To Boldly Flee [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Dr.Epic

2012-06-27, 05:42 AM

So anyone else catch the trailer for the 4th year anniversary of TGWTG? Can't really say much about it. The whole thing is pretty vague. At least last year we saw them in costumes. Any speculation on what it will be about or how it will turn out?

Personally, I liked Kickassia the best, then Suburban Knights. Regarding To Boldly Flee, if that aweful Block Buster Buster is in it'll be ruined. I hate that guy. He is by far my least favorite reviewer on the site (heck, probably the whole internet). If he's in it and isn't horribly beaten, To Boldly Flee will be terrible. I do hope That Sci Fi Guy is in it. That guy's awesome.

So anyway, thoughts?

Aotrs Commander

2012-06-27, 06:10 AM

I think my excitement has been coloured by the fact that it'll be bittersweet to see Spooney's last ride on TGWTG. The crossovers and cameos just won't be the same without him in the future. (I'm just hoping Linkara will occasionally have him show up anyway, as a mate, but I don't know if that will be feasible or allowed or not.)

It's so sad to see that sort of thing happen (whatever the real reasons were, in the end, behind the hearsay and bad blood an fan speculation/anger), since they all always seemed to all be getting on so well and be so friendly with each other, and such a nice crowd of folks. (Well, to be fair, it's been sad to see Noah's decline (in terms of physical and mental health) in the last year or two, so it's perhaps not as totally unexpected as I first thought.)

But I'm expecting great things from Boldly Flee, nevertheless.

I have to concede you on Kickassia though. I really liked Suburban Knights, but then realised I've only watched that the once, and I must have watched Kickassia three or four times.

Dr.Epic

2012-06-27, 06:14 AM

Fragenstein

2012-06-27, 06:16 AM

Aotrs Commander

2012-06-27, 06:39 AM

Wait, what?:smallconfused:

Spooney has offically parted ways from TGWTG as of about last week, I think. I only know myself from an offhand comment in the comments on Linkara's latest review.

Officially, it's an amicable parting, but there is some suggestion - which may or may not be true, I really wouldn't hazard a guess to say - that there was some incidents between Noah and some of the other staff priorly (starting with a tweet from Noah in poor taste to one of the other reviewers) that may have had some effect; and some staff (allegedly) and one former TGWGT member have been quite vitriolic about Noah since. (But then again, it may be that CA decided that he's not putting out enough stuff or something, I really don't know, nor am prepared to speculate, given the general ire that seems to have been aroused by the situation.) I really don't know in truth who is to blame - even if there really is someone to blame.

Suffice it to say, I just think that it's very sad that it's happened, whatever it was that really happened, and it's cast something of a pall over the community. Probably because Noah was a high-profile figure that was quite friendly with a lot of them, so of course, it's always sad to see friends fall out and people take sides (whether or not it is justified.)

(You'll note I deliberately having been naming names, because, the internet being what it is, it's all too easy for people to start speculating and directing their anger at the wrong people, which in turn, merely exacerbates the situaition, and I'd rather not be party to that.)

I have no idea what TGWTG is outside of a horrible abuse of the alphabet. However, seeing who produced the first two three posts makes this the mostly aptly named thread ever.

Run away.

My goodness, Fragenstein, that almost makes it sound like you don't like me...!

Fragenstein

2012-06-27, 06:55 AM

My goodness, Fragenstein, that almost makes it sound like you don't like me...!

Oh, I like you just fine. I just live in massive fear of you, is all.

I've seen your Ponythread contributions.

Aotrs Commander

2012-06-27, 07:17 AM

Oh, I like you just fine. I just live in massive fear of you, is all.

I've seen your Ponythread contributions.

*tips helmet*

I try my best...

Now if you'll excuse me, I suddenly feel the urge to laugh manically for ten minutes straight.

Whiffet

2012-06-27, 08:31 AM

Oh, the trailer is out? Hang on, gotta watch it.

That didn't tell me anything! :smallfrown: Maybe that it will be sci-fi, but that doesn't say much!

Oh, I saw the comment about Spoony on Linkara's review too. I tried to look around and figure out what happened. I won't pretend to know. I just hope this won't be the moment we look back and say, "Yeah, this is where the site started to die."

Tiki Snakes

2012-06-27, 09:03 AM

I have no idea what TGWTG is outside of a horrible abuse of the alphabet. However, seeing who produced the first two three posts makes this the mostly aptly named thread ever.

Run away.

Being in the same boat, I looked it up. It's That Guy With The Glasses (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/) they're talking about. Which is a thing. One which has almost entirely passed me by.

I've little time for reviews, witty or otherwise.

Dr.Epic

2012-06-27, 09:11 AM

Spooney has offically parted ways from TGWTG as of about last week, I think. I only know myself from an offhand comment in the comments on Linkara's latest review.

Officially, it's an amicable parting, but there is some suggestion - which may or may not be true, I really wouldn't hazard a guess to say - that there was some incidents between Noah and some of the other staff priorly (starting with a tweet from Noah in poor taste to one of the other reviewers) that may have had some effect; and some staff (allegedly) and one former TGWGT member have been quite vitriolic about Noah since. (But then again, it may be that CA decided that he's not putting out enough stuff or something, I really don't know, nor am prepared to speculate, given the general ire that seems to have been aroused by the situation.) I really don't know in truth who is to blame - even if there really is someone to blame.

Suffice it to say, I just think that it's very sad that it's happened, whatever it was that really happened, and it's cast something of a pall over the community. Probably because Noah was a high-profile figure that was quite friendly with a lot of them, so of course, it's always sad to see friends fall out and people take sides (whether or not it is justified.)

(You'll note I deliberately having been naming names, because, the internet being what it is, it's all too easy for people to start speculating and directing their anger at the wrong people, which in turn, merely exacerbates the situaition, and I'd rather not be party to that.)

No!

I mean...

NNNOOOOOOOOOO!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s)

Soras Teva Gee

2012-06-27, 09:15 AM

They did officially announce Spoony's departure (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/thenews/35675-a-farewell-to-noah-antwiler-aka-spoonyone-with-ca) this week. It smells of covering for acrimonious private matters but is none of my concern.

And I will probably watch the anniversary special just to see who shows up and figure out how little I know of the site. Because I watch Linkara's stuff and that's about it.

And I'm kinda mixed on their huge crossover things, I think I liked the Southland Tales review (which has a seriously high number of appearances) better then either Kickassia or Suburban Knights.

Helanna

2012-06-27, 09:34 AM

Well, that was certainly interesting. It really didn't tell us much that we didn't know - i.e., it's going to be sci-fi and presumably some of it will take place in space - but I am genuinely curious now.

I'm pretty excited for this. I'm with you on liking Kickassia more than Suburban Knights, but I enjoyed them both. Plus I recall hearing that this is going to be the last really big anniversary video, so hopefully it'll leave a mark.

RE: Spoony - I didn't watch many of his videos apart from his Ultima retrospective, but I'm sad to see him go. I always liked what I did see of him on other contributor's videos. I've heard a lot about his declining health, hopefully he can focus on that for a while.

kamikasei

2012-06-27, 12:23 PM

RE: Spoony - I didn't watch many of his videos apart from his Ultima retrospective, but I'm sad to see him go. I always liked what I did see of him on other contributor's videos. I've heard a lot about his declining health, hopefully he can focus on that for a while.
He'll still be producing videos on his own site (http://spoonyexperiment.com/).

Dr.Epic

2012-06-27, 01:26 PM

So I saw Kickassia again today, and I finally noticed TFS's cameo. Though to be fair, first time I saw it I didn't even know what Team Four Star was.

Rake21

2012-06-27, 03:28 PM

Aotrs Commander

2012-06-27, 03:42 PM

I don't know about Linkara, but Angry Joe has said that he'd happily keep producing stuff with Spoony, despite the messy break away from TGWTG. So, there's that

I've gathered that Linkara and Spoony are still friends (sounds like Linkara, being the solid chap he is, is trying to be peacemaker, anyway), it's just whether or not Channel Awesome itself will/would levy any restrictions, is all. I really hope not, but we'll see.

Still, Spoony posted the trailer for Boldly Flee on his website, with a (mostly unheeded *eyeglow roll*) request to keep the comments civil, so there's clearly not too much animosity, thankfully.

thegurullamen

2012-06-27, 06:42 PM

But I'm expecting great things from Boldly Flee, nevertheless.

I have to concede you on Kickassia though. I really liked Suburban Knights, but then realised I've only watched that the once, and I must have watched Kickassia three or four times.

Definitely the same here--3-4 for Kickassia, .9 for SK (I skipped through some sections I found annoying). SK does have the best bit from the both of them however--the intro with Joe. Magnificent.

I'm also a little worried about Spoony. Things just seem to keep piling up on the dude. I hope this doesn't become the part we all look back at and think 'That was where Noah started his decline.'

Dr.Epic

2012-06-27, 09:24 PM

Definitely the same here--3-4 for Kickassia, .9 for SK (I skipped through some sections I found annoying). SK does have the best bit from the both of them however--the intro with Joe. Magnificent.

Agreed:

"You killed my hamster!"
"That's not even a person!"

:smallbiggrin:

tensai_oni

2012-06-27, 09:45 PM

My problems with Suburban Knights:

-Costumes. The reviewers are already characters, seperate from their real life personalities. We don't need to layer ANOTHER character atop of that.
-Do your research Doug. If people sacrifice their time and money on travel and costumes to participate in your movie, you at least owe them to get their character name right.
-Several smaller reviewers are very funny regardless of their popularity and they were underused. Such as Todd in the Shadows or Paw. But even big ones like Cinema Snob were underused as well. Why?
-Too much walking around doing nothing.

Kickassia did not avoid all pitfalls but did a better job overall. This, I can only hope for the best. Hope for best, but prepare for mediocre, because unfortunately Doug tends to be a "I don't listen to everyone, I have my own script prepared already and we're doing this MY way" type of a boss, and he is nowhere near as good a director and storywriter as he thinks he is.

Zevox

2012-06-27, 10:57 PM

Eh. Trailer doesn't really tell me anything, nor hype me up. And the name confuses the heck out of me.

But honestly, I've become pretty ambivalent to the anniversary videos. Kickassia excited me when it was announced, and I enjoyed it as it was being put up, but the only part I've ever wanted to re-watch is the Doctor Insano vs N. Bison fight. Suburban Knights I enjoyed the first part of, but was less than impressed with the rest, aside from a few scattered jokes, and I've never re-watched any of it.

So, yeah, I'll watch it, but I'm not expecting to be a big fan. I think the reviewers do better at their actual reviews than in these amateur movies.

Re: Spoony - I know little of the situation there I'm afraid. I noticed his videos and the link to his site disappear from TGWTG last week, and checked his site and then his Twitter account to see what was up with that. What I saw on the latter was vague, but told me enough that I'm certain the breakup was not voluntary on his part, was the result of something he did, and resulted in some bad blood with some people. What he did and who it created bad blood with, I haven't a clue. I'm honestly baffled as to what it could be, since I have never gotten the impression that Channel Awesome is particularly restrictive as far as their reviews' conduct goes, yet I also don't get the impression that whatever he did was so awful it would be a crime or anything like that.

Whatever it is, I'd agree with our resident Lich's expressed views about it. I hope he can still collaborate with the reviewers he's still on good terms with, which seem to at least include Angry Joe and Linkara. And yes, it'll be bittersweet to see his last appearance in a big TGWTG crossover with this.

Zevox

Dr.Epic

2012-06-28, 11:59 AM

Helanna

2012-06-28, 07:39 PM

I think one of the problems with Suburban Knights is length. Kickassia is arguably better because it's short and sweet. They don't drag anything out and it's a good example of why less is more. I kind of feel that made long anniversary videos isn't their strength. We all want to try and out do our previous achievements, but at some point you just have to accept the fact you can't. I think a shorter series of videos would be much better.

Agree? Disagree?

I'd agree. Really, I'd like a longer one just because, well, I like the anniversary videos and would like to have more of them, but realistically I think the type of humor these guys do best is better suited to shorter things.

Although, like tensai_oni, I feel Suburban Knights had too much 'walking around talking'. If there was more legitimate, interesting content to fill a longer video, that'd be cool. Unfortunately I've also gotten the sense that Doug doesn't take well to criticism or even help writing, and while I do love his videos and I do enjoy the anniversaries, he does worse when he takes himself seriously. Suburban Knights was a bit more serious than Kickassia, and I think that was also a problem. The teaser for To Boldly Flee took itself very seriously, so hopefully that was just a joke of the teaser and not indicative of the film.

Zevox

2012-06-28, 08:24 PM

Lord Seth

2012-06-28, 11:02 PM

I think one of the problems with Suburban Knights is length. Kickassia is arguably better because it's short and sweet. They don't drag anything out and it's a good example of why less is more. I kind of feel that made long anniversary videos isn't their strength. We all want to try and out do our previous achievements, but at some point you just have to accept the fact you can't. I think a shorter series of videos would be much better.I don't know if it's necessarily length, but I do believe that Suburban Knights definitely felt more empty, like less happened. There seemed more of a real sequence to Kickassia (they invade, succeed, Nostalgia Critic goes insane with power, people gradually turn against him and overthrow him, then they all leave). Suburban Knights felt more like it was just them running around for a while until it hit the climax.

I guess overall Suburban Knights felt like the events in it could be reordered significantly easier than Kickassia, showing how the events of Kickassia led to each other whereas Suburban Knights was kind of a bunch of random stuff that happened and then the ending. Which to be fair describes the first, but the first was only one video rather than multiple ones.

I don't know if that's necessarily a consequence of the length, but this was something that stood out at me overall and a big reason why I liked Kickassia more. Plus I thought it was more funny as well.

Mx.Silver

2012-06-29, 04:23 PM

It was really a trailer so much as a long-form announcement. Seriously, all it basically tells you is that there will be an anniversary special this year and that (thankfully) Spoony hasn't been edited out of it.
I'll probably still be watching it anyway, though.

Personally, I liked Kickassia the best, then Suburban Knights. Regarding To Boldly Flee, if that aweful Block Buster Buster is in it'll be ruined.
I dunno, Doug's been fairly good at creating roles that are at least watchable for critics who aren't particularly entertaining on their own (e.g. Phelous, Lee). I'll admit I haven't seen much of BB's stuff, but I don't think he'll necessarily be a huge problem in that regard even if he is in it.

Rallicus

2012-06-29, 11:45 PM

I don't understand TGWTG. Every video with their group has caused me to cringe in embarrassment, or to immediately turn off due to it either: a) not being funny in the slightest, or b) being annoying. Then again, I don't understand much nowadays, pony craze included... so maybe I'm just detached from the internet nerd culture.

That said, I do sort of like Spoony. Some of his earlier stuff before his mental breakdown was good, and I can honestly say some of his Counter Monkey stuff helped me better myself as a DM. However, after watching all of five minutes of his Pathfinder lifestream, I realized he's not even a very good DM, just a good storyteller and teacher. That's okay with me.

So anyway, I watched the trailer and it was pretty generic. What's appealing about this again? Is Glasses Guy still doing the whole "omfg im suffering let me yell loudly at this generic old stuff" shtick?

Emmerask

2012-06-30, 08:39 AM

Hm I do think he is a pretty good dm but then again what a good dm is is extremely subjective and a lot also depends on the players that are currently playing (especially if you have new players playing for the first time etc).

As for the anniversary videos, my main problem is that the only one that can act good is brad with spoony and linkara being okay (if over the top), the rest though is just plain bad mostly.
Hopefully this time the script is not so all over the place as the last one was.

Green-Shirt Q

2012-06-30, 09:18 AM

Call it a mad, stupid theory or a case of denial, but here's my guess: Spoony is not actually leaving Channel Awesome.

Think about last year, with a big spoiler in the middle of the film...
That Dude in the Suede returning to CA. Remember the out-of-character build-up to subvert anybody guessing that? They had Suede tweet about how he was leaving Channel Awesome for good, they had numerous denials Suede was ever involved, and Suede giving official comments he was no where near the shooting.

And it worked. That scene with his return was legitimately shocking and incedibly well set up. Even if your opinion of Suburban Knights was lukewarm or worse, most people agree that was a pretty cool twist. I think, because of the overwhelmingly positive reaction to it, they're trying to set up something like that again. Only since there is no incredibly popular reviewer able to return (and they already did that), they'd do it with a reviewer they felt confident wouldn't lose any fans over this, like Spoony.

My guess? They'll have him fake-die in the film. Everybody will think it's a great big send off to Noah because he won't be coming back. Then he will, and everybody will be surprised.

Just my theory, anyway. It's probably wrong, and I highly doubt it's right, but there you go.

Dr.Epic

2012-06-30, 10:47 AM

Another thing is Kickassia had a clear plot point for each installment. Suburban Knights not so much. It was mostly walking, and this thing happens. More walking, and maybe a plot point. I mean, you could say that about Lord of the Rings, but at least that had plenty of character development throughout it. In Suburban Knights, we already knew these characters and there wasn't much to develop except the villain and the relationship between PB and Mark.

Zevox

2012-06-30, 11:50 AM

Rappy

2012-07-01, 04:32 PM

Call it a mad, stupid theory or a case of denial, but here's my guess: Spoony is not actually leaving Channel Awesome.
No.

Spoony burned bridges with the biggest torches he could find, as the saying goes. If it's a publicity stunt for the fourth year anniversary, my only thought would be that someone at ThatGuyWiththeGlasses has very sick tastes.

As for the fourth anniversary itself...meh. There's a certain camp factor in these anniversary videos, certainly, but I've become less and less enamored with TGWTG as time has gone on. After the "new car smell" of it wore off, I started watching less and less contributors to the site, and by now I don't even watch all of the videos of the contributors I do follow.

Green-Shirt Q

2012-07-06, 10:23 AM

Well, if this (http://sf-drama.livejournal.com/3366348.html) is to be believed, I now know what happened between Spoony and Channel Awesome. No wonder everybody's trying to keep it quiet. :smalleek:

Needless to say, I retract my dumb "faking it for the movie spoiler" theory.

Oh man. Poor Spoony. It looks like some kind of mental breakdown for him. I hope he'll pull himself together soon and patch things up with CA. :smallfrown:

Emmerask

2012-07-06, 10:44 AM

Well, if this (http://sf-drama.livejournal.com/3366348.html) is to be believed, I now know what happened between Spoony and Channel Awesome. No wonder everybody's trying to keep it quiet. :smalleek:

Yeah the site is actually completely wrong (the fun thing is you actually see the date of the tweets and the date the article was made...)

Which were immediately objected to by yet another TGWTG reviewer, Obscurus Lupa:

this happened a month+ later not immediately, in fact the situation was long resolved Spoony apologized to JO and got a 4 week ban from tgwtg,
then it was brought up again after Dough was on his honeymoon and his brother on vacation as well.

Yes I think she saw her chance there to get one up on spoony (not to get him fired though this just spiraled out of control).

Anyway as for the rape joke... tgwtg is full of rape jokes don´t really see how this one is soooo out of bounds.

thegurullamen

2012-07-06, 06:13 PM

Helanna

2012-07-06, 10:12 PM

I always wondered when this site was going to start going downhill, but I always thought it would come in the form of one too many unfunny reviews or running out of material to lampoon. Watching everyone attack each other like this is just...disappointing.

Indeed. I lost an awful lot of respect for some contributors that I previously quite liked. Everybody involved made some very bad mistakes, except for JesuOtaku herself, who seems to have handled it very well by, you know, not getting involved with any of it. If only everyone had taken her example.

Anyway as for the rape joke... tgwtg is full of rape jokes don´t really see how this one is soooo out of bounds.

Obscurus Lupa explains this in her blog:

Let me talk about why it offended me, versus something like Spooning With Spoony. The joke was about a co-worker, with no other context, in front of her boyfriend, and with nothing to instigate it. It was not “in-character,” it was about someone he knew. Spooning With Spoony? Everyone is in on the joke. Is it dark? Yes. Offensive? Probably. But it is, very clearly, a sketch video involving friends. No one was involved with that that did not want to be, and Spoony was very clearly not making uncomfortable advances on anyone on set.

This, I agree with. The part where she defends bringing it up a month after the fact after everything had (apparently) been settled, not so much.

To be fair, I think Spoony's behavior and his obnoxious fanbase would have blown up pretty soon anyway. If this didn't set it off, something else would have. It seems like there was a lot of . . . festering going on.

And really, much as I dislike rape jokes, telling a coworker, who has known mental problems and depression, that you truly hope he kills himself is waaaaay worse in my opinion. And then LordKat apologized, not to Noah for what he said, but to his own fanbase, for getting angry. What.

Emmerask

2012-07-06, 11:52 PM

This, I agree with. The part where she defends bringing it up a month after the fact after everything had (apparently) been settled, not so much.

Well to be fair though if you work in a place where rape jokes are seemingly okay you would think that the people involved there would not react so extreme to a rape joke. Yes I do appreciate the difference but in such a case its sometimes hard to draw the line and really I don´t believe that spoony meant it to hurt but as a """"funny""" joke between friends.

Heck I think everyone has friends with whom he shares inappropriate jokes? well maybe the pope not but who knows.

To be fair, I think Spoony's behavior and his obnoxious fanbase would have blown up pretty soon anyway. If this didn't set it off, something else would have. It seems like there was a lot of . . . festering going on.

Well I do consider myself a fan of spoony but not really one of the fanatic followers who really seem kind of out of bounds, so yeah I think you are right there.

And really, much as I dislike rape jokes, telling a coworker, who has known mental problems and depression, that you truly hope he kills himself is waaaaay worse in my opinion. And then LordKat apologized, not to Noah for what he said, but to his own fanbase, for getting angry. What.

Yeah it also isn´t the first time for him to tell someone on livestream "to go hang himself", or that he will come over and "rip his head out" among other threats of violence, he really is just a very unpleasant person :-/

I certainly hope that all this will get spoonys head straight again so that I can watch many many fun episodes again from from and not the really sad stuff like his twilight drunken review.

thegurullamen

2012-07-07, 01:04 AM

This, I agree with. The part where she defends bringing it up a month after the fact after everything had (apparently) been settled, not so much.

To be fair, I think Spoony's behavior and his obnoxious fanbase would have blown up pretty soon anyway. If this didn't set it off, something else would have. It seems like there was a lot of . . . festering going on.

Pretty even-handed response. I agree with what you (and Emmerask) have written, except for one thing from the latter: I think Spoony needs to get off the Internet for a while. A long while. I love the work he produces, but I do not see anything approaching good coming from interaction with The Great Echo Chamber at this point. Especially with his fanbase.

Also, I read up a little more and poor LordKat. After his break from TGWTG to pursue a career as a legitimate game journalist, it would have been impossible for him to maintain his reputation as a professional without leveraging a mentally ill man's family and personal troubles against him in a fight as needless as it was petty and stupidly self-serving. Talk about bad luck.

KnightDisciple

2012-07-07, 12:52 PM

I lack the links at the moment, but both Spoony and Lupa have released statements (the former via LongTwitter, the latter via Tumblr) accpeting a portion of blame, stating they hold no hard feelings, asking fans to stop being hateful little cretins on the internet, and so on.

Spoony also explicitly said Lupa had nothing to do with him leaving.

Between his statement and Rob Walker's (another link I lack at the moment, I saw them on the SpaceBattles thread about this, but said site is totally down at the moment), I'm getting the impression Spoony's situation has been building. It seems less specifically about just this incident with Lupa, and more about his general aggressive attitude on Twitter (which I've seen before and found a bit crass and out-of-bounds). Rob stated they asked him to reign it in, and Spoony ultimately parted ways.

Considering he's still in the 4th Anniversary vid, just recently appeared in a video with ThatSciFiGuy, and the response of guys like Linkara and Angry Joe, I'd imagine things aren't as bleak as some doom-sayers say.

So rather than going back and forth about whose "fault" it is, let's focus on hopes that Spoony gets himself a bit of help and comes out of this a better man.
And that things continue to be funny all around (according to individual tastes, I suppose).

As far as the OP topic goes, I'm actually more excited than with last year's video. As much fun as some parts were, and as much as I liked how everyone seemed to get at least some lines and focus, the costumes and fantasy theme generally didn't "click".
I'm hoping that there are no wacky costumes this time, just costumes they use in their videos anyways. And I'm hoping that, "sci-fi theme" or no, it sticks with the more...hm. I don't know if it's a "thriller", but not as much "zany action" as before, I guess.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-09, 07:32 PM

As far as the OP topic goes, I'm actually more excited than with last year's video. As much fun as some parts were, and as much as I liked how everyone seemed to get at least some lines and focus, the costumes and fantasy theme generally didn't "click".
I'm hoping that there are no wacky costumes this time, just costumes they use in their videos anyways. And I'm hoping that, "sci-fi theme" or no, it sticks with the more...hm. I don't know if it's a "thriller", but not as much "zany action" as before, I guess.

The costumes worked in small parts, not a complete 2 hour story. In small parts they were fun, but didn't hold up for 120 minutes. You can tell me you didn't laugh at Angry Joe or the Cinema Snob or anyone else in costume.

sentaku

2012-07-25, 06:22 PM

Another teaser/trailer

http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/to-boldy-flee-teaser-2-6273717

KnightDisciple

2012-07-25, 06:59 PM

I'm definitely intriuged. I do like that there are some costumes, it's a fun gag after all, but they don't seem to be 100% of the time.

MarzGurl with purple hair? Yes, please. :smallbiggrin:

Zevox

2012-07-25, 09:27 PM

Another teaser/trailer

http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/to-boldy-flee-teaser-2-6273717
Well, that's a little better than the previous one - some gags, including a look at some costumes. Still gotta agree with the previously-expressed concern about it seeming to take itself quite seriously though.

Zevox

KnightDisciple

2012-07-25, 09:34 PM

Well, that's a little better than the previous one - some gags, including a look at some costumes. Still gotta agree with the previously-expressed concern about it seeming to take itself quite seriously though.

Zevox

Nostalgia Chick's dressing like Seven of Nine, someone's pulling a Dredd, and the house turns into a Not-Enterprise. I'd wager it probably will balance out the "serious main story" pretty well.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-25, 10:38 PM

Anyone else feel it's the same thing as last year except they replaced them dressing all fantasy with them dressing up all sci-fi? After this long of a wait, it better be good.

Best thing about the teaser (in my opinion at least):
That awful Block Buster Buster guy isn't in their giving me hopes that he's not in the special. Man I hate that guy and his reviews. If he is actually in it, I'm pretty sure I'll hate To Boldly Flee more than Suburban Knights.

ThePhantom

2012-07-26, 12:14 AM

Lightsabers, Mecha-Linka, Terl, Doctor Insano, the house becoming a starship, a ripoff of the Nexus from the Star Terk movie, this is going to be fun. :smallsmile:

Aotrs Commander

2012-07-26, 04:36 AM

Well, that's a little better than the previous one - some gags, including a look at some costumes. Still gotta agree with the previously-expressed concern about it seeming to take itself quite seriously though.

Zevox

Eeeh... I dunno. There's something to be said for taking-it-tongue in cheek; taking a ridiculous situation and treating it as deadly serious can be humorous in it's own right, if done right.

Plus, Linkara always seems to pull it off. (In my opinion, I know his plot-arcs are somewhat devisive, but I love 'em personally.)

Omergideon

2012-07-26, 05:20 AM

Unlike some videos I find the anniversary specials don't hold up to well to repeat viewings. However on a first look I have enjoyed them all, so have decent hopes for this one.

The quality of the filming, special effects and the costumes though seems to be pretty high, so I just hope the quality of the writing is high. If the previous videos had any failing it was that they could often overplay the jokes made and extend them past the sesible point.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-26, 09:35 AM

The quality of the filming, special effects and the costumes though seems to be pretty high, so I just hope the quality of the writing is high. If the previous videos had any failing it was that they could often overplay the jokes made and extend them past the sesible point.

High for a web series. By comparison to actual films - yeah - anyone else start laughing at the awfulness of that CGI house? That was the funniest thing in the who trailer.:smallbiggrin:

Scowling Dragon

2012-07-26, 09:40 AM

This whole thing makes me sad.

But a Person that I now Truly despise is LordKat.

Truly an ass of a person. Insulting extra credits (Nothing wrong with disagreeing but he acts like an immature troll) and telling spoony to commit suicide.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-26, 09:50 AM

Unlike some videos I find the anniversary specials don't hold up to well to repeat viewings.

I still enjoy watching Kickassia.

Omergideon

2012-07-26, 10:11 AM

I still enjoy watching Kickassia.

Rewatched Suburban Knights recently and only really could enjoy the final video. But then again Orlando was the only one who could put together any decent choreography for a fight scene, and the jokes wore thin on me a bit.

And yeah for a low budget web series it is good quality. Very good quality. Not hollywood of course, but as good as some normal TV shows I have seen.

Thought tbh I don't often rewatch a lot of videos on the web. Except Spoony. I could rewatch almost any of his vids. For everyone else it depends on how much I liked that one.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-26, 10:21 AM

Rewatched Suburban Knights recently and only really could enjoy the final video. But then again Orlando was the only one who could put together any decent choreography for a fight scene, and the jokes wore thin on me a bit.

And yeah for a low budget web series it is good quality. Very good quality. Not hollywood of course, but as good as some normal TV shows I have seen.

Thought tbh I don't often rewatch a lot of videos on the web. Except Spoony. I could rewatch almost any of his vids. For everyone else it depends on how much I liked that one.

The best parts of Suburban Knights to me was:
-Angry Joe
-Cinema Snob
-Jungle Gym Fight.

Other than that, is was just so-so. I should just edit the videos down to their parts.

Mx.Silver

2012-07-26, 12:11 PM

That awful Block Buster Buster guy isn't in their giving me hopes that he's not in the special.Man I hate that guy and his reviews. If he is actually in it, I'm pretty sure I'll hate To Boldly Flee more than Suburban Knights.
Like I said, Doug's reasonably good at getting entertainment out of people with his scripts. Linkara's own stuff bores me to tears, for example, but he's always been reasonably entertaining in the specials.

Dr.Epic

2012-07-26, 12:38 PM

Like I said, Doug's reasonably good at getting entertainment out of people with his scripts. Linkara's own stuff bores me to tears, for example, but he's always been reasonably entertaining in the specials.

I'm still doubtful if he's in the thing. All the other reviews I can at least say one thing positive about even if I don't like them or don't watch much of their stuff: they're funny, they're insightful, they're clever, they know how to critically analyze a work of media, they offer something interesting when they review a something. This guy, I can't say anything positive about. Even his performance when he's reviewing is bad and unbelievable. I really hope he's not in To Boldly Flee.

Lord Seth

2012-08-26, 03:51 PM

No discussion now that Part 1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/36311-to-boldly-flee-part-1) is up?

I watched it. The first half or so really drags and focuses too much on drama rather than comedy (and drama is not something TGWTG does particularly well) and the obvious SOPA parody felt utterly tacked on. Still, it does improve some in the second half. I really wish they had cut out some of the beginning fluff because I was getting so bored I almost quit watching.

Omergideon

2012-08-26, 04:19 PM

Just comparing the specials. I thought The Brawl was novel and entertaining and generally a great new idea.

Kickassia had a stronger overall narrative and story than SK, but I would say SK had better overall moments. As in individual bits of SK were fantastic, but Kickassia was more consistently good and dragged less.

To Boldly Flee.....well so far I enjoyed it. The Doug/Linsay and Spoony bits were better IMO. Partly as I find the 2 of them to be stronger actors than the rest of the TGWTG crew. (Brad Jones is also on the list). Partly as their drama had some actual weight to it. And largely because Spoony as Turl, or hooked up was genuinely amusing.

Though if each part is as long as this one, and the focus is on Drama and not jokes it may suffer a bit for that. With 8 parts (I think) at 40 mins each some drag and/or padding is inevitable. If each subsequent part is shorter that may be a better overall thing. I do hope though they have less "action". Of the crew.....well only Orlando has any competence as a fighter and that is cos he is a genuine Martial Artist. When he fights it looks interesting. The rest looks too bad to be funny to me. Jokes, and short dramatic scenes, would work best for me. But I am optimistic it will be overall at worst entertaining and interesting. Even if it never gets great I can be happy with that for free entertainment.

And I thought the Spoony subconcious bit, and the Dr Tease/Critic Penis exchange were both good enough to justify watching the less interesting parts.

Zevox

2012-08-26, 04:29 PM

I was pleasantly surprised to find more of the jokes working for me than in Suburban Knights, and possibly Kickassia as well, so it has that going for it so far.

That said, I definitely agree with the concerns about it taking itself too seriously. Comedy is what these guys do well, serious storytelling... not so much. And both the trailers and a good amount of the first part make me fear that the ratio of those to each other will not be to my liking here.

Offhand remark: I'm so glad that Doug and Linkara reviewed those Star Trek movies and comics over the last year, because I would have no clue about just how much this is referencing those if they hadn't.

Zevox

Harr

2012-08-26, 04:30 PM

Just watched it as well. I found it ok, if hit-and-miss. At some points the mix of emotional drama and thoughts on death etc overlaid on the overly silly jokes was jarring, but other scenes were really good... The Flight of the Navigator scene (where Spoony is hooked up to a brain scanner) easily being the funniest/best scene for me.

High point was Noah Antwiler's acting and scenes which were brilliant.

Wanting-more point was Brad Jones' bit which was awesome but too short.

By far the low point was Lindsay Ellis' acting and scenes which were just cringe-inducing. She's always been so for me though, I don't know why, so not unexpected.

Other high points, Nella and Elisa as the doctors were good, the sci-fi observation team was as well, though I hope Angry Joe gets a bigger part later.

Mystic Muse

2012-08-26, 04:33 PM

With 8 parts (I think) at 40 mins each some drag and/or padding is inevitable.

....

Eight parts, each forty minutes long? That can't be right. That'd be 5 hours and twenty minutes long.:smalleek:

Omergideon

2012-08-26, 06:57 PM

Well part 2 is only 20 mins. So not so bad. And hey the first SK vid was much longer than the rest, so this has precedence

Omergideon

2012-08-26, 06:59 PM

Well part 2 is only 20 mins. So not so bad. And hey the first SK vid was much longer than the rest, so this has precedence

Aotrs Commander

2012-08-26, 07:31 PM

Well part 2 is only 20 mins. So not so bad. And hey the first SK vid was much longer than the rest, so this has precedence

I figured it'd be something like that (I was half-expecting more like 10-15 minute parts, honestly, plus maybe a slightly loner one at the end.)

If this is any indication, though, the special could well be looking at upwards of two hours in total running time. No wonder it's taking some doing, that's quite an achivement, considering.

I liked it so far, more than Suburban Knights I think. I don't mind a bit of the slightly more serious elements (and I do say "slightly!"); Linkara's storylines are always fairly serious (if at the ame time tongue-in-cheek-cheesey!), and I think those are fantastic.

Spooney, of course, as usual, steals the show; that man can chew scenery with the very best of them!

Zevox

2012-08-26, 08:16 PM

Alright, part 2. As before, enough of the jokes are working to keep me entertained, but the serious parts are not much to my liking.

I am curious about Insano, though. If that's not what they were hinting at with the mention of turning Spoony to the villains' side in part 1, what was that about? Insano and Turl are the only villains of his I can think of, and both are now accounted for.

Zevox

D_Lord

2012-08-26, 08:47 PM

Well I watched part 2 and I love the ship. It's like a kid would build if they had the parts around. It looks so fun.

Scowling Dragon

2012-08-26, 09:08 PM

Im actually liking this one more then the other ones. The jokes don't drag, and their stronger as well.

Mauve Shirt

2012-08-27, 05:04 AM

I haven't watched any of this yet but I have a question... is Nostalgia Critic really over? :smallfrown:

Aotrs Commander

2012-08-27, 07:04 AM

I don't think so. While no-one in an official capacity has answered the question directly, it has been heavily implied that it won't.

But (before any timing problems arose due to the technical problems), spoofing All Good Things before Boldly Flee (which the trailers have said as "the critic's final journey" or something to that effect rather does give some weight to it - because, despite reading between the lines of what other people have said, without officialy word, we aren't totally sure... And the uncertainty makes for a bit of tension, because it seems possible that Critic could actually die or something in Boldy flee (whereas before we would take that as a given that he wouldn't, because of our meta-film knowledge that he would be reviewing something next week).

As a DM, I can appreciate that - it's quite clever, really, and I'll give Doug enough credit to assume that's his deliberate intention. (Whether you think it works or not as a gambit is another question, of course). But I appreciate the attempt, at any rate.

It's what I'd do, were I in that position.

Emmerask

2012-08-27, 07:15 AM

Why should it be over? haven´t heard any of that.

As for to boldly flee, the first part was soso, first half boring second half okay.
Part 2 though was actually quite nice with some pretty funny jokes.

The main problem with the anniversary shows however still is that most of them are pretty bad actors, especially I don´t know why paw (I think thats his name?) is in so many scenes when he really is just bad ^^.

As always though Brad and Noah do an awesome job, they really steal the show

Soras Teva Gee

2012-08-27, 08:46 AM

Thus far I've been happier with the story and production.

I always felt like Kickassia and SK in particular was written with a "oh and whoever shows up can think up some gags to throw their fans in this scene" without actually using the characters. Which I do sorta understand, but gets annoying. It sort of exacerbates the "Nostaligia Critic ego trip factor" when I feel he just can't be bothered to think of how to use ANY other characters material.

Then again might be because Linkara is only one I watch regularly and it annoyed me that he only used the magic gun in SK... so Mechakara and a suspiciously Chekov-esque mention of his space ship is quite nice.

And in general more people seem to have actual roles that couldn't have been handled with "Group C does X while making in-character jokes" which was my impression of the script in SK.

Also cinematography has been put up a notch.

Water_Bear

2012-08-27, 02:26 PM

I really don't like how much they are overusing Spoony. He's Spoony, he's Ma-Ti, he's Turl, he's Insano. Seriously? Is this an Austin Powers move?

I like Spoony, I'm sad to see him leave the site, but there are like a million different reviewers with at least 2-3 characters each. They don't need Turl, anyone could play that part; heck Mechakara would be better used as a secondary antagonist. They don't really need Insano just to deliver a few lines of exposition, and it's a bit of an overused gag. Spoony-as-Bones is pretty good, but it eats like 2/3rds of the running time.

Still, overall a fun video and I've enjoyed all the homages and the banter between the reviewers. The evil SOPA-guy is a little bit of an old reference, but pretty on the nose. Hopefully Part 3 picks up the pace a little and doesn't add any more Spoony characters, like the Ultimate Warrior or the Avatar or something.

Tengu_temp

2012-08-27, 02:29 PM

I think that after what happened in the second episode, someone really needs to make a Spoonyquest (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygI-2F8ApUM) video.

I always felt like Kickassia and SK in particular was written with a "oh and whoever shows up can think up some gags to throw their fans in this scene" without actually using the characters. Which I do sorta understand, but gets annoying. It sort of exacerbates the "Nostaligia Critic ego trip factor" when I feel he just can't be bothered to think of how to use ANY other characters material.

For once I agree with Soras. Doug tends to be a control freak who, during crossovers, writes other people as he sees them instead of letting them fill their parts with their own style and in-jokes. I'm happy that there's less of that in To Boldly Flee and he actually seems to pay more attention to everyone else here. I already like it way more than Suburban Knights, let's see if it will also beat Kickassia.

I haven't watched any of this yet but I have a question... is Nostalgia Critic really over? :smallfrown:

He did a crossover with Phelous last week, so I find that doubtful. He'll probably return to making normal NC videos after To Boldly Flee is over.

I really don't like how much they are overusing Spoony. He's Spoony, he's Ma-Ti, he's Turl, he's Insano. Seriously? Is this an Austin Powers move?

I don't mind that. Spoony is probably the best actor of them all and the highlight of the show, and I'm saying that as someone who likes pretty much everyone in this crossover (there's a few people whose stuff I don't watch, but that's all). Well, there's also Oancitizen, but he hasn't even appeared yet. Hope that changes soon.

Reverent-One

2012-08-27, 02:37 PM

For once I agree with Soras.

Wait, what? Sorry, but I have a hard time seeing how this:

Doug tends to be a control freak who, during crossovers, writes other people as he sees them instead of letting them fill their parts with their own style and in-jokes. I'm happy that there's less of that in To Boldly Flee and he actually seems to pay more attention to everyone else here. I already like it way more than Suburban Knights, let's see if it will also beat Kickassia.

Is not the opposite of this:

I always felt like Kickassia and SK in particular was written with a "oh and whoever shows up can think up some gags to throw their fans in this scene" without actually using the characters. Which I do sorta understand, but gets annoying. It sort of exacerbates the "Nostaligia Critic ego trip factor" when I feel he just can't be bothered to think of how to use ANY other characters material.

Am I misreading this entirely? Because I am confused.

Tengu_temp

2012-08-27, 03:24 PM

Let me specify. Doug doesn't pay attention to other reviewers' shows and writes them as he sees them instead of trying to stick to their characters or writing their parts together with them. It has happened numerous times that when someone met with him to make a crossover, he already had the whole script written, without even consulting the other person. This is the control freak part.

But at the same time, if someone decides to improvise a joke and it works, he keeps it in, so the other reviewers can still preserve some parts of their characters. But there's only so much you can do with that alone.

This trend seems to be slowly changing lately, with good results - all of Doug's best new videos were crossovers, with the exception of the awful Temple of Doom video.

On a sidenote, I think burnout is the reason Doug is taking a break from Nostalgia Critic for a while. A few years ago the show used to be consistently good, but lately most episodes tend to be hit-or-miss.

Omergideon

2012-08-27, 04:16 PM

His break thing/more influence from others in crossover strips may also be to do with his recent wedding. Thats gonna change some bits up.

I do agree that we run the risk of Spoony overuse. As one of the better actors this is understandable, and his bits have been highlights in the film. But he is already playing several major characters and probably has had more screen time even than Doug. Slightly ironic considering how he has left CA

Soras Teva Gee

2012-08-27, 04:53 PM

I think Tengu and I are in agreement but interpreting things differently or referring to different specific points.

The net effect though is that thus far in the big crossovers the characters have often been essentially interchangeable, blander, or shallower versions of themselves. Because the stories have needed a "[character]" for a particular scene but not say "Angry Joe" in particular.

Mind there are exceptions and there are enough characters around that inevitably someone is going to be left underutilized. Its still there though.

Reverent-One

2012-08-27, 06:43 PM

Ok, that makes sense, I am less confused now.

And I think it's time for me to actually watch the first part of this thing now.

Lord Seth

2012-08-27, 07:43 PM

On a sidenote, I think burnout is the reason Doug is taking a break from Nostalgia Critic for a while.What break? :smallconfused:

Tengu_temp

2012-08-27, 08:31 PM

What break? :smallconfused:

He didn't make a NC video last week, just a crossover with Phelous (but Phelous was the "main" reviewer there). He probably won't do any more of them until To Boldly Flee ends, if not a bit longer.

Lateral

2012-08-27, 09:49 PM

Hey, how do the events in this thing cross over with the events in Linkara's plotline? He isn't a hologram or anything, so does that make this not in the same continuity?

Soras Teva Gee

2012-08-27, 10:24 PM

Hey, how do the events in this thing cross over with the events in Linkara's plotline? He isn't a hologram or anything, so does that make this not in the same continuity?

They happen 'between' episodes. Just like a comics a character can appear in multiple books that aren't nessecarily at the same time despite say being published on the same Wednesday.

sentaku

2012-08-27, 10:27 PM

Hey, how do the events in this thing cross over with the events in Linkara's plotline? He isn't a hologram or anything, so does that make this not in the same continuity?

The comments on his site for part 1 says that he considers the events of To Boldly Flee to take place before the current storyline. As for how it fits in my guess it is as Dr. Insano explained in part 2.

Lord Seth

2012-08-28, 10:10 PM

He didn't make a NC video last week, just a crossover with Phelous (but Phelous was the "main" reviewer there). He probably won't do any more of them until To Boldly Flee ends, if not a bit longer.Except he did that last year with Suburban Knights as well. In fact, considering he's putting up To Boldly Flee still, I'm dubious as to whether it constitutes a break at all.

Omergideon

2012-08-29, 03:44 AM

He has also been relying heavily on crossovers with lots of extensive material from the others. And took a couple of weeks to do only a commentary when he got married. So he has taken it relatively easy this last month or so.

masterjoda99

2012-08-29, 03:41 PM

Personally, I found the best part of Suburban Knights to be the Forget About It SadPanda made. It saddens me that he likely will not do one for To Boldly Flee

Water_Bear

2012-08-29, 08:46 PM

Part 3 is up, and it's pretty good.

I'm just glad the NChick-Todd-Loopa thing actually has a purpose now, that was always my least favorite part of their reviews. I just fast-forward over those bits whenever they have a crossover.

Zevox

2012-08-29, 11:34 PM

Aotrs Commander

2012-08-30, 04:47 AM

Hm, fewer jokes working for me in part 3 than in the previous 2, but still enough to keep me fairly entertained.

A question for anyone who may know: what was up with JO? Is that red-headed hyperactive inventor version of her a character from her reviews, or something new to this movie? Because it kinda left me confused. (I've never really watched her stuff, due to not being into anime.)

Zevox

Apparently, it's a parody of some character called Ed from Comboy Bebop or something. It was somewhat lost on me as well, though I gathered from context it was an anime character.

Omergideon

2012-08-30, 06:20 AM

Well my least favourite part so far. And that is for 2 reasons.

Firstly fewer jokes, and more focus on uninteresting sub plots. Don't get me wrong I like there being subplots. It gives everyone some purpose and character and often help me enjoy the story better. However I am not enjoying these ones. Todd/Lupa/Chick has never been sommat I liked for instance. And some of the attempts at drama are lacking.

Secondly, I hate Phelous. Really. I cannot stand his voice, his terribly bad acting, his unpleasent persona or anything else. I think he is one of the least talented on the site, and so having him get a lot of screen time is never going to help me enjoy it.

Though there were some good moments. Doug and Noah have great chemistry so watching them ham it up togther as the villains is brilliant. Linkara and Chick also work together and that scene worked. It was short, had a clear purpose and some comedy. Plus Linkara can actually do drama competently. And it adds intrigue to the plot as well. This subplot worked.

Still having fun, but it seems we have the mid story slump happening.

Leliel

2012-08-31, 02:45 PM

Apparently, it's a parody of some character called Ed from Comboy Bebop or something. It was somewhat lost on me as well, though I gathered from context it was an anime character.

Radical Edward, the ditzy, hyperactive child genius engineer hacker, that is.

She's (no, don't ask me why she has a male name, it's too long to explain) one of the more popular characters from Cowboy Bebop, due to a combination of being adorable and hilarious.

SDF

2012-08-31, 04:54 PM

JO is abysmal as Edward. I love Bebop and I had to look up who she was actually spoofing before I got it. I normally don't mind her reviews, but she does them in a low serious tone that works for her. She has an odd inflection in her voice and this really carries over to her acting. I assume Todd and NChick get together because they are dating IRL, and Nash will probably show up because he and JO are dating IRL. CA is kind of a cesspool of internet personalities, isn't it? :smalltongue:

Dienekes

2012-08-31, 06:42 PM

Radical Edward, the ditzy, hyperactive child genius engineer hacker, that is.

She's (no, don't ask me why she has a male name, it's too long to explain) one of the more popular characters from Cowboy Bebop, due to a combination of being adorable and hilarious.

This is one of the few anime's I've seen. And I still did not get the reference.

I assume Todd and NChick get together because they are dating IRL, and Nash will probably show up because he and JO are dating IRL. CA is kind of a cesspool of internet personalities, isn't it? :smalltongue:

If you start dating in a cesspool something is wrong with you

Harr

2012-09-01, 10:51 AM

Just watched the third.

I have to say I am flabbergasted that anyone in a decision-making position with regards to these films could decide that the N-Chick love triangle was anything but an egregious waste of their viewers' time. I find the whole thing to be shockingly self-indulgent and self-absorbed, as well as completely devoid of any kind of value. It would be slightly less horrible if these people were not actually in a relationship outside of the video, but knowing this... just, ugh. PDA taken to a wholly nauseating new level, I guess.

In the more neutral ground, the overlaying of JO's character with Spoony's various characters gives us a nice illustration of the difference between enjoyable overacting (Spoony) and annoying/repelling overacting (JO).

On the positive side, I find the villains' sequences hilarious, Snob, Sage, Luke, Wario, Mickey and the others in their sequences are very good, and the story itself is quite entertaining. Favorite line of the ep: "He's dead to me... as are you."

I'm going to hope that N-Chick going cyborg effectively puts an end to that whole... thing... and remain optimistic for the coming parts.

Jamin

2012-09-01, 04:17 PM

you know as much as I like JO.She is just bad here makes me sad:smallfrown:

Tengu_temp

2012-09-01, 05:01 PM

I don't know what's worse about JO Ed - the writing or the acting. Neither is much like JO or Ed, and since both her and Doug have seen Cowboy Bebop I must ask what the hell happened.

I have to say I am flabbergasted that anyone in a decision-making position with regards to these films could decide that the N-Chick love triangle was anything but an egregious waste of their viewers' time.

It's much better in Lindsay's, Todd's and Lupa's videos where it's played for uncomfortable humour. Here it's treated way more seriously and just falls flat on its face. Which seems to be the problem with most of the bad parts of this crossover in general.

Still pretty good overall, though. Spoony's still the best part of the show, but others had funny lines too. But still not as good as Kickassia.

On a sidenote, since people are talking about dating: the worst thing an internet reviewer can do is keep their SO onscreen, as an actual part of their videos - it's a guarantee that the relationship won't last. Look what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz, Brad and Jillian, and especially Spoony and Scarlett. Doug, on the other hand, seems to be doing fine in his personal life - because his SO doesn't participate in his videos. We don't even know how she looks like.

masterjoda99

2012-09-01, 05:18 PM

Wait, what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz?

Dienekes

2012-09-01, 05:33 PM

Wait, what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz?

Who knows, and who cares?

masterjoda99

2012-09-01, 05:35 PM

Tengu_Temp apparently knows, and if just out of curiosity, I cares.

Sunken Valley

2012-09-01, 06:04 PM

Dougs wife was in Ask that Guy. But only as the voice of the GPS he marries.

Picture from his facebook (http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Sr8XoAXvlbI/Rmr76dIq2FI/AAAAAAAAAn4/kgzp036k128/Robin%252520Poage.JPG)

Dienekes

2012-09-01, 06:11 PM

Tengu_Temp apparently knows, and if just out of curiosity, I cares.

Yeah, that was rude of me. I just don't understand the interest in random folks on the internets personal lives.

Zevox

2012-09-01, 06:20 PM

On a sidenote, since people are talking about dating: the worst thing an internet reviewer can do is keep their SO onscreen, as an actual part of their videos - it's a guarantee that the relationship won't last. Look what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz, Brad and Jillian, and especially Spoony and Scarlett. Doug, on the other hand, seems to be doing fine in his personal life - because his SO doesn't participate in his videos. We don't even know how she looks like.
:smallconfused: I don't recall Spoony including Scarlett in any of his videos. He talked about her in his Vlogs from time to time, but I never saw her on-screen in anything he did.

Hadn't heard anything had happened between Linkara and Liz or Brad and Jillian either, though I suppose I wouldn't in the latter case since I don't really follow Brad's videos much.

Zevox

Tengu_temp

2012-09-01, 06:36 PM

Wait, what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz?

They broke up and Liz moved out to live on her own. At least they still remain on good terms. I don't know about any more details than that.

Yeah, that was rude of me. I just don't understand the interest in random folks on the internets personal lives.

It's a combination of 3 factors for me:
1. Trying to understand the behavioural patterns here makes a pretty interesting social experiment (I don't mean that word in the troll way here).
2. If you like a reviewer, you'd like to know that they're doing well, feel bad for them if something bad happens to them and facepalm when they do something stupid.
3. I check their webpages and twitters to see when they put up new videos, and they often put such personal news all over there so you read it whether you want it or not.

:smallconfused: I don't recall Spoony including Scarlett in any of his videos. He talked about her in his Vlogs from time to time, but I never saw her on-screen in anything he did.

She appeared in some crossovers (crossover vlogs mostly, but still) and Q&A panels, her photos were readily available and she was a pretty big name in Spoony's fandom. Enough to count as on-screen even if she technically wasn't in any of the videos.

Zevox

2012-09-01, 10:28 PM

Part 4 is up.

Yeah, still pretty much hovering in that same area for me. Reasonable number of jokes working and thus keeping me entertained, but a number of parts I could do without too (everything involving Phelous, for instance). And I'd say they drug out the Critic's inability to transport back to the ship for too long.

Also, needs more Angry Joe. I'm not even a big fan of Joe's actual videos (we have very different taste in video games), but he's always been quite funny in the anniversary crossovers, but he's barely been in this one so far, and we're a good hour and a half into it now.

Zevox

Tengu_temp

2012-09-01, 10:55 PM

This episode was okay, but I wasn't too keen on the combat scene. Seeing Critic just run around and shoot mooks left and right with rare jokes from time to time just felt weird and out of place with the usual silly tone.

The mysterious helper was cool, though. Something tells me it's Kyle, and Kyle is awesome.

Lord Seth

2012-09-01, 11:10 PM

On a sidenote, since people are talking about dating: the worst thing an internet reviewer can do is keep their SO onscreen, as an actual part of their videos - it's a guarantee that the relationship won't last. Look what happened with Linkara and Iron Liz, Brad and Jillian, and especially Spoony and Scarlett.You've covered Linkara/Liz, but what's this about Brad and Jillian?

Doug, on the other hand, seems to be doing fine in his personal life - because his SO doesn't participate in his videos. We don't even know how she looks like.Even though correlation does not imply causation, you haven't actually demonstrated a correlation considering you left out the fact that (as far as I know) JesuOtaku and Nash are still in a relationship, as is Todd and Lindsey, two examples you completely left out.

Tengu_temp

2012-09-01, 11:27 PM

Brad and Jillian used to be married until recently, but they divorced in circumstances that remain a mystery for me. I know that they still remain friends, though.

I don't know much about JO and Nash because I only watch the former sometimes and the latter pretty much never (I don't know how good or bad he is, I don't even know what he reviews), just that they're in a relationship - the exception from the rule, possibly? Or the fact that if both of them already start as reviewers then they can bond over a common hobby and the relationship is more stable? Or maybe my hypothesis is flawed due to sample bias?

As for Lindsay and Todd, I didn't even realize they're serious about it until this discussion thread. It's obvious their relationship is still young, and time will show if it's going to last or not. Hopefully it will.

Lord Seth

2012-09-02, 12:29 AM

Or maybe my hypothesis is flawed due to sample bias?Well I think the inescapable problem with your assertion is the fact that if they were quiet about their relationship with their significant other...you'd have no idea if it did end because you never knew it existed. This can easily skew the sample because there's a lot of evidence you can't get unless you actually asked them about it directly.

Emmerask

2012-09-02, 10:21 AM

Part3 was pretty good, funny jokes, good pace with the plot and Spoony and NC have good chemistry together.

I didn´t really like part4, too much reliance on slapstick humor and very much too drawn out the only good thing to me was the banter between Spoony and NC.

Omergideon

2012-09-02, 01:50 PM

Not actively bad or offensive in part4. Just......not great.

Really some of the jokes work, especially the banter between Zod and Turl. Doug and Noah as I said always work well together. They have excellent comedic chemistry and both are decent enough actors. Their scenes were genuinely funny. A few of the other little gags worked as well. But too often they were over extended (Phelous stabbings) or just not too funny.

Most especially the long fight/action scene. I still do not think that the CA guys do this well. It was better than a lot of the fight scenes in SK, or the "action" in Kickassia was. But overall I could not be interested in it. Too much running and shooting without the skills to really pull it off.

Lowest video in quality for me so far. But still fairly amusing.

Harr

2012-09-02, 05:09 PM

I actually liked 4 more than 3 surprisingly enough :smallsmile:

I agree the whole 'running in the grass' thing went on for too long. Phelous stabbings, also too long (that type of meta "running a thing into the ground until every ounce of funny is destroyed" thing is kind of a trademark of Phelous though, so could be it was on purpose.)

And yeah JO continues to irritate, unfortunately. She's just selling her part way too hard... the potential to land in that "adorable anime" zone is there, she's just overshooting it, imo.

Other than that though, the whole Turl/Zod thing went from good to brilliant, Joe was freaking awesome in what small part he had, Marzgurl is very good and I agree there needs to be a lot more of both of them, as well as of Cinema Snob.

Favorite line for me this ep was the whole wrong Shakespeare thing, especially "To sleep, perchance to cream, aye, there's the tub" (at least that's what I got out of it!) I don't know why but I lost it right there, maybe because it can ALMOST make sense but then it doesn't :smallbiggrin:

As to why these guys are featuring their small talent over their non-Doug/Spoony heavyweights one can imagine that they want to deliberately make efforts to build their new people up as much as possible, while they figure that the "big" names don't need it as much. I disagree with this though; it ends up feeling forced, and reviewers should get bigger because they get better, not because they get a leg up in big events.

Then again, I I've never run an internet video channel... I'm just enjoying this last run of TGWTG Anniversary vids as much as I can before it ends. (And I do consider critiquing and pointing out what hit and what missed, and to what degrees, to be very much part of that fun.)

Zevox

2012-09-02, 05:27 PM

And yeah JO continues to irritate, unfortunately. She's just selling her part way too hard... the potential to land in that "adorable anime" zone is there, she's just overshooting it, imo.
Honestly, I don't have an opinion of JO's character at this point. I've never seen the show it's referencing, so part of it is surely lost on me, but even so, it just gets no reaction out of me. I can see what they're going for - kind of a non-evil but very hyperactive and childish Doctor Insano sort of thing, which I could see being fun - but for whatever reason, it's neither working for me nor bothering me to any degree. It's just sort of there.

Zevox

Harr

2012-09-02, 07:25 PM

Honestly, I don't have an opinion of JO's character at this point. I've never seen the show it's referencing, so part of it is surely lost on me

Actually Cowboy Bebop is quite good, I would recommend it. It's pretty unique for an anime. You obviously like both MLP and Last Airbender (smashing avatar btw) so there's a chance you might enjoy it :smallsmile:

Edit: If you've ever seen Firefly, it has a bit in common with that series. Except, you know. Anime.

Jamin

2012-09-03, 10:33 AM

Scowling Dragon

2012-09-03, 01:40 PM

Its like the whole reviewer shtick is a giant cover for depression, breakup and madness. :smallfrown:

It seems like only the critics with their faces and identities hidden have decent personal lives. :smalleek:

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-03, 04:20 PM

Honestly, I don't have an opinion of JO's character at this point. I've never seen the show it's referencing, so part of it is surely lost on me, but even so, it just gets no reaction out of me. I can see what they're going for - kind of a non-evil but very hyperactive and childish Doctor Insano sort of thing, which I could see being fun - but for whatever reason, it's neither working for me nor bothering me to any degree. It's just sort of there.

Zevox

I'm the same for having seen Cowboy Bebop. Probably because I don't put it on a pedestal like a lot of people seem to. Its a good series but never made much of an impression on me.

In said series Radical Edward is an insane playful hacker, not the pulling out gadgets like they have JO doing but that's not important. Ed is a character with that sort of insanely over the top sugar high, like a certain pink pony. Something I'm not sure I've ever seen in live action.

Me I'm cutting her a break.

Tengu_temp

2012-09-03, 10:12 PM

Being very much not like the original Ed is not the problem. Being really annoying is the problem.

Harr

2012-09-04, 03:37 PM

Cowboy bebop is nothing like last Airbender or MLP like at all. I mean Cowboy Bebop has drug deals and murder and stuff. MLP not so much.

Sorry, I didn't mean it as they were similar, I meant it as he/she has good taste in animated series is all. Some people don't watch animated stuff.

Edit -> Part 5 is up. Didn't enjoy this one too much.

Laugh out loud moments: The reveal of RoboTodd and the "Juno is overrated" bit. I don't know why Panda's deadpan entertains me so much, but it does.

Apart from those... pretty much had to force myself through it. Oh well.

Zevox

2012-09-04, 08:44 PM

Actually Cowboy Bebop is quite good, I would recommend it. It's pretty unique for an anime. You obviously like both MLP and Last Airbender (smashing avatar btw) so there's a chance you might enjoy it :smallsmile:

Edit: If you've ever seen Firefly, it has a bit in common with that series. Except, you know. Anime.
Never seen Firefly, no. I don't watch much TV in general. There's always the probability that as such I'm missing things I would enjoy, but so be it - I've got plenty to fill my free time as-is.

Anyway, part 5 is up. In my opinion, weakest part so far, easily. Way too much serious, way too few jokes, and too many of the jokes fell flat for me. I hope future parts return to the better mix of humor and story that the previous ones had.

Zevox

Leliel

2012-09-05, 08:10 PM

Never seen Firefly, no. I don't watch much TV in general. There's always the probability that as such I'm missing things I would enjoy, but so be it - I've got plenty to fill my free time as-is.

Anyway, part 5 is up. In my opinion, weakest part so far, easily. Way too much serious, way too few jokes, and too many of the jokes fell flat for me. I hope future parts return to the better mix of humor and story that the previous ones had.

Zevox

And in my opinion, the best yet.

I like serious, even in a comedy series, to remind us what is actually at stake here. Also, the Temptation of the Snob was really well-done, showing just how good a manipulator the Executor is.

Plus, ROBOTODD! GO TEAM CYBORGS! EXCEPT NOT REALLY, BECAUSE IF YOU WIN, THAT WOULD BE A REALLY DEPRESSING ENDING!

Seriously, I'm expecting this line at some point.

Robotodd: YOU DELIBERATELY TURNED ME INTO AN UNAMBIGUOUSLY HEROIC CHARACTER. ONE WHO IS NOTED FOR FINDING LOOPHOLES IN HIS ORDERS. SOMETHING TELLS ME THEY AREN'T THE ONLY IDIOTS ON THIS SHIP. MORON.

*cue awesome asskicking*

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-05, 09:09 PM

And in my opinion, the best yet.

I like serious, even in a comedy series, to remind us what is actually at stake here. Also, the Temptation of the Snob was really well-done, showing just how good a manipulator the Executor is.

Me too

I'm a tough sell on comedy to start. And most of that site well... their comedy is in everyones mutual snarking at their material. When they try to do things outside that... generally doesn't measure up. And for their production values and script doing it dead straight is much funnier or at least entertaining.

And yeah that was probably my favorite scene so far. Really quite chilling in its own meta-textual way.

Contrasting roles a bit, Phelous is evidently going for laughs outright.... and easily the worst.

(Side note, I don't know if I'm just noticing now... but all the men need a lesson in make up and shaving, they all look terrible right now)

Zevox

2012-09-05, 10:00 PM

And in my opinion, the best yet.

I like serious, even in a comedy series, to remind us what is actually at stake here. Also, the Temptation of the Snob was really well-done, showing just how good a manipulator the Executor is.
"Temptation of the Snob" was easily the most boring part of the whole thing for me. Trying to play something like that completely straight was a terrible move in my opinion.

(Side note, I don't know if I'm just noticing now... but all the men need a lesson in make up and shaving, they all look terrible right now)
They look fine to me. (Also, you expect men to wear makeup? Really? :smallconfused:)

Zevox

masterjoda99

2012-09-06, 02:30 AM

Is it just me, or do the various videos on TGWTG seem to really be trying to play up phelous and lupa and trying to essentially force them down our throats with their constant cameos (like appearing in 3 different episodes of atop the fourth wall very close together, or giving lupa and phelous so much screentime in to boldly flee)?

Zevox

2012-09-06, 02:39 AM

:smallconfused: I honestly don't remember them appearing in AT4W recently at all (unless you count that "previously on" segment, which frankly I could do without regardless of who is in it).

Zevox

masterjoda99

2012-09-06, 02:52 AM

Well, a little bit further back. Like the 200th episode review of Spiderman: One more day, with lupa's part being kinda long and tedious.

SmartAlec

2012-09-06, 07:42 AM

"Temptation of the Snob" was easily the most boring part of the whole thing for me. Trying to play something like that completely straight was a terrible move in my opinion.

Not completely straight, maybe. The chained-up writer, for example.

They look fine to me. (Also, you expect men to wear makeup? Really? :smallconfused:)

Zevox

This is something that's really started to be noticeable now that we're getting so many shots looking up at the main characters from below. Many of them have patches of those nasty red spots under their chin from rough shaving.

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-06, 08:39 AM

They look fine to me. (Also, you expect men to wear makeup? Really? :smallconfused:)

Zevox

You know its standard in the performing arts for men to wear make up right?

There are reasons for that is all. And I think the heavy number of close-ups is bringing them out.

Zevox

2012-09-06, 01:06 PM

Not completely straight, maybe. The chained-up writer, for example.
True, but that falls under the category of "jokes that didn't work for me," as do all too many of those in part 5.

You know its standard in the performing arts for men to wear make up right?
No, no I did not. I can't say I like that idea myself, but the fact that I've never noticed before at least means it's not detracting from anything I suppose.

As I said though, I think they look fine here.

Zevox

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-06, 03:29 PM

No, no I did not. I can't say I like that idea myself,

Why? Its not like guys don't have among other things: tatoos that need covering, blemishes that need diminishing, features that need emphasizing or de-emphasizing, and skin tones that need correction for the peculiar lighting effects of your camera and lighting set up.

If you mean particular to this... ehh it is a nitpick. I personally suspect that Part 5 got filmed late in the day and nobody thought about five 'o clock shadows.

Zevox

2012-09-07, 06:37 PM

Part 6 is up. I had largely the same reaction to it as the last one. Liked the opening and ending though - although I wound up unable to understand what was being said during the lightning sequence at the start.

Also have to give them props on how good they made the battle damage on Mechakara look.

Zevox

masterjoda99

2012-09-10, 06:40 PM

Emmerask

2012-09-10, 09:38 PM

I actually liked it, Phelous was actually funny in his well kind of way...

Spoony and the NC doing a great job.

And hopefully I´m not the only one who got the reference to one of my most beloved scifi shows Space 2063 :smallwink:

(though maybe I´m just interpreting it in there ^^)

Zevox

2012-09-10, 09:59 PM

Part 7 is up:

Not sure what to think of the long-ass musical number, but I probably don't like it. This part was thick on the drama, light on the comedy. That is to say, there really wasn't any, not very many jokes at all. Just Return of the Jedi
:smallconfused: Were we watching the same part? Because I thought this one went back to a much better mix of comedy and plot than the last two. I certainly laughed a heck of a lot more than I have been for the last couple.

Anyway, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that Turl and Zod should've been the main villains of this. So many of the best parts revolve around them.

Given the way things have gone, I'm guessing we probably have about two more parts to go. *speculation*
I'm guessing the next one revolves chiefly around the Executor, Luke, and the Snob, while advancing the Plot Hole part more slowly and resolving whatever may be left for Turl and Zod. Then the final part focuses on the Plot Hole, Ma-ti, the Critic, and Film Brain.

Somewhere in there they also have to explain the mystery helmeted guy (who I had honestly forgotten existed until he popped up in this part). And have the real Linkara show up, since they made a point of showing him escaping from the closet Mechakara threw him in. I'm betting the latter has him arrive in Comicron 1 to help finish either Turl and Zod or the Death Bomb, so I'd wager that'll be in the next part. Helmeted guy might also be, but I'm betting he's more connected to the Plot Hole part, so I'd expect more of him in the ending portion.
Zevox

KnightDisciple

2012-09-11, 01:44 AM

I liked this part, probably one of the better ones, had good pacing.
The musical number was good because it sounded pretty good, and worked with what was going on.

Also:

Nostalgia Chick as Ursa? :smallsmile: I approve.

Marzgurl as Major Kusanagi? :smallbiggrin: YES.

Whoracle

2012-09-11, 02:28 AM

All I have to say for this episode is:

80s Powerballads FTW!

Gosh, this was great, in a disturbing way. Not too keen on the whole thing this year overall, but that was glorious.

Terraoblivion

2012-09-11, 02:46 AM

Bah, what really matters is Kyle. He even managed to sell the inspirational speech about the power of art simply through charisma, having a nice voice and actually knowing how to act. Also, he seems to be able to balance taking things seriously enough for it to work and being self-aware enough to not come off ridiculous. Just a shame he didn't get to do more.

Also, ugh, I wish The Major would just go away. She's a terrible character and just another Strong and Independent Woman, but one who for some reason gets a free pass. At least Marzgurl wore the outfit from the show and not from the manga or the movie and didn't seem to extend the reality warping field that makes everyone else useless. And since they aren't going to include gratuitous prostitution, most of the main problems are gone in this version.

Omergideon

2012-09-11, 05:30 PM

Whilst I get that the plot is going to be referencing a lot of stuff, I found it to go a little overboard in part 6 (not quite watched part 7 yet). I mean the direct Star Wars referencing is going from blatant homage to just plain unimaginative. I don't mind them doing it, but the direct scenes being ripped off come across as too straight for me to enjoy.

And frankly I found the Mechakara resolution elements, with added love triangle, to be very anticlimactic. Now granted I don't really like Lupa (her delivery alwasy puts me off, even when the material is good), but it all seemed to end up being so.....unecessary to the plot. Just kind of there and self contained without enough humour or comedy or originality to justify it.

Still if part 7 is better paced (and the bits I saw certainly were) I have hopes for a good conclusion.

Really it seems the TGWTG crew do good beginnings and endings, just not a great continuous story throughout.

Zevox

2012-09-13, 08:38 PM

Part 8 is up. I was half right - we didn't have two parts left, but only because the last part is a full 45 minutes, rather than continuing the 15-20 of the parts besides 1.

As for reaction... meh. Like parts 5 and 6, too much plot, too little humor. Pity.

It does leave me wondering whether Doug is actually retiring the Nostalgia Critic though. I didn't think so, but the ending seems to indicate it. I honestly can't believe he'd do so without a plan for something to replace it though, since it's his most popular and consistent show, and the site is his main income source. And we haven't seen any new skits testing a new show possibility from him in a long time. So, I'm just confused right now about that.

Zevox

Lord Raziere

2012-09-13, 09:05 PM

I would not worry.

Remember: the Critics are now all in a universe, where nothing makes sense.

if the Critic suddenly starts reviewing again without mentioning the movie at all…

…it would be perfectly consistent with the nonsensical universe they are now in.

they are inside a plot hole after all.

Emmerask

2012-09-13, 09:38 PM

Well the ending wasn´t bad... its just that after part 7 I expected a bit more I guess.

Overall I still think though that this was the best anniversary movie to date and seeing that the next one will be without Noah most likely, this may very well be the best one they will ever do because lets face it two people carried the whole thing pretty much, NC and Spoony.

Helanna

2012-09-13, 09:51 PM

Finally got caught up . . .

I did love Part 7. But the whole ending was so meta I can't even figure it out anymore. :smalleek: Although I do love that the movie has basically justified any continuity errors or plot holes in all future videos, ever. Veeeery sneaky.

Also, I knew the Nostalgia chick was a pretty good singer, but that song was awesome! I much enjoyed it.

Dienekes

2012-09-13, 11:46 PM

So if the NC just starts reviewing again as normal that would make absolutely no sense.

Which makes perfect sense. [Hmm, my genius rationalization was beaten to the punch by Raziere]

In any case, I don't know. While this special was probably better than the others I felt with the earlier specials like it was really just a bunch of guys having fun with each other which I didn't feel as much in this one (except between Spoony and Doug), and I kind of missed that feel.

Zevox

2012-09-13, 11:52 PM

Overall I still think though that this was the best anniversary movie to date and seeing that the next one will be without Noah most likely, this may very well be the best one they will ever do because lets face it two people carried the whole thing pretty much, NC and Spoony.
Yeah, I think on the whole I probably enjoyed this more than the other anniversary movies, it just had a few parts that were way too light on comedy for me.

Definitely agreed about Spoony though. I really don't know what they'll do without him in these events - between him as himself, him as Insano, and in this one him as Turl, he's been one or more of the best parts every time. Really makes this one rather bittersweet.

Zevox

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-14, 01:19 AM

Also, I knew the Nostalgia chick was a pretty good singer, but that song was awesome! I much enjoyed it.

I've come to the conclusion that musical numbers make everything better.

KnightDisciple

2012-09-14, 07:07 PM

Mixed feelings, for sure. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/video-updates/36516-no-more-nostalgia-critic)

Aotrs Commander

2012-09-14, 07:26 PM

It does leave me wondering whether Doug is actually retiring the Nostalgia Critic though. I didn't think so, but the ending seems to indicate it. I honestly can't believe he'd do so without a plan for something to replace it though, since it's his most popular and consistent show, and the site is his main income source. And we haven't seen any new skits testing a new show possibility from him in a long time. So, I'm just confused right now about that.

Zevox

Official answer (for those without time or inclination to watch the video in KnightDisciple's post above) is unambiguously yes, he is retiring the Nostalgia Critic as a regular show, so no more weekly NC.

(Though the character may show up occasionally if they can come up with a good reason.)

They do have plans for a show to replace it; details currently unrevealed, but they have actually just bought an actual studio and they are talking about getting a cast, so it may be the replacement is going to be closer to a "proper" (sic) TV sort of programme than what they've done previously.

All we can do is wait and see.

Something of an end of an era.

Hell of way to go out with a bang, though.

(I think this was probably the best anniversary. Kickassia was perhaps tighter and funnier overall, but the fact that this time around, everyone got to contribute in a way that more matched their personas (plus a bit of the Shakespearian tragic comedy taste and some genuinely good acting - and overacting) made it better for m- who I am I kidding, this one is better because it had Starship battles in it!!!!)

Also, I think the fact that, for once, the trailer and stuff about "a critic's last journey" was actually genuinely bourne out just like it implied is sort a rarity...

Lord Raziere

2012-09-14, 07:59 PM

Mixed feelings, for sure. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/video-updates/36516-no-more-nostalgia-critic)

oh what really? well, that outsmarted me.

oh well, farewell then Nostalgia Critic, I'm gonna listen to your Anthem in memoriam…

I hope you'll never stop
or else I'll be nostalgic...
of the Nostalgia Critic…
Oh the irony….

KnightDisciple

2012-09-14, 07:59 PM

From a post on Nostalgia Chick's site, this is apparently going to be a big move; she's getting her own site, and she and several others are signing contracts with Blip for more regular production. As well, apparently they're getting the studio space with/from Blip.

It's not exactly national network level, but then, it doesn't have to be. We might be seeing some stuff on the horizon that makes some big, positive changes for internet TV.

Now I want to make myself go sit down and watch through missed episodes/back episodes of my favorite reviewers (Linkara, Marzgurl, Bennett, one or two others) and a couple I've been meaning to watch (JO, maybe CR?, one or two others that caught my eye...).

Helanna

2012-09-14, 09:06 PM

I've come to the conclusion that musical numbers make everything better.

Well, I can't disagree with that.

Official answer (for those without time or inclination to watch the video in KnightDisciple's post above) is unambiguously yes, he is retiring the Nostalgia Critic as a regular show, so no more weekly NC.

:smallfrown:

The NC has always been my favorite show, except for maybe Todd's pop song reviews. I really didn't foresee them actually cancelling the show, and I'm going to miss it. However, the new potential show thing sounds pretty cool, so I'll look forward to that.

Zevox

2012-09-14, 09:42 PM

Mixed feelings, for sure. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/video-updates/36516-no-more-nostalgia-critic)
:frown:

Yeah, not at all mixed on my end...

Zevox

KnightDisciple

2012-09-14, 09:43 PM

Well. I'm sad there's no more Critic.

But I understand Doug's reasons, and think they're good ones.

And I'm excited to see what changes will be coming to the site.

Dienekes

2012-09-14, 10:33 PM

Mixed feelings, for sure. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/video-updates/36516-no-more-nostalgia-critic)

Well damn. Here's hoping that his new stuff is as funny as his old.

Zevox

2012-09-14, 10:45 PM

Well. I'm sad there's no more Critic.

But I understand Doug's reasons, and think they're good ones.

And I'm excited to see what changes will be coming to the site.
I agree with the first two, though the second doesn't lessen the first at all.

The last... we'll see. New shows always carries the possibility that I won't like them. Especially considering he mentioned that the main new one, which he intends to replace the Nostalgia Critic as his main attraction, will have a plot to it. As I've said before about the anniversary movies, I don't think he does serious storytelling well, just comedy, so moving from an all-comedy series like Nostalgia Critic into a comedy and story series doesn't exactly get me excited.

Zevox

KnightDisciple

2012-09-14, 10:48 PM

I agree with the first two, though the second doesn't lessen the first at all.

The last... we'll see. New shows always carries the possibility that I won't like them. Especially considering he mentioned that the main new one, which he intends to replace the Nostalgia Critic as his main attraction, will have a plot to it. As I've said before about the anniversary movies, I don't think he does serious storytelling well, just comedy, so moving from an all-comedy series like Nostalgia Critic into a comedy and story series doesn't exactly get me excited.

Zevox

Well, I meant more than just his show. More the general positive changes to the site; people getting blip contracts, some of them getting studio space, things like that.

And while his plots haven't been awesome, it sounds like he's going to structure things so he has more time to put thought into it.

And I think TBF has better plot than the other specials. I think between Rob and Doug, they can do it. And they'll have the time.

Scowling Dragon

2012-09-15, 05:44 AM

Im actually really glad for the guy. It takes a good load of self observation to understand that the gig needs to retire. So that he doesn't run the thing into the ground.

Good luck to you Doug! May luck be with you!

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-15, 09:39 AM

I agree with the first two, though the second doesn't lessen the first at all.

The last... we'll see. New shows always carries the possibility that I won't like them. Especially considering he mentioned that the main new one, which he intends to replace the Nostalgia Critic as his main attraction, will have a plot to it. As I've said before about the anniversary movies, I don't think he does serious storytelling well, just comedy, so moving from an all-comedy series like Nostalgia Critic into a comedy and story series doesn't exactly get me excited.

Zevox

I have some of the same concerns. I visit the site for snarky commentary on pop culture, I don't visit it for the storytelling.

However I would say that with To Boldly Flee they have boned up on actual storytelling enough that it might work. Hopefully better when they can build characters to suit a story from the ground up. If they can keep that level and improve on it then it can work.

As for comedy versus serious... I never thought the Critic was funny. He could snark just fine, but so can every reviewer on the site, I never found his other bits that amusing. I however always find that storytelling is a universal trait, a good story is a good story and genre is irrelevant.

Noting that farrrrr to many seem to think comedy can replace story, which is probably why I'm a tough sell on comedies and rarely seek them out.

Tengu_temp

2012-09-15, 12:45 PM

Welp, I didn't see that coming. But since Nostalgia Critic had really mixed quality lately, I can understand that Doug decided to retire the show and start a new one. Hopefully it will be fun, and hopefully we'll see more Ask That Guy now - it's been way too long.

Doing the same as Lord Raziere.

HalfTangible

2012-09-15, 12:57 PM

I agree with the first two, though the second doesn't lessen the first at all.

The last... we'll see. New shows always carries the possibility that I won't like them. Especially considering he mentioned that the main new one, which he intends to replace the Nostalgia Critic as his main attraction, will have a plot to it. As I've said before about the anniversary movies, I don't think he does serious storytelling well, just comedy, so moving from an all-comedy series like Nostalgia Critic into a comedy and story series doesn't exactly get me excited.

ZevoxYou think TBF was a serious story?! The entire thing revolves around a literal plot hole and making fun of sci-fi movies! I mean, really, how on EARTH

Well, with TBF, I think he did a good job with storytelling. Keep in mind: most of TBF was spent parodying this or that scifi movie but the few moments that it got serious were actually pretty good - at least enough so that it didn't ruin the movie. And even then, they were usually punctuated or spotted with some sort of joke to lighten the mood. I'm hoping this DemoReel is something like that - a plot, but mostly lighthearted humor.

Zevox

2012-09-15, 01:14 PM

and hopefully we'll see more Ask That Guy now - it's been way too long.
That's the one show of Doug's that I wouldn't mind if he retired. I think it's extremely one-note, and too predictable to be funny after the first few times you watch it. That Guy's answers will always be either to highlight what a horrible person he is, or they'll be complete nonsense, and that's basically it. It was funny for a little while, but it's been a long time since it made me laugh.

You think TBF was a serious story?! The entire thing revolves around a literal plot hole and making fun of sci-fi movies! I mean, really, how on EARTH
It certainly treated itself seriously half of the time - more than half of the time in certain parts, which I felt were the weakest parts. When it was trying to be funny, it usually (though not always) was; when it wasn't, I was usually bored.

Zevox

Zombimode

2012-09-15, 02:24 PM

Mixed feelings, for sure. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/video-updates/36516-no-more-nostalgia-critic)

I expected as much since his reenactment of the ending of All The Good Things. You don't reference one of best and most popular tv-shows in such a way if you don't mean it.

Leliel

2012-09-15, 03:55 PM

Whelp. I was wrong, he is retiring the show.

Oh well, best to quit when you sense the decline, rather than at the bottom. This way, fond memories will not be ruined by crappy final seasons.

Harr

2012-09-15, 04:58 PM

Wow... so, that marks the end of an internet-video era for a lot of people who followed him.

You have to respect them not stringing along something just because it's popular, even when doing something new is going to be risky on whether people will warm up to it or not.

Personally I'm still interested in following both Noah and Doug individually but I find I've lost interest in the rest of TGWTG or Channel Awesome in general. I was already skipping 90% of the reviews before the Spoony incident happened, then that whole "event" lowered my opinion of the site in general even further, and now I find that NC being retired makes for a nice bookend to mark the end of my "fandom" of that site, where I have followed since it started pretty much.

So while I'll probably give Doug's new stuff a watch, and keep going to the Spoony Experiment, not really interested in any "larger cast" projects he mentions, especially seeing the average quality of the acting in the special - where you have a handful of actually capable actors carrying all the others who are obviously trying to "act" for the first time, or just not good actors period, and depend on you cutting them a lot of slack because of it. Not that I have anything AGAINST that, but there's just better uses of one's time. For a yearly special it's ok, but as a regular thing? Hmm.

As for what I thought of the last couple Boldly Flee videos, I would say more but there's only so many times people can say "When they're being funny it's great, when they're not it's not" in the same thread without it getting tedious. So I'll just agree with the people who said that :smallsmile:

Scowling Dragon

2012-09-15, 05:03 PM

Well In my opinion, Doug is still very funny. Just the NC isn't. When doug releases a sketch I bawl with laughter.

I also really enjoy the larger cast. Especially phelous and the Sage.

Helanna

2012-09-15, 09:14 PM

After managing to actually watch the video, I have to give them props for ending the show rather than letting it decline. I'd rather it end when I'm still sad about it than wait until it's more of a relief. :smalleek:

Also, although I'll agree that Doug's storytelling has been pretty weak before, I'm cautiously optimistic about a more story-centered show. To Boldly Flee wasn't bad, and apparently they've got a studio and are going to hire actual actors (who will hopefully be good). Plus, it might be easier for him to write a story when that's the plan from the beginning, rather than taking a bunch of pre-fabricated comedy characters and trying to piece together a story.

HalfTangible

2012-09-15, 11:38 PM

It certainly treated itself seriously half of the time - more than half of the time in certain parts, which I felt were the weakest parts. When it was trying to be funny, it usually (though not always) was; when it wasn't, I was usually bored.

Zevox

There's a reason that entire line was crossed out, ya know. Namely, it was a joke. You weren't supposed to see it as an actual point :smalltongue:

Shadow of the Sun

2012-09-16, 08:16 AM

Spoony's commentary on the first part of To Boldly Flee was enlightening. He's explained why he left the company, the issues with Lupa and so on and so forth.

I'm glad that the new meds are working for him.

Regarding the Critic no longer happening, I don't mind. I stopped finding him funny about half a year ago; like he said, there's only so much you can do with a given format, and I found the Critic wearing thin.

Cikomyr

2012-09-16, 09:50 AM

Spoony's commentary on the first part of To Boldly Flee was enlightening. He's explained why he left the company, the issues with Lupa and so on and so forth.

I'm glad that the new meds are working for him.

Agreed. I'm happy the whole affair was mainly motivated by a business motives, rather than personal conflicts. If only that personal conflicts are the worst basis for any business decision.

Spoony is the critic I feel the most emotionally. I almost feel linked to his performance, to his rage and emotion. Maybe it's because he only talks about stuff he genuinely cares (negatively or positively), maybe because he puts so much of himself in his writing, maybe it's because he's such a good actor and can really shows himself on camera, as opposed to a somewhat stiffen himself (like the Snob).

Or maybe it's because I just genuinely like him.

If I ever get to do an internet-based show, it wouldn't be because of Jo, Doug Walker, Linkara or Lindsey, it'd be because of Spoony. He's the man.

That said, I'm happy he's better. I'm happy there won't be a lasting grudge between him and the executives of CA (who are not bad people).

Regarding the Critic no longer happening, I don't mind. I stopped finding him funny about half a year ago; like he said, there's only so much you can do with a given format, and I found the Critic wearing thin.

I still liked him a lot. One of his best review, Signs, has been done only recently. My girlfriend and I had to stop the video for 20 minutes just to finish laughing at his alien subtitles.

I am worried about the future of TGWTG, as they ARE losing they Flag Character, like Spoony says. And his business-related grievance ARE true: the site is a mess, there are too many producers, and none get the sort of exposure they would hope to get.

Edit: I forgot to comment on one aspect of TBF.

It's something people apparently have strong feeling about. Strong feelings I disagree myself..

JesusOtaku's performance.

I LOVED IT!! :smallbiggrin: I enjoyed every second she was on screen! Maybe the girl can only show one emotion on screen, but she is so adorable when she does the Glee thing, playing a character that is ONLY Glee/Enthusiasm was pure candy for my own self.

Zevox

2012-09-16, 05:10 PM

Spoony's commentary on the first part of To Boldly Flee was enlightening. He's explained why he left the company, the issues with Lupa and so on and so forth.
Indeed. I'm surprised I missed that last night - I saw his crossover with Diamanda Hagan, but somehow missed the commentary right below it. Anyway, yeah, a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff there that is understandable, and in some sense almost unavoidable.

I'm a bit confused about what he was saying about not wanting to move to Chicago and whatnot - does that imply that the other producers of the site are going to start doing that :smallconfused: ? That would be a much bigger change than I'd expected from what we've been told thus far.

I am worried about the future of TGWTG, as they ARE losing they Flag Character, like Spoony says.
Yeah. Speaking personally, there's been two big reasons I visit that site regularly for the past few years: The Nostalgia Critic and Linkara*. One of those two is now gone, and I cannot predict whether I'll be as much of a fan of the replacement show as I was of the Critic. Linkara is still doing weekly reviews, so he'll still keep me there regularly, and as long as I'm doing that I'll continue to watch videos from the others sporadically, but if/when Linkara stops, how much I'll continue to frequent the site will suddenly be very up in the air. I imagine there's no small number of others who find themselves either in a situation similar to my current one or to my hypothetical future one right now.

*Spoony was equal to them in my eyes too, but I saw his videos on his own site, since some (like vlogs) didn't get posted on TGWTG, and he doesn't maintain a regular schedule, so it was easier for me to check his site than to hope I caught his videos as they went up on TGWTG. Which ultimately meant that his leaving the site impacted me little I suppose, aside from it making it more difficult for him to do crossovers or appear in Linkara's stories as Insano and whatnot.

Zevox

Tengu_temp

2012-09-16, 05:31 PM

Since this has become a general TGWTG thread, let me shill a bit:

If you haven't already, check out Brows Held High. Oancitizen is great. He's very intelligent and knowledgable on the topics he's talking about, he's funny, he's the second best actor after Spoony, he seems like a very fun and nice guy in person, and he constantly tries novel approaches in his reviews, to good results. And since he's reviewing pretentious arthouse cinema, it gives him a lot of material to work with and keep the video entertaining.

turkishproverb

2012-09-16, 07:10 PM

That was...formulaic, yet satisfying.

Dr.Epic

2012-09-17, 06:54 PM

HalfTangible

2012-09-17, 09:04 PM

Wait, the Nostalgia Critic is ending, but ERod still gets to make his awful Blockbuster Buster? Man, there's no justice in the world.

As for the actual special, MAN, THAT WAS AWFUL! SO AWFUL! I haven't been this disappointed in something since Revenge of the Fallen. I feel dumber having watched this thing. It's amazing how a group of people who constantly bash the storylines of others couldn't come together and make something at least decent in terms of plot. Not even the jokes were funny. It was mainly just references. I might as well have watched a Seltzer/Friedberg film, except those are 3 and a half hours long. Oh man, that was so awful!

Somebody hand me my opinion-corrector 9000. :smalltongue:

...Seriously though, What? :smallconfused: I liked it. The plot wasn't anything miraculous but it was 'decent'. Which is more than can be asked for a special who's plot mainly exists to set up jokes and MAKE FUN OF other movies.

Cikomyr

2012-09-17, 09:23 PM

Lord Seth

2012-09-17, 10:28 PM

As for the actual special, MAN, THAT WAS AWFUL! SO AWFUL! I haven't been this disappointed in something since Revenge of the Fallen. I feel dumber having watched this thing. It's amazing how a group of people who constantly bash the storylines of others couldn't come together and make something at least decent in terms of plot. Not even the jokes were funny. It was mainly just references. I might as well have watched a Seltzer/Friedberg film, except those are 3 and a half hours long. Oh man, that was so awful!I can't tell. Is this supposed to be serious?

Emmerask

2012-09-18, 12:35 AM

Wait, the Nostalgia Critic is ending, but ERod still gets to make his awful Blockbuster Buster? Man, there's no justice in the world.

As for the actual special, MAN, THAT WAS AWFUL! SO AWFUL! I haven't been this disappointed in something since Revenge of the Fallen. I feel dumber having watched this thing. It's amazing how a group of people who constantly bash the storylines of others couldn't come together and make something at least decent in terms of plot. Not even the jokes were funny. It was mainly just references. I might as well have watched a Seltzer/Friedberg film, except those are 3 and a half hours long. Oh man, that was so awful!

Hm I´m not entirely sure with what expectations you saw it because the plots where always ridiculously thin:

- lets get all together and have a brawl
- lets get together and invade a micro country (probably the most unique plot)
- lets get together and play a roleplaying quest together
...
and all this of course with a good amount of making fun of the movies that fit the genre

Sunken Valley

2012-09-18, 04:30 AM

Wait, the Nostalgia Critic is ending, but ERod still gets to make his awful Blockbuster Buster? Man, there's no justice in the world.

As for the actual special, MAN, THAT WAS AWFUL! SO AWFUL! I haven't been this disappointed in something since Revenge of the Fallen. I feel dumber having watched this thing. It's amazing how a group of people who constantly bash the storylines of others couldn't come together and make something at least decent in terms of plot. Not even the jokes were funny. It was mainly just references. I might as well have watched a Seltzer/Friedberg film, except those are 3 and a half hours long. Oh man, that was so awful!

To be fair Blockbuster Buster only started in 2010, making it to Channel Awesome in August 2011. Plus ERod won't get much further whereas Doug is only just beginning. DEVIL REEL!

What exactly was wrong with the special? I though it was better than Suburban Knights and Kickassia.

Although I doubt they will make a special as spectacular, what with Doug branching out and Spoony gone. Linkara, NChick and Film Brain can't hold it up on their own and Phelous and Lupa just can't cut it. Think of TBF as the end of an era.

Soras Teva Gee

2012-09-18, 07:35 PM

What exactly was wrong with the special? I though it was better than Suburban Knights and Kickassia.

Although I doubt they will make a special as spectacular, what with Doug branching out and Spoony gone. Linkara, NChick and Film Brain can't hold it up on their own and Phelous and Lupa just can't cut it. Think of TBF as the end of an era.

If there's one place we see the Critic again I think it would be the specials.

And yeah I Phelous and Lupa are just kind of drains on scenes... I don't know what Phelous does on his own show but he's convinced me to never watch him. So probably the reverse effect of him being all over the special.

(I already watch CR and JO who also got big pushes... but they don't produce that much. Seriously that's how you get there, regularity)

SDF

2012-09-18, 09:57 PM

I agree that BB is absolute garbage not worth my time. I don't have time to follow so many reviewers anyway, and even if I did I'd probably still only watch the five or so I do. I am genuinely surprised that some of these people can do this as a full time job and release content so sporadically. I'm not real enthusiastic about the new Walker bros shows, but I will probably give them a shot before I pass premature judgement.

As a caveat I'm not trying to be too negative. The reviewers I do like are really good or funny, and I'm always stoked to see their content.

@V: Blockbuster Buster

HalfTangible

2012-09-18, 09:59 PM

Mystic Muse

2012-09-18, 10:10 PM

Who's BB? The acronyms are confuzzling me =(

Blockbuster Buster. He's not really my thing. He just kinda lacks a certain spark some of the other reviewers have, and isn't very good at the getting angry thing.

Doug was good at getting over the top angry as the Nostalgia Critic.

Linkara is good at seeming like he is legitimately angry at whatever it is he's reading.

In my own experience, it seemed like Blockbuster Buster tries to do the second, but ends up doing the first, takes himself too seriously, and just in general isn't very fun to watch.

I watch Phelous, Obscurus Lupa, some CR stuff, Linkara, Brad Jones (Brad Tries and Cinema Snob), JesuOtaku (only sometimes), Film Brain (Exclusively Bad Movie Beatdown), MikeJ (Exclusively Shameful Sequels), Todd in the Shadows, Spoony (Off-site now naturally), and I've seen smatterings of a few other reviewers, and the difference between the ones I've seen and the Blockbuster Buster is, the ones I've seen tend to be good and entertaining at what they do.

It is however possible for your opinion of a reviewer to kinda get poisoned over time too. I've stopped liking Nostalgia Chick after her "Charlies Angels" review, and her just not being very entertaining either.

HalfTangible

2012-09-18, 10:25 PM

I've seen one episode of JesuOtaku's stuff (didn't really like it), a few of Angry Joe's videogame reviews (might actually watch him on a regular basis) and Linkara, who is seriously awesome.

Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall~
Where bad comics burn~

Zevox

2012-09-18, 10:45 PM

Re: Blockbuster Buster - I don't really have an opinion on him. I've watched a couple of his reviews, and while they didn't make me want to watch more, they also didn't give me any reason to dislike him.

I watch basically everything from Doug (though I don't know why I still bother with Ask That Guy), Linkara, and Spoony. The rest, I'm very sporadic on. Probably watch the most of Nostalgia Chick and Film Brain in that respect, but still far from everything they do. Occasionally things from Brad, though mostly his Midnight Screening videos. I used to watch Angry Joe semi-consistently, but eventually stopped because I usually disagreed with him, and didn't find his attempts at humor funny enough to keep watching despite that. Used to watch Lord Kat's Until We Win consistently, but of course he retired it. Used to watch Benett's video game reviews semi-consistently too, but he seems to have dropped them for his new anime show, which I don't watch.

For most everybody else, I either rarely watch videos when one catches my eye, or don't watch them at all (the latter is the case with the music reviewers, for instance).

Zevox

Sunken Valley

2012-10-02, 04:15 AM

News! (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/site-news/general-updates/36672-the-future-of-tgwtg-and-ca)

Aotrs Commander

2012-10-02, 04:56 AM

News! (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/site-news/general-updates/36672-the-future-of-tgwtg-and-ca)

Eeeghch. Talk shows and game shows? Not something I want to watch at the very best of times.

Disappointing, I think.

One hopes Demo Reel can make up for those, but I'm not very hopeful.

Sunken Valley

2012-10-02, 02:43 PM

Eeeghch. Talk shows and game shows? Not something I want to watch at the very best of times.

Disappointing, I think.

One hopes Demo Reel can make up for those, but I'm not very hopeful.

Eeeghch, my little pony is a girls show (joke, is awesome). But yeah I do think the talk show will have a twist. And how many Internet gameshows do ya see?

I am most interested in the 5th unannounced show. Although I do think mike has a bee in his bonnet when he is talking about porn.

Sinfonian

2012-10-02, 05:42 PM

Although I do think mike has a bee in his bonnet when he is talking about porn.

Can't blame him, really. He's spent years of his life investing time and capital into building something and when people in his hometown hear about it, their automatic assumption is something that's often looked down upon. I can see how that would easily breed all kinds of bitterness.

Zevox

2012-10-02, 10:13 PM

News! (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/site-news/general-updates/36672-the-future-of-tgwtg-and-ca)
Don't know about the talk show, but Brad Jones hosting a game show? I am interested and wish to know more. Brad seems like he'd be a great host for a game show - it's just a question of what kind of game show we're talking about, since obviously if the game isn't interesting, having Brad on board alone is unlikely to save it.

Also, Nostalgia Critic reviews of his own movies? That actually sounds like something they could tempt me to pick up a DVD for.

Zevox