Greetings, YouTube aficionados. I’m Ellie Coral, and I’ll be taking you through another batch of recipes and sarcastic observations surrounding a piece of our modern pop culture. But first, let’s go back in time, back to a blurry 360p video that helped bring about a new medium of online entertainment.
In April of 2008, Doug Walker uploaded a video where he reviewed the 2007 Transformers movie. It wasn’t so much a review as it was a stream-of-consciousness retelling of the movie’s events, complete with frenzied gesticulations and sound effects. It was exuberant and quirky, and it made a profound impression on everyone who watched it.
It was only the beginning. Donning a simple black cap and a sloppy red tie, Doug sat in a computer chair in front of a muted beige wall and took on a variety of films and TV shows from his generation’s childhood. The Nostalgia Critic had arrived.
So began an adventure through content creation like no other. Characters like Chester A. Bum, Dominick the bartender, and Dino Rob added to the lunacy. Commercial review specials! A rivalry with the Angry Video Game Nerd! The wall changed color!* And many, many copyright strikes on YouTube threatened to grind the party to a halt.
This led to the creation of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, which eventually morphed into Channel Awesome. Whatever its name, the site drew in a variety of other online reviewers aiming to use Doug as a springboard for their copycat careers—I mean, contributors who helped add their unique *cough* voices to this growing niche.
Then came the anniversary movies. These giant projects involved many of the Channel Awesome reviewers joining the Critic in a full-length absurd adventure. Out of all these crazy endeavors, To Boldly Flee was the king of them all. The 2012 eight-part adventure dramedy pitted the Critic and other Channel Awesome goobers against a maleficent force known as the Plot Hole (just go with it). In order to save the universe and his cohorts’ livelihoods, the Critic sacrificed himself to the amorphous menace. Thus the Nostalgia Critic series ended.
Here’s the kicker: Doug had planned the Critic’s death as a surprise (if you want to avoid spoilers for this batch, watch from 25:24 to 26:32). No hints to the fans, no heads up for the other site producers. Just a big jolt to everyone who ever loved the character or depended on the site’s biggest and main draw to stabilize their careers. Fans and Channel Awesome producers alike were shocked.
The internet fell into fathomless sorrow. Bitter tears. Gnashing of teeth. Rolling in ash. Renting of garments. Etcetera.
But the stage was set. The Critic’s corpse was unceremoniously swept off into the wings to make way for an ambitious project that Doug and his brother Rob hoped would usher in a new line of original material for Channel Awesome in the years to come.
It was not welcomed.
You may be wondering where I was among the viewers in all this. (And if you’re not, tough cookies, I’m telling anyway.)
Now, I’m gonna be honest here… I never took an interest in the anniversary movies. Not because I thought they would be crap, but for a reason most content creators don’t want to hear: I didn’t like a lot of the reviewers.
It’s commendable that Doug included the others in reviews and crossovers, but as influential as he is, he couldn’t get me to care about most of the Channel Awesome producers. I like books, but I don’t walk into a Barnes & Noble and buy every copy from every genre off the shelves. You wouldn’t, either, so don’t expect me to sit through every video ever uploaded.
Why won’t I? Well, I have only so many hours in a day, my own projects keep me occupied, and my misanthropy has rendered me incapable of giving a shit about every person who throws something into the universe. Music analyses, anime, comic books, or Excruciatingly Dry Observations of Social Issues in Film While Trying to Channel Daria Morgendorffer 101 never piqued my interest. Even if the Channel Awesome head honchos had promoted the hell out of the bottom tier reviewers, I still would have ignored them like the Kardashian rags in the checkout line.
But take heart, former Channel Awesome drudges. In his small way, Doug has granted you some form of immortality, and this YouTube junkie will one day wonder in her old age “Whatever happened to That Obnoxious Somebody With The Dumb Moniker?”
Anyway, because of sticking to a handful of Channel Awesome producers and not watching the anniversary movies, I was kind of out of the loop about the Critic’s death. I only heard about it through the echoes of wailing from diehard fans. The news surprised me, but I had a more pressing concern: Getting acclimated to working life again after my husband had lost his job.
After eight hours of physical labor and time spent away from my computer, I was more concerned with working on my own projects than watching a lot of YouTube. By the time I’d gotten into a groove where I could do a day job, work on my projects, and enjoy YouTube again, Demo Reel had long been cancelled and the Nostalgia Critic was back… which was another shock to me, but it was kind of a nice welcome back gift after my return to the blue-collar world. Nobody was making a big deal over Demo Reel anymore and it wasn’t showing up in my feed, so I paid it no mind…
… until June of 2018, over five years after its demise, when the first video in the series showed up in my sidebar suggestions. Without a second thought, I moused over to the thumbnail.
I had to see why people lost their ever-loving shit over it.
So come along with me as I watch one of Channel Awesome’s most loathed projects and determine if it’s truly deserving of the hate it garnered during its short life. Before we delve in, I’m sure you have some questions. Here are a handful I predict will come up or have been raised to me while I was working on this batch. Not to be all spoilery, but I was inspired by the alcoholic Harry Potter drinks I modified for the Draco Dormiens slog and made a few boozy treats. I hope you’ll enjoy them or at least be amused by the fact that I took time and effort to make them.
How long is this going to last?
This is a biweekly (every other week) batch that will last from March to June. If that feels long to you, I’ve been at this since June 2018. You don’t have a right to complain.
So is this a review or a recap?
Yes.
Are you going to be covering the Demo Reel extras?
No, just the core episodes. It’ll save me time and alcohol.
Do I really have to watch the episodes?
It’ll help, because I’m not going to cover every minute of every episode. There are some jokes and dialogue that, frankly, I don’t want to spoil. Besides, it’s not gonna kill you. Quit your bitching.
Why did you do this?
I thought it would be fun. I was suffering burnout from the Draco fanfic and a short YouTube series seemed like the thing to revitalize my reviewing interests. It also gave me a chance to make original recipes, which I’ve been wanting to do for ages.
Are these recipes safe?
I can still see and breathe normally, so I’m guessing they are.
Have you made non-alcoholic versions of these drinks?
No. I began experimenting with these recipes in June 2018. It seems like a long time to fiddle with ingredients and measurements, but when you mix in a day job, other creative projects, cost of ingredients and tools, and a life (such as it is), the time flies fast.
Are you implying I have to be drunk to watch Demo Reel?
No, but it may be fun. Give it a try and tell me what crazy shit you did under the influence. I’m willing to join a prison pen pal exchange.
I’m not impressed with some of these recipes.
Then I kindly invite you to go to hell.
Seriously, drink them or don’t, makes me no never mind.
I am a personal friend of/a fan of/am actually one of the people here you’ve disparaged. I demand an apology/a pound of your flesh/your head on a platter for what you’ve written!
No.
I mean it!
Then get on Twitter and send your hugbox armies after me. (Twitter handle: @elliecoral. Revenge hashtag suggestion: #BlastTheCoralReef. Ignore any livid environmentalists.) And be sure to link to this blog so they can witness the travesty that has caused angels to weep. I can use all the help possible to get my name out there.
* Yes, the wall changing color was a big fucking deal. The fans raged. I wish I were making that up.
Prep Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Cleanup
