- Tom Green's House Tonight
Infobox Television
show_name = Tom Green's House Tonight
caption = "Tom Green Live!" title card
format =Internet Talk show
camera = Multi-camera setup
runtime = approx. 60 minutes to 90 minutes.
creator =Tom Green
starring =Tom Green
country = USA
network =
[http://www.tomgreen.com tomgreen.com]
first_aired =June 15 ,2006
last_aired = present
num_episodes = 176 as ofJanuary 8 ,2008
tv_com_id = 64312
imdb_id = 0813913"Tom Green's House Tonight" (formerly known as "Tom Green Live") is an Internet-based
talk show hosted byTom Green . In addition to its primary broadcast on "TomGreen.com", the show was syndicated on television stations throughout North America.Beginning as a partnership between Green and
ManiaTV! (who financed the majority of the show), the webcast is mostly spontaneous with a reliance on celebrity guests and viewer interaction viaSkype calls, phone calls andinstant messages . The show is set inside Tom's living room, where a fully functional studio has been constructed. Early shows often included technical issues with the phone system, computers, streaming and audio. Many viewers found Tom's reactions to the technical problems to be entertaining as opposed to a hindrance to the show. Tom's regular outbursts towards his off camera staff has become arunning joke .Web-O-Vision
While it is not the first Internet show, "Tom Green's House Tonight" may be the first Internet "call-in" talk show, and Tom frequently cites this as an innovation. With little reliance on advertisement funding, his show is similar to
public access television , and he often refers to it by a word he coined: Web-O-Vision. It has very few content restrictions, such as a ban onswearing , nudity or drinking, although Tom often discourages talk about politics and sex and tries to refrain from swearing himself. The relaxed and unrestricted nature of the show, along with the fact they are in Tom's home, often leads to a very natural and open style of interview not found on other talk shows. The lack of censorship leaves the show open to prank calls, with racist comments regularly causing Tom to cut the show short.The show previously aired live Monday to Friday for one hour, occasionally going over the hour. At present the show does not adhere to a set schedule. At any time Green can spontaneously go on the air by literally flipping a switch on a remote control which turns on all of the lights and cameras, hits record and sends out the feed to "TomGreen.com". Most shows can be viewed in the On Demand sections of "TomGreen.com".
The Channel
Tom refers to his website as The Channel. The output of The Channel is not limited to "Tom Green's House Tonight". Other shows on The Channel include "Poolside Chats" (talk show hosted by comedian
Neil Hamburger ) which is filmed at Tom's house, "Leonard Mills Live" (Tom in character playing guitar and singing, often about ridiculous subjects) and "The Tom and Larry Show" (Tom and his ventriloquist dummy). Past shows have included "The Robert Kurtz Show" (former producer Robert Kurtz searching the internet for funny or shocking content with the help of viewers who call in and send links), "Mysteries from Beyond the Other Dominion" (an insight into bizarre stories and scientific discoveries hosted by Dr. Franklin Ruehl) and "Girl Talk Live" (women talking about various subjects). "Freestyle Friday" aired on Friday nights with live music, a large number of guests and a party atmosphere. More recently, an episode of "Tom Green's House Tonight" is aired on Friday instead.Shows appearing on The Channel can vary significantly in length and can last for many hours. On occasions, Green has slept with a live camera on him all night, which is also the practice of more than a few lifecasters. The Channel broadcasts a live stream to the internet 24/7, as the feed switches to a security camera within Tom's living room between shows.
Tom sometimes takes a video camera with him when taking a break from The Channel and posts pre-recorded clips such as his visit to Costa Rica and New York. He once showed his surgery after a skateboarding accident. In 2008 The Channel embarked on its first road trip across the west coast of America. Tom and his team travelled in an
RV that had been equipped to allow cameras to be set up in remote locations whilst broadcasting a live video stream using wireless technology. A fixed camera located behind the front windscreen of the RV enabled viewers to follow along with the journey.Samsung was the shows first sponsor, advertising the Samsung Upstage phone. Budweiser became the next sponsor, with Bud Light commercials being shown before each show.Product placement was also used as bottles of Bud Light would be provided for Tom's guests during every show and bottles could be seen in Green's fridge.The show is streamed by
BitGravity which is aContent Delivery Network .BitGravity CEOPerry Wu has been interviewed on the show, denoting a strong partnership with the company.Television syndication
In August 2007, Green announced he had split from ManiaTV, which necessitated upgrades to the equipment and technology used to produce and stream the show.
With the upgrades complete, Green launched the all-new "TomGreen.com" on September 27th, 2007 with the help of current producer
Victor Borachuk , before leaving forCanada to film for the movie "Freezer Burn ".The new site showcases technology by far eclipsing what had been in place before, such as full 16:9 video, live Flash video streaming, and video/audio/text communication with viewers without screening people ahead of time. The show went on to win the
TV Guide award for “Best Web Talk Show”.After several hints by Green that a new partnership would lead to "Tom Green Live!" being broadcast on television as well as the Internet, in October 2007 "Broadcasting & Cable" announced the show's January 2008 expansion to TV syndication in a deal with
Debmar-Mercury . ["Broadcasting & Cable", October 2007.]To coincide with the television debut "Tom Green Live!" was renamed "
Tom Green's House Tonight ". As of January 7, 2008 the show appears in a pared-down version on conventional TV onThe Comedy Network . On 6th May 2008 the show was announced as the winner of a Webby Award for best variety show in the Online Film and Video category.References
ee also
*
Tom Green
*"Poolside Chats "
*Webcast
*BitGravity
*LIfecastingExternal links
* [http://www.tomgreen.com Tom Green official site]
* [http://guide.tomgreen.com The Channel Guide]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tomgreen.com+-+the+channel+highlights+part+of&search=Search TomGreen.com - The Channel Highlights]
*imdb title|id= 0813913|title=Tom Green Live
*Tv.com show|id= 64312|title=Tom Green Live
* [http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/shows/showdetails.aspx?sid=5909 Tom Green's House Tonight at The Comedy Network]
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