SOLO Review
The webseries medium has already witnessed one satirical take, The Video Makers, which featured a behind-the-scenes look at an independent production company manufacturing such fare as Pets of the Third Reich and Chefs Behind Bars. There is obviously enough room on the World Wide Web for additional comedic spoofs of reality television, however, as the very funny and highly original SOLO has proven. After successfully producing a string of successful series like Divorce Swapping and Big Brother’s My Lover, fictitious mogul Jack Spratt (Jay Caputo) has taken the genre to the next level by blasting an individual into space and creating a reality show around his one-man mission to Mars. Only one problem—after a mere thirty days, the show is cancelled and Spratt’s funds have dried up.
Created by Jonathan Nail, SOLO thus not only features the misadventures of Scott Drizhal (portrayed by Nail) as he finds himself trapped on a spaceship with only an artificial intelligence computer named PHAL (voiced by Jason Burns)—in homage to the notorious HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey—but those of Spratt, the two remaining “mission control” employees he is still able to afford and Drizhal’s attractive and angry wife, Rebecca (Michele Boyd).
Nail, who has appeared on such television shows as Mad Men and Criminal Minds, had been kicking around the idea of creating his own series or film for some time before realizing the growing potential of the new online video medium. Once he decided to produce a webseries instead, it was just a matter of finding the right narrative. “It had to fit in with what I could afford, it had to fit in with a story I was interested in,” he told Clicker in July 2010. “I’ve always been interested in sci-fi and fantasy. I’m a huge fan of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams is a huge inspiration of me. At the end of the day, it’s a character study that was formulating in my brain early in 2009, so I started putting the pieces together.”
The character elements of SOLO are evident within the first three episodes of the series. Drizhal experiences a full range of emotions upon learning that his mission has been cancelled mid-flight, progressing from the original fear and anxiety of being trapped alone in space, with possibly no way of returning home, all the way through the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. In one of the many laugh-out-loud scenes from SOLO, Drizhal even reaches out to President Barack Obama for assistance. “Fire up the space shuttle and rescue me,” he pleads. “I’ll do anything you want, you can double my taxes.” In the end, the leader of the free world not only doesn’t know who Drizhal is, but concludes that it’s merely a prank. “Did Palin put you up to this?” he asks.
But SOLO is not simply about Drizhal and his attempts to cope with the suddenly dire situation he finds himself in. A spaceflight of any kind requires a large team of scientists, engineers and an assortment of other experts in order for it to succeed. Because of the reality show’s cancellation, however, and the subsequent lack of funds, “mission control” is quickly reduced to a two-person staff consisting of Ratish Gupta (Amol Shah) and Gerry Simon (Melissa Dalton) and relocated to Drizhal’s suburban home. Producer Jack Spratt has also apparently borrowed money from the Japanese mafia, which in turn wants immediate payback. Add Rebecca Drizhal—who discovers that her husband has been unemployed for nine months and is thus out of money as well—and one has all the ingredients for a classic screwball comedy.
When it came time to produce SOLO, Jonathan Nail abandoned the prospect of filming on the cheap and utilized his initial resources to create three quality episodes instead. Taking a cue from Felicia Day and The Guild, he also set up a means for fans to donate in order to assist with future installments. Nail reasoned that by first creating buzz—as well as demonstrating the capabilities and potential of SOLO—it would then be easier to acquire the necessary funding to complete an ambitious three seasons and twenty-seven episodes for his creation.
“We are currently looking for more sponsorship, but the hard part right now is proving return on investment,” Nail explained to Clicker. “Our show is created in a way that it is a welcome opportunity for sponsors to jump in at this moment. Now that we’ve created these three episodes, anyone could become a sponsor of the show with very little money and get a lot of coverage.”
Based on the first three episodes, Jonathan Nail has indeed created not only a professionally produced webseries but an original and entertaining one at that. And by not simply jumping into the medium fray but studying both the pros and cons of the fledgling online video industry first, he has also positioned SOLO to not only become a successful webseries in its on right but a potential benchmark for other creators to aspire and a business model to emulate.
Not bad for a show that was “cancelled.”
Anthony Letizia (July 26, 2010)
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