On broadcast TV, you probably watch soap operas, like MMK, and some Korean and other foreign-language, telenovelas. Those shows as well as shows like Lost, or House, or even reality shows like Survivor and The Ultimate Fighter are a group of individual TV shows that can basically be categorized as a TV series. Obviously, it is because they are a series of continuous episodes usually on a daily or weekly basis. They are usually 30 minutes to 1 hour long, or 20 to around 45 minutes minus the commercials. In one year, there are usually around over 20 to 25 individual episodes, or in one season, around 10 to 15 episodes.
With the advent of internet video popularized by YouTube and Vimeo, there is now a new category of videos that has emerged that are similar to TV series, except that they are, instead of being broadcast over the air or via cable TV. They are called "web series." These web series are typically around 5 minutes long, and generally commercial-free, except that websites like YouTube might show ads overlain on the video itself, or before the video starts.
I found this one place which has tried to compile and host a lot of these web series, and it's called Blip (found on Blip.TV). If you're considering ditching broadcast TV (or "network TV," as they are usually produced by the big TV networks like GMA and ABS-CBN in the Philippines, or NBC, Fox, or CBS in the US), you might want to consider Blip as one of your frequently-visited websites, as opposed to scouring YouTube and the like by yourself. Blip though has added some (video) podcasts, or "webcasts" or "netcasts" as others call them, which could be anywhere from under 5 to over an hour long in its line-up of original web series. Additionally, if you're looking for new shows to watch, Blip has a curated selection of shows grouped according to 16 different categories, from Drama, Comedy, Animation+Comics, to News+Politics, Music, Tech, and even Videogames.
One such interesting web series under the Animation+Comics, Comedy, and Videogames categories is Red vs Blue, a Halo(the video game)-inspired web series. I've also most likely blogged about Revision3, which also have some shows featured on Blip.
Check out Blip today.
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