Channel Awesome Website Gone | Red Cow Arcade

[@starchores]

It is pretty surreal to see two glassy-eyed, middle aged men reminisce about web 2.0 like it was the Lower East Side in the '70s.

[@Specter227]

So, you guys remember it so that Doug Walker doesn't have to?

[@Qwazin]

ayyyyyyyyyyy

[@MahkyVmedia1]

Just realized he used the scrubbing bubbles catch phrase

[@basicbits6244]

You Mickey Mantle now, son.

[@JohahnDiechter]

And people are still waiting for a Spoony comeback.

[@TheParappa]

He was on a podcast some months ago and seemed like he was doing well. I don't think he is coming back, but I'm glad he is fine.

[@mikeberg6407]

His FF10 play through 😭 We lost so much potential amazing content from him

[@katsujinken10]

​@@TheParappa 2024 will be the Year of Spoony!

[@radelta]

He was on a podcast some months ago and seemed like he was doing well. I don't think he is coming back, but I'm glad he is fine.

[@JacaboBlanco]

Spoony is a giant turd

[@UndrAttack]

The best thing about James if he came out today is we wouldn't have to hear Rex Viper again until like 15 years in the future.

[@MahkyVmedia1]

Haha yes

[@travtotheworld]

Why has Doug Walker been able to keep his energy up? Take a wild guess. He doesn't have kids.

[@skibidi.G]

He does, he has exactly 5:40 kids on his roster

[@yonkolevelzoro7104]

🤣

[@Zontar82]

what this has to do with "keep his energy up"?

[@razmatazz9310]

@@Zontar82 It's a reference to AVGN.

[@Hausbrauen]

Damn. I'm 5 times more energetic now since raising my kids, because I consider them my primary purpose and it's incredibly rewarding. tl;dr: James *really* hates his kids...

[@VideoGameAutopsy]

Social media replaced the need for a website. Nowadays, this feels like something from a bygone era, where the only way to actually make it was to be partnered up with a website that had tons of traffic.

[@coryfusting9294]

Kind of a shame as social media can be utterly janky as well

[@torstenscholz6243]

The site became already pretty much obsolete when Blip TV went defunct and the CA contributors switched to KZbin. From then, the site just showed embedded KZbin videos anyway, so you could as well just search them on KZbin.

[@BQD_Central]

social media was alreadx present at the time.

[@heybrams]

I miss the early days of the internet.

[@travtotheworld]

I remember watching tons of MST3K episodes on KZbin back in like 2005, but they were all uploaded in 10-minute increments. You would have to watch ten videos to finish one episode of MST3K.

[@boogerman908]

10 minute videos and 0 ads

[@torstenscholz6243]

@@boogerman908I still watch every KZbin video with 0 ads thanks to adblocker.

[@Unregistered.HyperCam.2]

Sure enough. Watching full anime series on KZbin in 2005-06 may have had episodes just be two videos(maybe three with the last being 2 minutes or less), but when you're going through almost 400 episodes of a series, it builds up.

[@luske2]

I used to frequent TGWTG daily as a teenager. Haven't gone there for years but it still feels like something from my childhood was lost 😕

[@theMadness36]

Rip in pepperoni.. I guess I can finally delete that old bookmark. The last time I went there, it was like a time machine. Web design from a previous era for sure.

[@mikeberg6407]

I'm surprised they let it go. You never know when something will inspire a new generation to find you. Like with newgrounds when Friday Night Funkin' popped off after no one caring about it for like 8 years.

[@timothyfinch7295]

@@mikeberg6407 It was probably between paying server costs or keeping his friends employed. Doug comes off as way too nice a guy to tell Tamara and Malcolm to screw off in favor of keeping up a website no one visits.

[@chrisdryer]

I remember where I was when I saw the episode where Doug came out as bald.

[@townsjim]

James Rolfe should do the same

[@liquidamerican8543]

As an openly bald man myself, I was proud of him.

[@apolloforabetterfuture4814]

That's actually sad😢 I used to go to channel awesome all the time as a kid

[@Dariothehungry]

It's crazy channel awesome is out. Not that I went there recently, it's just... the end of an Era absolutely.

[@mysticDchimp]

The entire point of Channel Awesome was to be an alternative site for KZbin since a lot of content creator including Doug were banned off KZbin. But now these guys have abandoned the site and are now only on KZbin. If KZbin ever decides to take down Doug Walkers channel for copyright reasons then now these guys have nowhere to go. What were they thinking?

[@foreverdirt1615]

They've just been embedding youtube videos into the website lately anyway. The website probably got very little traffic as of late so it wasn't even making up its costs through advertisements.

[@mysticDchimp]

@@foreverdirt1615 KZbin is not a trustworthy site to build your career if your career is showing clips from movies and tv shows. I have seen many channels wiped out for copyright, including channels with over 100k subscribers.

[@foreverdirt1615]

@@mysticDchimp Yeah but at this point it's still the most sensible choice for them given their options.

[@mysticDchimp]

@@foreverdirt1615 most sensible option would have been to upload half of the review on KZbin and if you wanted to see the full review you have to go on their site.

[@jac_238]

It’s literally only because Blip shut down. Once that was gone, they had no choice to but to switch back to KZbin

[@mister-x2]

For some unfathomable reason, I cannot stop watching stuff about those guys. Not the things they MAKE, the drama / stuff around them is what is fascinating, lol.

[@jadenova]

There is an over the topness to their drama that makes it enjoyable.

[@SKMCTV]

I thought the first Nostalgia Critic video I watched back in the day was absolutely horrible so I never got into Channel Awesome.

[@christianbell8347]

Go away! Fans only!!

[@ict113090]

How long ago was this? Just curious because in 2012 ish was when he had to change the format of his show ie when I stopped being a fan

[@torstenscholz6243]

I guess it was his Pink Floyd: The Wall video?

[@SynthfulDuck]

Didn't know Todd in the Shadows had his origins in Channel Awesome. He must be older than I thought. Very cool channel. I actually discovered him around the time I discovered RCA, those pandemic times.

[@katsujinken10]

Oh yeah, he was banging Lindsay Ellis for a while. Then they broke up and he would have to babysit her dog while she went out with other men lmao.

[@DrPooks]

Todd dated The Nostalgia Chick for awhile and went to her wedding as a guest.

[@foreverdirt1615]

Todd's stuff goes back to the Ke$ha Tik Tok days.

[@virginiasaintj]

It goes deeper than that. He lived in her basement for a while, even after she had a husband.

[@Chrismw81]

I miss old internet. It was an era of simplicity yet not totally stone age.

[@cbfdxbxsb]

I'm always here for a Confused Matthew reference. What a guy.

[@TheLoneGameMan]

Oh no... where am I gonna find Larry Bundy Jr. now??

[@BooshmanLee]

Don't worry, he'll find you. That dude is everywhere.

[@TheLoneGameMan]

@@BooshmanLee Guess I just gotta follow the echoes of "Hello, you!"

[@SilverSpade92]

Calling it now, he WILL comment on this thread.

[@AscendantStoic]

Gotta give it Nostalgic Critic/Doug Walker, if anything his determination and consistency are a cut above most creators on KZbin.

[@volusian95]

Dang, that Swedish Ocarina of Time cover guy ain't messing around

[@StrammerBursche]

it's a german guy not swedish. didn't you watch the video?

[@richardtheconquerer]

​@@StrammerBurscheit's actually swedish, they just said "German or something" but the guy's name Bengtsson and his use of "å" in the song title makes it likely he's Swedish

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

I think its German, if its Swedish i can't understand the dialect.

[@nicklasbergstrom4376]

It's definitely swedish, just a weird awkward guy singing making it unintelligible

[@GackFinder]

He's a swedish copyright troll using some spanish shell "record company" to copyright strike game music. Someone should sue his ass.

[@NOMADcourier85]

But Guru Larry remains for eternity!

[@fandarzelig]

Shh! He'll hear you and show up in the comments!

[@Patoyl]

I'll miss you Melvin, Brother of the Joker. 😔

[@SilverSpade92]

Y’know, for as awful as that was sketch, I still *remember* it… That has to count for something. _James Norrington: You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of._ _Jack Sparrow: But you have heard of me._

[@ducko5404]

Dear mother of god

[@GardevoirBoy]

R.I.P. Chanel Awesome Website!

[@Robloxnoob12]

Not only that the channel awesome studio shut down too

[@MrJans3n]

I feel this bigtime. For the longest time I had bookmarks for Cinemassacre and TGWTG in my toolbar

[@TheGamingGoomba1]

I assumed that guys that tried to copyright video game soundtracks they don’t own were scammers. I don’t think it’s on accident.

[@YuzoKoshiroSan]

Seeing that classic RE2 intro in the background fills me with joy.

[@RichardTheLima]

Yes, I was one of the people who visited TGWTG. Even, there was this time that Channel Awesome communicated directly with me because they blocked some of my subtitled videos of them, since I did some subtitles to Brazilian-Portuguese (I'm a Brazilian)... WHAT A TIME THAT WAS! (ALSO: JesuOtaku was my love. I know, I know... Tragic... To say the least...)

[@BQD_Central]

she properly went insane. like all the TGWTG guys did.

[@RichardTheLima]

@@BQD_Central Sadly yes. She recently blocked me on Twitter. I tried to save the minimum of life that she still has and she simply don't wanna talk or hear. Her heart went rock solid. It is a tragedy... I am really sad for her...

[@Uutbusters]

I was a cinemassacre boy

[@Badger8200]

Wasn't Larry bundy the last person on there?

[@HalfDuck]

Ahh that's too bad. I guess nobody was using it anymore regardless

[@CelluloidShot]

I haven't been able to get myself to watch doug ever since his "review" of the wall.

[@syxx573]

Years ago, Metokur did a series of videos on TGWTG. Even by then they were old news. You guys didn't even mention Spoony, and I think his memory has all been erased from the internet.

[@JarJarBinks4ever]

RIP TGWTG RIP the old Cinemassacre site

[@groalerable]

I respect doug's unwavering spirit. I don't respect all the worse dougs that wrote that paper

[@ChalkiePerfect]

When I was in college, I took a film class where we had to upload video projects to Blip. Uphill both ways.

[@angiead]

Gosh I remember first finding AVGN on his website 😂 my brother showed it to me. That feels like so long ago now. Also Angry kid which I don't know if you'll have seen that (I'm disturbed to find out that apparently carried on until 2019). Oh to be a teenager with access to shite dial up internet again.

[@jiggycalzone8585]

Countdown has begun on Walker having a cameo in the next Tarantino movie

[@TheParappa]

Doug is a good example of why having an internet persona is a blessing and a curse. His NC character made him a celebrity for an entire generation, I myself was a fan of his in his early days, but he also could never get away from the character, even when the show declined and he killed it off. People just wouldn't accept anything from him unless its the NC, so he brought the character back and it's bad ever since.

[@struttux5156]

People can easily accept other things if they are good. All his other stuff has just been stinking

[@TheParappa]

@@struttux5156 People accepted the stinking stuff, once it was integrated into NC. The episodes since the character came back are basically Demo Reel but with the Nostalgia Critic as the main character - not in terms of format, but the humor, timing and overall quality of the skits.

[@struttux5156]

@@TheParappa They just watch it because they want to watch the nostalgia critic

[@torstenscholz6243]

@@TheParappaMany did not accept it, though. I and likely many others soon lost interest in NC after his 2013 comeback, as this whole Demo Reel stuff with long, overblown skits instead of an actual review was so bad, unfunny and cringeworthy and had little to nothing to do with NC anymore.

[@JodyBruchon]

Hey Red Cow, your audio is too low. I have my phone at full volume and it's hard to hear you. Can you run things through a compressor? Premiere has a "tube-modeled compressor" that works nicely if that's what you're using.

[@RedCowArcade]

Really? It sounds perfectly fine to me…

[@JodyBruchon]

@@RedCowArcade Play other videos, then play yours. You'll hear a noticeable volume drop unless something in your audio workflow is normalizing or compressing along the way.

[@RedCowArcade]

@@JodyBruchon Yes, you're right, our slob fucked this one up.

[@andykishore]

I had to turn my volume up too on this. For others, I do not.

[@RedCowArcade]

@@andykishore Confirmed, it got messed up by our slob.

[@Scoundrelish]

This video has brought back memories so dusty that they'd kill anyone with allergies.

[@christhacker8952]

And the last survivor was Larry Bundy jr.. And the dont even acknowledge him

[@brytilaar]

I think Guru Larry is from the UK, while the rest are in the US and Illinois.

[@muttley3050]

Damn, Confused Matthew...that takes me back

[@demoforcl]

Love the Homestar mention. Big part of my middle school days

[@MrE51917]

Do I remember using yahoo? No I never do 😂

[@katsujinken10]

Frankie or EJ, do either of you remember Manic Expression? It was like the K-Mart version of Channel Awesome for people who weren't good enough to be on TGWTG.

[@arock1988]

Doug's style has never been for me, but I've always respected that the guy will just never die or quit.

[@shaggytheshaman]

This is still how I do the internet. I wish more people still cared about their own brand and website instead of just trying to succeed on social media.

[@GTV-Japan]

Interesting (well not really…) I had no idea about how KZbin operated before I actually started using it so it’s weird to think about!

[@nousukas]

2:52 That's swedish, not german.

[@AnneHathawayRules]

Geez Frankie at the beginning of this video hit me with the nostalgia of visiting ytmnd every time I signed on to the internet

[@dpresspro]

In my opinion, the best reviewer on Channel Awesome was Welshy. He doesn’t make reviews anymore to my knowledge, but he always tried to genuinely *review* the movies he talked about instead of just riffing them. He developed a style that was jokey but also informative, and he transformed the NC “summarize and make fun of the movie” formula into more of a rollicking scene-by-scene analysis.

[@homerhat420]

I like that metroid poster EJ!

[@drcatjailofficial3735]

Bought 2 of their dvds in December and i swear right after they were all out of stock. RIP man

[@colinoscopy2436]

confused matthew was an interesting one

[@homerhat420]

I'll never forget his 2001 L take. LANDSCAPES, LANDSCAPES

[@colinoscopy2436]

@@homerhat420 you remember the guy that did an 8 part response video to them and died while matthew was in the process of making a response so he never released it lol

[@RedCowArcade]

@colinoscopy2436 wow, I remember that.

[@foreverdirt1615]

There are a lot of Confused Matthew moments that I remember well. I remember him making fun of Richard Dawkins for not knowing what crime he was charging the Pope with. His Lion King video spawned a whole trend of people criticizing him. In his review of The Incredibles, he really hated the part where the suicidal guy tells Mr. Incredible that he ruined his death. Looks like his web domain was claimed by someone else.

[@colinoscopy2436]

@@RedCowArcade looks like they're still up, Chase reviews

[@TheSuckoShow]

Maybe I'm being naive but I always thought the main thing about Channel Awesome was that the Walkers were just NOT ready to be running a business, and everything else kinda stems from that. Bimmy I read really didn't like when Game Sack spoofed him. Who knows how true that is, but it checks out that Doug has much thicker skin.

[@captindo]

This is bringing back memories, awkward, cringy memories lol. My buddy used to make ytmnds after I showed him the website, he then showed me AVGN and That Guy. Internet culture was experimental and fresh juxtaposed to watching main stream movies in the early 2000s. It was young adults making things about our lives while figuring things out in a post 9/11 world. Things were wild back then, sorry for rambling lol. Cheers from Canada.

[@mikeberg6407]

I had a bunch of things to comment on from what you guys said but I'll keep it to one thing cause typing on this Fire tablet is trash. EJ looks great in purple 😁

[@MrWii000]

Creating a KZbin account was honestly their BIGGEST mistake that led to the end of their website. They didn’t have a real REASON to do that considering how popular and well known they were withOUT KZbin.

[@bera2955]

That was not a song in german, that was in swedish. And, the rest of us swedes do not stand behind that song, just so we are clear.

[@wolfgangfrost8043]

Would James Rolfe be successful today? You’d hope so… but that’s like asking would Black Sabbath have been successful in the modern Metal scene?! A lot of people took that seminal influence and have built upon it. If you let 1969 Sabbath hear Cannibal Corpse & say “You started that”, would they even like it? Would they consider it a superior model to their sound up to that point?! Judas Priest in 1969 hears Painkiller? Maybe? Sabbath in ‘69 hears Death Metal? Maybe not…

[@vxidastronaut]

james would do hella numbers if he dropped in now, the mr bucket clip would spawn a billion dollar five nights at freddies style franchise.

[@MarkProveau]

I got a weird copywright claim like 12 years ago, I was creating a crappy Starcraft 2 web series, and used music from Invader Zim, and some band claimed the song. When I checked it they just use the intro to the Invader Zim song straight up, not as a cover they literally play the song and then start playign guitars AFTER it, they aren't even singing over it or anything. I think it's just a thing that happens, they are hoping you won't fight the strike maybe.

[@roneteus]

What a time!

[@annefrankenberry7914]

Mister Metokur's videos on TGWTG are must watches.

[@hipsterelephant2660]

I appreciate that Homestar shout out.

[@souperman72]

My favorite part about the whole TWWTG/CA thing was all the shitty angry reviewers who genuinely believed they were on the fast track to Hollywood.

[@MrBonesSrIII]

Do you remember when the Irate Athiest or whoever he was though he would be a big hit by just re-writing Red Letter Media reviews except slower and nasalizer?

[@holdingpattern245]

You say that James would have less novelty coming out now since most of his information would be old, but can you say for sure that it would be out there if there were no James imitators? Or do his imitators still exist in this hypothetical? I don't think it's clear how much influence the guy had, he may have even been instrumental in the rise of the retro gaming market.

[@DrPooks]

Scott the Woz is essentially modern day AVGN buf sanitized for a vanilla present.

[@holdingpattern245]

@@DrPookswith a touch of jontron

[@Pelaquas]

I don't own a smart phone so "logging on" is still a daily thing for me 😅

[@AndSaveAsManyAsYouCan]

Do you still get the screaming robots sound when you connect?

[@Pelaquas]

🤣Only when someone tries sending me a picture. @@AndSaveAsManyAsYouCan

[@BigmanDogs]

I would watch that guy with the glasses on his site when I was like 8 years old, because he did a collab with Angry Videogame nerd 😂

[@DanielPetryAKATad]

Sounds like a good reason to have Dylan The Knight Owl join the show again.

[@TheParappa]

5:55 nope. definitely not watched Linkara 😄 Spoonys Ultima series on the other hand 👌

[@VultureLivesAgain]

Doug Walker, as shrill and obnoxious as he can be, is infinitely more likeable than the pathetic losers from "Change the Channel."

[@andrewvanhalen1984]

Damn straight, especially Linkara.

[@VultureLivesAgain]

@@andrewvanhalen1984 But ESPECIALLY Lupa.

[@NotsoHardcore1]

You remind me of the Angle Fire day's oh and photo bucket imagine loading a photo just to link it to a forum that couldn't support it.

[@kakalis2323]

Yeah. Energy, persistence, confidence... These things are kinda more important than talent on KZbin.

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

True true true

[@USSMariner]

I honestly thought it went away ages ago

[@icysnow9459]

Pretty telling there was no fanfare for this. It just shut down.

[@alecaquino4306]

Check out this dudes TINY hands!!! And he loves to wave them around all over the place! Do you also have hairy feet? Do you happen to live in the side of a hill with a circular wooden door that has a brass knob?

[@Tuxy79]

I loved channel awesome. Great times.

[@ashtraydekay6624]

Was never really a Doug walker fan, but bimmy fan tho, but this is still sad.

[@DarkseidJoshua]

I noticed that EJ has Resident Evil 2 (N64 Version) playing on the CRT television behind him. I would be interested in hearing EJs thoughts on the early Resident Evil games sometime.

[@JamesJohnson-tr1gu]

Angry Joe is doing pretty good for himself these last few years. He has like over 3 million subscribers on his channel, and I enjoy Cinema Snob a lot, I wish his channel was bigger

[@antisora13]

And nothing of value was lost!

[@anthonyrowland9072]

Nothing on that entire channel ever made me crack a smile. Professionally, Doug Walker and anything related to him and his content is pure repellent.

[@VegasMilgauss]

What’s a website?!

[@jonnybaze7449]

That doesn’t make sense. KZbin is considered a platform. They are in reality the exact opposite and are publishers. So since they are for whatever reason considered a platform, they aren’t liable for content.

[@TheLeggedOne]

The end of an era

[@BMovieMadness]

I personally find Walker to be incredibly unfunny and annoying but respect to any of his fans.

[@papajdizzzle]

Who are these two guys doing the episode? Two guys I never heard of I can tell you that

[@HEYitzED]

Wow. End of an era.

[@brianparker8812]

Member when you didn’t have to member cuz Doug Walker membered so we didn’t have to?

[@11gingin]

doug walker likes monty python way too much

[@shattaredentertainment4782]

Is that resident evil 2 on N64!?!?

[@japanesehercules]

Channel Changed

[@MrMaximumrocknroll]

Seems like the early internet days and the technology being used at the time was such a brief blip that came and went way too fast. Now it seems like uncovering a fallen civilization, but it was only a few years ago. Like I saw a FireWire cable the other day, and it seems like it was simultaneously imminently crucial but also completely useless.

[@jordanpresley5336]

How can I get access to your podcasts?

[@RedCowEntertainment]

Patreon, 2 bucks a month!

[@jordanpresley5336]

@@RedCowEntertainment Thanks!

[@DonPeyote420]

there was pretty much no point in that website, they moved back to KZbin a long time ago

[@variable5515]

I have never understood the appeal of Doug Walker.

[@TheJohno95]

Look, I know everyone loves to rag on James Rolfe, but come on! The man has gotten older, he's got a family...A person moves on! He still pops on and gives us content. Less frequently and not always as fun as it used to be. But let's be honest, he's mind Nintendo for about all there is to get! He's tired of it...Most everyone is tired of watching the games no one played. It's fun just to go back and watch his old videos! As for Doug...You have to give him credit. His little group keeps plugging along. Their best years may be behind them, but he's still boldly going to the same old place he's been before. But it works for him. It's occasionally nice to see where he's posted a video. Gives you a little sense of comfort that some things are always going to be just like you left them.

[@DatDudeVince]

Comments like yours are hilarious. James in his last behind the scenes video says it's cute people say it's Ok for him to retire, but maintains that youtube is his full time job and how he supports his family. "He's got a family", ok? Plenty of parents work jobs while having a family.

[@TheJohno95]

@@DatDudeVince Most of them are probably not sitting playing video games while their kids are in the next room. It's a little harder to ignore them when they're close by. I see he's just posted a Goonies video, so maybe he's still got a few old ones to putter through. More power to him. I like to see him make more videos. But if he gets sick of it and moves on, I can't blame him. Doing the same crap for two decades can get old. Take it from me. Never gets old getting messages from trolls, though. Thanks for taking time out of your "busy" day to waste mine.

[@DatDudeVince]

It's literally no different from anybody else that works from home. @@TheJohno95

[@jordana4910]

I miss the good ol days of Digg.