TVSquad

WARNING: The following post contains images of a shocking nature and despite its source material, is not appropriate for anyone under the age of 18. And before you get all excited, no, it does not contain naked boobies.

We all remember lovable ol' Fred Rogers, aka TV's Mister Rogers, as a warm, cuddly and caring neighbor who never wore a frown and always had a smile for someone smaller than him.

But what if all those cheerful hellos, colorful sweater jackets and speeches about being special on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood were just a mask hiding something very dark and sinister? Specifically, a clown mask?

The best television programming out there isn't on TV. It's on VBS. Alright, that's a bit of an overstatement, but Vice Magazine's VBS broadband channel, which is currently in beta, is into overstatements. With director Spike Jonze as its creative director, VBS has set out to "rescue you from television's deathlike grip" and "exploit every Utopian vision the internet has thus far failed to live up to." Big words from a little network, but so far, they're kicking broadband ass and taking names.

The network is a heady, hipster mix of politics, fun and music. Some of the best programming so far - Heavy Metal in Baghdad, a five-part series in which the filmmakers search for Baghdad's only heavy metal band Acrassicauda. The short series presents a unique take on civilian life in Iraq. Soft Focus - former Nation of Ulysses and Make-Up frontman Ian Svenonius interviews musicians like Chan Marshall, Will Oldham and Ian Mackaye. Dos and Don'ts and Friends - alternative comics and other off-kilter folks hold forth on still images of sexy, sexy people doing sexy, sexy things.

A Temecula, California local news station may be among the first to put various news segments up on YouTube. And it's doing so in a very smart way. KZSW uploads popular video segments to YouTube because it's cheaper than burning the stories to DVD for the viewers who call and request a copy. The station also encourages viewers to subscribe and receive notices whenever KZSW has uploaded new content to the video site.

Chris over at Ad Jab found this awesome online game created to promote the arrival of American Dad on DVD. The game is essentially set up like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat or games of that nature, except it pits characters from American Dad against characters from Family Guy. So, if you ever wanted to use Stewie to kick the loving bejeezus out of Stan from American Dad, this is your chance. There's an arcade version and a two-player version, so you can waste time and do it with someone you love. That's how this thing called the "Web" brings us together. I haven't gotten that far in the game, but according to Chris the "big boss" you fight in the end is actually Ryu from Street Fighter. That's a very "Family Guy" kind of gag, I must say.

This way cool live-action version of the opening sequence of The Simpsons might be a little less cool now that we know what it's about. It turns out, the video is part of a viral marketing campaign by UK broadcasting network, Sky. The network and its ad agency created the dead-on, live-action video as part of an on-air promotion for The Simpsons. They even had the blessings of Simpsons producers and creator Matt Groening. The ad gurus thought it was so cool that they decided to launch it on the internet and just let word-of-mouth go to work for them. Obviously, they were successful. The video is huge right now. And, unlike NBC, Sky has no plans to pull it from the 'net.

Product Invasion, the Web site created by members of the Writers Guild of America (West) that pokes fun at the surfeit of product placement in reality programming has yet another video up on their site, this time taking more than a few potshots at America's Next Top Model and its use of product placement. But then, these are "models" aren't they? Isn't their job to serve as spokespeople for corporate products? I'm just saying. Anyway, check out the video here. I know the phrase "I can poop it out, Tyra" is going to be in my head the rest of the day.

An animated Web series created for Channel 101 called "House of Cosbys" has had Bill Cosby and his lawyers fuming for some time now. The series, which, personally, I never found all that amusing, is about a man who creates several clones of the comedian, each one becoming a bit more twisted than the last. When the site received the first cease and desist, they took the show down. Upon consideration, however, they decided the parody had a right to exist and put it back up. That's when another letter was sent to their hosting service, who told Channel 101 to take the show down (again).

What Cosby and his lawyers didn't take into consideration is that this is the internet, and it's next to impossible to contain something once folks have caught wind of it. Several mirror sites now host the series, including Waxy.org, which was also hit with a cease and desist recently. Waxy has refused to remove the show, and has began collecting examples of popular shows that have also parodied Cosby such as SNL, The Simpsons, and Family Guy, none of which have ever faced any kind of legal action from Cosby.

Special note: Speaking of Family Guy, Mike Henry and Patrick Henry, two writers for the show, also created a series for Channel 101 called "Kicked in the Nuts" which was referenced in the episode "The Cleavland-Loretta Quagmire." It was by far the most esoteric reference ever on the show. And yes, Family Guy fans, I know the show isn't a food.

[via Boing Boing]