Illumination: Channel Surfing Wipe Out · 12:28pm Apr 12th, 2018
Wow.... Okay. So Channel Awesome.
For the four of you unaware of what is going on, allow me to explain. Around 2015 Obscurus Lupa and Phelous both left Channel Awesome, and the breakup was... Acrimonious to say the very least. Basically they made the accusation that Channel Awesome is about as fun to work at as a concentration camp made of spiders. Producers would continue to jump ship throughout the next two years with it becoming a MASS EXODUS by late 2017. But I think that what caused everyone to take notice was Linkara's departure.
See, when I was first getting into it, there were three people fans of the site had their eye on. NC, Spoony, and Linkara. When SPOONY left, everyone could tell it was him being an idiot. He made a huge fuss on Twitter about some bullshit, and did his level best to burn every bridge he had. It was clear at the time that Spoony was the one at fault. Even he admitted that. (And seriously, you think this is scuzzy and awful? Check out Spoony's decent into madness. Makes these guys look like girl scouts in comparison.)
When LINKARA left, it was different. It came out of nowhere, with little drama beforehand, and he laid out issues that were frankly astounding. And Linkara was a HEAVY hitter. Probably their second biggest draw on that site after Nostalgia Critic. It was a thing that people noticed.
Lupa tweets about it, a few more producers pick up the slack, a few days later we've got a 60 page Google Doc that outlines all the problems with being a part of the site.
Channel Awesome.... Jesus Christ, they just did EVERYTHING wrong!
First off, the apology. The worst, most patronizing thing you can say when apologizing is "I'm sorry you feel that way." That is the fastest way to seem like the bad guy in any narrative, but there those words were. Right at the top of the goddamn page.
But you know what? That would have been fine.
No, seriously, it would have been fine. In a month this, like all Twitter hashtags, would have blown over into nothingness. The people behind it would have gotten on with their lives, CA would continue as it had been, and every fan of everyone would have forgotten about it by years end. At this point, the controversy was going to blow over.
And then last night happened. OH GOD... DID LAST NIGHT HAPPEN.
Mike Michaud, in his infinite wisdom, seeing the temporary drop in viewership and easily remedied talent exodus, and decided to panic, releasing a counter argument that straight up called them liars, and outlined some responses.
It... Is hard to read.
To be fair, I feel that most of the stuff he responded to was countered by the evidence given, and they absolutely have a right to defend themselves if they feel like they have been unjustly accused, but I would liken it to being accused of murder and then spending all of your defense proving you had a permit for the gun.
Yes, all your paperwork was in order before you shot the guy, but ABOUT THAT GUY YOU SHOT.
Gratz guys! You've extended the length of this controversy from one month, to a healthy six. Maybe longer if any of them decide to take LEGAL ACTION. Which is very possible at this point.
Jeez... What else to even say... Well, I think Nostalgia Critic is going to be fine.
Look, Doug Walker is NOT innocent in all this. He was, at the very least, willfully ignorant of the shitty business practices of Mike Michaud, a man who, let us never forget, made him a fucking millionaire. At the very least he heard the complaints, looked at his paycheck, and decided not to follow up on it. And that was wrong of him in a major way.
But... I watched the Woody Woodpecker review... It was funny. I'll probably watch the next one too.
See, that's the thing. We're gonna keep watching because the man is good at his job. So we keep consuming the work. Nostalgia Critic is BIGGER than the site now. Bigger than the controversy. This won't kill him. Probably will barely phase HIM.
CA though? Yeah, that's probably done, but we're not losing much at this point. Thanks to Patreon most people have been making a decent living on YouTube, and at least there you're your own boss. So it fades into the background.
Good? Bad? Don't care. I just know that if I can still drink CocaCola knowing they probably had someone shot, or play Symphony of the Night knowing how Konami hates its consumer bass, or watch "Love and Death" knowing that Woody Allen is a toadstool of a human being, I can watch Nostalgia Critic knowing that Doug Walker is a beyond shitty boss.
Just how I work.
Maybe not after all this NC it's not gonna last vert long because there are now many replacements . And really ? Doug can't bothered to set up a camera and apologize, even though most of the people were his friends?
He can find the time before to set a memorial for Justin (Jew Wario) but he can't give a simple sorry for the other people who made the site what it was
For something like this I'm reminded of something that the anime youtuber "Mother's Basement" said once "Hate the jerk, not the work." Doug Walker royally screwed up but the Nostalgia Critic is still an entertaining series. I'm still going to watch too, but I'm not gonna forget this utter shit show.
Also, Mike Michaud needs to get thrown out on his ass and have the door slammed behind him.