The Microwave Show, and YouTube's First Great Series

[@ThaneBishop]

Someday all of this will also be ancient internet history, and a person who is currently five will do a deep dive on the structure of Video Essays from decades past. And, hey. Even in the future they'll know you helped make them possible - www.patreon.com/ThaneBishop

[@D.Nobile]

5:16 I see you. A lot of people don't but I see you. True respect for that reference.

[@archdiangelo7930]

I haven't seen this show in forever. I'll always have immense respect for the microwave gang and their show, they had one of the best rides possible before there was any road paved for it, and they went out on their own terms and have gone on to do their own things, not being stuck in their creation forever. I hope they're all living happy, fulfilling lives, ideally still free of roasted nuts. The Microwave Show is one of the only memories that I doubt can ever be tarnished in the way some memories can become. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.

[@yeahhowaboutno9866]

Hey, good stuff. I'm glad you're branching out, subbed after watching one of the cyberpunk videos and I'm glad to see you branching out more.

[@EugeneHoverhand]

It's pretty fitting, this kind of content is kinda philosophically cyberpunk

[@elios7623]

tbh i'm glad he did this before being slotted into the "this is a xyz channel" type thing

[@ThaneBishop]

I really appreciate hearing that. I knew this video would probably underperform, relative to my channel, at least, but I really love getting to make videos with range like this.

[@ChanceC77]

Oh my god what a flashback! Glad I wasn't the only kid spending hours watching these guys microwave random objects. The Furby will forever be my favorite for how messed up it looked afterwards

[@hopps2734]

MAN, this is a video I never thought I'd see today. As for the first series I remember anticipating watching, that would probably be Seananners' let's play series on Minecraft, which I watched before yogscast. I distinctly remember loving the new episodes, then getting sad once the "extra" episodes showed up. The good thing though was that it introduced me, like many others, to minecraft as one of my favorite games. The next series would probably have to be Nerdcubed, since he also had a decently popular minecraft series but he also played other games. I watched him for a decade and loved watching his videos so much, that I emailed him about a reward I had gotten and actually got a physical letter and golden pin, which I still have. His humor, along with other youtubers at the time shaped mine and I won't ever forget The Microwave Show and other YT series like it.

[@EugeneHoverhand]

Would really be cool if you covered more ancient KZbin content like this. The algorithm will never show people any of this stuff ever again and the only way you can know about this stuff is if you happen to remember it. Eventually we will be gone and the videos will languish in obscurity forever. It won't be around forever and our corporate overlords don't give a shit about preserving it.

[@ThaneBishop]

Honestly, I think about that a lot. Every time I go through a music playlist from years ago and see that a video is just gone, it strikes me that that thing is likely gone forever. They say that once something is on the internet it's there forever, but I can't help feel that that's not as true as we might like.

[@big-man-c77]

i find it so interesting how early youtubers who had skills in production essentially had a leg up in terms of pure production value and quality, and now we're seeing a similar thing happen with people who have grown up watching youtube and their first videos are basically perfectly crafted from the influences they watched. your videos give the same style of "small youtuber with the skill of someone youd expect to have 1000 times more subscribers" and it's really cool to see that this kinda thing has been going on since youtube's inception essentially

[@ThaneBishop]

I really appreciate that! And you're totally right; my first Cyberpunk 2077 video was my first attempt at any actual video, and everything I used was just things I learned via osmosis from watching thousands of hours of KZbin over the last fifteen years. It's been neat to see, and be a part of, the constant change of what starting on this platform looks like.

[@AmazingMrMe123]

How has this one not been picked up by the algorithm? "Is it a good idea to microwave this" is one of kf the greatest things in internet history.

[@dannyburrington1467]

BRO IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THESE GUYS FOR WEEKS

[@tixelch]

I discovered this channel out of the blue, thanks to a Dishonored video, but was absolutely blown away by the generally-amazing content you've made as a whole. What struck me even more, though, was that between great videos with tens of thousands of views, this one for some reason was exempt from that; less than nine hundred views at the time of writing this, and that's after... Months! And after watching it, I'm satisfied. It was a wonderful piece of KZbin history I was largely too young to experience (nor would it have been my niche if I wasn't, I think), but getting to learn about it now and seeing how it played a role in the creation of this great channel with these great videos... It leaves a strange feeling. It's a good feeling though. I hope this gets the algorithm attention it deserves; I'd go so far to say that this is my favorite video from you. Amazing work, man.

[@ThaneBishop]

I really appreciate this. This video was a serious love letter to what I consider the best sort of KZbin to be; normal people sharing their ideas and passions with the world. It's definitely a little hard looking at this one compared to the rest, but it was also a completely different topic and genre. I'm happy I made it, and I understand why it's such a black sheep video. Maybe it'll hit the right buttons one day for a boost from the algorithm, but I'll also be okay if it just remains a small little documentary about a thing that meant a lot to me.

[@Maxbroforce]

This is suddenly weirdly relevant after re-watching the episode where they microwave a can of soda after seeing a tumblr post about someone not knowing not to microwave metals and another poster commenting with the video link. Seeing that the video was 17 years old was the first thing that's made me actually 'feel old' in a long time because I remember watching the show back in the olden days when KZbin was new and the videos were whatever people felt like. Bringing me back to using Newgrounds and the semi-forbidden nature of Ebaum's world and OG memes like "Numa Numa Guy" era. Back when we rated videos with stars even. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

[@whyfinn]

this happened before I was even born, but it's so cool to hear about stuff like this, so I can get a sense of what the world was like before I came around. Thanks for making this video man.

[@ThaneBishop]

Honestly, this is one of my favorite comments ever. I'm really glad you enjoyed the history!

[@kiwimelon1749]

sadly, i'm too young to know of and remember the microwave show, although it was really nice to get some insight into the youtubes origins, and the show in general. as a sidenote; your voice and storytelling works really well for this type of content. keep it up.

[@leonchao7247]

I never thought I'd see an essay on my childhood youtube series after watching a video about Skyrim stealth archery but here we are

[@AmazingMrMe123]

The furby episode traumatized me for life, it still makes furby sounds as it's face melts. I remember the conclusion was "its not even a good idea to buy furbys"

[@Zaczac111]

Man I remember watching this series back when they first got started. This was peak KZbin back in the day.

[@elios7623]

idk about youtube, but when i was a kid i was pretty active in Newgrounds, that site had a couple series and games that i loved dearly (madness combat to name one example)

[@dodgyrhubarb457]

I'm here from the Skyrim stream. Dang, that took a turn for the serious real quick.

[@valthorix7347]

Of all the things I know of, I think this is the one I least expected to ever get a video essay on. I'm so thankful someone is keeping the memory of this show alive. The airbag episode has lived rent-free in my head for well over a decade now.

[@miffles7299]

Finally I have found more good video essays, thanks for making this and thanks for teaching me

[@ArmyStrongGangflu]

Just starting the video but I'm already going to thank you. It makes me happy that someone remembers this.

[@jonah8231]

completely forgot this series existed until i saw ur video suggested and then remembered that i obsessively watched these as they came out as a kid. i watched since season 1. i remember the airbag episode so vividly.

[@BingusChillingus]

It's absolutely criminal that this doesn't have more views. You've quickly become one of my favorite essayists, and always seem to consistently cover topics that I appreciate like republic commando. Keep up the good work!

[@UpperCumberlandGamers]

My first channel I subscribed to out of hope to see more was ADoseOfBuckoey

[@633K]

Skyrim brought me here, but your personality kept me here. This is a great video.

[@inpacifica2573]

This was a very pleasant watch! I've watched several of your videos before and they've had a more somber tone (which is very enjoyable in its own right!), but I really enjoyed how laidback and approachable this one was. Also cool to see you branch out from analysis to a more documentary styled video! It's always fun seeing creators work in more than one style 😊

[@ahiyano]

I have no idea who these guys are, but I just came from another of your videos and wanted to support you by watching this and hitting like. You are genuine, man, please keep it up.

[@ThaneBishop]

Honestly, it's huge that you still came by to support this video, then. Thank you so much!

[@mephistophelesdearchon9870]

God, this just gave me flashbacks.

[@subjectsigma1317]

So this comment doesn't have anything to do with the videos content. (Although thank you for hitting me with a freight train of nostalgia.) I just wanted to say that i have been enjoying youtube almost from the beginning, and in that time, only 2 other channels, besides yourself, have managed to get me to binge thier entire channel. Amazing work, and I'm looking forward to seeing where your channel goes.

[@heyheyalaska]

This was a nice change of pace from your other videos, was a nice watch. I should probably watch bullet train before you make that video, but it sounds like I have plenty of time!

[@ThaneBishop]

You'll definitely have time for Bullet Train. I'm still working on it, but there's at least two more essays between now and a Bullet Train essay. I'm really glad you liked this one though!

[@DrRESHES]

AVGN is the first that I was excited to watch. The second best show was Machinima's All Your History are Belong to Us, which i downloaded from youtube and placed them in nifty folders, like this [#of episode]. [Name of the Episode] [first part release date] - [last part release date]. but then i made organized every Season Episode and Part on a notepad. finally, I downloaded ep 0, which actually is a whole show that inspired it, G4 Icon. but yeah i also liked IiaGItMT back in the day, among others, but the thing is, All Your History had the best writing on youtube back then, that gave me goosebumps from delivering a line before the intro starts, because i didn't know anything about the gaming industry and this was source of knowledge that wasn't boring. If i saw an episode in my feed i would drop everything and just watch it.

[@ThaneBishop]

I love hearing about this stuff. AVGN is such a fun channel because he's one of those rare ones that started at the very beginning, but they're still going today. You've also got me thinking about all of the old videos I need to make personal, local copies, so thanks for that haha

[@DrRESHES]

@@ThaneBishop The number 1 rule of youtube or video sites is that: If you love something, you better download it before it's too late, and it'll be lost for ever.

[@emmi_s]

How did I not know about this show? I would’ve loved this as a kid! I got startled seeing Craig show up, I was not expecting him lol. I’m from nerdfightaria, so I’ve only ever seen him in "man my dad’s age talks about life" kinda context

[@emmi_s]

Oh and I suppose the earliest thing I would’ve been subscribed to was NimsTV, a Minecraft lper, SkyDoesMinecraft would be in there, and some of the, was it Mindcrack? Mindcraft? server; Etho, Bdubs, DocM. And my early influences really show their colors today, cuz I make video essays lol

[@accountname8330]

good vid

[@AmazingMrMe123]

How has this one not been picked up by the algorithm? "Is it a good idea to microwave this" is one of kf the greatest things in internet history.

[@AmazingMrMe123]

How has this one not been picked up by the algorithm? "Is it a good idea to microwave this" is one of kf the greatest things in internet history.