In late September 2012, followers of Channel Awesome, myself included, witnessed a movie from the site by Doug Walker which would forever alter the perception of Walker's characters and the site at large. That movie, To Boldly Flee, did in fact become Doug and Rob Walker's equivalent of The Search for Spock. It also, in retrospect, was their Return of the Jedi, their Akira, their Battlefield Earth (including Noah Antwiler as Terl!), and I would also add their Unforgiven. That last movie referenced may not seem much plot wise; yet similar to the Clint Eastwood film which had Eastwood say goodbye to the Western, To Boldly Flee was Doug Walker saying goodbye to the Nostalgia Critic. It also was a goodbye to Ma-Ti, Terl, General Zod (Walker again), and though unintentional Luke Mochrie.
Well, it was supposed to be the Nostalgia Critic's goodbye. Only plans did not turn out as was thought. The last four months of 2012 had the Walker Brothers focus their resources and creativity on Demo Reel. In short, Demo Reel felt like a long term program with an intricate storyline and as much pathos as there was humor. Many were expecting this chapter in Channel Awesome to be even more interesting than what had come before.
Only, Demo Reel was not that great. It had a promising setup, and indeed given time might have seen improvements. The reaction by the fans, however, was pretty certain. It was a disappointment; not to mention in some regard an insult to many that followed the TGWTG people. During that time, more producers started to leave their Channel Awesome affiliation to go out on their own.
Thomas Hanley and pretty much the entirety of the Game Heroes, Mickey Paradis (8-bit Mickey) included, retired the name and web hosting of their program. Some matters of this was due to the team starting their own families. What also occurred were financial disagreements in how funding and ad revenue would be given for the gamer section of the website, aptly named Blistered Thumbs. Within a year, Blistered Thumbs would cease its web hosting activity.
Luke Mochrie, as mentioned above, stopped posting videos after To Boldly Flee was released. This was more for personal and career opportunities than anything else.
Sarah Wilson (PushingUpRoses) decided to begin hosting her own series on YouTube and other websites. Once again, lack of communication on the part of the website leaders and financial concerns were reasons for the decision to leave.
And yes, at that time Justin Carmical decided to end his affiliation with the website. JewWario continued to release reviews, gameplay, and collaborations up until days before his death. More on that later.
So, knowing Demo Reel was in need of improvement, and knowing a fanbase was feeling alienated, what was done to remedy the situation? Re-tool the show? Add newer material and/or crossovers? The answer, we found, occurred in January 2013. In a short film released, Doug Walker as Doug Walker merges himself with the Nostalgia Critic. In the process, the Demo Reel characters are found to be imagined or in the case of Donnie (Walker), the Nostalgia Critic in purgatory.
In short, the Walkers returned to their old standby. With a new set, added subplots and sketches, actors leftover from Demo Reel and other Channel Awesome works, and an emphasis on commentary and recent movies, the Nostalgia Critic returned. Yet, for about a year or so, many episodes either made fun of the fan base for not liking Demo Reel; turning likable characters into complete wankers, making Santa Christ a hated figure, and feeling like it became a duty and not an interest on the part of Doug and Rob.
Maybe you could never kill the Nostalgia Critic. Yet, to me it seemed a ham fisted move on the part of Channel Awesome to make these changes. From that point forward, the emphasis of the website would be on Doug Walker and perhaps a select few producers; also the never ending search for talent, Patreon campaigns for the Walkers but discouraged for other producers; nearly most of Doug's characters turning against their audience, a continued process of shooting the same pilots over and over; and perhaps most importantly: forgetting to give equal share to the long standing talent on the site.
It also became clear that no criticism of the site's business would be taken in jest. This would lead to a series of short films for their fifth anniversary, compiled as The Uncanny Valley. These films are amongst the best made by the site. Yet, the ramifications of the films themselves would prove prophetic for what was to come for the site and for many of its now former producers.
I thought this would go only for 3 posts. Yet, a fourth post will be given soon to hopefully conclude my now tract on Channel Awesome. Thank you though for following me on this. As always, feel free to comment.
Talk to you later on,
Robert
No comments:
Post a Comment