It has become quite evident over the past few months that Yahoo is serious about becoming a major player in the online video arena. The company has announced the first two original long-form comedies that its going to produce. For the new shows it has tapped well known talent including Emmy-nominated director for The Office, Paul Feig.
Yahoo’s original comedies will be launched on Yahoo Screen next year and will feature 30-minute episodes that viewers will be able to enjoy all at once. Yahoo Screen is available on desktop, as a standalone mobile app as well as on Roku and the Apple TV.
The first comedy series is called Other Space which is a galactic adventure set in the early 22nd century. It follows human race’s failure to find alien life after mapping most of the known universe until a spaceship stumbles upon an alternate universe. Eight half-hour episodes of Other Space will be produced.
Sin City Saints, the second series, is an off-beat comedy that is set in the front office of a fictional pro basketball expansion team. It revolves around a character named Jake Tullus who is a Silicon Valley tycoon that buys a pro basketball team only to find out that he’s in over his head. This series will also have eight half-hour episodes.
Yahoo promises that there’s more to come and that it will continue to work with top creators to develop “fresh, innovative and original shows.”