Gawker: super deluxe

Super Deluxe Becomes The Internet's Arrested Development

Nick Douglas — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:20:52 EDT

It's over! The most consistently funny comedy site on the Internet is getting folded into AdultSwim.com. Turner is shutting down Super Deluxe and laying off most of its staff, according to paidContent.org. Now the original web content will get stuck with clips from Family Guy and Adult Swim's increasingly weird-without-payoff lineup. The good news: The guy below gets a TV deal.

As with Arrested Development, Super Deluxe was a cult hit that just didn't get huge mainstream attention — like pretty much every video content site besides College Humor. But also like the show, it introduced some great talent who are going on to better deals. Well, at least one of them.

Brad Neely, creator of the classic "Washington, Washington" cartoon, got a TV deal for his two Super Deluxe series "Baby Cakes" and "Professor Brothers." Super Deluxe has a preview:

But if the site drops shows like Chasing Donovan and Derek and Simon (which already looks dead), I hope to god they get a deal somewhere else. Because I ain't watching "Tim and Eric" again.

First Signs Of Media Recession?

Nick Denton — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:45:25 EDT

Word is that 15 people have been laid off from Elle.com and other websites at French-owned magazine group, Hachette. We're working on a longer story about the travails of Elle and the other Hachette titles. Backstory to nick@gawker.com.
That excellent video website, Super Deluxe, is being shut down. Sorry, it's being folded into another Turner web property, the site for Adult Swim. Nick Douglas is working on the story.
More bad news for indie film makers: Hollywood studio Warner Brothers is closing down two boutique distributors. [Defamer]

The Onion A.V. Club Hates Your Stupid Popular Video

Nick Douglas — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:23:44 EST

Everyone knows that the most popular web videos are almost always crap. Did the Onion A.V. Club not check this before launching Videocracy, a daily list of "the most-talked-about online video content," or did they not care? Because in their ~~inaugural~~ chart [a commenter points out that the feature's a year old, which makes it even less explicable], each editorial description is a variation on "fuck you." Clip number 3 is "honestly not that impressive," #5 is "boring" (and like five years old), #6 is "annoying," 7 is "never-funny."

This isn't just the product of a snide writer, it's true; but why bother telling me not to watch these things? If they're so important and buzzed about, save me the time and sum them up instead of just saying "Man, we hate this guy." You're writers, aren't you? Give me a run-down or go find me something worth watching, so you can at least rack up pageviews with the embedded video.

The problem is, while there's lots of good and popular web video (even if 90% of it is on Super Deluxe), none of it is the most popular thing on any given day. The upside is that if you don't watch the "buzzed-about" crap that tops the charts, you actually don't miss out. The guy who shoved a soda can in his mouth is not getting a movie deal. Sometimes a breakout talent shows up in the top charts, but you can usually pick it out anyway and ignore the other 9 in the YouTube Top 10.

That said, you actually do need to see this clip called "Ronald McDonald Insanity." But skip to the three-minute mark and just watch ten seconds. Which is honestly how to watch all top-10 videos.