2:10 AM – HBO LAB “Hooking Up” Web Series On Youtube

From left to right: Lonelygirl15, KevJumba, some random girl and SxePhil star in Hbo lab's new web series. Hooking Up.

For those of you who know me in person, you’ll know that there is a special pain in my hurt as I watch Hooking Up become a huge web series. I’ll explain briefly but pretty much, I approached KevJumba last December about posting a web series on his channel. We would eventually bring him in as one of the stars in season 2 and 3 after he made season 1 popular. We sent updates and scripts to Kevjumba and he always replied and he was very excited until one day he stopped replying. It was the day after he saw the our show. We kept sending email after email but he never replied, I never knew what happened but now it all makes sense. Hooking up IS EXACTLY MY IDEA that I talked to Kevjumba about. A webseries about college with him and released on HIS CHANNEL, which is what they actually did, release it on his channel. Now I am not accusing Kevjumba at all of stealing my idea and selling it to HBO, I honestly think HBO and I had the same idea at the same time. But anyways I wanted to talk about and review the show.

Review. “Hooking Up” episode one and two.

The show isn’t a complete disaster. It’s actually pretty good. It’s entertaining, it’s kind of funny and enough for me to want to watch it twice which me says, good job guys. However there are a couple of things that did bother me.

Alright, I get it, these aren’t professional actors. KevJumba and SXEphil aren’t as bad as everybody is saying. My problem is really the director. KevJumba and SXEPhil come up very charismatic on their own shows but come out stiff here. I honestly think it was because they were being forced to read off scripts instead of being allowed to improv freely, something they are much more comfortable doing. Lonelygirl and the other girl are overacting a little, giving this show a tone two steps above reality. But at least it’s consistent.

What makes me give this a more negative review is the writing. It’s non specific and just lazy. The writer CLEARLY doesn’t know this world of facebook/myspace as well as he thinks he does. In the first scene when SXEPHIL is trying to find a girl in his class, KevJumba tells him to “use facebook.” Lonelygirls’ friend says the same thing to her, “use facebook.” Now for a show that is selling itself as the voice of the young people who are extremely connected by the internet, the term “use facebook” is COMPLETLY wrong and awkward. The REAL TERM one would use is “facebook it” yes. That is what real people say Mr. Hooking Up writer. If you’re going to base a show around facebook, AT LEAST GET THE FUCKING TERMINOLOGY RIGHT.

Another point to show that Mr. Hooking up writer doesn’t know his audience, SXEPHIL IM’S Lonelygirl15 RANDOMLY and Lonelygirl15 gets SUPER EXCITED. I’m sorry but to tell you. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Fine I’ll over look that a girl like Lonelygirl15 would SO EASILY fall for a guy like SXEPhil. For a guy like SXEPhil to get a girl like lonelygirl15, he’d have to do a lot more, him randmoly IMMING her would come off as a stalker creeper, not a “omg, it’s sxephil who immed me, i’ve wanted to fuck him so much.” NOOO! Sorry Mr.Hookingup Writer. YOU are wrong. THIS IS NOT HOW the world of facebook works. A hot girl like lonelygirl15 probably woudln’t even be able to be searched, you’d have to have her as a friend first cuz hot girls think everybody is stalking them. PLEASE guys are just after you for ass and they are after everything for ass. So yes. There you go failing again at knowing this world.

SXEphil and his brother in the 2nd episode is also an awkward scene. First off, his brother should be ALL OVER the fact that SXEphil has the connection to hot freshman girls for his brother to “hook up” with.  The show does redeem itself with SxePhil texting lonelygirl15 instead but we don’t get to see that scene when the guys teach the rules to SXEphil. Great job mr. hooking up writer, you missed ur chance again to show that you will do anything other than HBO lab shows.

To Mr. Hooking up writer, you really needed to take a NeoClassical approach (the main dramatic method that took place circa 1300-1500s) to this subject matter with non particulatr dialogue and characters since your attempt at “facebook slang”  has hugely failed. You don’t know enough about this world to be that particular. Films like Shakespeare in Love, Lord of the Rings, Beckett, hugely benefited from a classic non particular Neoclassical appraoch. The dialogue in Shakespeare in Love seems authentic but is obviously not how they actually spoke, same goes for the other fims. Mr. Hooking up Writer probably doesn’t have the faintest idea what I just explained to him but that is fine because he writes for HBO lab and will probably never need to know that. Most writers wouldn’t, I think I’m just trying to show off my education a little to make myself feel better that my idea to release a show like that would be a huge success.

So congrats to KevJumba and Sxephil. To Kevjumba, HBOlab will use you until you are useless to them. I really hope you are happy with the choice you made. I would have taken you along and trained you how to write as well as act.  Our sitcom could have made history together. All you had to do was reply and just say this is what you were doing. Seriously. But you coudln’t do that, and in that manner, you acted classless. But best of luck to ya and I do wish you the best with this.

As to Lonelygirl15, DAMN you are fine. You are too hot for Sxephil. To Sxephil, CONGRATs, I hope you get to make out with lonelygirl15 in the show.

To Androroid, i’m not sure which service I’m going too but I’ll hopefully cya sunday! haha.

~InsertWittyNameHere

~ by sometimelove on October 3, 2008.