Internet TV | Main / TheShowWithZefrank

Madoka Higuchi

Show: the show with ze frank
Date: Nov. 8, 2006
Title of the episode: one more time!

1.Background

"the show with zefrank" is a video blog of a person called Ze Frank. A three-minute video -- where he satirically comments on news -- is posted daily except weekends. Each video starts with the title call, the introduction of the show, by viewers who videotaped themselves and sent the video to this website. Besides that, each video mainly shows close shot of Frank talking to the video. This blog site resembles a stand-up comedy show. It is not clear whom this blog is targeting, but his blog is popular among the younger generation, people approximately in their late 20's to early 40's. This month, at the first video blog contest, Vloggie Award, Frank won the judge's Favorite Male Vlogger Award.
In this episode, "one more time!", Frank mentioned the midterm election which resulted in the victory of the Democratic Party:
"CNN promptly asked what many Americans are thinking: "Who the hell is Nancy Pelosi?"
But before half the country can feel like the other half did a week ago, two key Senate races still have to be decided. In Montana, Democrat John Tester leads Conrad Burns by only 1,600 votes. Although the lead is narrow, it's still well above the one-quarter percent margin that Montana requires for a recount. In Virginia, Democrat Webb leads Allen by less than 8,000 votes, which is less than the 1% margin that Virginia requires for a recount.
Looks like there were more macacas than you thought...
A recount in Virginia which will most likely determine the shape of the Senate could take months to get through.
I'll wait..."

2.Interesting?

Besides the midterm election, in the episode, Ze Frank also talked about Britney Spears's divorce. The whole episode was very funny. He introduced these two topics from his point of view, which was different from the regular news shows on TV. He often moves beyond the general information. For example, in this episode, he mentioned a recount which was not a big issue in the midterm election. By talking about a recount, he made fun of Montana where the population is small, but he also might have intended to criticize the election system of the United States. His idea may show visitors another way to look at news. Those who do not care for serious television news programs also may enjoy Frank's hilarious and cynical talk.

3.Original?

When this show started on March 17th this year, video blogs were less popular than they are now. Not many people knew how to create a video blog site by themselves when Frank started this blog; consequently, the site must have been unique at that time. However, six months later, not only visiting video blog sites but also creating them is popular. Many similar sites can be seen in the Internet. According to the site, it will end exactly after one year, March 17th of 2007.

4.Quality

Camera shooting, video editing, audio recording and lighting of this episode are good for websites. Editing especially comes with a twist. Although the video mostly shows close shots of Frank, the shot sizes are varied and footages are edited rhythmically.

5.Taking advantage of the medium?

This blog site takes advantage of the medium, the Internet, in three ways: language, topic, and interactivity. First, in the video, Ze Frank used filthy language which is not allowed to broadcast on TV. Second, as a joke, Frank said something that could discriminate against certain people like those in Montana, which should not be heard on TV. Some visitors of the site might not like these two aspects of the video but others might enjoy his talk this way. The television -- which is very influential -- has many restrictions on broadcasting. In the Internet, people can speak more freely. Third, he used a video sent by visitors in the beginning of the episode. They said, "Hello, Sports Racers, from Rockton, Illinois! This is the show with Ze Frank!", and it is a regular intro of an episode in the site. These visitors can be part of an episode. In this episode, "one more time!", he did not mention comments of visitors posted on the forum page, but he sometimes answers visitors' questions in his blog. This site has an interactive and participatory aspect. In this way, Frank takes advantage of the Internet.