The Crew – Webshow Review

You probably know that I’m a big fan of webshows, and The Crew is another one that caught my attention recently. Something like The Office, but in deep space aboard a ship, The Crew follows the exploits of the… well, the crew. If the show has a focal point, it’s the character Tom Wilkenson, who is something like a toned down version of Garth from the original version of The Office. He’s very interested in his own abilities, and fancies himself rather more in charge of things than he is. The show saunters along just like The Office, via an alleged documentary-ish show being filmed. It’s about equal parts plot moments and “confessional” interviews, and the two are joined together pretty nicely. The cast is rounded out by a variety of workers in the engine room, including the janitor and (I think) the receptionist (which is hilarious in itself), any of whom may or not be around for a span of episodes when they aren’t needed.

As a general rule, another Office knockoff is not what anyone needs… frankly, I don’t need the first knockoff, or Parks & Rec either, but The Crew has had me rather hooked since I first found it. It’s a great example of one of the things I like best about webshows actually, and that is the ability to make a show as long as it is… if you catch my drift. The Crew comes out in 5-10 minute episodes, about par for most webshows, and they are real deliveries of content. That’s as opposed to having to fill 30 minutes, and chucking out mostly filler along with your good ideas.

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Like The Office, The Crew delivers a dry brand of humor that isn’t likely to make you laugh out loud very often. Nevertheless, it’s funny and clever, and it gives you an impressive return on investment for your five minutes. Considering that there’s almost nothing to the show apart from a script and a green screen, it’s a pretty solid achievement to manage even ‘somewhat entertaining.’ To keep me coming back for more you’re going to have to do far better than that, and the writing better be really fun, because I’m not that impressed by low-budget green screen work.

Webshows are an entirely new theory of entertainment, and it’s a theory in which you’d better be interesting really fast, and you’d better not take a breath. The Crew manages the affair well, and while it isn’t quite The Guild, it isn’t offensive to mention them both in the same sentence.

Below check out the first episode, and the latest episode which was just released.

You can check out The Crew at www.thecrew.tv and at www.koldcast.tv. You can also get The Crew through your Tivo via the Web Video options.

Stay tuned for a ScreenTime interview with The Crew creator Brett Register.

Here’s the pilot.

Here’s the latest episode.