In a previous post I mentioned that Strike.tv is in Beta testing and that I got an invitation to check it out. Over the past week or so, Ive been going back pretty regularly to see what’s live and what’s coming soon and I can tell you that things finally look like they are actually going to reach the 40 show mark, as promised.

I finally worked up the courage to watch the slasher “5 or Die”. while at work so that I wouldn’t get all creeped out…I did get creeped out, despite some seriously goofy dialogue (her: “let’s get out of here, run away!”, him: “what if he killed everybody (in the world)?”

Still, it’s an awesome idea: a viral snuff filmed is forward to your account and if you watch it and don’t “pass it on” - the big mystery, since forwarding the mail doesn’t count – a big dude with a big fucking knife shows up and kills you. It’s really gory and if you ever had the misfortune of watching one of those terrorist beheading videos, you’ll get unpleasant flashbacks from watching this.

I also had the chance to see Greenville General, the soap opera that is being filmed in the behind-the-scenes show called  Life in General (which I really liked). I was completely taken aback that they actually carried off Greenville General like an honest-to-god soap. There’s no (intentional) tongue in cheek, no sly “we’re just kidding” moments. This is real attempt to bridge the genre into online video format. I’m not really sure what I think about it, to be honest – since I really don’t like soaps. Perhaps once a few more episode of Life in General come out and I can see the stories intermingling it will become more interesting.

Lastly, I particularly liked a show called Side Effects - an awkward little love story about a suicidal divorcee and the pharmacist who has a crush on him. It’s not apparent what’s going on. at first and it seems a bit off-putting at  first. Give it time and you’ll see that it develops into a very nice little story (first episode).

I have been surprised at the varying degree to which the pros have been able to adapt their genre’s and styles to the web. Some just have not resonated at all (no names for now) and those which have really “gotten it”.

Another interesting point to note is that the length of the various episodes varies widely. Some are the classic online video 2-5 minutes. Others get drawn out to almost 20 minutes. What’s interesting is that I’m not immediately turned off by the longer shows. In fact, when they are good, I enjoy the longer format.

If you’ve nt yet registered, give it a go. There are some shows that you should seriously be keeping an eye on over there.