Carol Vorderman's Internet Column: iTV stars; COMICS LAUNCH SIT.COM.YOU think Tom And Jerry Tom and Jerry n. pl. Tom and Jerries A hot drink consisting of rum or another liquor, a beaten egg, milk or water, sugar, and spices. are funny? Well, now laugh along with Jerry And Tom. They're the agony-uncle stars of a new comedy series being screened, not at the cinema or on TV, but on the internet. Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born February 22, 1953 in London) is an English actor, novelist and playwright. He was educated at Westminster School, the University of Sussex at Brighton, and LAMDA. (right) - he was Neil in The Young Ones - is Tom. And Robert Llewelyn - he was Kryten in Red Dwarf red dwarf A small, dim star with relatively cool surface temperatures, positioned to the lower right on the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Red dwarfs, at about 0.1 to 0. - is his brother Jerry, a dotcom See dot-com. millionaire. As well as taking leading roles, the pair are co-writing the show, which has just been launched on www.bwebb.tv "If it's not the first internet comedy series, it's certainly the best technically," says Robert modestly. "We're working with some very clever people. Pictures and sound are outstanding. People in America who've seen clips have gone, `Wow, guys, how did you do that?' They're impressed im·press 1 tr.v. im·pressed, im·press·ing, im·press·es 1. To affect strongly, often favorably: ." Amusingly a·mus·ing adj. 1. Entertaining or pleasing. 2. Arousing laughter. a·mus  ing·ly adv. , neither Nigel nor Robert professes to be
computer-literate.
"I know nothing at all," Nigel confesses. Says Robert, who at least runs his own website, www.llew.co.uk: "I can send emails and write things on to my web-page, but that's about it." What they lack in techniccal expertise, they hope to make up in writing and acting ability. "We're working with some real computer experts and hopefully it will prove a winning combination," says Robert. The pair first met at the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival International festival of the arts, with an emphasis on music and drama. Founded in 1947 by Rudolf Bing, it is held for three weeks each summer. Its theatrical offerings include plays by major international theatrical companies; plays premiered at the in 1984 and the series idea has stewed stewed adj. 1. Cooked by stewing: stewed prunes. 2. Informal Intoxicated; drunk. stewed Adjective 1. since then. What makes it so different from other comedy shows is that it's interactive. Jerry and Tom have their own website - www.letsreallytalkaboutourproblems.com - and people can contact them with their troubles. Robert laughs. "But whether we deal with them in a serious way is open to debate." The series - so far there are 10 six-minute episodes - became reality in a bizarre way. In one of his books, Robert had the hero buy his PC at Computer Warehouse, simply because he'd bought his own there. "One of the guys who worked there rang me to thank me for the plug, and added, `If you ever need any help with anything, don't hesitate to call'. "He saw some talking-pieces to camera on my website. We got chatting and it happened." Robert expects others to follow in their footsteps because "it's so cheap to do". He says: "Even ten years ago, what we're doing would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. But not now. "There's another bonus. Because we're doing much of our filming in Computer Warehouse premises, if we need a computer as part of our set, they just get one out of a box. "We can't shoot it as you would shoot a TV show, but, for those of us in front of the camera, it's much the same. And the studio is almost exactly like that of a cable television station." Says Nigel: "It's a bit like doing fringe theatre fringe theatre n → teatro experimental fringe theatre n → théâtre m d'avant-garde fringe theatre fringe n again. You just do it because you want to. "And you don't have to wait for someone else to approve it. That means we're able to have it transmitted very quickly. We don't even need to go through a production company." A sizeable audience is guaranteed. "We've done a deal with Akamai to broadcast to millions of people simultaneously, because we couldn't do it ourselves from Computer Warehouse," says Jonathan Cole, managing-director and a co-founder and shareholder of BwebB. "The series is being hosted in California. We've also done a deal with Apple to have it hosted on their Quicktime TV site along with CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. , MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. , VH-1, etc - and that gets a million hits a day. "Our main target is the US market. We know British comedy goes down well there." Robert says: "Research shows that the average time people spend looking at individual websites is six to nine minutes, which is why Jerry And Tom is being broadcast in six-minute chunks. "Unlike TV we'll be able tell how many people are viewing it. Obviously we'll know it's working if people not only go to our website once, but come back to it repeatedly. "If it catches on, we'll hopefully do more and longer episodes. "We're already dreaming of round-the-world trips to film in various locations which just happen to be sunny and luxurious!" |
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