''Tiki Bar TV'' is a video

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

, or "

vodcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

". Each episode features a problem that is rectified by the episode's namesake cocktail, which is scribbled on a prescription pad by ''Dr. Tiki'' and "filled" by bartender ''Johnny Johnny'' who explains how to make the

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

. Examples include the Suffering Bastard (episode 2), Fog Cutter (episode 8), Volcano Bowl (episode 11),

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

(episode 14), and Blue Hawaiian (episode 25). The drinks did not always follow conventional recipes. ''Lala'' is the Tiki Bar's primary denizen who opens each episode with a dance. Most episodes also include a segment called "Tiki Mail," where mail from viewers or disgruntled neighbours is answered, and then ends with outtakes or the cast dancing. Originally shot in an apartment's

tiki bar A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a rom ...

on a low budget, the humorous and heavily ad-libbed show was a creative outlet for its creators Jeff Macpherson and Kevin Gamble. The show garnered additional attention after being mentioned at Apple's iPod Video launch. Tiki Bar TV was shown in Apple stores worldwide as part of a 6-month promotion in 2006. The first episode was released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on March 13, 2005, with each episode being approximately 5 minutes in length. The show originated from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, and has not been updated since Episode 45 (December 12, 2009). It was produced by Tosca Musk and is considered by many to be one of the pioneering video podcasts credited with launching the genre.

Characters

*Doctor Tiki, PhD, MD, USB a.k.a. Reginald Hornstein ( Jeff Macpherson) writes the cocktail prescriptions in each episode. His doctorate is in "Tiki," and he is usually wearing a lab coat and stethoscope. *Johnny Johnny, Mixologist a.k.a. Jonathan J. Jonathan ( Kevin Gamble) is the leopard-print fez wearing bartender who makes the cocktails that the Doctor prescribes. *Lala a.k.a. Beatrice Fastwater (Lara Doucette). She usually wears a provocative dress and broad grin. In episode 10, we learn that she is not as ditzy as she appears; she has an engineering degree and in short time built a self-aware robot capable of nearly fulfilling all of Johnny Johnny’s roles. The performers go un-credited and unabashed

stage names A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

are given. Jeff Macpherson, who plays "Dr. Tiki," introduces himself as actor "Reginald Hornstein," and when "Lala" breaks character, she speaks as actress "Beatrice Fastwater."

Minor characters

*Limey - (Lee Tockar) A lounge lizard in a reptile leather jacket. Introduced in Episode 2 and commonly known as "The Limey Bastard," he is the most frequently appearing minor character. *Mr. Ambassador - (Gio Corsi) A

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era ambassador from the USSR in a red fez who plants a spy camera in the Tiki Bar, unfreezes Lala, and steals Lala's original plans for Drinkbot to build "Robot Box." *Kip - (Matthew McInnis) A "Guy with Woes" who frequents the bar. *The Duke of Url - (Francis Rock) A British man on a tour of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. *Drinkbot - (Colin Beadle) Robot that Lala creates to replace Johnny Johnny, which goes on a rampage after failing to understand the concept of "love." *Rocket Billy - (Tygh Runyan) A 50s era greaser who delivers the Tiki Mail. *Space Cadet - ( Nicki Clyne) Girl from "The OuterSpace" who comes to the Tiki Bar to learn Earth dance moves. *The Bastard Illegitimate Son of the Father of the Internet (BISOTFOTI) (

Alex Albrecht Alexander Jennings Albrecht (born August 14, 1976) is an American television personality, actor and podcaster. He is known for co-hosting the former G4techTV television program ''The Screen Savers'', an hour-long computer and technology variety ...

) The illegitimate son of the father of the internet from episode 20. *Poindexter (

Kevin Rose Robert Kevin Rose (born 1977) is an American entrepreneur, Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's ''The Screen Savers''. From 2012 to 2015, he was ...

) Tech Support guy for Tiki Bar TV.

Merchandise

In May 2009, Secret Lab, an independent

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developer based in Hobart, Australia announced the development of a Tiki Bar TV-themed computer game, entitled ''Day of the Tiki'', to be released in Summer 2009. It was then delayed to sometime in 2010.

Awards

In 2009 Tiki Bar TV was nominated for three

Streamy Awards The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wr ...

: an audience choice award and two craft awards for

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and

production design In film industry, film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and ...

. On March 26, 2009 at the 1st Annual Streamy Craft Awards the show's production designer, Kim Bailey, received the first ever Streamy award for Production Design / Art Direction from the

International Academy of Web Television The International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) was founded in 2008 and is devoted to the advancement of the arts and sciences of streaming television and web series production. Since 2011, the academy has hosted an annual awards ceremony ca ...

References

External links

Official Tiki Bar TV websiteLive chat with TikiBar performers
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120805125939/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/artslife/story.html?id=aadbdfb5-4d90-424e-b638-4c9232c69cdf&k=56529 "Doctor! I need a triple"by Laura Lind, ''National Post'', January 30, 2006, retrieved February 2, 2006
"Interview on Podcast 411"
Item #176, November 22, 2006
"CBC Television hires videoblog celebrity as late-night host"
{{Podcasting 2005 web series debuts Video podcasts Tiki culture