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.

Seeso
Two words, "See" and "So" capitalized and on top of one another, slanted in a top-right angle.
Type of site
Subsidiary
FoundedJanuary 7, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-01-07)
DissolvedNovember 8, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-11-08)
Headquarters
OwnerNBCUniversal
Services
Current statusInactive, superseded by Peacock

History

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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

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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

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Title Genre Premiere Seasons Length Status
The UCB Show Sketch comedy December 3, 2015 2 seasons, 16 episodes 30 min. Ended; Moved to Starz
Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Parody February 20, 2016 3 seasons, 26 episodes 30 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 episodes 31-38 min. Ended
Hidden America with Jonah Ray Parody/Travel June 2, 2016 1 season, 9 episodes 30 min. Ended; Moved to VRV
Gentlemen Lobsters Comedy/Adult animation June 16, 2016[12] 1 season, 8 episodes 14 min. Ended
Night Train with Wyatt Cenac Stand-up June 30, 2016 1 season, 6 episodes 65-97 min. Ended; Moved to Starz
HarmonQuest Live improvisation/Adult animation July 14, 2016[13] 1 season, 10 episodes 25 min. Moved to VRV
Take My Wife Sitcom August 11, 2016 1 season, 6 episodes 30 min. Ended; Moved to Starz
Debate Wars Comedy September 22, 2016[14] 1 seasons, 6 episodes 30 min. Ended
The Cyanide & Happiness Show Black comedy/Adult animation December 9, 2016 2 seasons, 20 episodes 22 min. Moved to VRV
My Brother, My Brother and Me Advice/Comedy February 23, 2017 1 season, 6 episodes 22-26 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 episode 28 min. Ended

Co-productions

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

Title Partner/Country Genre Premiere Seasons Length Status Language Seeso Exclusive Regions
Flowers Channel 4/United Kingdom Black comedy May 5, 2016 1 season, 6 episodes 30 min. Ended English United States
Funny as Hell (season 6) The Movie Network/Canada[18] Stand-up December 15, 2016 1 season, 6 episodes[19] 30 min. Ended English United States

Specials

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Title Genre Premiere
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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  1. ^ Friedlander, Whitney (December 9, 2015). "NBCUniversal's Seeso Finalizes Launch Date, Comedy Slate". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  2. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 15, 2015). "NBCU Sets 'Seeso' Comedy Subscription VOD Channel Launch". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  3. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (December 2, 2014). "Evan Shapiro Joins NBCUniversal as Exec VP of Digital Enterprises". Variety. Retrieved October 10, 2016 – via Penske Media Corporation.
  4. ^ Bishop, Bryan (October 15, 2015). "NBC's SeeSo is a $3.99 streaming service built just for comedy". The Verge. Retrieved October 10, 2016 – via Penske Media Corporation.
  5. ^ Newman, Jared (December 17, 2015). "A closer look at SeeSo, NBC's streaming-video service for comedy geeks". TechHive. Retrieved October 10, 2016 – via International Data Group.
  6. ^ Petski, Denise (December 9, 2015). "NBC's Streaming Comedy Channel Seeso Sets Launch Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 10, 2016 – via Penske Media Corporation.
  7. ^ "Seeso's "Stand-up Streaming Fest" to bring 12 new stand-up specials in 12 weeks". TheLaughButton!. September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (May 3, 2017). "Evan Shapiro Exits As Head Of NBCUniversal's Seeso Streaming Service". Deadline. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  9. ^ "Log In or Sign Up to View". www.facebook.com.
  10. ^ http://www.seeso.com [bare URL image file]
  11. ^ "Big Jay Oakerson's 'What's Your F@%king Deal' Gets Premiere Date and Trailer! - The Interrobang". The Interrobang. February 2, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  12. ^ Burrows, Kevin (June 16, 2016). "Kevin Burrows on Twitter: "Garrett and Quinn are back. Gentlemen Lobsters Season 2 Premiere". Twitter. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  13. ^ Ryan, Patrick (May 2, 2016). "First look: Dan Harmon meets 'Dungeons & Dragons' in 'Harmonquest'". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Evans, Greg (August 3, 2016). "Seeso Sets Launch Date For Comic 'Debate Wars' With Michael Ian Black". Deadline. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Arthur, Kenneth (March 15, 2017). "Inside the Long Road 'Shrink' Took Making it to TV". Splitsider. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  16. ^ Lloyd, Robert (March 16, 2017). "New Seeso comedy 'Shrink' has heart without getting sentimental". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  17. ^ Wright, Megh (March 30, 2017). "Seeso Announces Summer Premiere Dates for 'HarmonQuest,' 'There's…Johnny!', and More". Splitsider. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  18. ^ Morgan, Molly (July 6, 2016). "Season Six of Funny as Hell Coming to Seeso". Paste Magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  19. ^ Brioux, Bill (February 9, 2017). "Jon Dore's stand-up comedy series 'Funny as Hell' back with a new US audience - NEWS 1130". NEWS 1130. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  20. ^ Chavez, Danette (January 12, 2016). "Seeso announces Cameron Esposito's standup special and original series". AV Club. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  21. ^ "Doug Stanhope's Johnny Depp-Produced Stand-up Special Gets Seeso Premiere Date". Deadline. August 23, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  22. ^ Ham, Robert (September 30, 2016). "Brian Posehn on His New Stand-up Special, Acting and Deadpool". Paste Magazine. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Allen, Joe (September 15, 2016). "Seeso Announces First Annual Stand-up Streaming Festival". Paste Magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  24. ^ Tang, Estelle (October 27, 2016). "20 Years Later, Janeane Garafalo Breaks Down The Truth About Cats and Dogs Most Problematic Moments". ELLE. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  25. ^ Wright, Megh (October 27, 2016). "Seeso Orders 'Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle' and 'Andy Richter's Home for the Holidays'". Splitsider. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  26. ^ Hamedy, Saba (December 22, 2016). "The big change that inspired Nick Thune's new comedy special". Mashable. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  27. ^ Wright, Megh (November 1, 2016). "Seeso Announces 2017 Premiere Dates for New and Returning Shows and Standup Specials". Splitsider. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  28. ^ "Sasheer Zamata's Debut Comedy Special 'Pizza Mind' Out Today from Comedy Dynamics". Shadow and Act. June 3, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  29. ^ Fanelli, William (June 8, 2017). "Doug Stanhope's new special 'Comedians' Comedian's Comedians' premieres on Seeso on June 22 - Eponymous Review". Eponymous Review. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  30. ^ Wright, Megh (August 9, 2017). "Seeso Confirms It's Shutting Down Later This Year". Splitsider.com. The Awl. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  31. ^ "'There's ... Johnny!': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. November 16, 2017.
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