What are your Barbie memories? That’s the question asked by the sponsor of Amy Poehler’s new web series called SMART GIRLS AT THE PARTY, distributed by ON Networks.

Amy Poehler (SNL, Baby Mama, Blades of Glory) is one smart woman and she’s partnered up with her professional pals to create a series that celebrates how girls can succeed and make a difference simply by being themselves. Her co-producer friends are Meredith Walker, a former senior producer for NICK News and SNL Talent Development Head, and Amy Miles, a popular singer/songwriter and host of PBS’ Lomax: Hound of Music.

In this series of 8 shows (with more seasons already planned), Amy and friends interview each pre-teen girl to showcase the average smart girl next door. This type of show might have a real chance of helping other girls to boost their self-confidence. Unlike America’s Got Talent, American Idol or other shows that feature only the best talents in a few different areas, this show celebrates the diverse creative talents of kids like yours or mine. And at this young age a burgeoning talent of any kind (in girls and boys) needs encouragement. Perhaps a boost now will lead to a lifelong passion, a career path or something else truly great.

Check out the first episode with Cameron, a young writer.

What is often called the hardest job in the world that you’ll absolutely love? Parenting. And I can personally vouch for this.

It is. Hard - at times, but less when you use your common sense and follow your heart. Awesome - yes. All the time. I chose the word ‘awesome’ as opposed to ‘wonderful’ as I feel the former could imply something powerful but not necessarily good. What do I mean by that?

1. Realizing that these little souls believe everything you tell them, at least until they turn 12, or so I’ve heard. Not there yet.
2. Being forever subjected to that catch in your throat feeling with your eyes welling up every time you hear of anyone’s child dying or getting sick, being abused, abandoned, falling down and getting a boo-boo, succeeding, saying please and thank you, getting into Harvard, not getting into Harvard, getting married, becoming student of the month……I think you can see where I’m going here.

My ONLY caveat to this universal we-are-all-parents-of-every-child cult is this……this is a what a GOOD parent feels.

Maybe not everyone is a good parent. Take this couple in Strike.TV’s FAUX BABY. They think they want to have a baby but are very unsure whether they’ll be good parents or not. They seek counseling and get a faux baby to practice with. The web series follows their absurdly funny days and nights with their fake infant that pees, poops, cries and drinks hair conditioner formula.

In episode one I saw a very tender moment that happened to me. When a new mother rocks a fussy baby to sleep she is usually well-served to sing a lullaby. This new mom realized that she didn’t know the words to the ‘freakin’ song’ and I can relate. Who sings Rock-a-Bye Baby, Frere Jacques and the Grand Old Duke of York unless they’re rocking a cranky baby to sleep at 3am? Well, not me and not our character in Faux Baby. Of course, I didn’t do what SHE did shortly thereafter in the scene….but you’ll just have to watch it to see what I mean!

Now - if you’re pregnant or thinking of becoming so, click on this site: Lullaby Lyrics! and start learning those lullabies now.

PS—I love you, Jake & Roxy!

Getting Away with Murder is a smart and stylish comedy with a twist….a twist of a knife or a bullet to the gullet or something equally explosive. It’s both violent and hilarious, which somehow makes everything cartoon-y enough to not be as violent. Make sense? The theme song sets the tone for the artfully shot and acted series found on IFC.com. The vibe is early Peter Sellers in his 1967 Casino Royale phase.

Seth Silver is a twenty-something vet assistant who lives at home with his mother. OK, so maybe that’s NOT terribly unusual these days, but get this: he’s really a hit man. There are 16 episodes to choose from and they look great. I love the music and sound design which is often missing from current web series programming.

Right now I’ve been enjoying episodes #10-#14 where our hapless hero (played by Gilbert John) is trying to have a successful first date with Lily. Number #10 will start you on on this nice story arc. Of course once you view these you’ll be tempted to watch them all!

OK, I’m a little late to the party, but how great is ABIGAIL’S X-RATED TEEN DIARY! As she would say, please no haters!

I went to last Wednesday’s OMMA Video Conference in Century City courtesy of my good friends at Tremor Media (thanks Miles & Corey!), and heard Hayden Black’s excellent keynote speech. Spoiler alert! Hayden IS the 13 year Abigail, who’s stricken with Bloomberger’s Syndrome and a sharp wit. Her website is Kool! B sure 2 check it out: www.abisteendiary.com . Apparently this is a new URL as the last one was hacked, or something. Did I mention I came late to the party?

The latest episode (they come out on Tues & Thurs so use your Tubefilter Web TV schedule to remember), features a one-on-one with Brian “Kato” Kaelin of OJ and Cyborg 3 fame. Now as a true “Hollywood insider” myself, I thought I might not learn anything new, but I’m happy to say that I did! I learned that he used to date E.G. Daily, a fellow female rocker from way back. Her band used to play with my band at the now defunct Coconut Teaszer on Sunset & Crescent Heights. Len Fagen, where are you??

But, back to Abigail. She’s sweet, she has a BFF Madison, she loves Lance Armstrong and is very connected. She’s a beautiful, modern young girl. I suggest you tune in and see for yourself.

We yanks have enjoyed a lot of good talent from “down under”, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, INXS, The Bee Gees, Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin, to name a few. You can now add GIRL FRIDAY to your list. Girl Friday is a delightfully funny creature who finds a mobile phone on a tram and invites us into her wacky single life. She’s one part Bridget Jones/Singleton crossed with Toni Collette circa Muriel’s Wedding.

By all means visit her colorful website at GirlFriday.TV to get all of the video episodes, plus some bonus video footage, voicemail messages and more. Unfortunately for those outside of Australia, we can’t participate in the SMS text features, but if you’re reading this post from Melbourne, go for it and enjoy!

This Girl Friday preview with give you a sample of what to expect from the series:

Here’s an idea I wished I’d come up with: 4 thirty-ish women take the ‘book club’ concept one step further and decide to reenact the experiences one would get by reading the novel. This assumes of course that they’ve READ the book, but I am surmising here as the web series doesn’t start until Nov. 3rd.

CBS.com and it’s audience network family (plus others like YouTube, MSN and Yahoo) will get the distribution of this series of 8 episodes with Saturn as a sponsor on board. My parents have a Saturn and love it, so there. They didn’t join that Saturn-cult where other Saturn owners get together for a BBQ and all, but they love their car. How often can you say that about a car brand?

Novel Adventures stars some familiar faces including Daphne Zuniga (Melrose Place), Ashley Williams, Paola Turbay and Jolie Jenkins rounding out the band of merry adventuristas.

Here’s the preview video:

Watch CBS Videos Online

I see that Hemingway’s Old Man in the Sea is one of the novels they’ll “tackling”. I hope they do it justice. I read this book when I was fourteen and cried my eyes out. But, I’m into books in a big way, and in fact am hosting MY own book club meeting tonight. See you soon ladies!

Isn’t dating FUN?!?!

Don’t you just love that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling you get when you’re out with someone new? There are rules and yet, there really aren’t any rules, are there? Because people are individuals and men and women are from different planets, or so I’ve read.

I’ve found three of the funniest videos ever made about dating. The series is called Dating for Dumbasses and you can find them on Funnyordie.com. You can watch them in any order so I’ve chosen to attach the 3rd episode below. Be sure to catch all three - it’s well worth your time!

Kudos to Lauren Iungerich who directed and co-wrote, and Barret Swatek who stars and co-wrote the mini series. All of the acting is top-notch.

“…it’s pronounced like Be-yon-ce….” as Ylse would patiently explain, the spicy character played by Ruth Livier (”Resurrection Blvd”) in the eponymously-named web series.

Ylse webisode #4 is out today on You Tube and I recommend you check it out. Ylse is a young TV broadcaster bravely navigating the world of show business amongst a diverse group of characters including her handsome boss whom she not-so-secretly pines for, her bossy editor and a revolving door of co-stars and special guests.

The actors on Ylse switch from Espanol to Ingles throughout each show which is an added benefit; not only to bilingual viewers but to those of us educated in the U.S. public school system. I can tell you I benefited from my 3 years of elective Spanish classes. OK, it WAS a requirement to get into my university. Go Bruins!

Speaking of learning a new language, did you hear about iKnow? It’s a really cool website in beta where one can learn Japanese! I’ve just started and can now say more than the few words I picked up from that Styx song.

Ylse is funny and sweet and loaded with the occasional F-bomb, so what’s not to like? Point your cursor to the first episode below to get started on the journey. Vaya Con Dios!

No, that’s NOT a typo, and whilst redundant, it’s not inexact. The Easy Bake Lovin’ web series is a word play on the classic Easy Bake Oven by Kenner that we all owned at one time or another. Of course, when a girl grows up she migrates to a Kenmore or a Kitchen Aid, or if she’s very very good, perhaps a Wolf range, Sub-Zero and TMIO Oven ensemble.

This delightful series follows our heroine, Piper around the kitchen and into her magnetic, quixotic persona. She’s a little ‘off’ but that’s what makes her so interesting to watch. Catch new episodes every Tuesday and if you’re like me, you’ll also become a friend of hers on Facebook and MySpace.

Seriously, the actress Rebecca Ann Johnson is really talented. I don’t know how much of these shows are scripted vs. ad libbed but our fair thespian deserves fans and acclaim, and a boyfriend already.

♥ I know it’s October and all, but catch her Sexy Summer Sangria episode♥

….you had me at “cookie”.

What woman doesn’t like a cookie? What woman doesn’t like the twisted, soap opera intrigue of romance and complicated relationships? Put it all in a mix with some campy wink-wink attitude and it’s irresistible, even if it IS packaged as a very creative commercial for Peak Freens Lifestyle Selection cookies. I think the correct term now is “branded entertainment”.

I was skeptical when I started watching As The Cookie Crumbles online. It’s about half-way through it’s online run with new episodes released every Thursday on its destination site and several others, including DailyMotion.

These Canadians are fun to watch. I found each episode more likable, and will bookmark it to see what happens next. I think women over 30 (who Kraft is likely targeting with this product, especially the healthier versions of the cookies promoted in the series), will enjoy it’s cheekiness. They might even be inclined to seek out the Peek Freans biscuits themselves.

What do YOU think of this kind of content — does the commercial sponsorship inspire or irritate? Here’s the preview video: