Seeso

Last updated

Seeso
Seeso logo.png
Type of site
Subsidiary
FoundedJanuary 7, 2016;8 years ago (2016-01-07)
Dissolved November 8, 2017;6 years ago (2017-11-08)
Headquarters
Owner NBCUniversal
Services
Current statusInactive, superseded by Peacock

Seeso was an over-the-top subscription streaming service owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal, [1] [2] launched on January 7, 2016, and closed on November 8, 2017. It provided comedy content such as original and broadcast television shows.

Contents

History

On December 2, 2014, Evan Shapiro joined NBCUniversal as the Executive Vice President of the newly formed NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises division of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group after his job at Pivot [3] to work on a digital project for the division.

On October 15, 2015, Seeso was officially announced with certain titles in its library. [4] On December 3, Seeso was launched in an open beta that lasted from December 3, 2015 to January 6, 2016. [5] Seeso was officially launched the day after. [6]

On September 30, 2016, Seeso announced its first event called the "Stand-Up Streaming Fest", in which a title of comedy content would become available within a week, bringing a total of 12 specials for 12 weeks. [7]

On May 3, 2017, Evan Shapiro announced his departure from the company. He was replaced by Maggie Suniewick, president of NBCU digital enterprises. [8]

On August 9, 2017, Seeso announced via its Facebook page that the service would be shutting down by the end of 2017. [9] On November 8, Seeso shut down its streaming service. [10]

Content

Seeso offered comedy shows, including Saturday Night Live , The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , The Office (UK), Parks and Recreation , The Kids in the Hall , Fancy Boy , and Monty Python.

Original series

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsLengthStatus
The UCB Show Sketch comedy December 3, 20152 seasons, 16 episodes30 min.Ended; Moved to Starz
Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Parody February 20, 20163 seasons, 26 episodes30 min.Ended; Moved to Pluto TV
Big Jay Oakerson's What's Your F@%king Deal?! Stand-up March 17, 2016 [11] 2 seasons, 17 episodes31-38 min.Ended
Hidden America with Jonah Ray Parody/Travel June 2, 20161 season, 9 episodes30 min.Ended; Moved to VRV
Gentlemen Lobsters Comedy/Adult animation June 16, 2016 [12] 1 season, 8 episodes14 min.Ended
Night Train with Wyatt Cenac Stand-up June 30, 20161 season, 6 episodes65-97 min.Ended; Moved to Starz
HarmonQuest Live improvisation/Adult animation July 14, 2016 [13] 1 season, 10 episodes25 min.Moved to VRV
Take My Wife Sitcom August 11, 20161 season, 6 episodes30 min.Ended; Moved to Starz
Debate Wars Comedy September 22, 2016 [14] 1 seasons, 6 episodes30 min.Ended
The Cyanide & Happiness Show Black comedy/Adult animation December 9, 20162 seasons, 20 episodes22 min.Moved to VRV
My Brother, My Brother and Me Advice/Comedy February 23, 20171 season, 6 episodes22-26 min.Ended; Moved to VRV
Shrink Sitcom March 16, 2017 [15] 1 season, 8 episodes [16] 30 min.Ended; Moved to Hulu
Flulanthropy Sitcom July 13, 2017 [17] 1 season, 1 episode28 min.Ended

Co-productions

These shows have been commissioned by Seeso in cooperation with a partner from another country.

TitlePartner/CountryGenrePremiereSeasonsLengthStatusLanguageSeeso Exclusive Regions
Flowers Channel 4/United Kingdom Black comedy May 5, 20161 season, 6 episodes30 min.EndedEnglishUnited States
Funny as Hell (season 6) The Movie Network/Canada [18] Stand-up December 15, 20161 season, 6 episodes [19] 30 min.EndedEnglishUnited States

Specials

TitleGenrePremiere
Cameron Esposito: Marriage Material Stand-up March 24, 2016 [20]
Doug Stanhope: No Place Like Home Stand-up September 15, 2016 [21]
Brian Posehn: Criminally Posehn Stand-up September 23, 2016 [22]
Jena Friedman: American Cunt Stand-up October 20, 2016 [23]
Janeane Garofalo: If I May Stand-up October 27, 2016 [24]
Schtick or Treat: Hollywood Stand Up Special Stand-up October 27, 2016 [23]
Mo Mandel: Negative Reinforcement Stand-up November 3, 2016 [23]
ADD Presents: Tyree Elaine Stand-up November 10, 2016 [23]
ADD Presents: Robert Powell Stand-up November 10, 2016 [23]
Dan Levy: Lion Stand-up November 17, 2016 [23]
Aries Spears: Comedy Blueprint Stand-up November 24, 2016 [23]
McSweeney's Internet Tendency Live! Stand-up November 24, 2016 [23]
Joe Matarese: Medicated Stand-up December 1, 2016 [23]
Lachlan Patterson: Live at Venice Beach Stand-up December 1, 2016 [23]
Andy Richter's Home for the Holidays Holiday special December 20, 2016 [25]
Nick Thune: Good Guy Stand-up December 22, 2016 [26]
Ian Harvie: May the Best Cock Win Stand-up December 29, 2016 [23]
Laurie Kilmartin: 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad Stand-up December 29, 2016 [23]
Brian Posehn: 25x2 Stand-up January 2, 2017 [23]
Adam Newman: Fuzzies Stand-up January 26, 2017 [27]
Sasheer Zamata: Pizza Face Stand-up March 30, 2017 [28]
Doug Stanhope: The Comedians' Comedian's Comedians Stand-up June 22, 2017 [29]

Approximately coinciding with the August announcement of Seeso's impending shutdown, four of its originals – The Cyanide & Happiness Show , HarmonQuest , Hidden America with Jonah Ray , and My Brother, My Brother and Me were removed and transferred to the VRV streaming service. [30] There's... Johnny! , a sitcom which had been produced for Seeso but not yet aired, was transferred to Hulu. [31]

See also

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References

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