Webseries Week: Not Not Guilty

You may remember the hilarity of Tugg ‘n Chugger’s Midnight Barbecue at this year’s St-Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival. From the mind of Kris “Tugg” Hagen comes Not Not Guilty, a webseries about a convict named Todd who gets placed under house arrest — along with a half-dozen other criminals who invade his home by order of a new government plan.

It’s not the most believable of premises, but man is this show funny. The characters are stunningly well-developed and well acted. There’s Darwin, the internet-obsessed nerd; Carl, the pothead; Plickerson, the power-tripping parole officer; and Tara, Todd’s adulterous ex-girlfriend, just to name a few. Of course, endless love triangles and bickering abound. Though these characters may sound absolutely ridiculous, they are never over-the-top or annoying. They are just plain hilarious. Then again, it definitely helps that there are a couple of straight-man characters to balance them out: the protagonist, Todd, as well as another of his fellow convicts, Samantha, an ex-nun/would-be prostitute who is surprisingly down-to-earth. Though the series’ production value is pretty low, Not Not Guilty absolutely worth watching for its masterful writing. If anything, watch it just to find out what Todd’s crime was. The reveal is subtle and touching.

Unfortunately, the series ends abruptly on a cocktease cliffhanger, with no concrete plans to finish it off, but it’s still worth checking out the five episodes that are up. Kris Hagen is a talented individual, one to watch out for. He wrote, directed and starred in this series, as well as wrote and performed the entire soundtrack. The theme song is actually pretty catchy, and I hear he plans to go further with music. I can’t wait to see/hear what he comes up with next!

-Vic