Get ready to add another streaming service to your roster of media platforms.
The once comedy- centric website Crackle is expanding its original content in several interesting directions. At its Upfront presentation in New York, Crackle not only announced several new shows but the incorporation of Virtual Reality into its viewing experience. This includes a special VR episode of its returning animated series SuperMansion and special 360 degree behind- the- scenes footage of upcoming drama Start Up. While other platforms have recently forayed into VR content, the Sony- owned streaming service is using the technology in another groundbreaking way: advertisement. “Designed to immerse and engage viewers, Sony’s ad-supported streaming service is the first ever AVOD network to provide brands with advertising opportunities and marketing initiatives that take advantage of this latest disruptive technology,” Crackle said in a press release. Basically: Virtual reality commercials- the definition of bittersweet.
Don’t have the latest smartphone, Google cardboard box, Gear VR or PlayStation VR? Crackle still has plenty of good ol’ fashioned 2- dimensional programming. One such show is the second season of the aforementioned SuperMansion. The show centers around an aging superhero (voiced perfectly by Bryan Cranston) and his less than super team (which includes Keegan- Michael Key as the vaguely racist Captain America parody). The stop motion animated series comes from the mind of Robot Chicken‘s Zeb Wells. Its first 13 episode season was released back in 2015 and season 2 will come next year.
In addition to SuperMansion, other returning shows include the Dennis Quaid starring The Art of More, Sports Jeopardy (which will also air on NBC syndicate NBCSN), and a feature sequel to the Dead Rising videogame Dead Rising: Endgame. Jerry Seinfeld’s popular and aptly titled Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee will also have its eighth season and feature high profile guests like John Oliver, Lorne Michaels and Judd Apatow.
Crackle will also be releasing two new dramas: SNATCH and StartUp. The former is based on the Guy Ritchie film of the same name (the press release compares the adaptation tonally to the FX television series Fargo). As for StartUp, the high concept premise involves a diverse cast of characters (Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, The Blacklist’s Edi Gathegi and newcomer Otmara Marrero) who come across a revolutionary form of online currency that changes their lives. Watch the trailer below and see if you can understand it better than I did.