Webisode Clack – The Ballad of Mary & Ernie

It’s always something different that catches my eye about a web series. With Harper’s Globe it was Melanie Merkosky, because she was in Slings & Arrows. With Lumina, I’d just never seen a web series that looked that good. And with Seeking Simone, Rose emailed promising lots of hot girl-on-girl action. Who can say no to that? With The Ballad of Mary & Ernie, it was simply the intro to the website. Go have a look. We’ll wait…

Right? How can you see Marshall Ernie towering over that town and not have to know just what the hell is going on? In a nutshell, Ernie is a full size sheriff in a miniature town, but The Ballad of Mary & Ernie is so much more than that. It’s one of those rare shows where someone takes a huge leap into the crazy, and manages to pull it off. In this case, that someone is writer/director Robert Stadd.

That name might not sound familiar, but if you are like me and can never resist another trip down the SciFi Saturday rabbit-hole, you may have seen his work on Alien Siege. I mention that for two reasons. One, I’m hopelessly addicted to those movies. And two, the fact that Stadd has worked on other, bigger, projects really shows in Mary & Ernie. Running through the episodes I was again reminded just how close the web series world is getting to TV and movies. If I had seen this on [adult swim] instead of the Mary & Ernie website, it would have fit right in.

Getting back to the story, it really is just the silliest of ideas. Mary and Ernie are the only two people their size in a town of tiny plastic people. The potential to go off the rails is huge. But it never does. By the time we find Mary and Ernie in the middle of a bar-fight, it all kind of makes sense. And even better, we’re eagerly awaiting the answer. Will Mary and Ernie be together? The fact that you want to know says a lot about what Stadd has done, as well as the performances of  Vanessa Celso and James Lane as Mary and Ernie.

I’m also awarding bonus points on this one for the website. Aside from that perfect intro, be sure to check out the credits and interviews page. Mary’s is my favorite, but you’ll also learn that Marshall Ernie is at the core of all existence, that uranium is always popular, and hear the touching story of what monofilament meant to the production. The whole thing is crazy, from start to finish, but it’s my kind of crazy.

Finally, in other web series news, the nominations for the Streamy Awards were announced this week. Congratulations to all that were nominated, of course, but I was especially happy to see Mark Gantt get the nod for best actor, Brigitte Dale for best vlogger, and Lumina for best cinematography.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Mar 03, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT