James Franco Has Another New Project. Surprised?

AOL is making big moves when it comes to their original programming which is probably news to you because you didn't know AOL had original programming. According to Entertainment Weekly, AOL picked up shows from James Franco, Zoe Saldana, and Steve Buscemi among others at their NewFront presentation on Tuesday. AOL ordered "16 mostly unscripted programs with episode lengths of 10 minutes or less." The company which is best known for sending free trial CD-ROMs in the mail, already has several other online shows including #CandidlyNicole with Nicole Richie and a series called Unscripted in which actors interview one another.

So what do the new acquisitions mean for those of you who are only interested because of the actors mentioned above? Franco, Saldana, and Buscemi are all producing series for AOL. Franco's is called Making a Scene with James Franco and will show Franco and his buddies talking about their favorite films and recreating scenes. Saldana's My Hero "follows different celebrities in every episode as they pay a surprise visit to someone who helped change their lives," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Saldana said of the show, "There's at least one person in everyone's life that they will always be grateful to. We wanted to create a show in celebration of those people." Buscemi's show, which was previously announced, is called Park Bench and features the actor talking to celeb friends and strangers on a... park bench.

AOL also picked up a show from Kevin Nealon and Ellen DeGeneres called Kevin Nealon's Laugh Lessons in which famous comedians will teach comedy to kids.

While most of the shows are short-format, AOL also picked up its first full-length series. Connected, a 30 minute show, will follow five New Yorkers who are seemingly unconnected as they "explore the concept of family in New York City."

It's unlikely AOL will become the next Netflix, but the big names attached to the new projects are sure to help get the word out. Maybe by this time next year people will have stopped saying, "Wait a minute... AOL has shows?"