Diller will play sugar daddy to Notional; the IAC chairman will fold it into his ConnectedVentrues division, alongside CollegeHumor.com. The video content will be similar — cheap to make, zeitgeisty — but on television proper rather than the Web. Read: Potentially more lucrative. Reports PaidContent:

The focus will be unscripted programming, broader than comedy aimed at young males that they have been known for, and will include all genres.

Van Veen will report directy to Diller. The elder mogul has run Paramount, Fox and USA Broadcasting and no doubt relishes the chance to bestow his knowledge on an adoring young acolyte. One imagines Diller might become something of a father to Van Veen. Or perhaps more like a stepfather.

(Pic: Van Veen, by Nick Gray)

Super Deluxe
My personal favorite. Turner started this site in January, seeded with sketches by comedians like cartoonist Brad Neely (creator of the "Washington" music video), standup artist Eugene Mirman, Law and Order actor Richard Belzer, News Radio actor Dave Foley (running a talk show from bed), and NYC comedian Chelsea Peretti (her schtick is asking strangers to be her friend). I also recommend sketch group Honor Student (which ran a "Pay it Forward" style clip about a kid with a weiner joke) and actor Bobby Tisdale (who plays an awkward B&B owner who raises a fighting cock).

So far, Super Deluxe has the most (and most consistently) funny videos of the whole crowd. A surprising number come from user submissions. The whole thing is beautifully put together in a well-designed site with tastefully integrated ads. The only problem? There's not enough new stuff each day.

Rating: HILARIOUS

Acceptable.tv
Acceptable.tv has its own set of producers who make shows like Homeless James Bond (oh. my. god. watch now) and Lord of the Phils. Acceptable.tv features pretty high-budget shows (more expensive-looking than an SNL sketch) but keeps an indie feel to the comedy.

Apparently Jack Black helped shepherd this project based on Channel 101, a monthly video showdown where aspiring filmmakers made episodic films for theater and internet audiences. Jack Black, Sarah Silverman, and a pre-SNL Andy Samberg all participated in that.

At Acceptable.tv, the user submissions kick ass too. For instance, L33t Haxxors (again. oh. my. god. watch) actually makes new hacker jokes: the heroes meet a bouncer who asks for a password, so they shout "Your phone number! ABCD! Your mom's phone number! Password!" Contextual ads flick across the screen. Someone wears a Digg t-shirt. That's why this sketch won a spot on VH1 along with the top-user-rated producer-made shows.

Rating: HILARIOUS

Rooftop Comedy
This site has a more baroque feel. Most of the clips are from standup routines, and the comedic styles feel more old-school.

Rooftop is the most orderly of the comedy video sites, putting clips into channels like "songs," "politics," and "bathroom humor." No one clip blows me away (except for the clever This American Life send-up by Kasper Hauser), but the collective effect of watching ten thirty-second clips is fun. Also dig the "daily 8" sidebar, which satisfies the craving for a new clip much better than sites like Super Deluxe, where clips can reappear on the front page months after they first show up.

The downside: Standup doesn't play as well on the internet. Also, the banner ads constantly reload, which doesn't do much when there are only about three ads to cycle through.

Rating: FUNNY

Funny or Die
If other video sites were a football team, Will Ferrell's new site "Funny or Die" would be the aspirational water boy. The videos are crap, the design's crap, and the random-stream-of-videos-regardless-of-quality interface means skipping a lot of low-rated clips that should already be out of rotation. It's like this site is designed to hurt you. But replacing the usual five-star system with a no-nonsense vote — after every clip, you get to rate it "funny" or "die" — is a smart trick that could turn this into the best user-voted collection of comedy.

Just not yet.

Rating: MEH

Nick Douglas writes for Valleywag and Look Shiny. You can't rate Look Shiny, which is probably good news for Nick.

Andy Samberg: Before he was Timberlake's partner in "Dick in a Box" or one of the white boys in "Lazy Sunday," the SNL repertory player posted videos and songs at The Lonely Island. I recommend "The Heist" (a better white rap) and "The 'Bu" (a serial).

That Crazy Lady At Violent Acres: No one knows who she is, but she is insane. At the age of 6, she beat up a boy while screaming "I'LL EAT YOUR EYES!" She hasn't gotten calmer.

Skot at "Izzle pfaff!": A new find. From his blog: "I, however, am a fucking ninja for snow driving. I grew up in Idaho, motherfucker! I took driver's ed in eight inches of snow. How do I know it was eight inches of snow? I measured it with my dick. RAR!"

Ze Frank: The funniest videoblogger out there will end his show in March, and then he's off to Hollywood. While the average daily episode is good, the gold is in classic musical numbers like Hindsight is 20/20 and one-offs like "Fingers in Food."

Brad Neely: I first heard about this guy when he made "Washington," a video in which the first president ate opponents' brains and invented cocaine. (He'll kick you apart!) Neely now releases videos on the new Super Deluxe video site, including the better version of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Iggy Pop's roadie: He wrote a wicked concert rider for the band. "Required: 2 heavy duty floor-mounted fans. So I can wear a scarf and pretend to be in a Bon Jovi video."

David Malki: Writer of Wondermark, one of those delightful "classic clip art mashed with ironic modern sensibility" comics. Except funny.

Matthew Baldwin: The writer of Defective Yeti "puts the 'i' in 'teaim.'" Recent posts include the Pam spray solution to kids opening doorknobs, generational humor, and his ungrateful cats. It's not a gut-buster but a reliable chuckle.

Gabriel Delahaye: Known at his home blog, Corporate Casual, as Worker #3116, Delahaye writes passages like:

"When someone uses the word "funky" I feel like my ears are being date raped by a sad, sad man. Like...you go on a date with someone and they are just really lame and the date goes horrible and then later, when they are forcibly penetrating you, you're like "THIS GUY?! I'M BEING DATE RAPED BY THIS GUY?!" And if you're talking about something for which no other adjective seems appropriate, then maybe you should realize that NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT THAT THING."

Daniel Radosh: The New Yorker contributor responded to the magazine's reader-contributed caption contest by hosting his own anti-caption contest. Dig his analysis of Thomas Nelson's audio Bible casting decisions. "Samuel L. Jackson, motherfucker. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Not to mention, I've had it with these motherfuckin' snakes in this motherfuckin' garden."

Ryan North: Dinosaur Comics is, hands-down, the funniest daily comic online. Every day it's the same dinosaurs, in the same poses, with different dialogs.

Bob Powers: Girls Are Pretty, and Bob Powers has a thing for you to celebrate each day. Today, for example:

"Your Boyfriend Is An Expert Juggler Day!

He can juggle up to five small items at once. It is very impressive to children and simpler adults.

'Leave him,' your therapist says. 'People learn to juggle when they feel the need to maintain various deceptions. More often than not, a man who knows how to juggle has a secret wife and kids hidden someplace.'"