New York State of Mind

From YouTube.com user: theresident

She's called "The Resident" -- from her videos you don't know much about her, other than the fact that she's a clever and cynical New Yorker with an uncanny knack of honing in on subjects that find every NYC resident stumped. It takes one to know one: as one fellow New Yorker to another, The Resident's features show topics that are consistently hilarious and incredibly entertaining!

Our very amiable producer and host is Lori Harfenist. Before bringing her interview shows to the Internet she originally created the videos for her cable-access TV show by the same name: The Resident. The shows have run in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and, of all places, Burlington, Vermont.

The Resident introduces itself as "Your much needed weekly dose of counter culture, and "The talk show that talks back." That hooked me. And with the high quality and nice variety of her videos we're surprised she doesn't have more subscribers on YouTube. Perhaps the YouTube generation's short attention span.

The Resident does have somewhat of a cult following from her cable show, YouTube and MySpace viewers. And she regularly receives a lot of feedback from her regular viewers who express their very frank and, uh, alternative viewpoints, on her and her segments.

The video above is "The Year in Review- short version"- the full version is a full half-hour, which I just didn't have the patience for, but my abridged version gets the point across: our ever-entertaining reporter interviews people about their "accomplishments" (and I use that term loosely) in 2006, and their goals for 2007, with the backdrop of the infamous, ridiculously overcrowded lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.

The Resident: Episode One (19:12)

There are several things that make The Resident videos stand out: other than outstanding recording quality, Lori Harfenist has a great interview style and she never misses a beat. Her bright smile and perky personality seem to make every one of her unsuspecting interviewees more than amenable to any kind of light-hearted teasing she throws their way ... and everyone gladly plays along, which consistently makes for an interesting show.

NYC Apartment Life

The only real downside (which was unique to the video above) was the "2nd interviewer," who I thought way over-played his "crotchety old man" shtick. It takes more than a loud, strange man to shock a New Yorker, or to provide entertaining reality TV. Remember: us New Yorkers deal with things like public urination, vibrant cross-dressers and B-list celebrities every day of our lives. We're used to it.

My advice for The Resident shows: stick to the up-front interview style you have going on with the young, charismatic Lori Harfenist, and you've got a sure-fire hit.

K-Fed at Webster Hall

I admit that once I started watching The Resident, I was hooked! Perhaps it's because I'm also an embittered New Yorker who is boggled by the absurdity of urban living that surrounds me 24/7, but all the topics really struck a chord.

Other episodes I highly recommend: - How much bang for your buck (yes, that is supposed to be ironic) do you get in your teeny, tiny NYC apartment?

- Exciting, LIVE coverage of the K-Fed Webster Hall concert.

Blanket Markets

- An experiment in the streets of NY: Will people really buy useless crap off a dirty blanket from an anonymous stranger in the City? (short answer: a resounding yes ... though, as you'll see, location really does matter).

For more information about the show itself, be sure to check out their official website too: www.theresident.net.