Top 5 Web Series Clichés

By Mar. 7, 2008, 1:30pm PT 33 Comments

So you want to make a web series, but you’re plum out of ideas? Don’t worry, just borrow from what everyone else is already doing! Here are five clichés great ideas that you can totally use to get unstuck from your creative rut.

1. Use Webcams
Your show is online, and so is your character, thanks to your webcam! So meta. Sure, this method of storytelling has lost all its novelty, but what better way to dispense with showing us any action than by having the main character describe the action in their vlog?

Steal from: lonelygirl15, Dorm Life, quarterlife

2. Lovable Nerds:
Shunned by Hollywood for the lack of washboard abs and any semblance of a tan, the Internet provides the ultimate opportunity for the bespectacled, awkward masses to shine (though even in web series, the nerds still have to be cute). Tap into tech-tinged web audiences’ sensibilities with your Facebook story lines and encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe and watch those playcounts soar!

Steal from: The Guild, We Need Girlfriends, Galacticast

3. Gangsta Raps:
Alright, technically this isn’t about web series in particular, but if you’re a sketch comedy group, an easy way to get a larff is to do a crazy rap song juxtaposing urban beats with prim and proper settings. Also a really good idea: Billy Joel spoofs.

Steal from: Tea Party, Star Wars Gangsta Rap, Everyday Normal Guy

4. Person. Camera. News.
News shows are easy to create, that’s why so many people do them. The best part is, you don’t have to do a lot of original reporting. Just plop yourself in front of a green screen and re-hash the week’s events.

Steal from: What the Buck, Loaded, EPIC-FU

5. Straight Spoofs:
Inventing characters, coming up with plots, developing a story arc…blech, that sounds like work. Instead, ride the phat coattails of someone who already built a pop culture phenomenon by tweaking a word or two (No Country-Time for Old Men, it’s about lemonade — genius!), or going through an existing script scene by scene and replacing the characters (it’s Office Space, but with Han Solo — genius!).

Steal from: 2/8 Life, Phake TV,
The Superficial Friends

And once you’re done “creating” your new series, be sure to copy a business plan and steal someone else’s money get venture funding!

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