WIGS
June 27, 2012 8:00 AM   Subscribe

In May, YouTube announced they would be hosting a lineup of original video channels, in a possible attempt to compete with network and cable television. Among the new offerings was WIGS, the (NSFW) brainchild of director/producer/writers Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia, of original, scripted dramatic series and short films exploring female characters.

The first, 15 episode series, Jan, starred Caitlin Gerard, Virginia Madsen and Stephen Moyer. They also have Behind the Scenes videos.

A short film, Serena, starred Jennifer Garner and Alfred Molina.

A third series, Blue, is currently "airing," and will have a total of 12 episodes chronicling "the struggles of a mother [Julia Stiles] who secretly works as a call girl." That series also stars David Harbour, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kathleen Quinlan and Sarah Paulson. Behind the Scenes videos have also been posted. Stiles was interviewed on NBC's Today Show and by Adweek about the project.

New 5-8 minute long episodes are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Nudity, language and adult topics may make them nsfw for some viewers. "Director's Cut" videos (like this one) are also available for some episodes (linked on episode pages) if you're logged into YouTube and over 18. Spanish-language episodes.

Trailers and Commercials for the series / Official Site

Additional actors reportedly slated to play roles: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Beals, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall, America Ferrera, Jason Isaacs, Allison Janney, Jane Kaczmarek, Jena Malone, Rosanna Arquette, Gary Cole, Jason O'Mara and Catherine O'Hara.
posted by zarq (14 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite


 
It's full of tags!!
posted by Pendragon at 8:40 AM on June 27, 2012


Yeah, I try to do that when I can. As someone who uses the tag system a lot, I find it helpful when posts are thoroughly tagged.

*looks over*

Okay, perhaps this is overkill.... ;)

posted by zarq at 8:45 AM on June 27, 2012


So YouTube is cool with NSFW content now? Is this a change of policy or do the pros get to work by different rules?
posted by asnider at 9:05 AM on June 27, 2012


So YouTube is cool with NSFW content now? Is this a change of policy or do the pros get to work by different rules?

I was wondering the same thing. I am at work, so can't see for myself how NSFW this really is until this evening, but am curious if this marks a new direction for YouTube.
posted by Forktine at 9:12 AM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]


I hear one of the new shows is going to have Christian Finnegan, so I'm excited.
posted by rmless at 9:13 AM on June 27, 2012


So YouTube is cool with NSFW content now? Is this a change of policy or do the pros get to work by different rules?

Yes, it would certainly appear that they do. (This also came up back when Ken Loach put all his movies up there.)
posted by Sys Rq at 9:23 AM on June 27, 2012


Forktine: " I am at work, so can't see for myself how NSFW this really is until this evening,"

I haven't seen all the episodes yet but my impression is, not very. Language, adult situations and discussions. Haven't seen any nudity so far. But reviews of the show say it's there, and I didn't want anyone clicking through to be caught off guard.
posted by zarq at 9:43 AM on June 27, 2012


Youtube has been edging that way for some time. Medical videos showing full nudity appeared first. Then some banal quasi-nudity in an "art" category.

I'd suspect they're going to treat these channels like Disney treats New Line, though.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:57 AM on June 27, 2012


Medical videos showing full nudity appeared first.

I figured that YouTube was sensible enough to make a distinction between nudity in sexual vs. non-sexual contexts, hence the medical videos were OK but a clip of some dude jerking off in front of his webcam wasn't.
posted by asnider at 11:31 AM on June 27, 2012


Language, adult situations and discussions.

I think YouTube has been OK with that kind of stuff for a long time.

Haven't seen any nudity so far. But reviews of the show say it's there

This is what strikes me as curious, given YouTube's normal view on nudity in videos.
posted by asnider at 11:33 AM on June 27, 2012


Crackle's contributions to YouTube includes Starship Troopers, unedited. There's a shower scene which includes nudity. The video has a disclaimer at the beginning. So it's not unheard of.
posted by zarq at 11:53 AM on June 27, 2012


Serena was beautiful. If you don't watch any of the others, don't skip that one.
posted by tkappleton at 12:21 PM on June 27, 2012


This sounded interesting, but the first three episodes of Blue are pretty bad.
posted by snorkmaiden at 4:44 PM on June 27, 2012


asnider: "Medical videos showing full nudity appeared first.

I figured that YouTube was sensible enough to make a distinction between nudity in sexual vs. non-sexual contexts, hence the medical videos were OK but a clip of some dude jerking off in front of his webcam wasn't.
"

Happily so, but I don't think it's a given for a US-based company to be that sensible about displays of the human body.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:00 AM on June 28, 2012


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