Getting ready to leave CES and Las Vegas I can't help but be so inspired by the IAWTV and the online video community.
Last night was a huge success! Having everyone in the same room was a huge reminder of the amount of talent working in and for our industry. We love and admire all of you, and can't wait to work with more of you in 2012!
Posted in
Animation,
Bruce McCall,
Daily Grace,
IAWTV,
Maria,
Mark Malkoff,
My Damn Channel with tags
Web Series Awards,
IAWTV,
Awards Season,
IAWTV nominations,
Golden Globe nominations,
Oscar nominations,
Academy Awards,
SAG nominations on 12/15/2011 8:00:00 AM by
Maria
It's Awards Nomination Season: Golden Globe nominations! SAG nominations! Oscar nominations! IAWTV Award nominations!
Yes, the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) created these Awards to "provide a venue for celebrating original entertainment distributed on the open Internet by honoring the best in web television programming and recognizing the achievements of online content creators."
And that's US!
We scored FOUR nominations and couldn't be prouder:
Best Writing (Non-Fiction): Daily Grace
Best Animated Series: The World of Bruce McCall
Best Variety Series: Mark Malkoff
Best Comedy Series: Gigi: Almost American
Congrats to all of our fellow nominees! We're honored to be among you. Can't wait to see all of you in Las Vegas in January, at the
IAWTV Awards Ceremony!
Posted in
David Wain,
Rob Barnett,
Wainy Days with tags
Wainy Days,
David Wain,
My Damn Channel,
Jon Stern,
Ken Marino,
Rob Barnett,
Zandy Hartig,
Jorma Taccone,
Erinn Hayes,
Lizzy Caplan,
FIAT,
Wanderlust on 11/4/2011 12:39:01 AM by Rob Barnett
Ken Marino, Jon Stern, Rob Barnett, David Wain
WAINY DAYS first launched on day 1 of My Damn Channel: 7/31/07. David and I knew each other a lil bit from the salad daze at MTV. He saw the future when he and the Michaels created STELLA shorts...back when it took a year and half to buffer a 3-minute clip.
I promised David he could do the original series he wanted without the typical network interruptus, "notes" and meddling. We'd deliver cash, massive promotion and distribution to reach his fans and make WAINY DAYS the premiere series of our (almost) TV network of the future.
David pitched a show where his character would make out with the hottest women in Hollywood and have every date go horribly wrong. I said 'yes.' We locked the right price for the first season of 10 episodes. And I asked David to promise to cast this show as well as he casted his latest feature film back then, THE TEN.
32 official episodes, 4 years, and 4 seasons later, you've watched and shared WAINY DAYS to make it the longest-running, most-popular comedy series in the new world.
This week, we're filming an all-new season 5 with another killer cast including David & Ken Marino, who co-wrote the new episodes and Exec Produces with David & our beloved series producer, Jon Stern. This year's cast also features Steven Weber, Zandy Hartig, Jorma Taccone, Erinn Hayes, Lizzy Caplan, n' more.
We have a brand new sponsor: FIAT !
We'll post more updates and pics and announce a premiere date sooner than you think.
While I have you for this too-happy-too-long post: please n'joy the trailer for David's brand new feature film: WANDERLUST - opening FEB 24 2012 !
David Wain is a sex machine.
He dates the hottest women that you've ever seen.
It seems unlikely but it's totally true
If you don't understand it we'll explain it to you...
Way back
in August of '11 we went to Just For Laughs in Montreal and did "Wainy Days LIVE" with David Wain, Rob Corddry, Reggie Watts and a bunch of their super-talented friends.
Two of those friends were
Garfunkel and Oates aka Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, two of the sweetest, funniest, most talented, adorable people you could ever hope to meet in your entire life. In Montreal, they wrote a song about how sexy David Wain must be since in every episode of
Wainy Days gorgeous women are falling over themselves to be with him. When we all returned home, everyone thought it would be a shame to keep the brilliance of that song limited to a few hundred people in French-Speaking Quebec, so we filmed it and are sharing it with the world.
Watch it and share it with your friends. It's like a little bit of joy right on your computer screen.
And
Kate and
Riki have both been on television and in film so they would know what sexy is, right? They're like
comedic rock stars, right? The
LA Times wrote a feature about them! They would know what would make a pretty girl want to lick an average 42 year old body!
Could it be they find David Wain that sexy because he told them that Season 5 of his groundbreaking web series
Wainy Days is returning to My Damn Channel this Fall?! Yes. That's it. That's very much what it must be. For sure.
(Intern Josh, wondering forlornly how he ended up here)
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's Josh's last day as an intern for My Damn Channel! I asked him to write up a post telling you what it was like for him this summer!
Coming into My Damn Channel as an intern I thought all I was gonna learn was how to file papers and fill out reports. Boy was I wrong! Friday will be my last day and I still haven't correctly filled out a single report. My boss is always saying that it drives him crazy how long it's taking me to get the hang of the office duties, but I can tell he's just joking. How I treasure that agonized look he gets trying so hard to hold back laughter.
What I learned though was way more valuable than any college education. I would say it was worth about $230,000, a couple hundred more than four years' tuition at Wesleyan. What I learned was the value of making the effort to gain the respect of your peers.
Before I ever set foot into that office, I had my work cut out for me. My future co-workers had already started gossiping that I only got the internship because of my family connections. After failing for three years to strike any gold, my great-great-grandfather started My Damn Channel during the California Gold Rush as a burlesque show designed to entertain entrepreneurs who had given up on trying to find gold and started companies catered to the needs of the gold miners. Grandpa Schmulie Meisel. I can't believe that was such a popular name back then — Grandpa.
My first day at work the guy sharing my cubicle got mad at me for unplugging his computer. "What do you need a blender for?!" he irrationally snarled. "How else are you gonna make computer smoothies silly? By hand?!" I chucked his computer into my oversized blender. He must've thought I was awfully spoiled, not making my computer smoothies by hand. I really had an uphill battle ahead of me if I wanted to gain anyone's respect.
A couple of days in I got the courage to pitch a show idea to the head of development. It was a parody of "Friends" called "Friends." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "You just handed me a bunch of "Friends" scripts. I think I know now why the printer's out of ink. Look, why don't you hold off for a bit before you make any more pitches." Apparently my scripts had gone right over his head. And "Friends" was a pretty accessible show. The guy I shared my cubicle was a rube, our head of development was dense as a neutron star, and my boss was an incorrigible prankster. My situation was less than ideal to say the least.
Halfway through the summer things had only gotten worse. I was miserable. My only friend was the janitor, and he was a Roomba! I'd cry myself to sleep every night, and when I wasn't feeling that sad I would get my butler to cry me to sleep. My job was a major disappointment. It wasn't at all like that show "The Office." We had TWO guys named Dwight, and the prettiest girl wasn't dating the most handsome guy (me), but instead this guy Jim who's so inexperienced with women that when I asked him to share some girlie stories he just laughed.
All I could do was trudge along until my five weeks were up, filing away papers wherever I could cram them (I may not get the job done pretty, but I'm damn fast). And just when I had given up on ever gaining a single ounce of respect from any My Damn Channel employee, a stroke of luck bolted me right in the face.
I'll always remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was only yesterday today. Jim's girlfriend (I think her name was Xamela) told him he needed to go somewhere to sign some forms. She couldn't give him a ride because she was busy. He asked if anyone else could take him, and I shot out of my chair like I was sitting on a lit match (which for the one of the first times I wasn't). Jim didn't see me at first; his eyes scanned the room for someone to drive him but everyone pretended to be hard at work because they were too lazy to take him. Finally he saw me and said "Fine let's go Josh." And fine it was. Everyone looked up at Jim and smiled at him. Their smiles seemed to say, "I'm really happy for you that you get to go on a fun/crazy/cool ride with Josh." But the smiles had a little menace behind them that signified jealousy.
When I got back my boss laughed with mirth, patted me on the back, and said, "Good job sonny." All I ever wanted was for my boss to think of me as a son, but life isn't easy. I had to put in my time to get what I wanted — let's just say I don't think I could've earned the luxury of being treated by my boss like his own flesh and blood if I hadn't given Jim that ride. And now, in these last couple of months before my summer ends and I have to go back to hitting the books trying to eventually earn my GED, I can look back at my time at My Damn Channel atop my pool float, computer smoothie in hand, and know that that one lesson I learned was well worth all my trifles. Plus it helped that I was making more than the rest of the office combined.
Thanks, Josh, er, Sonny! We will miss you! We know it will be tough going back to Stanford to get a world-class education, but it's better you than us!
We fully intend to continue stalking following you and your writing as @artsypriest and as a writer for The Stanford Chaparral.
PS: If any of you, dear readers, for some strange, maddening reason, would like to be an intern for My Damn Channel, please send an email to info@MyDamnChannel.com, and be sure to include links to your blog, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, or any other writing samples you might have! In the immortal words of the Jersey Shore kids in Italy, "Arrivederci, summer!"
It happens all the time. The birds leave the nest. The cubs leave the cave. The horses leave the stable. Who knows if all of those euphemisms are correct? We're just happy we know what the word "euphemism" means.
But today's the end of summer internships for a couple of the good ones:
Adam and Katie.
Adam helped us write pithy one-liners and articles for a blog that we might never be able to share with you at the rate we're going.
Katie dutifully sent t-shirts and pens to about five people over the summer, just like we asked her to.
We're not sure if they learned anything useful during their time with us, but we're pretty happy to share
burritos and
taco salads with them on their last day. Nothing quite says, "thank you," like the gift of Mexican cuisine.
So here's to you, sweet summer interns! May your returns to your respective schools and future ventures be as awesome as this past summer, but with a lot less heatpocalypse type stuff.
Maybe our very own Dan Wilburn-- himself a former Professional My Damn Channel Intern-- said it best in his tribute to them on Twitter:
But they were also the BEST kind of mediocre. (And actually, they were awesome all the way through. Not mediocre. Take it back, Dan Wilburn, take it back.)
Today we introduce a new feature we'll call "Searching for 'My Damn Channel.'" Have you ever searched your own name on Google and come up with a bunch of results that have nothing at all to do with you? Yeah, it's like that. Our favorite thing is to search through Twitter for "My Damn Channel" (note that the phrase in quotation marks is the key) and see what amazing people are angry at their television sets and remote controls. It's mind-boggling how many people like to yell at their TV via Twitter.
Today we present @little_booPINK:
Lol, indeed, @llittle_booPINK, that ain't right.
And here's @JennDesi, who's a little angry at QVC:
Seriously, indeed, @JennDesi, that ain't right.
Oh, did we forget to mention that via significant and detailed analysis and study we have determined that the absolute correct answer and response to all of these tweets is "That ain't right?"
Try it:
That ain't right, @sashieeee_!
Or here:
Uh, no, @SimplyLexxis, that ain't right at all.
So, we'll post a few of these on a semi-regular basis from now on. If you see something that we should post, send it to your tired blog writer at Maria [at] MyDamnChannel [dot] com, who writes most of these posts in first-person plural on purpose even though there's only one of her. We think.
Posted in
David Wain,
Filmmakers,
Hollywood,
Horrible People,
Josh Meisel,
My Damn Channel,
New Series,
NTSF,
Wainy Days with tags
NTSF:SD:SUV::,
NTSF,
Paul Scheer,
Jonathan Stern,
David Wain,
Wainy Days,
Adult Swim,
New Series,
Josh Meisel,
celebrities,
Martin Starr,
Children's Hospital,
Horrible People on 7/21/2011 9:18:43 AM by Josh Meisel
The hilarious new National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle, aka NTSF:SD:SUV:: premieres tonight on Adult Swim with the epic first episode, “Mexican Space Shuttle.” So break out the no-doze, because when the clock strikes 12:15 am, NTSF:SD:SVU:: will go from being a fictional television show on the hospital drama spoof Childrens Hospital to real-life police procedural spoof. To put it simply, NTSF:SD:SUV is to CSI what Childrens Hospital is to Grey’s Anatomy.
Like the show it spun off of, NTSF:SD:SUV:: (whose full title looks like it belongs in the now-defunct analogies section of the SATs) is chock full of performers who are no stranger to My Damn Channel. For example, here's NTSF cast member Martin Starr getting all his teeth knocked out by David Wain. Plus, Executive Producer Jonathan Stern is one of the men responsible for both Wainy Days and Horrible People, writing and directing a number of Wainy Days episodes, including this one.
So watch it every Thursday night at 12:15am on Adult Swim!
Posted in
Emmys,
Wainy Days with tags
Elizabeth Banks,
Wainy Days,
Emmy Awards,
Television on 7/15/2011 8:30:00 AM by Josh Meisel
Congratulations to Elizabeth Banks for her Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series! In case Thursday is your bowling night, Elizabeth Banks plays Jack Donaghy's baby's mother Avery on NBC's 30 Rock. She also plays Wainy Days' Shelly, who shattered the web series' records by dating the fictionalized Wain in three separate episodes! Check them out here, here and here.
Posted in
Fred Willard,
Hollywood,
Matt Warren,
My Damn Channel,
New Series,
Patricia Heaton,
Versailles with tags
My Damn Channel,
Versailles,
Patricia Heaton,
Fred Willard,
David Hunt,
MattheW on 6/3/2011 5:30:00 AM by Matt Warren
Never let it be said that the Night Feed doesn't contain multitudes. Sure, yesterday we told you about Mark Malkoff's quest to turn his doughy flagon of untoned flab into a rockin' six pack, but today we're taking a sharp left turn away from the world of health and fitness to indulge in another one of our not-so-secret passions: donuts!
Chocolate, sprinkles, glazed, old-fashioned... we're not picky; we like them ALL. And today is National Donut Day -- an actual holiday created by the Salvation Army to honor the battlefield nurses of World War I who coaxed injured soldiers back to health via the medium fried dough food (thanks, Wikipedia!).
And you don't need to be a mustachioed beat cop or having a support group meeting in a church basement to eat donuts anymore. Everyone's doing it, including minor local television celebrities like Colin Tickler (David Hunt), son of legendary B-movie actress Evelyn Anders (Patricia Heaton). Here's Colin extracting some donut innards from Episode 3 of the new My Damn Channel series Versailles...
Sexy, right?! We bet introverted "You're In Sports" intern Sara Wolper (Martha MacIsaac) would agree. So throw away your fertility talismans and Axe Body Spray. Show some holiday spirit by rubbing a glazed donut across your bare chest and smearing your face with custard. The Salvation Army demands it.