Another thing that has helped Funny or Die’s sketch comedy work so well on the web is the fact that the clips are intended to be shorter than the average television episode. Online videos have evolved to be a truncated medium and longer projects tend not to be as viral. The LXD struggles with this problem as well. Initially, they wanted to make their episodes range from three to five minutes, but found it difficult to tell a cohesive longer story so they had to extend each episode length. The Hulu audience, which is used to watching episodes from television, began to demand longer online episodes as well since they were used to watching longer material. Chu admitted that he is very aware that his show is competing against these television shows for the same audience, who might not make the distinction between the differences of an online and a television show. “There is a very different cultural difference between the community at Hulu and YouTube,” Chu remarked.
(More on TIME.com: Hulu Preps First Ongoing Web Series)
But, a constant problem web shows struggle with is a lack of funding or time to complete the project. As Glover pointed out, with the amount of material online it can be hard to stand out when so many people can make their own show, so people really have to stand out with their material, which is why Funny or Die’s rating system can help. Chu feels that though it is true that web shows cost less to make, it doesn’t mean that they don’t need funding at all. “When I’m on a movie, we have so many resources,” Chu said. “We don’t have the resources in a web studio. We have to be just as creative in how to make the thing as to create the thing itself.”
That innovation is what is helping the web show evolve as filmmakers try new techniques that are pioneering television as we know it, on and offline. While The LXD and Funny or Die have reached what can be considered as the pinnacle of success for a web show, they are still constantly striving with new ways to help the web series grow online.
(More on TIME.com: A.V. Club Turns Their Podcast Into A Web Show)
“The LXD is built with the idea that this is something that will ebb and flow and grow with the community involved,” Chu said. “This is something that we take very, very seriously. This is it, this is the sandbox we’re trying. We’re going to fail, and we’re going to have victories, which is why we call it an online adventure. I try not to call it a webseries because that seems small for what it is.