Channel 101 is a pretty fantastic source for Web series, but too many people know too little about it. So allow me, if you will, to educate you by highlighting some of the key shows you should be watching. Because Channel 101 is great.
Channel 101: A BRIEF HISTORY
Dan Harmon (Community) and Rob Schrab (Sarah Silverman Program) started Channel 101 in 2001 and it has been running rather consistently for almost ten years. Channel 101 is both an online and live television channel. There are free screenings held monthly in New York and LA where audiences get to vote on which shows should come back and which shows should get canceled. Ten shows are slated every week: five are set to return and five are canceled. This means some good shows are canceled prematurely, but the terrible ones are canceled outright. In 2005, Tony Carnevale started Channel 102, a sister network based in New York, which is now known as Channel 101: NY. Both networks carry a similar ethos and sensibility.
SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
1. Shutterbugs
Rob Huebel plays Samir. Aziz Ansari plays Bill. They are child actor talent management? Sound familiar? Yeah, well it sort of is. Shutterbugs started on Channel 101 but eventually was a recurring sketch on the MTV Sketch Comedy Show Human Giant. They literally use the exact same sketches. It’s pretty impressive that this stuff made it to television.
2. The ‘BU
The ‘BU is an O.C. parody set in Malibu created by and starring Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer, also known as The Lonely Island. These guys ramp up production value and really knock this series out of the ballpark. If you watch Episode 1 and Episode 8, you REALLY get some insight into what would later become the SNL Digital Shorts. Rumor has it, it was The ‘BU that Lorne Michaels first noticed.
3. Yacht Rock
Yacht Rock is the brainchild of friend of Clicker, J.D. Ryznar. It’s hilarious. It’s brilliant. It skewers some of the worlds most famous musical “talent.” Doug Benson, Steve Agee, Drew Carey, and Jason Lee cameo. If you were watching Channel 101 series and you missed Yacht Rock, it would be a severe mistake.
4. Gemberling (now Fat Guy Stuck In the Internet)
Gemberling is really the breakout star of Channel 101. John Gemberling plays renegade computer hacker Ken Gemberling, and Curtis Gwinn plays the Bounty Hunter, Chains, that has to track him down through the Internet. It’s a Tron/Lord of The Rings/Star Wars parody unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. It’s also brilliant, not to mention my personal introduction into the Channel 101 universe. The reason why this series is considered to be a the Channel 101 breakout? In 2008 Adult Swim picked it up, gave it a budget, and turned it into Fat Guy Stuck In The Internet. Gemberling isn’t online anymore, unfortunately, but Fat Guy Stuck In the Internet is. Even though it doesn’t pack quite the punch, it’s still very much worth a watch.
5. Computerman
Computerman is written by Dan Harmon and stars Jack Black and Dan Harmon. Yeah, Jack Black. It’s also pretty brilliant. Watch all six episodes and see where The Movie Star and The Television Writer got some of their early work done. I mean, Jack Black wears a Computer on his head and it’s a space epic shot (probably) in Dan Harmon’s apartment. This is one of the original shows to premiere on Channel 101 and it’s FIRST Live show. This is where it all started, ladies and gentlemen.
Justin Roiland animates this cartoon where he clones Bill Cosby, but with each clone he gets more and more devolved. It’s twisted and hilarious. It falls apart as it goes along, but Episode 1 and Episode 2 are definitely some of the funniest bits I’ve ever seen.
7. Chad Vader
Chad Vader? One of the most famous Web series of all time? THAT Chad Vader started on Channel 101? Yeah. It got canceled after two episodes, but the creators decided to go ahead and make more episodes, anyway, by slapping them up online elsewhere. Channel 101′s mistake is the Internet’s gain.
Channel 101: THE COMMUNITY CONNECTION:
Because Dan Harmon is Creator/ Head Writer of Community, 
it appears as if he can reference his own brain child whenever his heart desires. First and foremost is the character of Abed. Abed is based on a Channel 101 regular, Abed Geith. Click through Abed’s bio page to watch some of the videos starring and created by the man who is the basis for one of the funniest characters on television. Rumor has it Abed even auditioned for the part of himself on the NBC sitcom, but lost out to Danny Pudi.
Also, everytime a character on Community makes a video, the tone, production value, and comedy are eerily similar to that of the content produced on Channel 101. Considering the Abed character is a budding filmmaker, this happens surprisingly regularly.
COMMUNITY‘S CHANNEL 101 REFERENCES:
More at Community: College Chronicles
More at The Spanish Assignment.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY CHANNEL 101 SHOWS:
Puppet Rapist: Waverly Films’ series about puppets and humans living in the same world and unfortunately some of those humans like to rape puppets.
Welcome to Our House: Julie Klausner and Jackie Clarke accurately (and hilariously) parody 80′s videos.
Kicked in The Nuts: Mike Henry is one of the handful of people who does voices on Family Guy. His Channel 101 entry? Four glorious episodes of nut-shots.
Defenders of Stan: Channel 101′s longest running Web series. It went 20 episodes deep. No other series on the network has even come close. That must mean its pretty great and essential to watch, right?
The Pop: Kyle Kinane as Popeye. If you know who Kyle Kinane is, you know that’s enough to get you watching. If you don’t, watch, and see why you should know.
Everything: Segments from different filmmakers around LA. It is always consistently well made and funny, and currently the longest running show on Channel 101.
9AM Meeting: An animated office comedy. Currently the longest running show on Channel 101: NY.
CHANNEL 101 Failed Pilots & Channel 101: NY’s Failed Pilots: These are the shows that never made it past the pilot at a Channel 101 screening. Click around. I guarantee you will find something wild and insane, and also probably terrible.
Don’t just take my word for it, between Channel 101 and Channel 101: NY there are 240 shows. They may ALL be brilliant, and I just haven’t been able to watch them all, yet. Take a look around and find something new and worth watching. Let us know if you find anything good to add to our list by commenting below.
NOW GET WATCHING!
