The highs and lows of digital drama

Sep 2, 2008

Tiki Bar TV (2005)
It would be years before video for the Web started to really take off, and one of its first homes was the podcast directory in Apple's iTunes Store. That's where you could originally download Tiki Bar TV, created by Jeff Macpherson and Kevin Gamble (who, along with Lara Doucette, also starred in it).

Tiki Bar TV's premise effectively kills two birds with one stone: Offering audiences an oddball five-minute sitcom while simultaneously teaching them how to mix a wacky cocktail.

Weirder than anything that could last long on television, Tiki Bar TV has gained significant cult acclaim on the Web and featured a supporting cast worthy of Harold and Kumar: Robots, Soviet ambassadors, aliens, the Son of the Father of the Internet (played by Diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht) and a lounge lizard named Limey. And it goes super-meta in a Three Amigos sort of way: Macpherson and Doucette are actually playing fictional actors playing the characters on the show.

As of August 2008, a total of 39 episodes had been made.

Credit: Photo by Tiki Bar TV/Caption by Caroline McCarthy