Web Series

Synonyms:	Webseries, YouTube series
See also:	Fanvid, Vidding
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A web series (sometimes written webseries) is a series of episodic videos, usually with an overarching narrative, published to the internet. Web series may be produced by large corporations such as Microsoft or Netflix, or by independent creators.

Originating in the 1990s, web series have become more prominent and popular throughout the 2000s as creating, hosting and viewing high-quality online videos has become much cheaper and easier. Fan-created web series have similarly begun to gain more popularity over the past decade or two as a form of fan activity. As web series' popularity grows, more and more independent projects start to seek community backing. Many successful series relied on Patreon or Kickstarter campaigns to cover production costs.

Fannish web series could be seen as an extension of vidding culture or as an independent phenomenon, similar to how fannish webcomics are both related to and separate from print fancomics.

Notable Fannish Web Series

• The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: A modern Literary-Inspired Web Series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries became the first web series to win an Emmy in 2013.
• Carmilla: A web series adaptation of the novella Carmilla, Carmilla the web series gained a popular online following thanks in part to its LGBTQ+ representation.
• A Finger Slip: The Webseries: A planned web series adaptation of the popular BBC Sherlock fanfic A Finger Slip. A Finger Slip: The Webseries was successfully crowdfunded via Kickstarter in 2014, but has yet to release any episodes.
• Star Trek Continues: A fan-created web series continuation of the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series, which aimed to "boldly complete the original five-year mission." The series concluded in 2017.
• X-Men: Danger Room Protocols: Inspired by the '90s-era X-Men cartoons and arcade game, X-Men: Danger Room Protocols was a planned 18-part animated web series which shut down after a single episode due to legal pressure from Marvel.
• Red vs. Blue: A web series inspired by the Halo franchise that premiered in 2003.
• Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party: A comedy-horror series centered around a murder mystery dinner party gone awry with some of the world's most well-known authors as guests. Released in 2016.
• Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye: A spooky web series that combine episodes released on YouTube and a narrative podcast that the main characters actually produce inside the show. Production started in 2017, and the episodes (both video and podcast) premiered in 2020.
• Dream SMP: A semi-scripted roleplay series created inside of Minecraft that started in 2020 and quickly amassed a large following due to its many POV characters and overarching storylines.