After I read about Felicia Day's web series, The Guild, in a Dr. Horrible article, I decided to check it out. She writes and stars in The Guild, which features short web episodes of around 4-8 minutes shot on a low budget (Season One was partly financed by donations). It won the 2007 YouTube video award and the 2008 Yahoo video award. The series features a diverse group of massive multi-player online gamers (think World of Warcraft or Everquest) who reluctantly decide to meet in real life to address a problem with another group member.
Although I've never played an MMORPG, I still found the series to be cute and amusing. Some references went over my head and I'm sure it would have been funnier if I had more of a gaming background, but the awkward relationships between the characters were still entertaining. Felicia is quite endearing as Codex, the young, unemployed, and slightly unhinged protagonist with an addiction to online gaming. She comes across very naturally, as if she isn't acting at all. It goes well with the whole "this could be a real story" type of vibe the series projects with her video blog entries and low budget, realistic settings. The other actors also fill their roles well. Jeff Lewis, who plays Vork, reminds me (in a good way) of Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby on The Office.
Unless you're an online gamer, the series probably won't make you laugh out loud. It's still worth a watch though if you've got some free time. It's good, low-budget, cute, and amusing internet watching. The "Boss Fight" episode is especially clever and funny.
Best of all, it led to a successful promotion on my part! I frequently try to entice people to watch dorky things I love, usually without much success. This is partly because I don't know all that many people and don't like to talk to strangers. It is also partly because most of my friends either already love the same things I do or are totally uninterested and will never convert.
I've had the occassional success. I'd like to think I had a hand in addicting one of my close friends to the Whedonverse in college and the first time I hung out with my boyfriend outside of the place where we worked at the time was to force him to watch Firefly with me. (He did. He enjoyed it. He later watched the both the entire series of Buffy and of Angel in a massive many month marathon with me.) My Guild success was more exciting, however, because it took place at work and I enticed two people I don't know well who had never heard of it to go watch it. They met playing D&D and enjoyed Dr. Horrible so I thought it was a safe bet. Plus it inspired them to exclaim "Wow, I didn't know you were a secret geek!" in front of a bunch of my coworkers. Oh, and the husband works for our IT Department and will probably tell his friends there about it. I rock.
Unless you're an online gamer, the series probably won't make you laugh out loud. It's still worth a watch though if you've got some free time. It's good, low-budget, cute, and amusing internet watching. The "Boss Fight" episode is especially clever and funny.
Best of all, it led to a successful promotion on my part! I frequently try to entice people to watch dorky things I love, usually without much success. This is partly because I don't know all that many people and don't like to talk to strangers. It is also partly because most of my friends either already love the same things I do or are totally uninterested and will never convert.
I've had the occassional success. I'd like to think I had a hand in addicting one of my close friends to the Whedonverse in college and the first time I hung out with my boyfriend outside of the place where we worked at the time was to force him to watch Firefly with me. (He did. He enjoyed it. He later watched the both the entire series of Buffy and of Angel in a massive many month marathon with me.) My Guild success was more exciting, however, because it took place at work and I enticed two people I don't know well who had never heard of it to go watch it. They met playing D&D and enjoyed Dr. Horrible so I thought it was a safe bet. Plus it inspired them to exclaim "Wow, I didn't know you were a secret geek!" in front of a bunch of my coworkers. Oh, and the husband works for our IT Department and will probably tell his friends there about it. I rock.
Who is this college friend you speak of? :)
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