Bunny Blog

CW’s new program “Online Nation,” featuring “the best of user-generated web videos, was the first show of the year to get cancelled. One of our clips here at Psychic Bunny, “Frotuma” was on the final episode. Sigh, so sad.

Even more sad was that a video by my sketch comedy group, Six Finger Fist, was set to air later in the season. That video was “The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly,” and now no one will ever get to see it. Well, unless they go online.

Which is the point of a few bloggers who have tried to figure out why the show has such dismal ratings. Steve Briant at ReelPop says that online “you’re in control. The you is the most important part, and Online Nation removed “you” entirely.” You can read the whole post here.

I watched the few episodes of the show that were on, though, and I thought they were a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of “Robot Chicken,” in that they took the best parts of online video, cut out all the boring parts, and strung it along in a very frenetic crazy way. The hosts were very scripted and dull, and obviously weren’t allowed much freedom. But I think overall the concept worked.

This other blog says the whole concept of watching YouTube videos online has repeatedly failed. Why, though? People watch a lot of TV online– shouldn’t they want to watch internet videos on TV?

I personally just think they didn’t brand the show well enough. America’s Funniest Home Videos is basically the same kind of thing, but you know exactly what kind of videos you’re going to be watching– people getting kicked in the pants, pets being adorable, wedding mishaps, etc. And it’s been on the air for YEARS. Online Nation from the outside looked like it was going to be a completely sterile show.

But then when you actually watch it, it’s this CRAZY mixed up mash of totally random videos. It’s a lot more like Robot Chicken, and if the hosts had been as crazy as the videos, and the advertising just as crazy, I think the show would have been more successful. The craziness, from my POV, should have been the selling point of the show.