Guild of America, West, under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (“Mba”). “The Guild has done a great job of recognizing and legitimizing the efforts of online creators like us,” said Big Fantastic’s Doug Cheney. “We chose to become a signatory now because it affords us tremendous opportunities as writers while allowing our company access to the vast WGA talent pool.” There’s been a fair...

Warner Brothers is teaming up with an old friend again—single-word director McG. Having last collaborated on the 2008 online drama Sorority Forever, today came word that Ghostfacers, a new 10-episode sci-fi comedy web series from McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision production company and Warner's Studio 2.0 is currently in production in Los Angeles. The series appears to be a spin-off of Warner Bros. Television's Supernatural series which airs on The CW. They are calling this a "shortform brand extension" of the TV series, which means this is really a companion web series, instead of a purely original project. Ghostfacers will follow a "a team of fearless and sometimes comical “professional” ghost hunters who investigate the paranormal and record their own adventures in documentary-style episodes." That same team actually made its debut on Supernatural's first season during the "Hell House" episode, and later resurfaced on season three. The series...

James Gunn is building himself a strong little cadre of performers for his upcoming twist on the superhero genre, Super. We knew that Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon were on board, but today we’ve learned that Gunn has some more great actors up his sleeve. The cast now includes Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, and Michael Rooker. A new James Gunn movie was already cause for celebration, but with this cast Super has now become the title-duper. Here’s the official synopsis:

Wilson plays Frank, a seemingly average Joe who is madly in love with his troubled wife Sarah (Tyler). But when Sarah leaves Frank for Jacques (Bacon), a smooth-talking drug dealer, Frank transforms into pseudo superhero The Crimson Bolt, stakes out Jacques sleazy hideaway, and wages a one-man war on crime. What he lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty pipe wrench.

Writer/Director James Gunn has enlisted the talents of the alumni from his past productions Slither, Scooby Doo, and his multiple web series, for his latest film Super, a comedic twist on the superhero genre, which is currently shooting in Louisiana. These additions include: Nathan Fillion (Castle, Waitress), Linda Cardellini (Brokeback Mountain, ER), Gregg Henry (The Black Dahlia, United 93), Michael Rooker (Jumper), Sean Gunn (Pearl Harbor), Stephen Blackehart, Mikaela Hoover, Lloyd Kaufman, and Valentine Miele. Gunn has also cast Andre Royo (The Wire) and Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Program) in the film, both of whom are new to Gunn's clan. This impressive class of thespians join an already all-star cast featuring executive producer Rainn Wilson (The Office), Juno star Ellen Page (Whip It! and Christopher Nolan's upcoming Inception), Liv Tyler (The Strangers, The Lord Of The Rings), and Kevin Bacon (Mystic River, Taking Chance). Ted Hope is...

Lonelygirl15 She starred in what was, inarguably, the best show of the summer in 2006. And it wasn’t on TV but YouTube. Bree was a homeschooled, angsty teen who posted a weekly videoblog talking about dating, family and school. Until obsessed fans discovered her pleas to the camera were fictitious — a film school project gone viral. The actress who played Lonelygirl, Jessica Rose, went on to make some other Web series (“Sorority Forever” and “Poor Paul”) and had a short stint on...

Are you a web series creator who is trying to land a hot distribution deal with a curvy budget, but you lack the Pua stylings to successfully seduce that special studio? And were you not able to grab a ticket to the December Tubefilter Hollywood Web TV Meetup before the event sold out? Well, we have just the live stream for you. Tune in right here, right now, because we're answering all your questions and broadcasting live from Bubsy's East! Many producers dream of scoring a studio deal. It must be nice, right? When someone else is taking care of all financing, marketing, and distribution, can’t you finally just focus on creating something awesome? But what is it really like when a studio gets involved? And how do you get a studio interested and involved with your production in the first place? Find out from these creators and studio...

Not since the Streamy Awards have we seen this many web series stars in one place. Ok not really, but with the fourth season of The Temp Life, the Spherion-backed comedy about life inside a dreadful NY temp agency kicking off today, the cast is loaded up with notable web series stars. The casting moves are signs this four-year old web show is growing up with the medium in which it plays. Call it Web TV's version of keiretsu. Creator Wilson Cleveland, Cjp Communications' Head of Digital Media, built the show back in 2006 for the firm's client Spherion. Incidentally, Cleveland also stars in the The Temp Life, as Nick “Trouble” Chiapetta, the once-ceo of Commodity Staffing, the shoddy agency. This new season picks up with some major changes once Chiapetta returns to office after a 33-week Awol. Notable guest (web) stars: Thom Woodley — co-creator and star of All's Faire, The 'Burg and Vuguru's The All-for-Nots.

James Gunn seems to be digging the web series world these days. The Scooby-Doo screenwriter is following up on his successful porn flick satire series PG Porn, with the release today of an even racier series, Humanzee! The offbeat scripted comedy was shot back in 2008 and was planned to head to XBox Live, until someone over at Microsoft pulled the plug due to content concerns. Did they really not know what they signed up for when tapping Gunn? First off, we have to throw out the Nsfw warning on the first episode (above), mostly for f-bombs, not nudity. The show itself feels like a live action cartoon sitcom, complete with a laugh track pushing us through the quick setups and reversals. Gunn's description of what it's about is just too good to paraphrase: Humanzee! is the story of myself and my human-chimp hybrid son, appropriately named "Humanzee" (played by my brother,...

It's not exactly coincidence that today's launch of Sony's zombie comedy web seriesWoke Up Dead comes on the heels of the company's box-office-winning $25 million opening weekend for Zombieland. In fact it was pretty much by design. With its debut on Crackle today, the Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) led comedy is the latest example of how the studios are starting the work their digital properties into the synergistic business mix, capitalizing on buzz from one property to drive interest in another. The series is touted as the tentpole of Crackle's fall lineup, one that is slimmed down from previous seasons to feature just a handful of premium, more polished online series from Sony Pictures Television. It's the latest from online creative shop Electric Farm Entertainment, the guys behind web series like NBC's Gemini Division and more recently MTV's Valemont. Heder stars as a six-year USC grad turned office drone, Drex Greene,...

For avid lonelygirl15 fans, the surprise reveal that the original lonelygirl15 star Jessica Rose has joined the cast of Poor Paul, wasn't exactly shocking. (Former LG15 star Yousef Abu-Taleb is a producer of the show.) But to the casual web video junkie this catches an extra mouse click or two. Episode 32, "You're a Guy", was released today on YouTube and KoldCast with Rose playing title character Paul's (Zack Bennett) new sex-charged neighbor Beatrice. Eleven episodes into their second season, director Sean Michael Beyer, who also plays Paul's dad 'Mr. Ted' in the series, will have Rose in several more episodes this season. Rose is still one of the most universally well known web series actors out there, made famous by hundreds of close-up vlogs as lonelygirl Bree back in 2006 as YouTube was just taking off. Later she would star in WB.com's Sorority Forever, which is rumored to be prepping a second season,...

We got an early teaser (above) of new thriller web series Compulsions, which is still in post-production. This one piqued our interest early, with a few notable web series names in the mix. Stars Craig Frank (The Crew, Private High Musical) and Annemarie Pazmino (Sorority Forever) are recognizable to web fans. And as of now, the only other announced cast member is Janna Bossier. A few other recognizable faces make an appearance but are being kept under wraps. The basic setup is that even completely normal people have hidden and often dark desires, or compulsions, that are kept inside and never acted upon. Of course it would be a lot more interesting to find out what would happen if they did act upon them. And that's where this series picks up. Three leads, three different compulsions. One of them is sadism. Writer-creator Bernie Su said they are "trying to push...

How McG (yes, that's his name -- he directed the new Terminator movie) evolved from bubblegum auteur into a tinseltown killing machine.

On a July day in 2004, the director known as McG sat in his car outside the terminal at Burbank Airport where Warner Bros. keeps its private jet fleet. He could see the Gulfstream g550 he was to board and feel the vibration of the engines' auxiliary-power unit. All he had to do was open the car door, cross the tarmac, and climb the stairs. The plane was bound for Australia, where McG was to shoot the new Superman movie. After his massive successes with the Charlie's Angels franchise, Warner was counting on the filmmaker to deliver a much-needed blockbuster to match. But McG couldn't move.

He'd spent the prior year planning storyboards and concept art, and making casting decisions based on a script he had commissioned from J.J. Abrams.

MTV has ordered up a half hour pilot of raunchy comedy web series Private High Musical which debuted last fall, marking the latest of the network's web to TV pickups. Creator and star Taryn Southern will produce the new pilot, which is still in pre-production. As part of the deal, MTV acquires the rights to the series, though Southern will remain a producer and actor in the show. Southern originally cast a talented group of actors she'd worked with before, including Lauren Mayhew and fellow Sorority Forever star Angie Cole, even her new producing partner and web star Jessica Rose made a cameo. Some of the original cast are expected to return, though no word yet on whether Mr. Belding himself, Dennis Haskins, who played Mr. Johnson in the series, will be making his the trip back to primetime.

 

If you are a female, or know someone who is, chances are pretty good you've been forced to watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy. The male writers here at Boosh don't understand the female obsession with the drama-doctors of Seattle Grace, who are too busy having sex with eachother to actually practice medicine. Well, if you've been subjected to the ABC series that we just can't understand, we found a parody you need to see. And then show your female friend who sticks up for Izzie Stevens and Dr. Grey.

 

Ever since we started checking out webseries last week on FunnyOrDie.com, our readers have turned us on to some other gems. We knew the WB had a few online series, such as Sorority Forever featuring our favorite YouTube star lonelygirl15 (aka Jessica Rose). But we didn't realize that the network also had a hilarious 10-episode series created by Rob Corddry called Children's Hospital.

Warner Premiere, the production arm of Warner Home Video, is branching out into live-action webisodes with some help from "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer.

Premiere is in discussions with the helmer's Bad Hat Harry Prods. to develop the apocalyptic sci-fi thriller "H+," with the intent to supplement Premiere's roster of direct-to-dvd titles with a slate of original programs intended for digital platforms.

While Premiere's previous efforts on DVD and digital are mostly based on existing intellectual property, "H+" represents an opportunity to introduce new material.

"We knew from the beginning of setting up Warner Premiere that digital would be a big emphasis for us," Premiere president Diane Nelson said. "The best way to get learnings for the studio to act on in the future is to dabble in a lot of different things now."

On the digital front to date, Premiere has released so-called "motion comics" based on existing franchises "Batman,...

The final episode (above - warning: contains spoilers if you’re not caught up!) of Sorority Forever came out today at TheWB.com and MySpaceTV, closing this chapter of the 40-episode college sorority thriller. The Big Fantastic/McG-produced series, chock full of web stars — Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15), Taryn Southern (Private High Musical) and Mikaela Hoover (Sam Has 7 Friends) — had the web media hype-machine in full force this summer, us included, before its Labor Day debut. The first major scripted series out of Warner Bros.’ new digital portal TheWB.com, Sorority Forever has lived up to its end of the bargain in terms of viewership. Distribution partner MySpaceTV, who had a exclusive 48-hour window for new episodes, certainly delivered. They accounted for over 4 Million views for the series so far. TheWB.com hasn’t yet released viewership numbers for those shown on its own site, but it’s expected...

Gretech Corporation's Gom TV and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (Wbitd) inked a distribution deal to bring the original Sorority Forever digital series from director/producer McG and Big Fantastic for viewers in Korea via Gom TV. The 40-episode short-form series debuted last week on Gom TV with one original episode (23 minutes) scheduled to air every weekday.

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