YouTube has become a mecca for young content producers with a camera, very little money, and friends with varying degrees of talent. The best rise up and create channels. Do well, and YouTube may even throw some cash your way!
Over the years, I've seen some pretty amazing stuff done with a maxed out credit card and a dream. So I had very high hopes for the new Penny Arcade reality show, Strip Search. For the uninitiated, Penny Arcade is the videogame web cartoon that launched an empire, including three major gaming conventions and a multi-million dollar charity (and now a grossly overfunded podcast). These people aren't worried about maxing out their Amex – they have a black card. And they decided to use some of that cash to fund an online reality television competition.
The name Strip Search itself screams Penny Arcade: part juvenile joke, part clever play on words. The goal of the competition is to find a great web comic artist who will move to Seattle and spend a year in the Penny Arcade offices, presumably under the mentorship of Gabe (Mike) and Tycho (Jerry) themselves. 12 very different artists were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants. All of them seem deserving, based on what we get to see onscreen. Some more than others, but still – it's a solid group.
The general rules of reality television are followed religiously while also being parodied in rather half-assed ways. This is not The Joe Schmo Show. (But then, The Joe Schmo Show wasn't legitimately seeking to hire someone when all was said and done.) Cheesy reality show staples are introduced but then not really explored. The artists share a home on a lake, but generally get along. Other than the occasional light dig, no one seems to openly loathe anyone else. There are no hair pulling fights, no "I will always wave my finger in your face" moments. Just some decent people who share a passion and a dream.
The format of the series treads some familiar territory as well. First third: Hanging out and building the show's characters. Second third: The players battle in thematically relevant competition with a fabulous prize. Final third: The bottom people are tortured by our hosts until one is finally, mercifully, told to get the hell out.
Here's where Penny Arcade has turned the format on its ear. First, each of these show acts are broken out as a separate "episode" on YouTube, allowing the viewer to pick and choose how much time to invest in the show. First, we have the adventure phase. Penny Arcade has done a nice job of getting the artists out of the house and into the world. Yes, many of the groaner moments are in there (please, no more throwing fish at the market - it's been done!) but the producers have picked some esoteric escapades as well. Although frankly, I don't know if riding The Duck is going to convince anyone to move to Seattle.
The second phase, which is a separate episode, is the art/comic business challenge. The most relevant of these challenges have also been the most difficult to sit through. Yes, the contestants should be able to draw something if they want to be America's Next Top Comic Stripper™. But watching several people draw from far away simply isn't all that interesting. Fortunately, the producers have expanded the challenge base to include some tasks that are both relevant and, frankly, more interesting to watch. Of the episodes aired to date, the "faux convention" stands out by far.
The winners usually receive some nifty prize that's actually relevant to their world. Keep your jet skis, Amazing Race. These folks are taking home bad-ass digital drawing tablets that many of them could not afford on their own. The winners also have the dubious task of selecting two people to send to the elimination round. The two "disgraced" comic artists are sent to meet Gabe and Tycho for the first and, sometimes, only time.
I guess you could argue this is no different than Survivor's voting each other off the island. Except the task falls to a single contestant. And the reward here isn't a million dollars – it's a job. This ill-conceived approach quickly led to a controversial elimination that had one of the hosts melting down over having to send an extremely talented person home when he knew there were less deserving people back at the house. To the producers' credit, they left in a statement to that effect in the episode. Top that, Mark Burnett.
For the elimination challenge, each artist is asked to pull a rejected story idea from a pair of wastebaskets filled with rejected scribbles, most of which are risqué or just ridiculous. They then have very little time to build a comic that contains both ideas. As they work, Gabe and Tycho carry on conversations, ask questions, and generally screw with the contestants. Some get rattled; others show remarkable focus.
I won't give away how they announce the winner and loser; suffice it to say that it's the most over-the-top thing since, well, The Joe Schmo Show. We end the trio of episodes with the winner posting his/her winning cartoon to a wall, followed by the disgraced artist giving the traditional exit interview... but again, with a twist I won't give away. I've really said too much already.
Strip Search has all the components of a fascinating reality show: a cool concept, some decent characters you can root for (I'm on Team Abby!), and a sense of humor. What it lacks is good writing and editing.
Strip Search is on YouTube, so it can be as long or short as it needs to be. Unfortunately, it often feels much longer than it really is, because there just isn't much going on. Broadcast TV shows generally fill less than a full hour due to commercial breaks (typical show time is about 40 minutes), while a full cycle of Strip Search challenges and elimination averages a time budget-busting 66 minutes (longer than Game of Thrones) with some running almost 75 minutes. We try to watch these in batches of three using our YouTube app on Xbox or PS3 (sometimes iPad), but often it drags a bit too much to sustain our interest for that long.
On top of that, the shows are hosted by Penny Arcade staffers and friends who just aren't experienced at hosting, inherently interesting to watch, or very curious about their contestants. Malign Survivor all you want: You have to admit that host Jeff Probst knows how to fill dead air. And their editors know how to build drama and story through meticulous editing.
The best moments of the show tend to happen in the elimination arena. Gabe and Tycho seem to genuinely enjoy hanging out and messing with the artists. When they're having fun, we're having fun. Plus it's the one time the artists get to do what they actually do: Make a comic, albeit with ridiculous topics. And the final moments in the car have a heart and soul you won't find in any other reality show.
The Penny Arcade crew hasn't announced if they will be repeating this experiment. Don't be surprised if they do. It's been well received within the community and provides a way to grow their brand on YouTube: a win-win. I just hope they hire a real editor before diving back in.
Good luck, Abby!
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