Posts by Danny Shea

Danny Shea is a writer for The Huffington Post

Andy Samberg: The Hilarious King of YouTube
Posted by Danny Shea, Huffington Post on December 16, 2008 at 10:24 AM.

AdAge's Michael Learmonth declares Andy Samberg King of YouTube as he reports that SNL's digital short "Jizz in My Pants" is the most-watched YouTube video of the past month, clocking in thus far at 6.7 million views. Of course, what makes this interesting is that "Jizz in My Pants" is one of the rare SNL clips available on the Google-owned YouTube:

NBC has a tortured relationship with YouTube, and takes a hard line toward enforcing copyright. The video's presence on YouTube likely has something to do with the fact that the song is the first single from Universal Music Group's upcoming release, "Incredibad," and the label has some interest in building an audience for it. The video was uploaded by Samberg's production company, The Lonely Island.

NBC is trying to make a buck from the short on its own site via advertising from Nissan and Wrigley's, where the video is receiving far fewer views (561,000). NBC also gets 70%-80% of the ad revenue from sales on Hulu.com, which doesn't disclose views but is running the video with an Absolute Vodka ad.

Last month, Ars Technica speculated that Samberg's viral hit "Lazy Sunday" was responsible for YouTube's $1.5 billion sale. The video, which debuted in December 2005, is widely credited with introducing YouTube to America, but NBC had it removed from the site so it could host it exclusively in its own player.

Watch Samberg's hit clips below:

The latest, Jizz in My Pants:

The first, Lazy Sunday:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

The View's Sherri Shepherd Doesn't Get That Whole BC Thing, Insists "Jesus Came First" [VIDEO]
Posted by Danny Shea, Huffington Post on December 5, 2007 at 7:13 AM.

This post, written by Danny Shea, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

For whatever reason, the ladies on "The View" were discussing ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus this morning. Naturally, talk soon migrated to the topic of religion, and Sherri "I don't know if the world is flat" Shepherd came out to play. More specifically, to spew ignorance and a complete lack of understanding of basic world history! Discussing whether Christians were around during Epicurus' time (Epicurus lived from 341-270 B.C.), Sherri chimed in, "[The Greeks] had Christians 'cause they threw them to the lions."

When Whoopi tried to cautiously navigate her through the timeline of basic world events, saying, "I think this might predate that," Sherri responded, "I don't think anything predated Christians." Joy's attempt to explain the Greek-Roman-Christian chronology was futile, as Sherri insisted, "Jesus came first before them." Sherri's argument was all the more powerful due to her convincing "use your finger to write on the table" trick, but she can't fight the facts. Perhaps if Barbara were on today she would have explained THAT WHOLE B.C. THING (you know, as in, Before Christ).

UPDATE For more Sherri Shepherd insanity, click here.