YouTube isn’t just about cats playing the piano or constant explosions. It’s also for fine-tuned, high-quality, well-written web series. Here are some of the best YouTube web series that you should check out.
“MyMusic” (youtube.com/MyMusicShow)
“MyMusic” is a comedy and music web series by the Fine Brothers, who are also the creators of the daytime Emmy-winning series “Kids React.” Finishing the second season, the multi-talented ensemble cast includes “Men at Work” star Adam Busch and Grace Heldbig from “Daily Grace.” This mockumentary style show centers around a music studio, where the staff members take on music styles as their names — such as Indie, Dubstep and Techo — rather than their birth names. The genres collide as they try to co-exist with each other and with the popular music scene. This sitcom is billed as “YouTube’s first transmedia sitcom” as it’s the first series to transfer into mainstream social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, meaning viewers can follow the characters on their social media sites.
“Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures” (youtube.com/RoosterTeeth)
“Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures” is an animated comedy inside the company Rooster Teeth, a production company that specializes in live-action shorts, animated series and machinima, a film style in which films are created through computer and video game console engines, such as the Xbox One.
Jordan Schwartz, one of Rooster Teeth’s lead animators, creates each video with audio from the Rooster Teeth podcast. The episodes are one-minute clips featuring the stories of the Rooster Teeth employees with some of the stupidest and most ridiculous scenarios ever, such as trying to tame a black panther, running away from police officers across a college stadium and dealing with an electric fence during a trip to New Zealand.
The shorts are comedic classics, and it’s easy to get lost in their hilarity. My personal favorites are “Dan vs. Food,” in which Rooster Teeth employee Dan has a horrific time trying to read off restaurant menus and the “Plane stories” videos, a collection of mindboggling incidents of people on airplanes witnessed by the Rooster Teeth.
“Riley Rewind” (youtube.com/RayWilliamJohnson)
Remember Ray William Johnson? Johnson had the most subscribed channel on YouTube and a successful sketch comedy show “Equals Three.” Now he’s back, this time with his first drama series entitled “Riley Rewind.”
This show stars Anna Akanna as Riley Brown, a regular teenage girl with the ability to go back to the past. But every time she time travels, she undergoes physical harm. Only her best friend Jay, played by Lamar Legend, knows about her power. Brown uses her power to get out of the social stigmas of awkward social experiences, while trying to save the past without altering the future. The second season is due to be released this summer.
“Video Game High School” (youtube.com/show/videogamehighschoolvghs)
Teenager Brian Young, played by Josh Blaylock, is a socially awkward kid just playing a simple shooting game, until he places in a match with the Law, the highest-ranked gamer in history. The result involves the headshot heard around the gaming world and an invitation to attend the prestigious Video Game High School.
In this scripted action series, Young has to face the challenges of being a “noob,” or novice, in the most elite gaming school, as he deals with successes, betrayal and everything in between. The show is a must-watch for its amazing special effects and intricate storylines that eliminate the experience of being immersed in a real-life video game.
