The old WB, which merged with UPN two years ago to form The CW, is set to return with new webisodes and free viewings of all their previous television series.
Warner Brothers is resurrecting the old WB, putting it all on the internet at the website WB.com. There is nothing there now, but it’s being developed for a beta launch in April, with a full release scheduled for the fall.
Basically, this appears to be the WB version of the newly opened Hulu, by NBC and FOX.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, all WB-produced shows between 1995-2006, like Gilmore Girls, Everwood, What I Like About You, etc., will be available for free on the website for streaming to your computer.
There are a lot of other shows produced outside of the WB, but were shown on the station, like Veronica Mars, Buffy and Dawson’s Creek, and it’s unclear whether those will be free or even available.
The plan, aside from streaming old shows, is to also create new original series and vignettes, which will run about 10 episodes at 5 minutes apiece.
I’ll be interested in seeing how this plays out and what other free offerings they’ll have up there. Anything Veronica Mars or Gilmore Girls related is fine with me!
Everwood was good. Felicity if they have that might be interesting especially since a bunch of them are stars now.
Did you ever watch Felicity? Fantastic show, really loved that…
Yeah, I watched it when it was on TV. I really liked it.
Wow, I think this is a brilliant idea. It’s so crazy to see how the big studios are really latching on to the online community, as if it didn’t take a genius to realize what a huge market the internet community is, and the potential to reach vast audiences. The underground vlog community has been at it for years, especially with a huge influx of independently created and produced online video content.
I wonder if this new WB will be developing webisodes by filmmakers who are already on the up and ups in the webisode world, or if they’ll just have their own writers come up with new material. In either case, I’m excited to see Buffy return in any form.
I also wanted to let everyone know about the upcoming Primtime Emmys. I work with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and this year’s broadcast will honor the best in online video content. All you need to do is submit your work by April 7th. Just go on to http://www.emmys.com for more info. Imagine winning that Emmy, it could be yours people!
Does anyone plan on submitting?