The section about Doug's understanding of Fair Use gave me 'nam flashbacks

So what you're saying is, the Nostalgia Critic, a channel based on re-examining things you loved when you were younger and finding out that they were actually terrible....turned out to be a thing you loved when you were younger but, on later re-examination, was actually terrible? *Ironic*

If you dont show up to the skype call in 15 minutes youre legally allowed to be fired.

I applied to Channel Awesome way back in the day and got rejected lmao

Moral of the story: AVGN won the final battle

"we're sorry you felt that way" is literally the worst apology. keep in mind there are serious allegations in here and that's the best they could manage.

A FOUR hour film made in less than SEVEN days?! Christ. Filming/editing that pile must of been a nightmare.

Nostalgia Critic seriously would pull the "I gave you exposure!!!" card on movies that are much, much, MUCH bigger than his brand would ever be? Are you kidding me?

Remember when the worst thing the Nostalgia Critic ever did was a bad Bart's Nightmare playthrough?

But the chart says

I still can't believe Doug Walker was like, "I'm retiring my character, so an entire era is ending and everybody else is retiring, too." Jesus.

This would make a great Netflix movie when it's all over, call it "I remembered it, so you don't have to."

>Removing spoony after rape joke on twitter >Forcing rape joke in anniversary film Oooh booy.

Lupa wasn't "late" to the Skype call. She didn't even know there was a call supposed to happen.

I went from "Oof Nostalgia Critics review of The Wall was just a poorly done parody" to "Nostalgia Critic is t r a s h" in only 2 days.

“Lindsay Ellis reviewed girly media from Doug Walker’s childhood.” 😂 I love how you said this. So glad Lindsay has long ago now broken free of Doug and Rob and Michaud and now outshines them with her by far superior content.

HERE LIES DOUG WALKER 1981-2018 WE REMEMBER HIM SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO

if you're 15 minutes late to the Skype call, we're legally allowed to fire you

That joke rape scene from To Boldly Flee made me lose a great deal of respect for Doug. Not only it's in incredibly poor taste, the fact that he coerced Linkara into taking part of it, someone who's super critical of the way rape is portrayed in media, is really fucking scummy.

lmaaoo imagine hiring several actors to be in a movie and then in the last day of filming reveal that the movie will end the actors careers

I like that Lindsay Ellis left because her content is much more expansive now. Being limited to just female nostalgia was a waste of great insight and analytical capabilities.

Two facts you need to know if you ever do a follow up: Doug Walker was banned from YT after AVGN fanboys thought his war against James was real and flagged him for harassment, and Blip didn't exist when TGWTG began, they hosted videos on Revver, who shut down owing them over $50,000. They also hosted videos on another video site before Blip.

Damn, everytime I go back to this video I'm like, "the amazing atheist and Lindsey worked in the same space once? Damn.

That review of Pink Floyd’s The Wall movie from NC sealed the deal for me that I will never watch him again. But this adds an extra layer of shit on the cake.

Back in 2010 I used to love everything that Doug Walker churned out, even those horrible anniversary movies. I also hoped to one day be part of the channel awesome crew and hang out with everyone of them, and finally meet my hero Doug. It feels bizarre to now see all of this come out in the open, and somehow I'm not even that surprised. But I still feel... weird. To see all the horrible things that went on behind the scenes of an entertainment website that I used to love so dearly. I wonder if Doug is going to make a video on this.

big ups to Lindsey for walking when she did...her content now is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else who ever contributed to TGWTG. I've always liked her stuff, but her analysis is hilarious and insightful af

So glad that creators like Lindsay Ellis and Todd in the shadows are still well known content creators who do their own thing and continue to create media that is unique to their brand but also is removed from the niche that Doug created for them. I love both creators and their content and hope they continue creating reviews for years to come!!!

“And the cinema snob reviewed porn”😂

18:14- IF THE CREATOR ISN'T HERE IN 15 MINUTES WE'RE LEGALLY ALLOWED TO FIRE

Oops. Plothole!

"I'm sorry you felt that way" is a pseudo apology, usually used by narcissists.

Just watched Lindsay's video Mask Off. everything about the assault scene has somehow managed to get more horrible.

That edit from Doug screaming to suddenly saying "where's the fair use" is one of the funniest things I've seen on this channel

This whole situation is heartbreaking to me, i learned english by watching dougs reviews subtitled in spanish...

Given the content of Lindsay's latest video, the Linkara rape scene is even more heinous and intolerable. I cannot fucking BELIEVE that no one called Doug on his shit.

Mike is basically the stereotypical capitalist. He’s like a GTA side character without punchlines.

The people responding to the meat of this story with "politics, lol!" or "drama, lol!" when it's a legitimate story of horrific workplace abuse and straight-up abuse-abuse, man, I hope they're just trolling. I really hope that they're not that legitimately sociopathic and actually care about the human suffering behind their light entertainment and I REALLY hope that they don't think that this is an okay way to treat employees/co-workers/sentient beings. Holy shit.

I swear down, Angry Joe to this day still wears that same leather jacket. He will die wearing that thing. XD

Well, having watched the Nostalgia Critic and Nostalgia Chick in my tweens, it was really satisfying to hear you say "I remember it so you don't have to". Full circle.

I used to love Nostalgia Critic, but then I found out about all the harassment stuff and it made me really uncomfortable. I was really excited when I found out Lindsay Ellis has her own channel now, i always enjoyed her reviews and she seems way more comfortable now

I find these Fallen Titans videos so fascinating because they really are short, modern history lessons. People forget quickly, especially on the internet and since I doubt the History Channel will ever bring up internet phenomena like this, I think there is a very big value in cataloging the happenings on the internet for the future like this. Because memories and knowledge fades, which is why historical science even exists. So Fallen Titans, and things like Down the Rabbit Hole are really sort of preparing for the future. Who knows, maybe in 50 years, internet history will be just as mainstream and accepted as classic history and so these kinds of videos are very important.

Doug Walker sounds like he’s parodying himself when talking about fair use

Don't give up on your dream of being friends with Linkara, Todd and Lindsay mate

The image of Phelous showing off the Nostalgia Critic's skull makes me laugh every time I see it.

When you realize... Demo Reel was SO bad that this guy blocked it out of his brain while writing a TGWTG retrospective.

I've been watching the Nostalgia Critic for years and to know that this wholesome man, Doug Walker, is part of this grand scheme of betrayal, inner conflict, and scamming makes me die inside. 14 year old me laughing at NC videos has been crushed to death. If only things were different.

One thing I'll say about the crossover movies is that they really, REALLY stink of Doug Walker. The writing, the directing, the editing, sense of humor, timing... everything is exactly what Doug Walker does. And that is why they don't really work as well as they could. They lack the creative freedom for other people and are basically glorified Nostalgia Critic skits. With that and all the other stuff, it seems like he is truly just someone who can only see his point of view and refuses to change anything because it's not what he wants. The movie where he becomes a dictator is probably the closest to reality out of their movies.

…I was curious what the whole controversy over Channel Awesome was about. I immediately regret my curiosity. This is beyond a disaster.

"and the Cinema Snob reviewed porn" (Career highlight for Brad).

I'm glad critics like Todd and Lindsay were able to walk away from #ChangeTheChannel unscathed ('nam flashbacks notwithstanding). The whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

I always gave the awfulness of the anniversary movies a pass when i was young because I figured it was good friends having good fun. Once you learn no one was having anything remotely close to a good time, it just seems psychotic, like what we're the Walkers trying to do?!

"We sincerely regret you felt that way," is like punching someone in the stomach and saying, "It's not my fault you have stomach pain."

"We're sorry you felt that way" was enough to get me to just up and leave, unsubscribe, just be done, etc.I see new reviews and videos posted. I quite enjoyed the Nostalgia Critic thing and thought many of the reviews were good, but I just can't do it anymore. Not with so many other options out there.

Last horse crossing the finish line here but it should be noted that not only does Mike Michaud own the intellectual property rights to the Nostalgia Critic character, he's also the majority shareholder in the company. So they literally CAN'T get rid of him even if they wanted to. Which just shows how hilariously incompetent the Walker brothers are when it comes to business.

The fact that Nebula and Curiosity Stream seem to have actualized a not-shitty version of "free range KZfaq" kinda proves that the problem was never the concept. It was always Doug.

I didn't even know that Todd in the Shadows had begun as part of Channel Awesome. It has become independent and become quite successful, I guess.

Watching these videos has ruined the old Nostalgia Critic reviews. I can no longer watch him with the same childlike innocence I used to. All I'm going to see is the Douchebagery behind everything

I thought CA was a bunch of friends grouped together and having fun... Now it looks like a dull company with a fun name

When channel awesome said: “we’re really sorry that you felt that way” it reminds of this one episode of “the good place” where Brent writes a terrible novel and after reading it, Simone and Tahani demand an apology for how offensive it is, and this is Brent’s apology: “I’m sorry if my book, which was totally okay made you feel like it wasn’t totally okay”

Just never forget if you guys rewatch this too Most of these people if not all of them are still making content, and most of them are still good. Definitely support them!

"If the creator's not here in 15 minutes we're legally allowed to fire them."

0:46 "It's a story that not many will tell you..." The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?

2:57 that's hilarious. Doug has always struck me as totally the kind of guy who would wear a fedora in his yearbook photo. So that's confirmed. Probably because he was already balding?

I really hate how Brad Jones underminded the mistreatments and harassments of everyone as pointless drama or people not getting Applebee's on the set of To Boldly Flee. There was quite a bit in the document that was more than just not getting food on the sets of their movies. It was anything but petty anger and the idea that he just laughed off what they went through as 'Internet drama' when some of them had legitimate grievances with the company is nothing short of frustrating.

That “almost” is pretty important now.

is anybody else kind of numb to information like this now? Like, channel awesome was a huge part of my life for years, I watched almost all the creators on there. Learning about this should have been heartbreaking, but all I can feel is "Eh, disappointing but not surprising" Great vid

as a long time viewer of todd in the shadows, i never enjoyed the cut away gags from his reviews because i always felt so isolated as a viewer. plus it felt really forced & never added much to the content. i'm glad he's still thriving nowadays on here & made a brand for himself. i'm only NOW learning about all of this channel awesome stuff. thank you for the detailed video

Doug’s understanding of fair use is similar to when people use artwork without payment or permission under the logic of “well, Im giving them free exposure”

To be compared to The Room and be considered worse because you goddamn dont pay your people. .....Ohhhh godsss;;;......

On their website, they posted a responce and it is pretty much them trying to force down their opinion that they are correct

Correction: They didn't spend $90,000 to do the show. Half of the money went to Doug Walker's pockets.

13:01 Having now actually taken a film production course and completed a 7.5 minute documentary short, I can't imagine what filming To Boldy Flee would have been like. My partner and I shot roughly, 4-5 hours of footage over the course of two days, cut it down to 30 minutes of usable footage, then spent 20+ hours to edit it into the final product. By the end of that process, we were beat to hell. The idea of shooting 18 hour days for a week straight is absurd. Knowing how so many of the content creators I adore were treated, I'm really glad I never watched any of the crossover specials.

This confirms to me that Doug has completely mismanaged his career. The guy was a pioneer in internet content, he should have his own channel with 2M+ subs minimum and dipped his toes in some movies. He didn't need dozens of irrelevant creators similar to him. At most 2 or 3 people helping his stuff run. James Rolfe has done exactly that and with virtually 0 controversy.

I once had a dream of working with Channel Awesome and hanging out with that group. I will forever be glad I dodged that bullet.

As we all know, "Fair Use" is in fact a magical spell providing arcane protection against any and all lawyers.

The linkara clip you play really reminds me why I like Linkara so much.

The 2nd anniversary movie is like one giant prediction of the future: Doug leads all these other contributors on with the promise of their own empire with him at the head, then once it's established he grows too arrogant and incompetent for it to continue, so all of his former underlings revolt and destroy said empire for their own sakes.

I really like both Linkara and Lindsay Ellis and it's so fucked up that they were forced to do the scene even though they both heavily objected.

“We appreciate constructive criticism that can help us grow.” I think that ‘You shouldn’t permit sexual assault’ very clearly outlines the improvements that criticism intends to make.

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain

Inept man-children: The company

So full disclaimer, the video quality in this one looks terrible. I really rushed the set-up for the camera on this one, and in the end to get the shot I wanted I just zoomed in the video a lot. Either way, in the next few months I could see buying a new camera if it proves to be financially possible. Thanks for watching!

Once upon a time, I prayed that one day our channel might be considered good enough to be thought of in the same breath as ThatGuyWithTheGlasses and Channel Awesome. I thought maybe, just maybe, I might even be able to have us join. I could not possibly be happier that it never came to pass. Dodged the bullet of a lifetime.

I met Doug in England and asked if he could sign a piece of paper for me and he asked for 20 quid and I laughed and thought he was joking but he was serious. It was not some convention, he was just visiting the UK.

The Rap Critic and Todd are both now amazing and on their own, especially Todd.

0:43 You ever hear the tragedy of Channel Awesome? Viewers: No I thought not. It's not a story many will tell you.

To give an example of how badly Doug follows fair use: I have never seen The Room. I have not watched any clip outside of Doug's video. I missed nothing in The Disaster Artist. His review filled me in on every single plot point that I needed to know to understand what was going on. It was as though I saw the movie.

Jesus Christ, I never fully absorbed that To Boldly Flee had a total runtime of FOUR HOURS. Four hours!? How much could possibly happen to a man who screams at 90's childrens movies in an audibly unfurnished, empty room? Does the premise of "awkward nerd complains about thing" really have so much narrative conflict and unanswered questions that whatever misadventure they got themselves into in a field near Doug's house couldn't be resolved in fewer steps than The Fellowship of the Ring? "Guys I understand the Teenage Mutant Ninja Dork or whatever just collapsed from dehydration, but if people just go get water all willy-nilly we'll never have enough time to shoot the 45-mintue Gremlins reference and the rape scene before Wendell64's mom has to pick him up for school on Monday. And we can't just have one or the other, that wouldn't make sense."

Channel Awesome used to be one of my favourites back in the day. Despite the fact that I haven't watched Doug in quite some time (Nostalgia Critic devolved into unfunny skits and Doug screaming nonsense at the camera) watching all this unfold is weirdly heart breaking, in a way. Doug was one of the first KZfaqrs I ever followed, and through him i discovered Cinema Snob, Linkara, Nostalgia Chick, Film Brain, Obscurus Lupa etc. I remember being excited for all of their yearly movies. It's like watching a Kevin Spacey movie. I'll always look back on the old TGWTG content with fondness, but it's going to be hard to still see them the same way knowing all this BTS drama, especially the movies. I think the thing that bums me out the most about it is that originally with the movies I always just assumed the whole thing was driven by people goofing around doing what they love, even if it was just objectively silly, I always assumed that it was all in good fun. It all does fall into a much different light when you find out that it was all just apparently a big ego trip for Doug.

Hey Quinton, you should make a counterpart to the series. Maybe a series about how KZfaqrs who have been here since the beginning have managed to stay relevant throughout, like Philip DeFranco and Cinemassacre.

I stopped watching Nostalgia Critic in 2014, due his episodes getting unfunnier and unfunnier. Now after watching "The Fall of Channel Awesome", I will never watch his videos ever again. I hope James Rolfe doesn't become like him.

Don’t they know that ignoring a problem makes it worse?

Suddenly Tommy Wiseau doesn't sound so bad.

We sincerely regret you felt that way. Man, that's almost Rick and Morty levels of bad apology, where in one episode, Rick is like "I'm sorry that you think you deserve an apology"

big props to todd in the shadows for managing to not only keep afloat since '09 but somehow be a more recognizable and respected name than doug walker

Wait, Doug Walker is responsible for The Amazing Atheist being a thing? Just when I thought my opinion of him couldn't go any lower.

TJ tried to tell us. Lordkat tried to tell us. Lupa tried to tell us. Phelous tried to tell us.

James Rolfe sure is lucky his successful website is only managed by himself and a close friend.

Ok, the most devilish of Devil's Advocate here: The whole "I already reviewed this!" thing was alway played up for laughs

Who else is here again after The Wall?