Ironic but true: violent metaphors seem attached to comedy. Stand-ups "bomb" or "kill." Bad comics don't just fail or fizzle; when things go awry; they "die up there." Well if we stick with tradition, then comedy content "murders" the Internet. According the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 50% of online adults say they watch comedy videos, which is up markedly from the 31% who went for the big laughs two years ago. Pew's new study The State of Online video updates a 2007 report and in most respects confirms the obvious: online video is just killing us. More than …

Rumors were flying that hulu would become a paid service on the Xbox Live game console platform. The story got started with a blog post on Gear Live, which claims an unimpeachable source says Microsoft will announce and demo the service at the upcoming E3 gaming expo.

"Your filthy hair made you a star," Hollywood kingmaker Les Grossman tells teen idol and occasional vampire Robert Pattinson. And smart Hollywood mash-ups and pop culture riffs continue to make MTV relevant and fun. A new series of video spots promoting the June 6 MTV Movie Awards is making the viral rounds, all using the conceit that fictional producer Grossman is running the show.

Know it or not, we are in the middle of an historic moment in the evolution of online video. That live cam aimed at the relentless gusher of crude coming from the bottom of the gulf of Mexico is the Web's new streaming media superstar. We are obsessed with it. The gusher has become the first major Web-to-TV crossover hit. The underwater volcano of oil is accessible from multiple points on the Web, including remotely for several days via CNN's iPhone app. The leak-cam has become an editorial tool for TV broadcasters now. At President Obama's news conference last week, …

The big pitch for mobile video always has been that the handset makes TV catch-ups and media snacking available throughout the day and when a TV or desktop monitor is out of reach. So one of the more surprising stats from video ad network Rhythm NewMedia's first "Mobile Ad Report" is that the biggest bump in mobile video usage occurs during TV's prime-time. While the difference in prime time mobile video viewing and activity through the rest of the day is not massive, it is remarkable.

We know that foldable, roll-up video displays are coming sometime in that Jetsons future. Everyone with any foresight can sense that the iPad is just the first iteration of large, portable screens that ultimately we can wind up into a cylinder and pop into the raincoat pocket. Someday will handbags and satchels (yeah, we'll still want those) come with a nine-inch cylindrical case attached for everyone's "iScreen?" Well, Sony may have the drop on Apple this time.

Metacafe started years ago as a popular YouTube clone, but it has since veered into a more curated and editorially driven approach to video. The launch this week of Metacafe Movies underscores the evolution and is the first of several video verticals the company plans to release in coming months. While it still looks like a typical assemblage of trailers at present, Metacafe Movies promises a blend of Hollywood teasers for upcoming films, relevant movie-related content from around the Web, and exclusive original material.

Go ahead and marvel over the digital wizardry of the latest branded viral video, but if you want a safe haven of genuine creativity and flat out hip weirdness, then try on some of the top book trailers from last year. Last week the 2010 Moby Awards were given in a strange assemblage of categories for the online videos that have now become a standard part of book publishing.

"TV Everywhere" publishers will be able to track consumer ad viewing across broadcast, VOD, DVR and now online, according to Comcast Media Center, thePlatform and Nielsen. The three companies have announced that the Nielsen C3 ratings, which measure the average commercial minutes viewers watched live or over the three following days of a broadcast, will now extend to online publishing by TV providers.

As I watched the Google TV promotional trailer yesterday my first impression was that I had seen this somewhere before. In fact, I can pull in most of the TV shows, movies and video programming that live on the Web via the Boxee software that I baked into AppleTV. Soon Boxee plans to issue its own "Boxee Box" that connects directly into the home theater system. Similarly, my Roku box, which is said to have sold half a million or more units, also pulls in select programming to my TV in the shape of apps. While much has been made …