There's something about binge watching shows that is just so satisfying. Not having to wait a week, or the summer, or even worse 2 YEARS (sorry Sherlock fans! The suffering is almost over!) is exactly what obsessed television fans need. While everyone is concentrated on Netflix and Amazon Prime though, Youtube creators have made some excellent content that is often overlooked because it isn't "traditional." It also is easier to binge because episodes usually only range from 2 to 8 minutes. 5 of my favorite Youtube series are literary based and have earned accolades from their peers. If you enjoy classic literature being modernized in a novel (ba dum tsh) way, these series are for you!
5. The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy
In this series, a modern adaptation of Peter Pan, Wendy and Peter are childhood friends who live in Neverland, Ohio. Peter is a bit of a man child and Wendy is a hard working advice columnist for her dad's newspaper. She is ambitious and wants to leave Neverland to pursue her goals. This obviously causes contention between Wendy and Peter, who are entirely ship-able. The supporting cast, especially her brothers, are lovely and Percy Daggs III from "Veronica Mars" enters season 2 as Hook, Wendy's new boss. This fun series won a Geekie Award in 2015 for Best Scripted Web Series and was also nominated for a Streamy. It is a joy to watch and season 3 will be starting shortly.
4. Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party
In this web series, Edgar Allan Poe invites many famous authors to a dinner party in the hopes it will woo Annabel Lee, but one by one the authors are murdered. Sean Persaud and his sister Sinead are excellent as Edgar and Lenore, the ghost who haunts his home. Some of the authors included in the dinner party are Ernest Hemingway (played by Joey Richter aka Ron in A Very Potter Musical), Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Charlotte Bronte (Ashley Clements, Lizzie of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries), Dostoevsky (Clayton Snyder, Ethan from Lizzie McGuire!), and Agatha Christie. The ensemble is wonderful and I actually didn't suspect the killer. Oh and Jerry/Garry/Larry Gergich (Jim O'Heir) of Parks and Rec shows up as a policeman. Anyone who loves reading novels or simply likes murder mysteries will enjoy this series.
3. Frankenstein, M.D.
Frankenstein, MD is the newest literary adaption from a company called Pemberley Digital, created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. They partnered with PBS Digital Studios and released it on PBS' Youtube channel. Frankenstein, MD follows Victoria Frankenstein, a medical student who shows off medical advancements in each episode. Her friend Iggy is her co host and her childhood friends also make regular appearances. If you're familiar with the Frankenstein story, you know everything is going to go terribly wrong. Anna Lore plays Frankenstein as an ambitious, flawed, young scientist who has to come to terms with the decisions she's made. The end of the season ended with a cliffhanger and it's a shame there is no season two. Frankenstein lends itself well to modern adaption because of all of the scientific progress we've made since it was written. (Bonus: The Creature is played by Evan Strand, who was just the Reddi Wip guy in the Hairspray Live commercial)
2. Emma Approved
This is Pemberley Digital's second full literary web series, based on Emma by Jane Austen. It follows perfectionist lifestyle coach, Emma Woodhouse, as she runs her business and gets caught up in matchmaking for her friends. Her childhood friend/business partner is Alex Knightley, who is the straight man whenever Emma gets herself in hot water. This series has 72 episodes and the last few episodes are adorable. Emma and Knightley have amazing chemistry that shows because the actors dated in real life. If they look familiar, you may have seen them in the Ever Us ring commercial from Kay Jewelers. If you enjoy rom coms or the movie Clueless, this series is perfect.
1. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
The first literary adaption from Pemberley Digital and arguably the best. It won a 2013 Interactive Emmy Award for Original Interactive Program. Based on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the series follows media grad student Lizzie Bennet and her sisters Jane and Lydia. When rich Bing Lee (Christopher Sean, last seen as Gabriel on Hawaii 5-0) and Mr. Darcy (Daniel Vincent Gordh) come to town, the chaos starts. Lizzie is entirely relatable and Ashley Clements makes her a character for whom to root. Darcy isn't even shown until the end of episode 60, otherwise known as Darcy Day to the fans, but he is a lovely addition to the cast. The wonderful thing about this show was that the characters also had Twitters in which they interacted with each other and there were Instagram pictures of Lizzie and Darcy starting to hang out, so it was an entire experience. They even made an OKCupid account for George Wickham! Lydia Bennet (Mary Kate Wiles), who is the ham of the family, starts her own vlogs that highlight her story arc. The show was 100 episodes, not including extra content, and it wrapped up very nicely. The vlogging style lends itself well to the story, and as it's from Lizzie's view, it shows all of her prejudices before the audience even meets Darcy. You may recognize not only Bing Lee, but also Jane (Laura Spencer, currently Raj's girlfriend on Big Bang Theory) and Lizzie and Lydia (who both appeared in Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party among other web series). This series is fantastic and worth watching over Christmas break!
Bonus Show: Classic Alice
Classic Alice isn't technically an adaptation, but it does follow literature student Alice as she tries to live her life according to the classic novel she's reading at the time. She picks some interesting novels that get her into some trouble as she takes her literary journey a little too far sometimes. One thing I've noticed about literary web series is that red headed female protagonists seems to be the way to go! Yay redheads!
I hope that if you enjoy literature that you have found a new web series to love and even if you don't know the source material, these 6 shows are a lovely modern day introduction.
