Today’s era of webisodes can be categorized in a number of ways. Some are connected to TV shows like Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. Others are series that are basically a big “Screw you!” to the current state of television. And then there are those that are aired on the Internet as a test bed for a potential TV series.
Tease falls under the “test bed” category. Created by Peter Marc Jacobson (creator of The Nanny), Micah Goldman, and Michael Wormser for FOX Television Studios, Tease tells the story of young Marie (Lisa Jay — Days of our Lives, Everybody Hates Chris) — an aspiring writer who takes her story about strippers a bit too seriously (in other words, she becomes a stripper herself). The goal of Goldman, Wormser, and Jacobson is to impress enough people with Tease to get it onto the mid-sized TV screen.
The idea for the program, which premieres today on Hulu and YouTube’s ’15 Gigs’ channel, began, according to co-creator Peter Marc Jacobson, when “Micah and Mike came to me with an idea about strippers in a club and I thought it was an area that had not been done.” Jacobson thought that the program would be reality-based; however, the concept kept going in different directions. “When we all sat down with FOX, the guys over there steered us in the direction of a scripted show.”
The three-episode series shows Marie as she goes from shy waitress to confident stripper. Along the way she meets up with a number of other strippers who try to help and hinder her as she advances, um, up the pole. While this is a web-based series, which allows for a bit more latitude when it comes to language and nudity, Jacobson decided not to go the totally nekkid approach. “I thought if we are going to do this strip show and can’t show much skin we should TEASE the audience, which I find sexy.”
Though FOX fronted money for the production of Tease the budget wasn’t unlimited, which is something that Jacobson wasn’t used to. “We had to call in every favor to make it look like a million bucks for a … not a million bucks.” One of ways to make it look good (which it definitely does) was to rent out a gentleman’s club rather than build one on a soundstage. Said co-creator Micah Goldman, “The worst part of the show is the sad fact that we had to close down a great strip club for two nights for our own selfish purposes.”
Both Micah and Peter are very positive on the future of web series, especially their role as pilots for future television shows. “It’s certainly one avenue that a lot of studios are pursuing to get show exposure,” said Goldman, “and I’m sure it will continue to be part of their strategy to display content in the future.” Jacobson agreed with Goldman’s statements, adding “Young audiences have a different viewing pattern than my generation. They watch on their phones; they live on their computers. The days of three networks are gone. You gotta get on the new ride.”
Of course, Peter and Micah hope that Tease makes it onto a flat screen near you. However, if the suits in the wood-paneled conference rooms give it a thumbs down, both men hope to keep the show running on the web. “It was a great experience all around,” said Jacobson. Peter had a slightly different idea of how the show would continue on the web. “If it doesn’t become a television series I’d like to do the show with hand puppets or animatronics.” Hmm, puppet show about strippers…it has potential!
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Aug 06, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
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