Editor's Note: This is a weekly guest post from BuddyTV. Check back every Wednesday for more from BuddyTV.com on the state of television and your favorite shows like 24, Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Gossip Girl.

Tonight is the season finale of American Idol, meaning of the two dudes will become the next singer who will be momentarily famous, sing the National Anthem at a sporting event and then join the touring company of Grease. Thursday, however, brings the start of the summer TV season.

Scripted shows take a break and reality takes center stage with So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, America's Got Talent, Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here dominating the airwaves every night of the week.

There are several proven methods for coping with the summer drought. The first is to cave and mindlessly enjoy watching Heidi and Spencer try to outwit Sanjaya. If that sounds like an enhanced interrogation technique that Nancy Pelosi may or may not have been told about, there's always cable, where the summer shows come out to play. But trying to catch up on Weeds or Mad Men might be a bit intimidating.

Then there's the ultimate solution: the world wide web. This series of tubes is capable of providing grade-A content that will tickle your funny bone just as much as any of the comedies on NBC's Thursday night lineup. In fact, The Office even offers its own web series to help you survive the summer months.

With that in mind, here are five fantastic web series, past and present, that are absolutely worth sitting in front of your computer for hours at a time.

Rockville, CA
Created by Josh Schwartz, the man behind The O.C., Chuck and Gossip Girl, this hilarious series follows the daily rituals of a group of people who hang out at a hip underground music club. In addition to the hilariously Seth Cohen-like dialogue, each episode also features a performance by a guest indie band. But the main reason to watch is to witness the glory of Ryan Hansen as Chambers, a dude who should win awards for his douchebaggery.

The Office: Blackmail
If you can't wait to see how Jim and Pam tell everyone about their bundle of joy, The Office has yet another classic web series currently airing, this time starring the unusual Creed Bratton as he goes around trying to blackmail his co-workers with embarrassing secrets.

Dorm Life
If you were ever in college, this series is for you. Following the lives of a single freshman hallway in a dorm, the documentary-style filmmaking helps to create iconic characters who you learn to love, no matter how wacky their antics get. Follow the romance of Danny B. And Mystery Hot Girl, see the awkwardness of Parents Day and relive every moment of how you wish your dorm experience was. Season 2 is currently underway.

The Guild
You probably know Felicia Day from the more popular web series Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog, but before she was one of the online role-playing members of The Guild, a group of computer game players whose online and offline lives suddenly collide. Two seasons have aired, and production on a third is about to begin next month.

Clark and Michael
It may have originally aired two years ago, but if you still haven't seen the hilarious online antics of Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) and Clark Duke (Greek), this show is as funny as ever. They play highly fictionalized versions of themselves trying to create their own TV show, and the results are insane.

Make your picks for who will go home on your favorite reality shows and compete against other fans with BuddyTV's Fantasy TV.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us