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Indy Mogul’s New Kids, Phil Collins In The Subway Tonight: NTV Station Today
Lots of great stuff in the viral world today (see our video ribbon above for more), but here’s my favorite so far: via the EPIC-FU blog comes this live performance from the group Naturally 7, who went all Improv Everywhere on the Paris subway with their a capella cover of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight. Yes, it’s from 2006 — that just means it’s so old it’s new again.
And today we congratulate Indy Mogul on the newest additions to its happy family — but how well do Beyond the Trailer and Best Short Films In The World fit in with older sibling Backyard F/X? Our thoughts at NewTeeVee Station.
Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, Single Man Joins Single Ladies: NTV Station Today
In case you didn’t know, Justin Timberlake is only one of Beyonce’s many imitators. This Single Man’s imitation of the intense Single Ladies choreography has been up for a while, but just to confirm how flawless it is, check out the two sets of dancers in the same video.
And today we join Smart Girls At the Party, the Amy Poehler-hosted series focused on the accomplishments of young girls. Just because there are young girls involved, though, doesn’t mean that Barbie should be. Check out our thoughts at NewTeeVee Station!
CommunityChannel, Moms Hate Motrin: NTV Station Today
There’s a Twitter Moms revolution going on, and the manufacturer of the pain reliever Motrin is its first high-profile target. Mothers offended by a Motrin ad’s assertion that “baby-wearing” can cause back, arm, and neck strain lashed out publicly online, bringing down the official Motrin web site. Their reactions have been compiled into a 9-minute video that emphasizes one lesson for advertisers — watch out for the mommy-bloggers.
And today Julia Diddy profiles Natalie Tran (known on YouTube as CommunityChannel): “While it may be tempting to chalk Tran’s popularity up to mere online ogling of an admittedly smokin’ babe, it’s impossible to dismiss her as just another viral vixen whose window dressing masks a lack of actual wares.” Find out why at NewTeeVee Station
Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live a Sign of Times To Come
Dear 1998,
I know you have a lot on your mind right now — what with Friends’ Ross and Rachel maybe being broken up for real this time, and wow, how about that Monica Lewinsky? But it’s important you remember the following two things: Sell your shares of Pets.com while you still have a choice, and keep your eye on the young one in ‘N Sync. You know, Justin? Because it turns out he is really, really talented.
To prove it, I have found a way to send you these two videos from a November 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live — yes, we still have Saturday Night Live here in the future.
Justin Timberlake as one of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (note: the sketch’s premise — male dancers subbing in for the video’s original female dancers — is probably unrelated to the fact that one of Beyonce’s real Single Ladies is rumored to be choreographer Jaquel Knight)
Please do not be bewildered by our futuristic embedding technology and instead enjoy how the former Mouseketeer is funnier than half of the show’s current cast. And get used to it. I just got a letter from 2018 yesterday, where Justin Timberlake now rules us like a king.
Lots of love, 2008
Raconteurs Go Old To Gold, Secret Girlfriend: NTV Station Today
Today Boing Boing debuted this viral campaign pushing the Raconteurs’ new… well, I’m not sure what Jack White and his fellow rockers are promoting with this. But it’s a fun little Antique Roadshow parody that, in classic Web 2.0 form, solicits YouTubers to create their own magic devices. (An extended cut is available here.)
And Steve Bryant reviews the Atomic Wedgie series Secret Girlfriend: “big-boobed, PG-13 soft core that’s slightly evocative of lonelygirl15 in its just-off-screen promise of titillation.” Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Find out at NewTeeVee Station!
Duder, Black Hole: NTV Station Today
West London filmmakers Phil Samson and Olly Williams’s The Black Hole is a short morality tale with great effects and a cleverly executed premise — which plays clearly without the use of any dialogue (meaning that it works for everyone, regardless of native tongue). In short — it is the perfect online short.
And speaking of things that are short: the indie series Duder has been around since 2006, but it just recently relaunched with a second season that revamps its format and web presence — better showcasing its fresh take on the “dudes in relationships” genre. Find out what changed at NewTeeVee Station!
Kurt Loder’s Lapdance, Gene Kelly Remix: NTV Station Today
I can’t decide if this Singing in the Rain remix, created to sell the VW Golf, is an abomination or just plain awesome. At this moment, I’m leaning towards abomination, but the technology involved is pretty impressive.
And Jill Weinberger got all worked up by Kurt Loder’s Lapdance, but after watching the four-part interview with Harry Shearer, she started wishing that there was a bit more grind to it. Check out her review at NewTeeVee Station.
Weekend Vid Picks: Just One Last Post About Election Comedy, We Promise
So, um, I guess some people were saying that that election-themed videos would, starting Wednesday, literally be yesterday’s news. Man, how stupid were those people? Right? Right?
But to my credit, the tone of discourse has changed with the conclusion of the campaign. College Humor released one of their typically well-produced satires on Tuesday, a hedging-their-bets guess at what happens If The Other Party Wins. It’s a pretty vicious parody of both sides of the political spectrum, and not at all conducive to supporting a message of unity. But it’s also really, really funny.
And the Onion News Network takes aim at Obama protestors — specifically, the really obnoxiously dedicated ones — with a news bulletin tastefully entitled Obama Win Causes Obsessed Backers To See How Empty Lives Are. It seems needlessly harsh, though, and it’s nowhere near as funny as Onion’s Wednesday headline — Kobe Bryant Scores 25 In Holy S*** We Elected A Black President.
But these represent the last gasps of a two-year, multimillion-dollar process that left us with our first black president. And personally, I’m looking forward to this new phase for our country, where we as a nation can focus on what matters: rebuilding our economy, improving our relationship with the global community, and making ridiculous Wrestlemania parodies.
God bless America.
will.i.am’s New Obama Ode, It’s A New Day, Debuts on Oprah
Well, turns out will.i.am didn’t hurt Obama’s campaign too badly after all, given that he, you know, won. How much credit the former Black-Eyed Pea can take for the President-elect’s victory is a question for political science scholars, not online video bloggers. What online video bloggers are good at doing is telling you stuff like this: Today, will.i.am debuted the video and song for his post-election victory tune, It’s A New Day, on Oprah.
The video was originally set to premiere Wednesday on the site dipdive.com — no word on why, as of Friday afternoon, that plan has been delayed, or when an official upload will be released. For now, we leave you with the above clip from today’s Oprah, which features will.i.am performing live. First impressions on the song (available on iTunes): catchy chorus, and a pretty tight beat.
UPDATED: So our best guess is that dipdive.com waited to upload until after the Oprah broadcast. Check out the official video below.
Barney Bites Back, Snowy The Frostman: NTV Station Today
The nation is currently abuzz with rumors about what kind of dog the Obama family will be getting upon their arrival at the White House, but what about the current Presidential Pup? Well, turns out Barney is a little cranky — as Reuters correspondent Jonathan Decker found out, um, first-hand.
And how excited are you by the notion of “spending the yuletide season in South Park with a beloved childhood mascot chasing you with a hatchet”? The answer to that question directly reflects how excited you are about Snowy the Frostman, an Aniboom series that seeks to bridge the gap between Halloween and Christmas. Check out this satire wrapped in a spoof at NewTeeVee Station.
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