Joost is a company that operates in a relatively new – and rapidly growing – space. In our short lifespan, we’ve not only become the first aggregator to make professional video programming available, legally, over the Internet, but we have also live-streamed a number of events, including March Madness, and some live channels. We’ve already accomplished a lot, but we’re not done and we’re striving to make many key changes to improve Joost, many of which you will see for the first time on our website today. We have experimented with different methods of delivery, listened to your feedback, and today we’re taking the wraps off something we’ve been working hard on for a while and are extremely excited to share with all of you.

1. We have moved to a Flash player. That means – at least for the vast majority of Internet users – we are now download-free. If you want to watch a video on Joost, you just have to type in www.joost.com.
2. We’ve always been about a social video experience – and our new web-based version lets us provide a deeper social experience than we were able to in our Joost software. With our new social tools, we’ve come even closer to bridging this gap and bringing the inherently social nature of video into the online world.
3. Content, content, content. Since January, we’ve doubled the number of videos on our site currently offer 46,000 professionally-produced videos and more than 8,000 hours of video entertainment. That doesn’t mean that we’re done getting new shows, music or film – we’ll have some exciting new content to announce over the next few weeks – but we know that good content is important to you, and that remains our key priority.

One last thing – our content offering will continue to vary by geographical area. We are a global service, and are committed to offering great video entertainment around the world, but we are also committed to offering that programming to you on a legal basis.

What you see today is just the beginning – we are not done evolving. We will continue to bring you the best content available on the web, and more ways to express yourself around the content. To borrow a word from “old” TV, stay tuned.

Finally, after feels like a Presidential campaign that's been going on for no less than three years, we are less than three weeks away from Election Day here in the U.S., and I, for one, am suffering from a case of election fatigue.

I’m not discounting the importance of politics or democracy – but remember when things used to be shorter? And when the elections were simpler? Like for “most beautiful senior” or, say, a new mascot. I admit that the consequences of these elections aren’t *quite* as significant as this year’s Presidential election, but they were more entertaining…and best of all, they all were over in less than an hour.

That’s why we’re introducing our “A Very Special Episode: The Elections” channel.* It’s a look back at some of the political lessons we’ve learned from TV in the past – kind of like an after-school special, but without the crises and lessons to grow on.

But, with a shout out to LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it…

"I was just a kid when I viewed Welcome back Kotter for the first time. The election episode still stands out. It did put the election process together for young people to understand at the time. Now that times have changed significantly (mostly for the worse), shows of that caliber are not around anymore. We learned a lot from relatable characters such as Barbarino, Washington, Epstein, Horshack, Kotter, Woodman and the list goes on. They all helped us laugh at the issues of the time."
– Ferf Ziamond

"This is one of my favorite "Facts of Life" episodes. I love how Blair goes through such great lengths to be "Deep Throat" in order to fool Natalie and try to stop her from winning the election. Hilarious!"
– toscarooney

* Sorry, this channel is only available in the U.S.

If there’s one thing that this year’s U.S. Presidential election, and, lately, the entire U.S. political system, has given everyone – regardless of where you live – is an extremely decent dose of humor.

Fortunately, we have an extremely healthy dose of comedy that’s centered around this year’s election. There’s intentional comedy, like the War on the White House and Barely Political…and then there are the late night talk show hosts. This election has been a field day for all of them – Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman, to name a few.

Letterman, especially, has gotten a lot of mileage out of this election. It started when McCain failed to show up for a scheduled appearance in September. To put it bluntly, Letterman was none too pleased that McCain suspended his campaign because the economy was in crisis and he had to fly back to Washington ASAP. Letterman was even less pleased when he found out McCain didn't actually return to Washington that night.

A couple of hours, though, McCain unsuspended his campaign suspension and was back on the trail. I'm guessing at some point after that he figured out pretty quickly that he maybe shouldn't have jilted Letterman. Finally, last night, after being the butt of one-too-many Letterman jokes, McCain showed up. And we could tell you all about it – but you’ll enjoy watching the mea culpa and awkward squirming more than you’ll enjoy reading about it.

It’s not often that you look forward to Mondays. If there’s a major holiday that makes Monday the third day of an extended weekend, then you might be excited for it, but even if you like your job or school, it’s tough to give up your weekend freedom.

But we’re going to try to change this today … with our new feature, “What’s New Monday.” Some days, like today, it will be a look at some of the new shows on Joost you might not have found yet, but sometimes we’ll tell you about new features.

Some of today’s highlights are:

• VBS.TV – The guys behind Vice Magazine make video – which is good news, because there are times, like, say, when you’re at “work” or “studying,” when pulling out a magazine is not appreciated. We have six VBS channels: VBS Meets has interviews; VBS News has stories that you won’t see on the 6 o’clock news; Sports goes to the extreme with bull riding, skateboarding and ultimate fighting; Toxic is a sobering look at our environment; and Music World, in addition to music, explores musical events and culture in far-flung corners of the world. And then there’s the Culture channel, which is taking an early lead as my favorite, because where else can I get killed by cute and learn about moonshine almost simultaneously?
• New Comedy Central Clips – In the U.S. we have clips from two of their newest shows – The Sarah Silverman Program, featuring, you guessed it, Sarah Silverman, and David Allan Grier’s Chocolate News.
• More anime – Also in the U.S., new from Nickelodeon, we have full Avatar episodes.

That's just a bit to help you get through the next four days.

Yes, Britney has a new music video – she’s back, she looks good, and the song is pretty catchy.

But she’s not the only female artist who’s released a new music video lately.

Beyonce and Ciara are in on the action too, so I thought it might be nice to take an overly simplified view of their lives, leaving out most of the scandal and juicy bits.

As a woman, I feel it’s important to highlight that all four songs feature important messages for women. Since that might not be as important for the men out there, I feel it’s important to point out that all four videos feature hot sexy women dancing hotly and sexily.

Every now and then a reality TV show comes along and reminds you why you started reality TV shows in the first place.

Premiering now on Joost (in the U.S., before it hits TV) is Redemption Song, which combines the best aspects of reality shows into one hour of goodness.

1. The singing component. Yes, this is a contest to get a recording contract, a la American Idol. And like American Idol, some of the performances are truly awful.

2. The “live in a house…with strangers” component. All 11 competitors live in the same house, a la The Real World – but in a special Goldilocks twist, there aren’t enough beds for everyone.

3. The all-girl component. A la America’s Next Top Model, all the contestants are female

4. The famous host component. In this case, it'sWWE star Chris Jericho.

5. The elimination component. Each week, one contestant is eliminated in what is the most brutal elimination ritual in reality TV history.

But there are a bunch of twists that make this show truly BRILLIANT (and this show, which is new today, is already become a staff favorite). Rather than being young and naïve, most of the contestants are in varying stages of down on their luck. Because I love the show so much, I watched it twice today, and I highly recommend it because I missed a bunch the first time around. Like Elisa – who mentioned that she was kicked out of Cobra Starship for dating the lead singer, until it’s uncovered, during a game of truth or dare, that she started STALKING said “boyfriend.”

Yes, I did say truth or dare – and it seems like the producers might have suggested that they play this game (some of the game might be too hot for TV, but we’re online, so watch the edited clips). Indeed, it seems like the producers are determined to throw as many obstacles, also known as copious amounts of alcohol, at these women. These ladies have a full bar (staffed, I might add, by a hot bartender) in the house. It’s a pretty good strategy: I’m sure Geffen Records doesn’t want to sign someone who’s headed straight for rehab (which, incidentally, happens to be one of the songs the ladies have to sing in their surprise elimination round) AND it provides plenty of fights and drunken ridiculousness. Keep in mind there are women in this house who have extremely hot tempers – like, Jazmin, who threw another woman through a window – and women like Mixi who was loaded when she auditioned for the show and resolves one fight by saying, "So, shots?"

Intentional and unintentional comedy aside, the show is also quite poignant. Some of these women have real talent but have faced tough challenges, made bad choices or just been plain unlucky. Redemption Song is probably the first time anyone has given them a chance, and they last chance they’ll have to make it.

* This is, in fact, the show's tagline.

I missed out on a lot of Must See TV the first time around. I went to university in rural New Hampshire, and when we actually did manage to get a TV my senior year, we couldn’t really get any channels. And even if we had, we reserved Thursday nights for, uh, “studying.”

But a couple of weeks ago, my colleagues Danny, John, Lauren and I were sitting around and talking about all the great retro TV shows we have on Joost. The conversation went off on a bit of a tangent, and then John had the brilliant idea: why don’t we “borrow” that great marketing idea of the ‘90s, but we’ll call it “Must Have Seen TV Thursdays.”

To kick it off – and because its underlying political themes are incredibly timely – we bring you Family Ties. I admit that I missed most of the underlying political themes in the ‘80s – I could’ve told you who the President but I couldn’t (and, to be honest, probably still can’t) explain Reaganomics. In fact, I always thought it was kind of weird that Alex P. Keaton spent all of his time in a button-down shirt and tie. Why would someone “voluntarily” dress up? My tomboy self identified more with Jennifer – Mallory was way too girly for me.

Looking back, I’m a little surprised that my liberal-leaning mother let me watch this show – did she ever fear one of her spawn would turn out to be a a card-carrying Young Republicans Club member who would someday want to hang a picture of William F. Buckley over the bed?

P.S. Also, check out “before they were famous” cameos by Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.

Did you know the human head weighs eight pounds?

If you did, do you recognize this person?

It's Jonathan Lipnicki, who came to fame with as Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire, and turned 18 this week.

Also make sure to check out Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) – a brand-new anime show that aired just weeks ago in Japan and is available on Joost in the U.S. now...or the new Bond theme song from Quantam of Solace, Another Way to Die, featuring Jack White and Alicia Keys.

Enjoy ... and have a great weekend.

This month has flown by. It's hard to believe it's the end of the month – yes, it’s colder, but at least for me, I need some visual proof to be able to tell that it's November. Which I’m sure I’ll get just after Halloween – when the pop-up costume shops disappear in moments and the holiday windows are unveiled.

But we have a lot going on this week – because it’s not just the last week of October, it’s also the last week before the U.S. Presidential Elections. And now, in case you missed them the first time around or you need a little more information before casting your ballot, you can watch all of the Presidential debates – and even the Vice Presidential debate. Wink wink.

It’s also the final run up to Halloween. While the scariest thing about Halloween is likely to be the effects on your teeth and your waistline, it’s a good time to remind yourself that we may not be alone out there. We know there are plenty of web spoofs out there, but Paranormal TV brings you caught-on-camera evidence of ghosts, witches and haunted houses – it’s up to you to decide if they’re real or not.

When you're not busy researching, laughing at or escaping the election or planning your Halloween party, check out the Portable Film Festival. It's the film festival that comes to you and that you can take with you wherever you go. They’re mostly shorts, (it’s been a nice late afternoon snack-time break for me lately), and they’re great stories. My current faves are F.O.T. – Champion of the World, URNT4ME and My Name is Lisa – which probably says something about me, but I'm not sure what.

Yes, yes, it is the final countdown to the elections, and to Halloween, but I am actually referring to the song from one of the great hair bands of the ‘80s, Europe. This week the song kicks off our new Monster Ballads channel, where grown, hairy men express their vulnerabilities and their love in song. Over the last 20 years, fashion and grooming have improved – and these songs are on their way to becoming “classics.” Or at least web parody karaoke classics. You’ll want to listen to the entire playlist because – and I can’t believe I’m embarrassing myself like this admitting this in “public” – but the last song on the list is the first single I ever bought.

If the emotions wrought from these power ballads are too much for you, take a break with our Halloween Costume Party Playlist – videos where the artists have dressed up in costume. Now you might think to yourself that singers are always dressed up when they’re performing, but there’s a difference between “dressing up” and “dressing up in costume.” At least we think there is.

Finally, to keep with this Tuesday's musical theme, we have our first Joost Jockey. He’s probably most famous as a rapper but he’s also an actor and has a new reality show premiering tonight in the U.S. Need another hint? His first hit was Gangsta’s Paradise. Still stumped? Well, the name of his new show gives it away – it’s Coolio’s Rules – and you can check out some clips from the show as well as his favorite Joost shows and videos now on Coolio’s Joost Jockey page.