LS Mark's Catching Up Pilot Is Not Great

[@cordyceps7531]

Mark criticized Scott Pilgrim Takes Off for having the sort of humor where there are long pauses between lines. Yet that’s like 90% of his pilot.

[@RagingRedPanda]

i must say, that's very ironic

[@kieranstark7213]

⁠@@RagingRedPanda Not to mention LS Mark is also the same guy that would tell people that the only real problem with Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (and maybe even Nickelodeon and Disney) is that people don’t like it (that and he also thinks people shouldn’t like the Madagascar so much as shown in his review, I just feel like he takes things too seriously.). It makes you wonder why people watch this guy’s content. Oh yeah, and I find it funny how his furry cartoon can make it big yet An American Tail can’t (at least not now, but later, it will finally blow up with the characters looking like they came from Fievel Goes West including Tanya Mousekewitz in her makeup and Cholena as an adult looking like herself and Tanya… and Yasha growing up to be a man, or in this case, male mouse, whom alongside their brother Fievel eventually played by Jesse Eisenberg as they are both Russian-Jewish, would likely look like Tanya if she were a dude)

[@gonzalot.605]

By far, my biggest complaint with the pilot is the fact that there is hardly *any* real conflict whatsoever. Most of the episode is just Clay and Rob dealing with minor inconveniences.

[@rish1656]

Hey commenters who like Mark, I have a genius new concept here for ya: Just because someone’s critiquing a show doesn’t mean that they’ve put out a personal attack on you, Mark, or even the show itself. You gotta put your best foot forward with a pilot, and Mark gave us a dragged out story that goes nowhere, doesn’t have any worldbuilding, the MC’s dont have much chemistry, one of them actively slows down the story, and 90% of the humor is “erm that was awkward”. People were more interested that Kovach and Hadel were involved compared to anything from the actual show. What i will say is that the animation is good, I quite like the character designs, and unlike Viv, Mark can actually take a punch and I’ve no doubt he’ll do better with the support he’s been given.

[@dazed6511]

I dunno I liked it. To me a pilot is closer to a proof of concept than a finished product. Yes it should be something you bring your A game too, but nothing is perfect on the first go. The point of a pilot is to get eyes on a product and test reception. Refinement and polish come right after once the product is green lit and gets an actual season. I think the show has potential. We just have to see if mark takes advantage of it

[@Metal_Sonic_Glazer]

not gonna lie, my only complaints with it was that the artstyle was inconsistent at times, and the pacing in the first few or so parts felt too fast paced. Overall, 7.5/10. Hopefully if it becomes an actual series, than episode 1/2 will actually be an improvement of the pilot.

[@SpringtrapsKitchenKnife]

Mark thinks he knows how to write a show just because he reviews them lmao

[@TheLuckylandShow]

The pilot felt alright for me. The first half just feels generic like any other show, but the second half is what keeps me captivated I do like that it breaks the cliche of "optimistic and cheerful character somehow gets whatever they want". This one, the optimistic character gets the short end of the stick and actually gets to know what it feels like being taken advantage of Clay also feels relatable, but the show has a strange mix between being tone-down slice of life and cartoony. Sometimes the cartoonishness breaks the mood

[@HeilRay]

Same here. Your points are really noteworthy compared to this 'review' that honestly made me like LSMark's pilot more when I thought id be more on this critic's side. Which leaves me feeling weird, a lot of his points like the noticable voice actors, lampshading other indys he doesnt like to make a weird point. If Mark had a network of friends, he'd use them. Kinda laughed when he bashed his voice pedigree, but also listed that as a plus just to fill out the positives so its not objective bashing video. "Ill give it a 5, and thats being very generous." Wow, how very generous😂 When Redpanda said he never paid attention to Mark's reviews, it shows cause he'd know a lot of his friends has the skill that could be utilzied to stuff like a pilot. Saying he should branch out to look for something he already has came off as kinda salty and uninformed. Ironically sounding like Nostalgia Critic 😅 Anyway, breaking that cliche of generic optimistic and cheerful you mentioned made me rewatch Catching up to see more on rob's optimistic character and the pilot really explains a lot without outright telling you. We could tell he got it from his dad as he hyped his son up, but even he shows how he isnt super optimistic when he picks up the bad vibes from Clay despite him faking the upbeat attitude. It shows that some adults can see through acts, especially when he had to have heard the altercation Clay had with his mom when he was picking him up, also bashing Rob's attire. That shows some key briliance in showing not telling. The best thing was the one thing they outright told is us Rob's reason for being the 'cheerful' cliche, he wanted to be a good person and think that it will be returned in kind like a clichie corporate cartoon. You just know if it was a corporate cartoon, theyd make Robb have a great day by being good and have things handed to him, while Clay who was basically forced into the situation gets a worse day like it was Modern Spongebob's Squidward who honestly didnt deserve the crap the world dumps on him in modern spongebob. Sorry for the wall of text, but your comment really made me give Catching up another chance before a 2nd episode could.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​​@@HeilRayI clearly stated part in the video that if you don't like the stuff I'm saying in my review, then more power to you. What if people who watched the pilot aren't viewers of Mark? I shouldn't need to watch his reviews and content to get a general consensus of how he is as a critic. Which is funny you think I was critical or harsh given how he is notorious for being harsh towards media in general. I knew about him for as long as i lived in the cartoon community. The guys stuff just isn't for me personally. If a company watched the pilot, would they have to be required to watch his other content? No. Because that's a dumb argument to make. You don't have to agree with everything I'm saying, as I mentioned it was all my opinion. Me giving it a 5/10 is a fair score. As I didn't hate everything about it. And no I'm not "salty" and "uninformed". I'm just saying that it isn't a very well written pilot. There is another review similar to mine that thinks the same way as me pretty much. Not everyone is going to look at this and thinks it's a 100% passable final product. It's flawed.

[@HeilRay]

@@RagingRedPanda I think if they aren't viewers of mark, itd still be a pretty weird argument that he doesn't have a mostly unknown voice cast over "HEY Its that voice I know! Cool". It came off as a lesser version of people hiring Top name celebs that recast professional voice actors in an animated movie for star power/promotion. I didn't even notice the amount of noticeable voices till you pointed it out(Good ear btw), at best it was two people(Smiling friends guy & Michael Korvach). No offense but it came off as needlessly negative when it should be a pleasant surprise(Or not as surprising for those that DO watch his content and recognize his clear network of talent friends) unless someone specifically hated some VAs, IMO. I guess this means great news for your animaton that'll have some up and coming voice talent that can 'Break Through it All'. Cant wait Ill break my reply down to segments

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@HeilRay I didn't really hate the VAs he had. It's just that I was tired of them being constantly recast for any new animated project coming out. As most other people have addressed, it will get tiresome and less exciting overtime the more often people have them on. And yes, my pilot will have fresh new talent added in the voice cast. I'm looking forward to finding the right people to fit in perfectly with my characters.

[@HeilRay]

@@RagingRedPanda I can agree with that. There should be an easier way for people to find others that offer good voice work and are looking for something to add to their portfolio that shows their chops. Suppose some are getting permission to do voiceovers on people's comic strips/webcomic scenes/animatics. I wish you well on your network development for talent.

[@adamandsethdylantoo]

The main problem with it is that a lot of the adult aspects of it felt shoved in. Like if you had taken out the swearing and vodka, it would have been TV-PG at most. I also felt like the pacing was kinda off (way too much time spent following Rob talking about the jackets IMO, although I guess it fits his character as a "cinammon roll" type character trying to act grown up), but if there's gonna be more episodes, I can see a lot of the issues being ironed out.

[@somerandomuser3465]

That's pretty much most adult animated shows. Every character has to swear or drink beer every 5 seconds otherwise little kids will think it's PG. Which it dosen't even matter because kids watch adult stuff anyway

[@Conversationcoded]

the wolf is dressed like a train conductor

[@dogidogediggidydogedd957]

To be fair you actually have good points, it's weird how sometimes the art style seems to change every frame , and to be honest I hope in the next episode they explain why does the rat want the cat to go with him to the club and how they meet.

[@RagingRedPanda]

Thank you for understanding.

[@dogidogediggidydogedd957]

@@RagingRedPanda No problem I hope you keep up with this type of content 👍

[@ErebusHellhound]

Tbh, I wasn't very familiar with LS Mark's content that much besides his online personality. When I first saw his pilot, I thought it was decent at best. My only complaint is that they should take the principles of animation to some extent. The characters' designs are good in terms of appealing. But I feel the animation should be more exaggerated and more "stretch and quash" You made a lot of good points about this pilot. I do hope that Mark and his team could improve if the pilot goes further.

[@Hepheat75]

I do have to say, Dumbsville killed it with the club music. He's pretty talented ngl

[@Stratoblast]

As much as people are Sh**ing on network executives, it’s also the reason why most indie projects suck. Sometimes you need someone to step in and tell you “No, this doesn’t work. We need to change it.”

[@myththenightmarefox3307]

extremely good point

[@TechnoUnico]

Better than Helluva, though.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@TechnoUnico I guess you can say that. Although I despise both HH and HB. Since Vivzie is a terrible writer and doesn't have good concepts. And shouldn't be a good reference point as "what makes a great indie cartoon" when it's not remotely true. Hence why I will prove it once my pilot gets made and released.

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

@@RagingRedPandaHonestly, I kinda had the feeling you didn't like Hazbin or Helluva.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@TheUnmitigatedDawn well of course. Like with CU, I don't take any issues of the animation or the VAs. it's mainly the creator behind them and having it be plagued with bad writing and decisions. It's astonishing how mixed the quality is with both of her projects and still turn out to be bad examples of what you shouldn't take in making an indie animation project

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

@@RagingRedPanda What's your example of what the standards of a good indie animation project is?

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@TheUnmitigatedDawnLackadaisy is the best example I can give. Good characters, thought out plot, interesting worldbuilding, etc.

[@AJedits65]

One good thing I have to point out is that there aren’t really any omg there so quirky main characters that many of these indie pilots fall under especially when getting michael kovach to voice

[@javaboygames02]

I like the show, but I'm dont like the weak protagonist ahh stereotype anymore, its hella oversaturated. Cmon, lemme see my man losing his mind and finally doing the good things first. Beat up the bully, dont seek for girls non-stop (or at least try to get minimum two if you want!). Go live your life, laugh on danger's face! If you lose, you wont be losing forever and winning just at the end. It's a equilibrated battle between the newest rebel nerd/punchbag and the dippyshait bully that we are tired of seeing him getting the wins all the time!

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@javaboygames02 exactly, my pilot is going to be proven that we deserve new, fresh, deep concepts for web cartoons that can work instead of following the same tropes every other cartoon follows. Getting established known VAs, making your pilot have an "edge" to it while looking more close to a children's cartoon, and having a half baked script is something to not do when making a cartoon pilot. Mine has been in the works for like a decade now, it's why it's taken me years to work on it. Hopefully mark can do the same and rework the flaws he put in.

[@javaboygames02]

@@RagingRedPanda Wait, you're gonna try a animation career as well! Dude, it's awesome! Can you pretty please put a rebel punch bag that is tired of seeing his bully around and how other nerds in media get the same fate? I know it's kinda specific, but it's my dream 😃 Plus, I was bullied as a kid and nowadays I'm the type of person that doesn't hesitate on throwing some punches on jerks (even tho I don't have the attributes to that lol). Good luck out there!

[@Khlo3zAnimationz]

Am I the only person who likes this show???

[@Thunderr125]

No

[@SoonSilver]

Absolutely not

[@Hatsune_mikuX3]

I LOVE THE PILOT, TOO! :D

[@kikigarza9092]

No

[@ambryp900]

NOPE

[@somerandomuser3465]

You can tell it's LS Mark because he has the fairy oddparents artwork

[@unstableanimations]

RagingRedPanda, you are also making a pilot, right? Whats it about? As someone who loves animation and am making my own KZbin pilot, I like to view other animators works and such.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@unstableanimations yes, It is called Downtown Felines. You can find the teaser trailer on the official channel when you look it up. A plot synopsis of what it's about is in the description for more info.

[@josephkeen7224]

Maybe it’s that I know what influences mark was going for due to watching LS Mark, but I enjoyed the pilot. I actually got reminded of me and my little brother with the two characters which helped me enjoy the dynamic, although I see where you’re coming from. As for the pacing, he has stated many times he cares more for slow slice of life stuff, and I found the pace refreshing due to a indie animation sometimes being so fast that I feel like it’s trying to give the viewers a seizure (looking at you Amazing Digital Circus!), although since you didn’t care for the characters I can see why this bugged you. One issue you didn’t point out is the music was too loud. I get mark was trying to go for something like Fairly Oddparents, where the music acts as sound effects, but that rarely works out well in my opinion, and especially if you make it too loud like the beginning of the pilot.

[@RagingRedPanda]

I honestly didn't think the music was that loud on my end. But probably because of the headphones I'm wearing. And I also didn't address the awkward pausing between scenes since it would've been nitpicking on my end. However, more power to you that you liked the pilot. It's got flaws and it isn't as bad as vivzie's works I guess

[@kikigarza9092]

I love the image of Clay that you used for the thumbnail

[@RagingRedPanda]

Just because you hire a cast of famous, well known internet celebrities to voice for certain character roles does NOT automatically make your show amazing If you want a better, more shorter summarization that's close to my review here. You can watch this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKbUomWpiKZrqq8si=WAYCs_XDQdBBP8X9

[@RagingRedPanda]

This did NOT age well given that he got Scott the Woz to voice for Episode 2 now lmao that is just sad

[@ixiahj]

The lack of a disclaimer reminds me of those Friendship is Witchraft parodies. Some parents thought the show was really like that and it was weird that Twilight Sparkle wanted to marry her brother.

[@WeaklyAnimations]

I liked it

[@RagingRedPanda]

more power to you, but it's still flawed and not very well written

[@ambryp900]

@@RagingRedPandawell some cartoons still need improving and work, not all will be perfect at first. I enjoyed it. Honestly I do agree, it should’ve had more introduction. It was very weird like, who’s this? But we did find out until the end. It kinda makes it more unique. There are some improvements needed, but honestly it wasn’t as bad. We kinda found out that the wolf was a loner and liked being alone, and the mouse liked to hang out, and make friends.

[@PayForViewsJST]

This is incredibly ironic

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@PayForViewsJST care to elaborate what's so "ironic"?

[@Tyler_Brickz]

I think he means that Ls mark is known for being”mean” or “native” in he’s reviews.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@Tyler_BrickzI get that's his shtick, being part of his persona. Sounding overwhelmingly negative alot in his reviews. I just didn't get what that was implying within my critiques here

[@PayForViewsJST]

@@RagingRedPanda I thought it was ironic that a critic made a cartoon it is getting his own criticism for once for an actual series he made you would hope someone that criticized would understand what it takes to make a series

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@PayForViewsJST yeah who would've thought. having an edgy feel to it and being unnecessarily adult for what appeared to be looking like a kids show. Is something worth criticizing over. Giving us no introduction or depth of the main leads and the situation they're in having no weight or relevancy. no main goal in mind, not knowing what it wanted to be.

[@Anamonator]

I saw your channel when you replied to my comment and I checked you out and you have a new sub

[@MarkMakesStuff07]

I respect your opinion but i really like this, cuz it gives me Gumball vibes mixed with dark-humor, and it does in a right tone too. Also this is also a pilot, so i think we need more episodes to judge it, very well video, liked!

[@user-x7dc2pq7n]

We need more episode to judge the pilot? What?

[@MarkMakesStuff07]

@@user-x7dc2pq7n no, i mean we need more episodes fudge the series overall

[@tjautomatin4145]

It's a pilot, it's not final

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@tjautomatin4145 does that mean my opinion is invalidated just because it's a pilot?

[@tjautomatin4145]

@RagingRedPanda no. I said it because it's like saying a beta of a unreleased game is bad, like the old sonic 2 prototypes vs the newest sonic 2

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@tjautomatin4145 I'm sorry but that's the silliest comparison I ever heard. This pilot isn't something that got leaked or anything, this was finalized and released officially. Therefore, it's available for the public to critique and breakdown.

[@tjautomatin4145]

@@RagingRedPanda oh

[@plushiescartoonroleplay8470]

How many people is healping you in this pilot is it 2d or 3d animation

[@RagingRedPanda]

2D

[@plushiescartoonroleplay8470]

@@RagingRedPanda cool

[@deceasedroaches]

Its pretty dull and the humor isnt all that great. I expected a little better from a "cartoon reviewer."

[@Ignatius-fernandez_oficial]

i checked the animation... well, i see more potential for it, but the pilot i dont know why for me is weird. i dont know if i explained myself well, but in short, the pilot is not good but i see more potential on it

[@RagingRedPanda]

It's a basic concept, while I did say the designs looked fine. They could use a bit more refinement. The writing needs to be handled better and not be written only by mark. Because it shows how he can't write in good humor and character interactions, especially if it's catering towards teens and adults. Like how can we like the two main characters if we don't understand them too well? That's why the pacing is bad. by focusing on one centric "goal" was a factoring issue in its plot structure instead of giving the time to develop and understand these characters more.

[@timothywilliams3205]

Be careful with what you say about mark the whole commentary community loves this guy.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@timothywilliams3205 I don't think 'everyone' loves the guy. It's not like I am bashing him entirely.

[@Ray67896]

Copy and paste review from me incoming that pretty much sums up EXACTLY what I think of the show: Well.. Catching up is ok? But definitely mediocre.. There’s ALOT of empty space that dialog could fit, heck I could literally record the video and count up all the areas that were just silence. The humor is Slow The Pacing is slow Alot of the jokes miss The plot being clubbing just felt like it would be better off if it was made when the characters were more developed The cussing did not need to exist, people finding it funny are way too easy to please The emotional moments also felt forced, like it genuinely feels like they didn’t earn it Like sure the animation is good, but it doesn’t detract from the rest of the cartoon being mediocre Hopefully LS mark finds a decent way to get the writing to be faster and not have gaps of silence feel so large, Because I do want this cartoon to succeed

[@arc8216]

The worst thing about it is that its boring. The art style looks fine but zzzzzz.

[@supman282]

You kinda sound like moist critical

[@innocentACERorTECH]

for me its good

[@neonfurry32198]

I dont think its bad.. The art style reminds me of what the Dog-Man Movie(2025) could look like.. I also like it cause Clay is literally me every day its so relatable. I dont see why you hate it to where i can be convinced

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@neonfurry32198 well with the characters, they aren't engaging enough for me to care about. Which is why I brought up about them needing to be fleshed out more, giving us exposition of how they're established and if they interacted prior for us, the audience, to remotely care about them further. There is no ounce of me believing that Clay and Rob are close friends. Throughout the pilot, all I saw in Clay is that he was miserable and didn't like to be around people. What more is there to him than that? They aren't interesting enough characters. A pilot is supposed to reflect on getting to know the characters more, but Mark failed in that department.

[@PoisonDistilled]

​@RagingRedPanda I never got the idea that Rob and Clay were supposed to be close friends. It felt like the socially oblivious extrovert Rob was trying to "adopt an introvert," so to speak. We learn more about Clay and Rob as separate characters more so than learning about their friendship because a real friendship hasn't really started until we get a hint of one starting between the two by the end of the pilot.

[@bbumbs747]

I personally liked it but even if it was bad, I feel like we should give him a little bit of slack, this is his first official cartoon after all, and his first time actually writing a show . He has little to no experience prior to this. No one starts out as a talented writer / animator nor nails it first try, it takes some time, Im not saying to not criticize him because oh its his first time, criticism is one of the few ways to grow as an artist afterall ,but what I am saying is to keep this in mind especially when judging a show from who is essentially a first timer.

[@RagingRedPanda]

I'm someone who has been working on my pilot since I was 15/16 and still developing it to this day. Made many script rewrites and I don't expect to release a half assed product. It's why I'm taking my time with it. Mark on the other hand, the way I see it. Felt like he made a first draft of his script, didn't have much knowledge of how good written cartoons worked that he liked and called it a day. It was plagued with issues of the characters and story. It needs to be acknowledged. And the concept itself i feel is not all that original. How many shows have we had that has a high school setting?

[@bbumbs747]

​@@RagingRedPanda I get where your coming from though for one I don't think using your personal experience as an example is the best point, because no offense but you developing a pilot for years and years doesn't really guarantee your pilot is going to be good. Your product may not be half assed because you put in a lot of time and dedication, but you can never really tell if a final product is good until you release it. For all you know it may flop because of factors you didnt consider. Not trying to discredit your work, Im just trying to explain why I don't think your example of you developing your Pilot is a good example to give. Other than that I do want to say that my main issue with your comment is really the fact that you make it sound like Mark only half assed his Pilot, even though the reality is the fact that its been in development for years with multiple drafts being written. Overall good or not I cannot deny that Mark did in fact try to make a quality piece of work, and I cannot really say anything was half assed. Overall I do still think my Point still stands. Both you and me know that writing is a learning process, and LSMark is still in the middle of that learning process. He hasn't completely developed or refined his way of writing yet. Im just gonna say this ,I'm also talking from personal experience Ive been making animations since I was 13 years old and yet it is only now at the age of 20 when I feel like Im starting to get a grasp of what makes a good cartoon, but the point is it took a while. So I feel like what matters is that Mark learns from making this Pilot and hopefully he can make something better next time.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@bbumbs747 not claiming that what I'll put out will be just as better, but I do want to prove that I can think of a unique and fresh concept to go for in the indie animation community. I know Mark wasn't perfect. And when I say his pilot is half assed, I mean it from a writing and story perspective. It's not well fleshed out and cohesive to say the least. I don't hate it as I said. But it could've been alot better if he hired more writers to help him alongside and making the 2 main characters more interesting. What we have been presented as a pilot so far is not the best impression. Hopefully my review and everyone else's makes him realize that it will be better in Episode 2 or whatever he has planned going forward.

[@bbumbs747]

@@RagingRedPanda yeah that makes, but yeah I can get behind the idea that he could hire more writers as they could help him flesh out the story he has in his head, but needless to say yeah I do hope things could get better in whatever future animations he plans on making.

[@micjimster4845]

​@@RagingRedPanda I mean not everything needs to have original plots. As long as the characters are fun and unique, that shouldn't really matter imo.

[@ponikoTV]

the pilot was ugh... stinky, but the only good this is that the art style is cute i still feel this pilot need to fix some probelms like the characthers, humor. ect.

[@Ray67896]

Thank you

[@Thejrguy]

I watch LS Mark the pilot. I guess I liked it could’ve been better. I think a different story would be better. Characters could’ve got more fleshed out. And I think most of the famous voice cast he just got because most of them are his friends, but you could just had a better story for the pilot and I kept forgetting it was supposed to be adult show

[@itsadriel8766]

Nice video, checked out your content and saw the pilot youre making when will it come out?

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@itsadriel8766 it's in the works, I plan to get it crowd funded pretty soon if people are interested in what I'm making. the animated teaser trailer will be coming out later this month. If you want to be kept informed, then sub to the channel if you want. I'm not one to force anyone. It's mentioned in the description of this video

[@redguyslave409]

I never understood the criticism “They used famous voice actors!” Like… ok? I don’t think that’s inherently evil. Isn’t the point of posting a pilot is for people to see it? I do agree that the voice actors should not be a selling point for people, but voice actors can still bring attention to it from people who wouldn’t have heard of the pilot otherwise. I do agree that lesser known voice actors should get recognition but you literally state that there ARE lesser known voices in the pilot, but that’s not as important as the voice actors who WERE widely recognized?

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@redguyslave409 by lesser I mean, barely. From what people have told me almost every VA is recognized from previous works. Sounds like you didn't listen in on my follow up video with this review

[@redguyslave409]

@@RagingRedPanda I actually haven’t seen it- that’s my bad

[@ShnobbsReal]

All of what you said I agree with. I made a video reviewing it too.

[@PartyDude_19]

I personally really like it. One criticism I hear is how it has out of nowhere swearing and alcohol but, I think people who complain about that are missing the point. The point of the show is about teenagers trying to look cool and grown up. It's a very relatable premise that it captures real well. Honestly, it feels like a situation like Turning Red where if you don't like cringey teenagers being cringey teenagers then you probably won't like it.

[@RagingRedPanda]

The issue itself is that it feels forced and not too natural, and when you're going into it. Don't you look at the thumbnail and presentation and think it looks like it was made for kids? Not to say that the art style is an issue. Since there's no disclaimer at the beginning. It leaves you feeling indifferent making you believe it was made for teens and adults in mind. It just doesn't work. The alcohol related stuff feels out of place too, how old is Clay suppose to be? And why is Rob lustful for those 2 irrelevant girls that their inclusion is used as a plot device and nothing more

[@m56214]

​@@RagingRedPandaI feel like Mark was trying to do a Regular Show something kids could watch too.

[@ioxalt]

good vid

[@estevangarcia1089]

almost every character in this is very unlikable and the whole thing goes nowhere

[@somerandomuser3465]

The only character who is alright is the gray cat who is just Tom but he can talk and swear. But he's still unlikable anyway

[@m56214]

​@somerandomuser3465Which cat

[@somerandomuser3465]

@m56214 The one on the thumbnail. I forgot his name

[@m56214]

@somerandomuser3465 Clay he reminds me of Mandy, Kick Buttowski, Squidward, Max from Camp Camp he does have a lot of personalities

[@somerandomuser3465]

@m56214 Just by the pilot, you can already see that he's a boring character. He's the boring introverted one whose only friend is the annoying, extroverted one who also has no friends. I just hope that in the next episode, they will be better. Otherwise, I don't know where this cartoon will go

[@darkyrblx9160]

I actually kinda liked it lol

[@Fr34kyL0s3r]

same!

[@teemoowo5485]

Well, I'll be honest, I like the pilot, because I like Clay, and that's always the case, either I like the plot itself, or I like a certain character and that certainly makes me want the rest, but, Clay represents me pretty well, so, I guess I can't judge the pilot because of this detail.

[@CantSitzDyl]

where do i watch downtown felines?

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@CantSitzDyl the pilot is in the works, I plan to get it crowd funded pretty soon if people are interested in what I'm making. the animated teaser trailer will be coming out later this month. If you want to be kept informed, then sub to the channel if you want. I'm not one to force anyone. It's mentioned down in the description

[@alimoneh2852]

Tbh it was fine, but it was a pilot and his first ever time doing something like this so i hope he improves Also i like the animation at the start it was kinda ehh but got better And lastly the voice actor thing yeah he casted some of these actors 2-3 years ago so i can see why he picked popular people

[@Modernelvis]

I dont hate catching up but its underwhelming and kinda dull at times

[@archeduardo]

I didn't understand your point about the characters not being introduced properly. I thought it was done quite well. Did you want them to turn to the camera and flat-out tell the audience who they were? or have them talk about their personalities to one another, when they were already supposed to know each other? One is a loner and the other is a happy go luck guy. It's the embodiment of the meme of "extroverts adopting introverts". You do have a point on the plot being basic and that not much stuff happens. But I disagree on the character introduction part

[@RagingRedPanda]

If you've watched enough pilots or first episodes of cartoons in your life, you would know that characters are an important factor when first starting a series. The problems are that when we first get introduced to them. We are immediately expected to know what was going on. "I'll see you after school today". Mark didn't do a good job fleshing out the two, even if he gave us a little backstory. An exposition or rundown of previous events leading up to their interaction would've been nice. Because their "friendship" wasn't convincing. Hence why I felt an episode focusing on the two and how they really knew each other would've been the better approach than the cliche trope of Rob "giving back something for the stereotyped mean girls trope". It all comes down to a lack of experience in writing on his part.

[@archeduardo]

@@RagingRedPanda I've watched enough anime in the 90's by starting in the middle of the series (I had to wait for the re-runs to see the start of the plot) and still being able to understand character relationships and dynamics without having to start from "the very beginning". You've been too conditioned to having "origin stories" as a starting point and thus can't understand stuff that doesn't start when two characters meet each other for the first time. The pilot has flaws as you put them, but character introduction wasn't one of them.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@archeduardomore power to you man. We can agree to disagree then.

[@user-x7dc2pq7n]

@@archeduardo their “introduction” was them sitting in class. No one was confused about their personalities, it was presented in a boring way. You’re getting way too emotional over a pilot💀

[@archeduardo]

@@user-x7dc2pq7n emotional? I think you misunderstand the whole situation here. It's valid to say it was average or nothing special. I just disagreed that their introduction and motivations were hard to follow

[@ilostmypizza]

It's a gosh darn pilot bro, it's a pilot. it's not going to be perfect, people are going to make mistakes, he's not Albert Einstein all right? the pilot does not have to be peak.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@ilostmypizza it's a gosh darn opinion "bro". I gave it pros and cons of what I liked and disliked from it. Did you watch through the whole video?

[@AxelServicebot]

ngl it feels like lazy criticism to say this show trying to be smiling friend because it has cameos. Or like Regular show since it also did a club ep.

[@RagingRedPanda]

they were examples of things that reminded me of such lol don't take it so personal. didn't say it was entirely a bad thing

[@AxelServicebot]

@@RagingRedPanda I mean the tone in the way you said it. Definitely gave off that impression but alright.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@AxelServicebot it wasn't so surprising and felt shoehorned in just because of name recognition, hence why i sounded a little agitated

[@AxelServicebot]

@@RagingRedPanda But the name aren't at the forefront of the project. I get if Mark went around basically promoting the pilot with this in mind. But that isn't the case.

[@RagingRedPanda]

​@@AxelServicebotit's most viewers that are mindless and only bring up certain VAs that are voiced in it and they consider it as a good pilot by default. the pilot itself is not good from just having recognizable voice talent behind it.

[@Draconicbeing]

Why is there a problem with the voice actor's

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Draconicbeing because that's how I see it, oversaturated well known people that's all because name recognition. Hence why I'm in support of smaller VAs

[@redguyslave409]

The fact that I agree with you but you critic the humor and proceed to make the lame joke “Yeahhhh I don’t like Hazbin Hotel it’s bad much har har!” Not that I like Hazbin Hotel, but you made that point clear the first time

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@redguyslave409 yeah you got a point, although it is my opinion after all so take it for what it's worth

[@redguyslave409]

@@RagingRedPanda I apologize if it came off as rude, I did not except you to reply to it at all, I just didn't understand the third time you bring it up when Catching ups swearing jokes isnt even comparable to the unbearable sex jokes from Hazbin

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@redguyslave409no hard feelings. Reason for that is it isn't naturally spoken and forced when the characters do, that's what I took issue with. You are right though, her humor and writing in general is unbearable. luckily this pilot didn't rely too much on stale, unfunny sexual jokes. But it did have hints of it 2 to 3 times I believe. But I think the humor overall was never that funny at all. Mark needs to work on that, having Rob say "bitches" is the bottom of the barrel level of a comedic attempt if I ever seen one

[@Drawntofnaf710]

4:43 Kellen Goff and Michael Kovach is in this???!!!!!!

[@RagingRedPanda]

Oh wow what are the odds, it's not like I brought up about name recognition around that timestamp

[@DeviAnimates14]

Its cool af but farm content channels can get on to because of it's cartoon style

[@Tofu_The_Opossum2]

0:27 fr

[@FrancisTheBerd]

Bro are you baking in a stove what is all that noise?!

[@RagingRedPanda]

what?

[@FrancisTheBerd]

@@RagingRedPanda Are you inside a stove?!

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@FrancisTheBerd nah in my room, where do you live in?

[@FrancisTheBerd]

@@RagingRedPanda Well as a portuguese young man I obviously live in the belly of some big fish carcass as I cannot afford a home of my own with 800€

[@wood_owl]

Im gonna be honest the only reason I watched it was because Michael Kovach was in it-

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@wood_owl thanks for proving my point about voice cast recognition

[@wood_owl]

@@RagingRedPanda Yeah, it's kinda sucky how new indie animations only use popular voice actors to gain traction. However, if I'm being completely honest, I am a contributor and prefer watching all the things my favorite voice actors participate in :/

[@citrus3603]

​@@wood_owl please... Broaden your horizons.

[@wood_owl]

@@citrus3603 I do really like looking at other more obscure projects! In fact, I somtimes exclusively look for them :) I just find that sometimes I like to go out and look for projects with people I like, whether they be famous or not

[@NkululekoMliswa]

All well it’s not velma

[@RagingRedPanda]

Now that would be a bit of a stretch lmao wouldn't go that far to compare this to that sh!t

[@NkululekoMliswa]

I was just joking is that he should make it clear that it’s an adult show

[@gansterchompernoscopeblazit]

@@RagingRedPanda we can all agree Velma's is the worst there's no sugar coating it

[@flyerguy2]

The Pilot is good but its needs some work to make it looks interesting...

[@m56214]

Come on it's not that bad the only problem I have is the lol random funny humor and cringe faces every cartoon since 2007 has had.

[@RagingRedPanda]

It's only not that bad to you, it doesn't apply to everyone else who views the same way as me

[@m56214]

@RagingRedPanda I don't think it's a masterpiece it's not the worst though it is a pilot some pilots are so terrible like The Grooveians on Adult Swim this is from KZbin this is a better than the odd1out's Oddballs which was basically nothing

[@Draconicbeing]

So your saying the show is bad cause it doesn't meet your standards

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Draconicbeing it's called having an opinion for a reason

[@Nuzi4Everr]

I like it 😋

[@zackman9230]

Welp, if everybody's shitting on indie projects now, then that means literacy as a whole is officially dead.

[@RagingRedPanda]

I wasn't even fully shitting on it? what's wrong with giving criticism for indie projects? It helps creators grow and improve overtime, I don't know what you're on about

[@iy8-z1o]

Id argue literacy is more dead if everyone just blindly accepts a project as good just bc it's indie. And this is coming from someone who doesn't really hv an issue with catching up

[@kiki8o6]

l don't know what y'all are talking about i love the pilot amazing it's funny not too kid friendly and love the art style soo yeah but we all have opinions but i like it👍👍👍❤️❤️🔥

[@Ray67896]

Hmm.. Imo: This is a copy and paste review from me incoming that sums up exactly of what I think so.. I think Catching up is ok? But definitely mediocre.. There’s ALOT of empty space that dialog could fit, heck I could literally record the video and count up all the areas that were just silence. The humor is Slow The Pacing is slow Alot of the jokes miss The plot being clubbing just felt like it would be better off if it was made when the characters were more developed The cussing did not need to exist, people finding it funny are way too easy to please The emotional moments also felt forced, like it genuinely feels like they didn’t earn it Like sure the animation is good, but it doesn’t detract from the rest of the cartoon being mediocre Hopefully LS mark finds a decent way to get the writing to be faster and not have gaps of silence feel so large, Because I do want this cartoon to succeed

[@pierrehenley6932]

why are you hating?

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@pierrehenley6932 it's an opinion my guy, get that right

[@NeoReoxis]

The VA complaint is genuinely one of the most irrelevant and nonsensical “criticisms” I’ve ever heard dawg 😭

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@NeoReoxis you obviously missed the point where I was coming from then "dawg". It's not about the quality, it's the casting choices being overly used. I support the idea of hiring smaller lesser known VAs that deserve as much recognition

[@salarzx62090]

Disagree on Hazbin Hotel. I thought it was pretty well executed

[@RagingRedPanda]

how many indie cartoons have you been watching? I can tell you that it's the bottom of the barrel in its story structure, humor, and characters. I'm sorry. but you can't convince me that it's "well executed" when it has so many glaring issues

[@salarzx62090]

@@RagingRedPanda and I’m sorry but you can’t really convince me it is. And don’t give me that “how many indie animation you’ve been watching” crap. I’ve seen plenty and HH is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. So no. It isn’t the “bottom of the battle” not even close

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@salarzx62090 lol ok. we can agree to disagree then, no big deal really. our opinions differ from one another. have a good one.

[@salarzx62090]

@@RagingRedPanda lol fine then. Just voicing my opinion and disagreeing. Have a good one

[@Tofu_The_Opossum2]

@@salarzx62090the plot makes no sense Charlie meets Adam in the first episode and he talks about how he enjoys killing sinners yet she still wants to get her people into heaven despite the possibility of Adam just spawncamping them, nobody knew angels could get hurt/killed including Vaggie despite Vaggie getting her eye stabbed out AS AN ANGEL And do even need to say anything about the humor? “Hehe f word funny” - what Vivze was thinking while writing the script. The pilot was better

[@Raptorworks]

Idk wtf you mean it’s peak

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Raptorworks it's my opinion, I don't know if you caught that

[@Raptorworks]

@@RagingRedPanda so it’s not alright if I share mine?

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Raptorworks i couldn't tell if you sat through the whole video, but I gave my reasons. What's yours? Why do you think it's "peak"?

[@Raptorworks]

@@RagingRedPanda I love the art style, it gives off that sort of Tom and Jerry theme, which I absolutely LOVE, I also like the sudden cussing and adult jokes, it made me laugh out loud due to being unexpected, especially since the art style feels so cartoonish, not to mention the plot had a pretty good starting point, and how you can really relate with the characters.

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Raptorworks more power to you, not everyone is going to agree what you think of it

[@Genofist-l5f]

stop being critics and enjoy the thing >:(

[@RagingRedPanda]

@@Genofist-l5f ironic considering the pilot you like is made by a critic himself, the jokes on you

[@Genofist-l5f]

@@RagingRedPanda well uh... y'know what fair point

[@Anamonator]

@@RagingRedPandabro put him in his place

[@gansterchompernoscopeblazit]

@@Genofist-l5f don't ask questions just consume product and then get excited for next products

[@Genofist-l5f]

@@Anamonator bro I'm just nice.... I don't like to argue or start fights or even insult others, I hope ya can just understand that I just ain't the one for arguing

[@VyStarixOfficial]

10:37 bruh, RedPandna saying swear words was funnier than the characters swearing in the show