• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, March 3, 2011

While there is some great video programming online, Web series rarely seem to get the kind of cultural buzz of TV. I have never seen Gossip Girl or even a full episode of Glee for that matter, but it is hard not to hear about them. Web shows may get millions of views without registering on anyone else's radar.

Yahoo's TV recap show, Primetime in No Time, is hosted by comedian Frank Nicotero who announced on Wednesday's show that 'PINT' has been streamed 500 million times since it launched. "Which is more eyeballs than have watched the last five Super Bowls combined." Okay well, we might want to check the math on that one. Frank isn't hip to unduplicated reach. Oh, whatever. Yahoo claims this is "the most watched sponsored original video series on the web." OK. Maybe so.

More to the point, they are celebrating this milestone with a now-familiar stunt that leverages other celebs of the new and old media world as guest co-hosts. The "Give Frank a Break" promotion will have Soleil Moon Frye of "Punky Brewster, Michelle Phan of self-made beauty video fame, and commercial music writer DeStorm Power. These three co-hosts will drum up user interest by inviting fans to 'like' Yahoo on Facebook to win a trip to LA to watch the co-hosting in action. The promo videos show the cross-show interactivity.

PINT is one of the Yahoo Video Originals that the company has maintained faith in producing even through its many reorgs and rethinks in recent years. Back in October, Yahoo's advertising blog boasted that shows like omg!'s "The 411" and Yahoo Shine's "Tech Ticker" or "The Thread" were among the large draws that helped account for 15 million monthly viewers of Yahoo video content. Much of it resembles PINT - roundups of other media from a knowing but not especially edgy perspective. I imagine there is a place for that middle-of-the-road pop culture commentary from Web media companies like Yahoo and now even Hulu. But this short and bland-sassy short subject genre can be found any night on VH1 and is much more entertaining via 'What the Buck' where a genuinely madcap personality is at the helm.

The promotion too feels stagy, too self-aware and lacking any of inspired energy of Weezer's brilliant takeover of YouTube video hit shows last year. 

But then again, mine are only two of over 500 million pairs of eyeballs that have watched the show. That is more than the last five Super Bowl audiences combined, you know.