For Canwest, the Internet is proving to be fertile ground for discovering TV properties, so it’s no surprise that after developing a pair of independently produced online shows for its specialty channels, the broadcaster is testing a new web video series of its own.

That series, JacLife, follows the fabulous lives of 24-year-old Jaclyn and her similarly telegenic friends/co-workers as they run their trendy boutique and hit the Toronto party scene. The Canuck take on MTV’s The Hills and The City, created and produced by Vanessa Grant for Slice.ca, would sound bubble-headed if it were fiction – but it’s true. The characters in the six five-minute webisodes are real, although some scripting was required to craft drama around these fashionistas. For example, in episode two, a model is late for their fashion show. OMG! Will they, like, die?

Canwest hopes they won’t. In fact, the caster hopes they will enjoy another life on TV, where it makes its bread and butter. ‘It’s an experiment to see what sort of uptick Jaclyn gets and whether the show resonates with viewers,’ says Paul Burns, VP digital media for Canwest. ‘Acting as an incubator for linear television is a role the digital space can play.’

Burns is emboldened by the case of If I Can Dream, Idol franchise creator Simon Fuller’s latest show, which follows the Hollywood journeys of showbiz wannabes. It launched last month exclusively on Hulu.

‘That’s a great example of someone who’s had success in the linear world and believes the online medium has some legitimacy and you can actually break a star using that medium,’ Burns says.

While JacLife’s TV readiness is being tested on the web, the show also bolsters Slice.ca‘s 18-35 female demo.

‘Slice is a brand that has incredible cachet and equity,’ Burns says. ‘Slice.ca needs way more than we’re currently giving users today. I’m proud of our website, but we need to really inject some serious life.’

While Canwest has not released JacLife’s audience numbers, Burns says they have exceeded expectations. He sees the property as ripe for product placement, but while there has been an ‘enormous amount of interest from a ton of sponsors,’ it is as of this writing unsponsored.

Ideally JacLife will follow in the footsteps of Bitchin’ Kitchen, Food Network’s spicy new cooking show made up of equal parts recipes, advice and stand-up comedy, all served up by the saucy Nadia G., whose featured meals include the ‘one night stand breakfast’ and the ‘get famous frittata’. Launched online at bitchinlifestyle.tv, the property gained momentum before distributor Tricon Films & Television pitched Food on a TV series.

While Bitchin’ Kitchen is edgy by Food’s usual standard, the channel was in fact looking to court younger viewers. Impressed by the size of Nadia G.’s audience and the activity in her online community, the specialty signed on, marking the first time it had brought a web series to TV. It airs Thursdays at 11 p.m. ET.

‘There are lots of ideas and there’s lots of talent to be mined online,’ says Leslie Merklinger, Food’s director of original production. ‘This won’t be the last time that we draw from that world.’

The fact that anyone can post their opinion on the web helps provide an effective and efficient way to gauge the potential of on-air talent.

‘If people don’t like you, you’re going to know it more immediately and more directly than with broadcast,’ Merklinger says. ‘You do get a real sense of how everyday viewers/users respond.’

She says the main challenge was converting the show’s clip format -featuring Nadia and her three correspondents – into a TV half-hour.

‘I advocated strongly that we not consider this ‘elevating’ it for television, but rather translating it, because I love the energy and feel of the Net, and I don’t think it’s an inferior platform at all – it’s just a different platform,’ she says.

Now partnered with a broadcaster, the producers partake in story sessions in which Merklinger vets the scripts. TV viewers will find more emphasis on the food itself, and while the webisodes have been shot in somebody’s kitchen, a proper set was constructed for TV.

Meanwhile, Showcase also recently added a web show to its broadcast lineup for the first time.

Pure Pwnage (pronounced ‘ownage’) is a mockumentary tracking 26-year-old Jeremy (played by co-writer Jarett Cale), who rules the video game world but soon finds he doesn’t hold the same status outside his mother’s basement. Splitting the action between Jeremy’s gaming and real-life adventures, the web show launched in 2004 and has boasted 200,000 unique monthly visitors. The half-hour TV iteration airs Fridays at 10 p.m.

The conversation between the show creators and the drama specialty, then owned by Alliance Atlantis, began four years ago.

‘The team was looking around at success stories that were really appealing to online users,’ recalls Tara Ellis, VP Showcase and drama content for Canwest. ‘Pure Pwnage was one that really popped, because it was doing something new and interesting and really getting some traction.’

It remained online until the makers hooked up with exec producers Catherine Tait, a renowned web expert, and gonzo filmmaker Ron Mann. With their guidance – and after essentially workshopping the material on the web for six years – they were ready for primetime.

And for a property that appealed mainly to gamers, that meant more focus on the compelling central character and his relationship with his brother Kyle (co-writer Geoff Lapaire), the one shooting the mock-doc whom we hear but don’t see, and his wacko friend FPS Doug (Joel Gardiner) and some new characters as well.

While Ellis says that the model of producing something on the cheap and putting it online to capture broadcaster attention wouldn’t work for a more high-key series like forthcoming police drama Copper, it does for Pure Pwnage.

‘It’s a property that appeals to a young male demographic. It’s the gaming demo – it’s the highest proportion of online users. And it’s a comedy,’ she says. ‘If you add all those up, it’s a great way to test that type of program.’