They say that the attention span of the average American continues to shrink. Books, films and even television shows must get to the point right away, grab the viewer or reader’s attention, and wrap things up in a timely manner. After all, people are busy, right? Everyone’s got 10 or more things to do at any given moment, or so the rationale goes.
Television is a good example of this, and the success of the standard 30 minute sitcom (which actually contains only 22 minutes of programming, along with eight minutes of advertising) is often pointed to as an example of the shrinking American attention span. But forget the bog-standard 22 minute sitcom; imagine a world full of five-minute mini-sitcoms, broadcast both online and on cable television. Disney is imagining just such a scenario, and has produced the first ultra-short form sitcom: called “Squeegees.”
Squeegees is being produced by Stage Nine, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Disney Corporation which is dedicated to integrating online and television content. Stage Nine’s mission is to exploit the popularity of Web video sites such as YouTube and Myspace, and develop original programming designed to bridge the gap between online and television entertainment.
The new mini sitcoms are approximately 5 minutes long — and that’s including commercials! They will be debuted on both YouTube and ABC.com. Squeegees is a comedy about four characters who wash windows for living, clinging to the edges of high-rise buildings in Manhattan.
But is it possible for viewers to grow to love and empathize with characters they see only briefly in five-minute intervals? The verdict is still out on that question, but it is clear that a new generation of comedians and short film producers have been creating quite a buzz on sites like YouTube over the past couple of years with 5-minute comedy sketches.
The comedy troupe known as “Handsome Donkey,” for example has produced several side-hurting comedy shorts that can only be found online. And interestingly enough, Handsome Donkey is also behind Disney’s Squeegees, both writing and starring in the mini-sitcom.
But where many of the comedy troupe’s short Internet comedy sketches succeed, Squeegees appears a bit overproduced, and in some ways, as if it’s trying too hard. One hilarious aspect of many online comedy sketches is the rough nature of their production and editing. When a company — Disney for example — tries to clean up these skits and add a smooth polished to them, they often lose much of the low-tech funkiness that make them funny to begin with.
If Disney wants to succeed with the five-minute online sitcom, it will need to take lessons from many of the most popular contributors on YouTube: keep it simple and keep it real.
Very nice, very cogent article. Minute 3-4 seems to be the hard part for five minute content to surpass.
Comment by Matt Lazarus — March 10, 2008 @ 1:56 am