AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

The Wall Street Journal

It was another indication of the emerging paradigm shift in Internet comedy.

In a San Francisco nightclub this past Wednesday evening, a noisy crowd gathered for the weekly taping of “Internet Superstar,” an online-only TV show that chronicles goofball Web celebrities. Since the people behind the program have been plowing this field longer than just about anyone, you would expect them to be unbeatable at what they do.

Last week, though, “Internet Superstar” found itself scooped on not one, but two of its biggest stories. Not by some hip, edgy cable show, either, but by the perky and wholesome heart of mainstream media: ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Such are the perils for those whose job it is to have fun with what has become a mainstream phenomenon. It is the old story of the little guys working hard to make something a success, only to see the big guys muscle their way in.

“It is so much harder to come up with fresh material these days,” complains Martin Sargent, the 32-year-old host of “Internet Superstar.” “A few years ago, I was the only one calling these guys, and they were only too happy to come on the show. But now, with someone like Chris Crocker” — who became a Web megastar for sobbing out an appeal on YouTube to leave Britney Spears alone — “I couldn’t even get through to him. He was too busy going on Howard Stern.”

On the surface, “Internet Superstar” might seem like a funny, if ribald, bit of low-budget cultural satire. Two guys sit around in a fake shack, drink beer, check their laptops, talk about what’s on their minds (often, sex), and interview, either in person or by Webcam, the latest of the Internet’s apparently endless parade of human kitsch.

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