TV show pilots getting tested online

Many producers can only hope that the pilots for their TV shows get seen. But now there's a new forum for shows to get a test-run.

Fox Television Studios launched 15 Gigs on Hulu.com in July as a means to showcase TV pilots that could end up on air. By turning to the Web, studios can gain an audience, get quicker feedback and experiment with shows.

"Web video has the potential to do for television what the independent film festivals did for the feature business," Fox Television Studios VP of programming Gabriel Marano recently told Wired.com in an e-mail interview. "It makes the connection between content creators, viewers and distributors much more immediate."

Wired.com writes that Marano said one goal of 15 Gigs is to "incubate fresh talent as well as to develop high-quality, low-cost and innovative content."

One of the shows, "Slacker P.I." , has gotten some attention, and Fox is adding extended sequences, alternative endings and music videos to the show. NewTeeVee reported that according to Fox Television director of programming Ilsa Berg, "[The studio] saw [the show] gaining traction and wanted to have some fun experimenting with growing an audience through social media and additional content."

In the summer, 15 Gigs launched "Tease" , a show set behind-the-scenes at a strip club, with three episodes. NewTeeVee reported that Fox told the show's producers that they were treating the series as a TV pilot. If the episodes did well online, Fox would pitch it as a half-hour TV show to broadcast and cable networks. No word yet on whether the show will continue.

Daisy Whitney on Beet.tv reported that the aim of 15 Gigs is to nurture and develop Web talent and bring it to TV. The project lets the studio test things on the Web inexpensively.

Though 15 Gigs may be thinking about bringing Web shows to TV, there are many shows by individuals and studios that are produced solely for the Web. Mashable rates the top Web series each month by tracking how often the clips are viewed or shared through social media sites. For November " Fred Figglehorn " was the top Webisode.

Mashable reported that Seth MacFarlane of "Family Guy" has a Web series that is starting to attract an online fan base. "Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy" is a 50-episode series sponsored by Burger King and co-produced by Google.

"Ode to Derringer" is an extra for "Slacker P.I." series: