Over a million people have seen Zombie College, a series in development for the 2001-2 season on Fox. This focus group was not herded in by clipboard denizens at your local mall but through the series highly successful scheduling on Icebox.com. Devoted to short-form animation, Icebox prides itself on its ability for instant response to programming, and, most importantly, as a haven for creativity and originality. Co-Founder and CEO Steve Stanford says: We really wanted to focus on great storytellers and give them the opportunity to have the freedom to do the shows that they wanted to do as opposed to the traditional studio network approach.

Stanford and the other founders of Icebox understand the importance of such freedom as they are all from the creative community themselves. No doubt, the many talents that Icebox has attracted are hoping to avoid the scrutiny of high-powered suits and decision-by-committee on their way to a mass audience. After a show creator pitches an idea that is accepted, according to Stanford, they have creative control over the product.

Zombie College is the first series both created and premiering on the Internet that has been purchased by one of the four major U.S. television networks. This is good news for Eric Kaplan, a writer-producer of televisions Futurama, who conceived the series. College focuses on the on-again off-again romance of couple Scott and Zelda, the hardships of early college life at Arkford University, and of course, the pleasures of brain eating. Another series, Starship Regulars, by co-executive producer of The Simpsons Rob LaZebnik, was picked up in August 2000 by Showtime, to become a live-action, half-hour primetime series on the cable network.

However, in its attempt to offer cutting-edge unfiltered programming, Iceboxs series are often not ready for prime time. The most controversial has been the popular Mr. Wong, a series about an elderly Asian houseboy (replete with yellow complexion, jutting front teeth, and broken English) and his wealthy socialite employer Miss Pam, the creation of South Park writers Pam Brady and Kyle McCulloch. The show often shows Mr. Wong tormented by Miss Pam, and although he often fights back with a stream of obscenities, he remains loyal to her. For its depiction of Mr. Wong, the series has received protests from the NAACP, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, and other organizations.

Other series include Queer Duck, created by The Simpsons Mike Reiss, about a gay duck (voiced by Jim J. Bullock) and his flamboyant animal friends. Another, Hard Drinkin Lincoln, also a creation of Reiss, is a fictionalized account of the former Presidents repugnant lifestyle. The Adventures of Jesus & His Brothers by The Critic co-creator Al Jean, tells of the prophets lesser-known brothers, Chuck, Vinnie, and Marty. Less controversial and perhaps more clever, are Meet the Millers and Poker Night. Meet the Millers, created by Family Guy executive producer David Zuckerman, presents itself as a long lost sitcom from the 1950s. Poker Night, by Frasier co-executive producer Rob Greenberg and Mystery Science Theatres Bill Corbett, illustrates what those poker playing dogs of a certain famous painting are really like.

Many of the above, have already become Icebox classics as other series have recently emerged, including such titles as: Midge & Buck (by Henriette Mantel); Supermodels (by South Parks James Krieg); and The Goddamn Geroge Liquor Program (by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi);. Other names bandied about on Iceboxs website who have yet to premiere their work are Jonathan Katz (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist) and Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma). To date, Icebox has a deal with 111 creators to produce shows on their site. The site also accepts independent submissions and posts them. Some of these one-shots, says CEO Steve Stanford, have led to studio deals around town. A recent pick of the week came under the title of The Charleton Heston Story.

In the last few years, many online companies have felt the need to cut costs and look hard toward profitability, and Icebox is no exception, turning to outside firms for production work, and recently laying off a number of employees. But in the long-run, if any of the shows piloted on Icebox becomes a hit on television, the companys rewards could be great. The Los Angeles-based company, founded in late 1999 and launched by internet incubator eCompanies in 2000, is looking toward profitability by the end of 2001.

With over two hundred webisodes from two dozen series, Icebox has already a substantial cache of programming. They look at a second-run web syndication business and developing pay-per-view and subscription services, for another source of revenue.

Says CEO Steve Stanford : The process is one that is pretty straightforward we make deals with people who we think can create quality work and our whole creative strategy is to put confidence in those people. With two series commitments, as well as a wealth of creative talent, Icebox seems to have found the best approach to presenting short-form animation on the web.