Nostalgia Critic
 | This article possibly contains original research. (May 2012) |
| Nostalgia Critic | |
|---|---|
| File:Nostalgia Critic.jpg Doug Walker as the Nostalgia Critic | |
| Genre | Black comedy, Surreal humor, Insult comedy, Parody, Review |
| Written by | Doug Walker Rob Walker |
| Presented by | Doug Walker |
| Theme music composer | The Sad Panda |
| Ending theme | "The Nostalgia Critic Anthem" Song from Reviewed Film |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 213 and 40 specials/lists (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production location | Naperville, Illinois[1] |
| Running time | Varies (see episode list) |
| Production company | Channel Awesome |
| Original release | |
| Network | Internet: YouTube (2007–2008) Blip.tv (2008–present) |
| Release | April 6, 2008 – present (Blip.tv releases) |
| Related | |
| The Nostalgia Chick | |
The Nostalgia Critic is a web television series starring Doug Walker as the eponymous reviewer. The series was initially launched on YouTube before moving to an independent site, That Guy with the Glasses, run by production company Channel Awesome.
The show involves the Nostalgia Critic, often referred to as simply the Critic or NC, reviewing mostly nostalgic media in a negative (but humorous) manner. This mostly concerns movies and television series from the 1980s to '90s, but he has on occasion made exceptions for movies and television series that came out after 2000 and before 1980.
Most of his reviews are for films that were critical failures, although he has negatively reviewed some popular films, such as James and the Giant Peach and Signs.
History
The series was initially launched on YouTube in July 2007 but episodes were frequently removed by the website following complaints of copyright infringement. In April 2008 the videos were removed from YouTube but an arrangement between the company and content host Blip.tv in 2009 resulted in them being featured on YouTube once more.[2][3]
The announcement of a spin-off, called The Nostalgia Chick, was made in "The Search for the Nostalgia Chick" (August 10, 2008). The concept was for a female host to review female-targeted nostalgic films and television.[4] The contest ended in a three-way tie between Lindsay Ellis (who reviewed Disney's Pocahontas), Krissy Diggs (who reviewed Sailor Moon), and Kaylyn Dicksion (who reviewed The Last Unicorn). The competition was won by Ellis, then using the name "The Dudette", as announced on the site, "Nostalgia Chick Winner!" (September 15, 2008).[4]
In November, 2011, a false-episode titled "Top 11 Reasons He Won't Review Digimon" was created which is "CENSORED" during his usual introduction. This episode was posted with information about the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act, informing the viewers that if such acts were to pass, the website would possibly be shut down.
In January 2012, with his Star Trek movie reviews, he started using commercial breaks. In late February 2012, he reviewed Ponyo for his 200th episode and featured guest stars including Uncle Yo, LittleKuriboh and Spike Spencer. In March 2012 he parodied the speculation of the upcoming Ninja Turtles film that he mistook Michael Bay for directing it when in reality he is producing it and Jonathan Liebesman is the one who is directing it.
Legal issues
Episode 121, The Room (July 13, 2010), was taken down shortly after its release following claims of copyright infringement from the film's distributor Wiseau-Films.[5] In response, Walker released an episode entitled The Tommy Wiseau Show which mocked the film, its director, and the staff of Wiseau Films. Furthermore, Walker often mocks Wiseau at his personal convention appearances by dressing in a black wig and making audience members act out sequences from The Room. The episode was later re-released on an external website and brought back to the host site on December 12, 2010.
Reception
The show averages 100,000 to 200,000 viewers per week.[6][7] In the third quarter of the 2009 fiscal year alone, the series generated $54,000 in income from advertising.[3][6] This income allowed Walker to quit his previous job as an illustrator and to create web television professionally.[6]
Subjects of certain episodes have sometimes responded favorably:
- Roger Ebert used Twitter to call "A Tribute to Siskel and Ebert" (November 10, 2009) "The best, funniest video about Siskel & Ebert I've ever seen."[8] Walker has since had this statement hung up on his wall.[9]
- Animation writer Paul Dini also used Twitter to thank the Critic for his episode "Top 11 Batman: The Animated Series Episodes" (August 16, 2011).[10]
- Some of the creators of Animaniacs appreciated the "Top 11 Naughtiest Moments in Animaniacs" (May 11, 2008) so much that they later appeared in the series. In "Animaniacs Tribute" (August 10, 2010), the Nostalgia Critic interviewed the writers and voice actors Tom Ruegger, Sherri Stoner, Nathan Ruegger, Paul Rugg, and John P. McCann.
- Juliette Danielle recently responded favourably to the Nostalgia Critic's review of The Room through her facebook fan page.
- Former child actress Mara Wilson even appeared to do a cameo in one of Doug's reviews of her movies (specifically, A Simple Wish), albeit after a small misunderstanding as to the humour of the show.[11]
Running gags
The Nostalgia Critic has several running gags that appear often in his reviews. Most of them are created in one single review, and expand to more reviews of his.
- Big Lipped Alligator Moment
- During the Critic's collaboration review of Ferngully with the Nostalgia Chick, they came across the scene of the monitor lizard singing a "sexual" song about eating Zak. The Nostalgia Chick simply said in reply "It's a Big Lipped Alligator Moment." The term comes from the movie All Dogs Go To Heaven, specially the scene with the "big-lipped" alligator and accompanying song. It is used multiple times for scenes that seem to come out of nowhere, have little to no bearing on the plot, and once over are never mentioned again. Examples of "Big Lipped Alligator Moments" would be the dancing fire-gang from Labyrinth, the pink elephant scene from Dumbo, or the tunnel scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Since then, "The Big Lipped Alligator Moment" has become a well known reused in show more often than not.
- A Chuck Norris!
- This joke, started in his review of Sidekicks is used by the Critic, when he asks how an action scene could have been done much better. After a pause, he yells out "Chuck Norris!", and a picture of Chuck Norris, in a patriotic fashion, appears with the Critic singing A Chuck Norris! in the background.
- A bat credit card?
- This joke started when the Critic reviewed Batman & Robin. When Batman pulled out his bat credit card (credit card with the Batman logo on it), the Critic grew extremely angry, and started to yell in rage at the movie, having to be restrained three times in a row. In later reviews, the bat credit card is used to enrage the Critic, having him yell "A bat credit card?!" and start shooting randomly with his pistol.
- Of course!
- This joke is a clip from the film Street Fighter in which the character of M. Bison exclaimed, "Of course!" It is most frequently used when a character in the film mentions taking over the world as their goal.
- Timing!
- This joke originated in the Critic's review of Casper, in which it featured heavily. Whenever the Critic mentions good or bad timing, an animated version of Casper the Friendly Ghost will appear and excitedly squeak "Timing!", to the great annoyance of the Critic. It was used to state how unrealistically convenient a specific plot point was in the movie being reviewed. The joke was seemingly retired in the review of Child's Play.[citation needed]
- Elephant!
- This joke first appeared during the Critic's Nickelodeon month. During this month, he came across a show in which every time the characters said "I don't know", they would get slimed. The Critic found it random, and his response was "That's like saying every time I said the word 'elephant' the Burger King would appear!" Shortly after he said it, a picture of the Burger King's face appeared on the screen. The Critic occasionally uses it to escape an otherwise hopeless situation.
- You know, for kids!
- The Critic often uses this catchphrase, which is a repeated line from 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy, when coming across a scene in a children's film that he finds too dark, sexual, or disturbing.
- Man!
- This joke is used whenever the Critic comes across a scene where humans are the villains against animals (or other non-human characters). When it starts, the Critic says the word "Man!" and a large text of the word "MAN" appears with a picture of a crying, cute animal.
- F_cking bubbles!
- This joke is used when bubbles are mentioned in a movie in some shape or form. It originated in The Critic's "Return of the Nostalgic Commercials" video, for a commercial for a product called "Bubble Thing". It involves showing the scene or reference to bubbles and playing the sound used in the "Return of the Nostalgic Commercials" video, faintly as if being yelled in the distance.
- Elephant in the Room
An obvious reference to the phrase "an elephant in the room", an animated elephant will occasionally appear towards the end of an episode, if there is something obvious to the audience that the Critic has failed to mention.
- Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle
- During the Critic's Review of "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" in which Alec Baldwin's Character uses the phrase to travel between our world and Shiny Time station. The Critic repeats this throughout this and many other reviews to illustrate an overly cutesy moment being portrayed by someone who is not fit for the part. He goes on to have a close friend and illustrator for the site come on the episode and use the phase to which he replies "F_ck Yeah Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle"
References
- ^ Spirrison, Brad (July 7, 2009). "Naperville man finds way to make Web pay". Naperville Sun. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
- ^ Pickard, Anna (November 19, 2007). "The five-second movies and why you should watch them". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ a b Learmonth, Mke (July 28, 2009). "Blip.tv Brings Programs to YouTube, Ads to 'Channel Awesome'". Advertising Age. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Mike; Bacio, Jose (June 19, 2009). "The Man Hour". Man Hour Goes Nostalgic.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help) (itunes) - ^ Masnick, Mike (July 22, 2010). "Pissing Off A Movie Critic By Claiming Copyright Over A Video Review... Probably Not Smart". Techdirt. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
- ^ a b c Spirrison, Brad (July 6, 2009). "Entertainers don't need TV break to hit it big". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- ^ Graham, Jefferson (February 13, 2009). "Blip.tv gives videomakers a chance to be a star". USA Today. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (November 14, 2009). "Ebertchicago status update". Twitter.
- ^ Walker, Doug (August 11, 2010). "Animaniacs Tribute". Nostalgia Critic Animaniacs Tribute.
- ^ Dini, Paul (August 17, 2011). "Paul Dini status update". Twitter.
- ^ Walker, Doug (August 17, 2011). "A Simple Wish Commentary". Twitter.
Zuul, Mothaf_cka
External links
- Nostalgia Critic videos are located at: That Guy With the Glasses (Official site, 2008–present)
- TV.com – episode list
- Nostalgia Critic at IMDb