Vicarious(ly) Skewers Reality Content for Absurdist Satire

Two guys go into a studio with what they think is an easy sell for a series. They walk out of it committed to making…well, something substantially different. It’s a scenario that happens occasionally in the entertainment world, and it’s also the beginning of Vicarious, possibly one of the most cynical and side-splitting behind-the-scenes entertainment parodies ever, with the profanity and violence to match.

For when Nick (Nicholas Clark) and Evan (Evan Gaustad) pitch their idea for an altruistically minded reality show to execs at the fictional Triple Threat, their concept gets twisted into a brutal reimagining of MTV’s Jackass, with unwilling hosts and no moral boundaries. Their bodies are abused, their relationships trashed, their dreams shattered. And thanks to the sharp dialogue and pitch-perfect satire, it’s hilarious.

There are some amazing if slightly insider-y touches, such as an episode devoted to mocking product placement, or the fact that in the third episode, Vicarious undergoes a name change to Vicariously because the URL http://vicarious.tv was already taken. And the back-and-forth between the creatives and executives takes on levels of absurdity that you might otherwise find in a Tom Stoppard play.

Vicarious was created for DigiSynd’s original production brand X12 (which previously produced the Ning-based alternative reality game Nowheremen) and based largely on Clark and Gaustad’s true experience of coming in to pitch a series to DigiSynd, according to Director of Creative & Editorial Services Chris Cantwell. The series thus became DigiSynd/X12’s chance to experiment with various distribution methods — first, via a Facebook app, then a branded YouTube channel through which they are now exclusively posting the episodes.

They also took the opportunity to build out the world of the show, specifically with other projects being developed under the Triple Threat company brand, including an iPhone app called iNutz and the personal rocket. Nick and Evan also have their own video blog to comment on Vicarious(ly)‘s production — in character, that is.

Six episodes were sporadically released in 2009, but episode seven, which dropped today, is kicking off a new roll-out schedule, with the rest of the 12-episode first season to debut weekly on Tuesdays starting next week. And it’s definitely one to watch, especially for those with some understanding of the industry, for most of the truly hilarious stuff about Vicarious(ly) is funny because it’s true.

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