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''Nostalgia Critic'' is an American review
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
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created, directed by, and starring comedian Doug Walker. The series initially launched on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on July 3, 2007, before moving to Walker's own site, That Guy with the Glasses, and finally to the online production company Channel Awesome. The show follows Walker as the title character, a bitter and sarcastic
critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...
who reviews films and television shows from his childhood and recent past, usually with comically exaggerated hysteria. The show focuses on analysis of the episode's subject, often incorporated with sketches, rants, or embedded storylines. Many of the films reviewed—such as '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'', '' The Garbage Pail Kids Movie'', '' Batman & Robin'', and '' Foodfight!''—are generally considered as the worst films ever made. Walker briefly retired the series on August 14, 2012, to work on other projects, even writing the character out of existence in the Channel Awesome film ''To Boldly Flee''. On January 22, 2013, Walker announced the show's return in a narrative video titled ''The Review Must Go On''. The show subsequently returned with a more narrative- and sketch-driven sixth season, beginning on February 5, 2013, with a review of '' The Odd Life of Timothy Green''. Most episodes still retain the original clip-using format.


Main cast

* Doug Walker: The Nostalgia Critic, an aggressive, childish, foul-mouthed and hot-tempered film critic and a fictionalized version of Doug Walker himself. He is characterized by his angry rants, shrill voice and hatred of bad movies. All of the reviews star him as the main character and feature him providing commentary and criticism while talking directly to the audience. While often making jokes at the film's expense, Doug will often provide serious criticism and occasionally express his views on something relating to the film. Doug's other characters include both his past and future selves; Chester A. Bum, a homeless man; Devil Boner, the polite but insane embodiment of evil; Raoul Puke, a parody of Raoul Duke, the alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson; and parodies of Optimus Prime,
General Zod General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), was ...
,
Rick Sanchez Rick Sanchez is one of the two Title character, eponymous characters in the Adult Swim animated television series ''Rick and Morty'' and resulting Rick and Morty (franchise), multimedia franchise. Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, he i ...
,
Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...
, Frank Miller, and
Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special eff ...
. * Rob Walker: Rob is Doug Walker's older brother and has made appearances in videos since before the introduction of live-action sketches. Credited as "The Other Guy", Rob will often act as a straight man to other characters antics, though he has moments of absurdity on some occasions. Rob portrays some recurring characters, notably Santa Christ (a combination of
Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
and
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
) and Chart Guy, Rob has portrayed minor characters and acted in sketches. * Malcolm Ray: Malcolm is one of the Critic's friends who appears on the show and works with him on his videos. Malcolm's character often falls victim to the Critic's abuse, alongside his co-star Tamara, and both usually drive the plots relating to the review. Malcolm plays secondary characters in many of the sketches, most notably as the
Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
, an African-American version of Willy Wonka called Black Willy Wonka, hitman Bennie, and parodies of Pinhead,
M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received vario ...
, and
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. * Rachel Tietz: Rachel is a friend of the Critic and Malcolm. She portrays multiple characters, including Evilina (the daughter of Satan and
Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the celebrity sex tape ...
) and Rita Repulsa. She left the show after season seven, but has made some cameos in later episodes. * Tamara Chambers: After Rachel left the show to pursue a career in Los Angeles, Tamara stepped in to take her place as a regular cast member. Tamara's character often falls victim to the Critic's abuse, alongside her costar Malcolm, and both usually drive the plots relating to the review. She plays two recurring characters: Hyper Fangirl, who becomes the girlfriend and later wife of Doug's Devil Boner character, and Malice, a violent parody of the titular character from ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
''. Chambers revealed in a
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post that she left the show in 2024, after being a part of the cast for over a decade. According to her, she left to pursue other acting projects. * Jim Jarosz: Jim is a friend of the Critic who often works with Tamara and Malcolm, though he is not present in every episode. He is responsible for most of the props and set pieces in the show, most notably for the review of '' Mad Max: Fury Road''. His two main roles are the condescending therapist from ''
Catwoman Catwoman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she debuted as "the Cat" in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #1 (spring 1940). She has become one of the superhero Batman' ...
'' and Harvey Levin, the lisping flamboyant crossdressing head of
TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...
. * Walter Banasiak: Walter is one of the hosts of ''Awesome Comics & Coffee'', and ''Fanscription'', 2 other shows on Channel Awesome, alongside Jim and Heather Reusz. He also created the show ''Top 5'', in which he counts down his Top 5 favorite or least favorite things. He also runs ''Bat-May'', in which he reviews episodes from '' Batman: The Animated Series'' during the month of May, and ''Twilight-Tober Zone'', in which he reviews episodes of ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'' during the month of October. His main roles are Father Venkman, a man obsessed with ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...
'' to the point of making an entire religion surrounding it, and a parody of
Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...
, who is often seen with Doug's Michael Bay parody. * Heather Reusz: Heather, besides starring alongside the cast in Nostalgia Critic skits, helps run the Twitch channel, where the cast play video games, watch movies, or chat with the audience. She often fills in for Tamera. * Aiyanna Wade: Aiyanna was a featured panelist on Awesome Comics and was one of the co-hosts the Orbit Report with Heather Reusz as well as the Top 5 Best/Worst with Heather and Walter. * Orlando Belisle Jr.: Orlando is a friend of the Critic who often works with him. His main characters are Peter Souless, a parody of money-hungry studio executives; Roger, an angel-in-training that "helps" the Critic in the 2010 Christmas special ''You're A Dirty Rotten Bastard''; and The Angst, a parody of 1990s and 2000s
anti-heroes An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as Ideal (ethics), idealism ...
. He has also played Malachite, the main villain of the 2011 anniversary special ''Suburban Knights''. * Barney Walker: Doug and Rob's father who helps out behind the scenes and often appears as himself. Pre-reboot episodes portrayed him as abusive towards the Critic. * Chaplin & Buster: Doug Walker's two pet cats who appear as talking versions of themselves in various skits. They are known for repeatedly announcing their own names for no reason, as in "I'm Chaplin/Buster!". They are mentored by The Cinema Snob's own talking pet cat, Lloyd. All of the cast members play fictionalized versions of their real counterparts as well as other characters during sketches. The series has also featured guest stars Dante Basco,
Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...
,
Kyle Hebert Kyle Henry Hebert ( ) is an American voice actor known for his work in anime and video game series, such as the teenage/adult Gohan and the narrator in the Funimation dub of the ''Dragon Ball series'', Sōsuke Aizen in ''Bleach'', Ryu in the ...
,
JonTron Jonathan Aryan Jafari () (born March 24, 1990), better known online as JonTron, is an American YouTuber. He created the eponymous YouTube web series ''JonTron'', where he reviews and parodies video games, films and other media. Jafari is t ...
,
Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
,
Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...
,
Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, best-known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York dialect, his squint, and his edgy, often-controversial, sense of humor. Hi ...
, James Rolfe,
Tom Ruegger Tom Ruegger () is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', '' Pinky and the Brain'', and '' H ...
, Michael Salvatori, Greg Sestero, Sherri Stoner, Chris Stuckmann,
Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...
, Rob Scallon, Corey Taylor and Mara Wilson as themselves, where they co-review, act in sketch segments, or make a cameo appearance.


History

The series was initially launched on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on July 3, 2007, with a review of ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
'', but episodes were frequently removed by the website following complaints of copyright infringement. In April 2008, the videos were taken down from YouTube but an arrangement between the company and Blip.tv, the content host of both the series and parent company Channel Awesome, in 2009 resulted in them being featured on YouTube once more, although Blip was still the main platform of their videos besides the Channel Awesome site until Blip's shutdown in 2015. A spin-off, called ''The Nostalgia Chick'', was announced in the video ''The Search for the Nostalgia Chick'' (August 10, 2008). The concept was for a female host to review female-targeted "nostalgic" films and television,
iTunes
and though it was presented as a contest, it was predetermined that all three candidates would end up on the site: Lindsay Ellis (who reviewed Disney's ''Pocahontas''), Krissy Diggs (who reviewed ''
Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...
''), and Kaylyn Saucedo (who reviewed '' The Last Unicorn''). Ellis, then using the name "The Dudette," took the Nostalgia Chick title, as announced in a video on the site, ''Nostalgia Chick Winner!'' (September 15, 2008). Diggs and Saucedo then joined That Guy with the Glasses as That Chick with the Goggles and Marzgurl, respectively. On September 14, 2012, Walker announced the retirement of ''Nostalgia Critic'' (although the Critic was planned to make appearances on special occasions). He and his brother, series co-creator and co-writer Rob Walker, felt that they had gone as far as they could with the series. Another reason was the controversy over the '' Stop Online Privacy Act'', also known as the SOPA Bill, which posed a major threat to Channel Awesome. The Bill ended up dead in the water, but Channel Awesome feared another piece of legislation being drafted or even passed. The Critic was killed off at the end of the site's 2012 anniversary movie, ''To Boldly Flee'', which was meant to serve as the grand finale of the ''Nostalgia Critic'' show. The Walker brothers then focused their efforts on another web series, ''Demo Reel'', which revolved around a struggling film production company run by an over-ambitious, egotistical, and incompetent filmmaker named Donnie DuPre (played by Doug Walker) and consisting of up-and-coming author and
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning investigative journalist Tacoma Narrows (played by Malcom Ray), failed actress Rebecca Stone (played by Rachel Teitz), East German cameraman and photographer Karl Copenhagen (played by Rob Walker), and Irish make-up artist "Quinn" (played by frequent collaborator Jim Jarosz). In the show, the studio aims to recreate famous movies, both old and new, badly on purpose to gain Hollywood's attention so they can make their own major motion picture. However, the series was unsuccessful; what was planned as a several seasons-long sitcom turned into a one-season series with 6 episodes, with one episode not airing. On January 22, 2013, Walker released a sketch short film titled ''The Review Must Go On'', announcing the return of ''Nostalgia Critic'' and the end of ''Demo Reel''. Ray, Teitz, and Jarosz would join the Walker brothers in the revival, although Teitz was later replaced by Tamara Chambers (who originally auditioned for ''Demo Reel'') in season 8. Teitz would still make occasional appearances in later episodes. Chambers would later leave the show herself in 2024, to pursue other acting projects.


Episodes

As of June 11, 2025, ''Nostalgia Critic'' has a total of 755 episodes, currently in its eighteenth season.


Episode format

The series focuses on the Nostalgia Critic, a short-tempered film reviewer looking back at films usually from his childhood and adolescence. GigaOM describes it as "high energy and shamelessly nerdy".
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
described him as having "offbeat personalities". In each episode, the Critic restates important plot-points, guiding the viewer, while making jokes out of notable or questionable scenes. The reviews are interspersed with recurring memes, false or satirical dubbing of dialogue, comedic sketches and pop culture gagssuch as making fun of famous actors who starred in lesser-known roles before their rise to fame. The show also features special episodes, such as the "Top 11" list countdowns for his favorite or least favorite films, villains, or moments in television shows; and "Old vs. New" which compares the
reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
of a popular film or series to the original. Since the revival of the series in 2013, Walker occasionally produces an editorial which discusses relevant film topics; while still featuring the Critic persona, these videos are much less comedic and contain no sketches or other actors. Beginning with ''
Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...
'' on June 23, 2015, the series also occasionally features "clipless reviews" of films that are still currently in theaters to avoid
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...
instead of stills and clips. These reviews instead feature scenes from the movies comedically re-enacted by Walker, his friends and family, other Channel Awesome contributors, and other people associated with Walker. Walker describes his philosophy thus: " e need a critic of nostalgiabecause everybody already does it. When we look at movies and shows from our youth, they're rarely as good as we remember them, and oftentimes it's quite humorous to compare what you liked then to what you like now. That's basically what the Nostalgia Critic is about, looking back at just how much nostalgia cloaked our vision in heavenly bliss and how bizarre the reality is."


See also

* ''
Angry Video Game Nerd ''Angry Video Game Nerd'' (''AVGN''; originally known as ''The Angry Nintendo Nerd'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series starring and created by James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply ...
'' * '' CinemaSins'' * '' How It Should Have Ended'' * Screen Junkies


References


Notes


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nostalgia Critic 2000s YouTube series 2010s YouTube series 2020s YouTube series 2007 web series debuts American comedy web series Channel Awesome Comedy-related YouTube channels Internet memes introduced from the United States Nostalgia in the United States Viral videos YouTube critics and reviewers YouTube channels launched in 2007