As you may have noticed, we are committed to bringing our lovely readers breaking news and analysis on the web-series front, including reviews and series spotlights. Mostly we talk about the best comedy web-series the Internet has to offer and new releases. As authors we occasionally have differences of opinions but have the freedom to share our individual perspective. Comedy TV is Dead has seldom reviewed a web-series because we all agree that its so bad its become noteworthy. Sadly, this is one of those rare occasions.
When I read the synopsis for The Vessel, I thought it had the potential to be a quirky comedy gem, a gay couple ask a female friend to be the mother of their baby. This topical idea has been used (in part) to great comedic effect in mainstream TV shows such as The New Normal, Modern Family and the indie film Gayby. The bright and happy looking promo poster for The Vessel and the cheekily titled conception trailer looked the part, although rang some alarm bells for demoting the woman in question to a faceless thing. After watching the teaser I wasn’t exactly filled with a bundle of joy but in my ongoing quest to watch more British web-series I figured why not give it a go.
Created by Phillip Whiteman who also stars and co-writes with the cast, it’s not even funny enough to be branded a comedy, it’s been mislabelled, and the off kilter drama makes it an odd hybrid that never finds its feet. Giovanni Bienne and Philip Whiteman play the starring couple and for what it’s worth they do have some on screen chemistry but the show suffers a second blow by really having no likeable characters.
What I find more frustrating than the lack of discernible comedy is the fact their concept is actually quite good. What gets in the way is the creators decision to use the same first person style made famous by the British comedy TV series Peep Show and the unquestionably lazy decision to shoot each episode as one long, mostly improvised take. The editing is almost non-existent (apart from moments where someone passes out or falls asleep) so as a viewer your forced to watch each moment unfold from the same wobbly POV.
Despite not finding anything to laugh about throughout the ten episode run, it’s worth noting that this is the teams first attempt at a web-series. They shot it in just 6 days and it was funded out of their own pocket. Admirable though their intentions may have been the series is so poorly executed it becomes more of a chore than enjoyment to watch.
The decision to shoot the series as it was, led to a detachment from basically all the main characters. Understandably this method made production much easier but it came at the cost of not getting to know the expectant mother. In the closing moments of episode ten the POV shifts to their newly born baby, we finally get to see the mother through an emotional video she leaves them to announce she is leaving for a job in New York. This unexpectedly downbeat ending feels woefully out of place and would depress even the cheeriest of people, although I’d imagine anybody reaching the finale is unlikely to be in a cheerful disposition.
What compounds the failure of this series is the disproportionally positive reception it’s received. If a wobbly camera pointed at awkward improv can be considered a web-series in the same league as all other web-series, then how low is the bar that deems something just video on the web. It also shames web-series commentators who can’t seem to criticise any offering no matter how bad. The JK Review called it: “a topical series that is amusing and endearing.”, The Tangled Web called it a “brilliant web-series” and “highly recommended it”, pinknews.co.uk quoted Elliot Grove’s comment that “it ticked all the boxes: a persuasive story line, commanding performances and created with a cheeky style”.
There are quite a few web-series out there for the gay and lesbian community; The Out, Where the Bears Are, F to 7th, Drama Queenz, The Slope, Easy Abby and the HBO funded Time Traveling Lesbian to name a few. If you were hoping the The Vessel the ranks of engaging comedy, you’ll be extremely let down. Then again the fact that the first episode won first prize for best web pilot at the 2011 Raindance Film Festival proves that there are fans out there, although I’m certainly not one of them.