Eli’s Dirty Jokes Score Cinemax Deal

Eli’s Dirty Jokes — an animated series that brings to life jokes told by 79-year-old Eli Buchalter, the accountant for web studio GoPotato.tv, which produces the show — will begin airing on Cinemax starting tomorrow at 9:55 p.m. ET. (The latest episode is embedded below.)

The Cinemax deal for Eli’s Dirty Jokes — which is animated by Doug Bresler of Doogtoons (our coverage) — is GoPotato’s first web-to-TV crossover opportunity after building a significant viewership on YouTube, where it has accumulated nearly 17 million views across seven different original series.

One episode of Eli’s Dirty Jokes will air per week on Cinemax as a minute-long interstitial between movies (tomorrow it precedes the debut of Juno). Cinemax has exclusive rights for TV distribution for a minimum of eight episodes, with a possibility of extending to 28, and all the archives of the show will be hosted on Cinemax on Demand. GoPotato will retain ownership of the show.

GoPotato co-founder Tyler McFadden would not disclose exact terms of the deal, but said Cinemax was paying significantly more than any other revenue streams to date. The new money means GoPotato can hire another animator and add to its original content slate.

The Cinemax deal was brokered by Plentitube, a new company that aims to connect online content creators with television networks and advertisers. It is Plentitube’s first such deal.

The folks behind GoPotato are also working on a viral video discovery site called SeenItYet that they hope to launch early next year.