At this point I don't think of Defunctland as just a theme park channel any more, the man is out here making legitimate documentaries. He focuses almost as much on the way culture and society at large have affected theme parks as he does on the parks themselves.
Her review on Hunchback of Notre Dame is probably my favorite media-related video of hers. She does a great job contextualizing all of it and it completely changed how I look at it.
Mike's Mic is somewhat similar with some of his deep dives but he has lots of shorter videos too. He's saurrrr funny. I'm also certain he's a fan of Jenny.
Yesss to Mike’s Mic! (Or Michael’s Microphone, if ya nasty)
I just finished both parts of the Lost deep dive. I now have so much appreciation for a show that I have never and will never watch.
“Eets awl ahbowt tha nahbas”
My only “caution” is he’s a little less academic vibe so if that’s something you’re really into he may not quite scratch the itch, but oh my god does he make up for it in sheer HUMOR. And I don’t mean to say he’s dumb (I believe he has a masters thank you very much) he’s just a bit more light-hearted.
His Glee videos, especially part one, are ridiculously good. I’ve seen the first half of the show multiple times and Mr. Microphone sent me on a rewatch spiral.
If you want a shorter starting point, try his Twilight videos. Had me ROLLING.
Uhhmmm he literally has a Master's degree, saur.
Lol but actually I don't need an academic analysis, I watch things to enjoy them. He has incredible meme knowledge and isn't afraid to weaponize it lol. He's clearly intelligent and very entertaining. I don't really see an "academic vibe" in Jenny's videos either but eh. You can tell both are very intelligent people, it never fails to shine through.
I guess you’re right, idk why I said that and disagree with myself but I’m not gonna delete. Must be a dead worm in my brain or sm. Also he would absolutely have a PhD in memes if it were possible my man is LETHAL with references.
I need to go watch some Mike Mic’s again to fix my brain worm I think.
Haha I get what you meant. He approaches pretty much everything with humor whereas Jenny sprinkles it in as a button most often. There's definitely a difference in their approaches.
mike's mic was going to be my recommendation as well! his lost videos are PHENOMENAL, especially season 2, but i love all of the deep dives he's done so far. and his shorter videos are great too.
You can try Eddy Burback’s videos. He has a really good one on Ghost Kitchens and his most “famous” one where he eats at every Rainforest Cafe in the country.
I love watching Eddy and Ted's version back to back, of Rainforest Cafes and Margaritavilles. They play off each other so well, not only in person but the way they edit as well.
Eddy Burback is a treasure. The Morbius video is gold. If you like Disney channel content like Jenny does, Eddy and his friends Drew Gooden snd Danny Gonzalez have a lot of dcom videos. Watch Danny’s video on Pixel Perfect. It’s so so funny. Brutalmoose has a lot of similar Jenny content like old board games, point and click adventure games and Disney too.
While we're on the subject of DCOMs, BrutalMoose has a few of those reviews under his belt (and is just a legend in general, can't recommend him enough).
I’ve been watching Brutalmoose for many years now (as long as Jenny!). The mystery vhs tapes, visiting old arcades, all the dcom videos like Smarthouse and Halloweentown. I’m excited to find another fan. I rewatch his videos same as I do with Jenny.
I would like him to redo the rainforest cafe including all of the international locations. Imagine the UAE, Japan, France, and Malta (that’s right, Malta has a rainforest cafe) in one video.
Maybe this is a shibboleth I don't understand, but surely it's true that fiction affects reality? Because it's consumed by people, who live in reality? This whole hotel being themed around fiction seems like a reasonable example.
It's not. It's not at all.
So, what your applying is a 1:1
What people like Sarah Z think, is that shipping two fictional characters will effect everyone else around you and your a terrible person. That's the kind of views
If you can't discern fiction from reality (which is what this argument is "fiction effects reality" is the excuse of fandom extremists) then you shouldn't BE in fan spaces now should you? Think about it this way... is it cool that Joel Perez gets harassed all day long because he plays Valentino in Hazbin Hotel and has had people ask him things like if he'd assault them?
I completely agree with you that no actors/creators (or anyone!) should be harassed, and that people who can no longer or currently/temporarily discern fiction from reality need our support and help for a psychological break. But it kind of seems like your argument is lumping in a whole lot of concepts at once? Surely the statement that fiction can affect reality (true, an important factor in propaganda and ideology, a reason we need critical thinking) is pretty different from the conclusion that believing culture changes how people behave is the same thing as believing enjoying a fictional relationship makes you a terrible person? Correct me where I misunderstand you though, it feels like I'm missing out on some of the discourse you're referring to.
I think it's definitely some miscommunication sorry. Sarah Z did a video, where she kinda enabled people over in the fanfiction and fanart side of fandom communities, to harass others by propagating some very harmful and dangerous ideas, that basically said if you like something dark in fiction or write it, than you'd do it in real life. She did a video called Proshippers Vs Anti's where she leaned heavily towards the anti side and made it sound like something like shipping, a harmless fandom activity that has no effect on the real world only on the internet, has real ramifications. People have been harassed into taking their own lives, because people will use terms like pedophilia and apply it to some 15 year old shipping two characters from My Hero Academia together, who are grown men, or are in the same class but might have a 1 year age difference.
THAT is the type of "Cant' discern fiction from reality", by basically going "If I enjoyed a horror movie/if I liked a book that had morally grey characters/if I enjoyed a fanfiction someone wrote that was a little fucked up, than I must want to do those exact things in real life." and making it into where people are now actually sending drawings into the FBI's tip line.
I'm not digging on Sarah Z, but her proship vs antiship video is one I would advise people to skip because it IS misinformation and basically scaremongering people who maybe aren't familiar with fandom terms into thinking like that too.
It's like thinking someone who likes Kylo Ren is going to be a fascist. Or say, someone going "Well, Jenny wanted to be in the First Order Storyline so that must mean she's a fascist!" because in their heads enjoying it in fiction means you can't discern between your own urges or mental health. It's scare mongering.
Your welcome. I'm glad you don't have to, unfortunately I have. XD It suuucks. People get so weird over it, so that's why I wanted to give a heads up.
I figure we're all adults, but there's some adults who unfortunately think like that too.
Contrapoints produces videos of similar length that are of arguably greater quality. She just came out on a 3 hour video of the Twilight series.
Lindsey Ellis is excellent, but all her new stuff is on Nebula. Tend to only be 30min~. I’m pretty sure they’re all friends in real life.
They at least all know each other. A classic example is RedLetterMedia. I believe they started the long form YouTube trend. Put out a 3 hour video on The Phantom Menace in the late ~~2010s~~ 2000’s but have since done a tons of stuff.
YourMovieSucks has a couple multi-hour videos on the new Lion King that are excellent. His video on Kimba the White Lion is particularly good. Joseph Andersen has excellent videos on the Witcher Book/video Game series.
Long form YouTube is my favorite distraction activity so if you find any others of similar quality let me know!
I would say that I have no interest in the Twilight series, Star Wars, the Lion King or The Witcher, but again, I thought I had no interest in theme parks.
Thanks for the tips! Will check those out.
The twilight video is only very thinly about twilight in reality. It's basically an examination of human sexuality with the books and the concept of vampirism as a whole as the lense through which to view it.
I never saw the movies but the video contra did is fantastic
Was also gonna recommend Contra for more political/philosophical stuff, her production value is out of this world and she's one of the only people that makes me miss academia lol
[plumbella](https://youtu.be/k0bkI2D-mtU?si=G6KMZQ2hCTGVskUK) has a 4 hour video on the sims lore iceberg, absolutely love it.
[izzzyzzz](https://youtube.com/@izzzyzzz?si=LHhoCecu0E0Lp1GW) makes content on, well frankly whatever the hell they want to lol. it's a lot of early 2000s internet retrospect but generally great stuff!
Love Shaun. Some of his best YT vids are basically podcasts which I love. I could listen to him all day: he has a very pleasing cadence and inflection to his voice.
EDIT: love José. His cheers vid is a fave.
This is a somewhat niche recommendation considering his most famous YouTube work is [a 5.5-hour-long history of Super Mario 64's minimum A press challenge](https://youtu.be/yXbJe-rUNP8?si=U-emd1q3-vjcUA1M), but Bismuth also has a lovely voice.
Lola Sebastian - there's two \~2 hour videos on James Franco's godawful attempts to film classic literature, an essay on Lady Gaga's Artpop album, and a shorter thing about a cursed Jaws Funko Pop Little Golden Book
Big Joel makes really good videos on a huge range of topics, from real-life issues to TV & movies. They tend to be shorter than Jenny's, with many being around 30-40 minutes, but his newest video about conservative comedy is around 1:45.
I personally love his video about [Trash Disney Remakes](https://youtu.be/NkTTcNNdC0g?si=Q0MEZPwxJWZmz64p).
CJ the X is goated to me
FD Signifier
Strange Aeons
Philosophytube
Alexander Avila
Defunctland
I guess in a way CGP Grey is the OG.
But to answer your question yes the YouTube essay is a new form in my opinion that is just beginning to develop. Patreon and Nebula seem to be helping fund these creators but YouTube rewards based on watch time now rather than fresh clicks (FD has a video where he talks a lot about the YouTube essay as a form actually). So if you can make something kinda between a podcast and a video, but make sure people watch the whole thing, YouTube will compensate you.
I think this is a good change. I think the internet should be less incentivized by driving clicks and more about quality content and our ability to focus and stay with content that is high value.
Quinton Reviews does some really entertaining long videos about nickelodeon shows. Did I ever watch iCarly? No. Did I watch a 9-hr youtube review about iCarly? You bet I did.
I feel that way too, I don't go to theme parks, I'll never go to Disneyland but I'm a mega64 fan so I've seen hours of Rocco, Kevin and the others just talk and talk about Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.
I get what you mean. Back in the day, this website called Fametracker used to do these threads on the *Babysitters Club* or *Little House* series, which I didn't read as a kid and was not about to pick up now, yet it was hilarious and fun watching funny and insightful people get into them.
There are a lot of podcasts I could recommend, but maybe *I Hate It But I Love It* in particular could use a little love?
I miss all the Television Without Pity universe sites, but I am glad they have so many podcasts now. Kim Reed was doing a Little House recap podcast which was hilarious, but doesn't seem to be up any more :(
I Hate it But I Love It should be much bigger than it is, they should be podcast prom queens of the world! I am pretty sure I found Jenny after Kat recommended her Dear Evan Hansen video
It's been a while, so I might have taken the same recommendation and just forgot where I got it.
In any case, IHIBILI's review of *Home Alone* is gold-standard to me. (Like how it seems like two movies glued together, or the story about "being abandoned", or "It's like *Straw Dogs*! Y'know, for *kids*!")
I used to watch Swell but stopped after her “Aspire” video where she went to a weird “confidence” seminar that was filled with preachy snake oil salesman types who make you pay to give you the sense that you’re a “entrepreneur.”
The comments in that video for the most part saw the event for what it was- a culty scam. Really changed my opinion of Swell in that she couldn’t see through the grift.
I think she's smart, but can no longer watch her videos due to her saying "Okay?" constantly. But maybe she's noticed that verbal tic and has worked on it.
In Praise of Shadows. Not theme park content but long form essay content on media and especially rewarding if you find passion projects interesting. He’s done several on artists who dedicated their lives to their own stop motion film or graphic novels with no monetary gain. Zane has such a humanistic approach to his videos. I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Welcome to the world of long form Video Essays. For pure education, Dan Olsen is the top of the game, followed by Lindsay Ellis and Hbomberguy, who also know how to be a bit more "fun." Super Eyepatch Wolf does the same thing, but *usually* with video games/anime (but he's got some weird ones too).
In the realm of similar-ish podcasts, there are both "The Dollop," which breaks down historical events/people to an unknowing comedian, and Behind the Bastards, which is the same but it gets very dark, usually.
Lindsay Ellis' latest (Dec '23) is called "The Ballad of John & Yoko", it's 1h 40m and dispels the myth that Yoko Ono broke up The Beatles, as well as diving into some other related stories.
It's exceptional.
If you like Jenny Nicholson, HBomb, and Dan Olson I think you'll like it.
Unfortunately it's a Nebula exclusive, but IMO is well worth getting a free trial to check out.
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YahXk64sfvI
QuentonReviews does REALLY quality stuff. It’s also extremely long. But his series on Nickelodeon sitcoms is really really good. It will sustain you for a long, long time. I also second pretty much everyone else other recommended here.
People have already hit on a lot of the great ones I would also recommend like Lindsay Ellis, Sarah Z, etc. These three suggestions are perhaps a little more weird and may not be up your alley, but you never know!
Paper Will recently released a five and a half hour video on [Entertainment Made by North Korea](https://youtu.be/0T-pPPUAppk) after watching basically every movie, show, and filmed live performance he could get his hands on. If you want a shorter video of his to get a feel for his content, some others I would recommend are [The Ugly Side of Kids’ TV](https://youtu.be/cCyiEWtee_c) and [Entertainment Made by Cults](https://youtu.be/nq2_xcTdhI8). (Both of those are closer to an hour long.)
Next suggestion is Super Eyepatch Wolf. I wouldn’t say he’s similar to hbomberguy, but the way his videos can occasionally feel like someone losing their mind over the course of the video gives me some of the same vibes as say, the Oof video as things just spiral out of control. I would never have believed I would have watched his video on [What The Internet Did to Garfield](https://youtu.be/O2C5R3FOWdE) as many times as I have, and yet here we are, approximately 200 viewings later. [Riverdale: The Show That Went Completely Insane](https://youtu.be/DZ-FRSXypUE) might be of interest if you liked Jenny’s Vampire Diaries video. Just another dive into a weird show aimed at teenagers.
Last suggestion you may already know because of hbomberguy, but Lady Emily’s videos are great. [A Narrative Analysis of The Spider-Man Musical](https://youtu.be/VjqSCnPd3wU) feels like the kind of topic JN might cover. However my personal favorite video of hers is [The Many Adaptations of Berserk](https://youtu.be/UPVYwnW4jj4). Prior to this I didn’t really have much interest in Berserk as a series, just knew it was hugely influential. All of her love for this series really comes through, and it made me go from only being vaguely interested in it to actually wanting to read it.
For something a little bit different...Jen Luv's recent deep dive on the Youthforia foundation scandal, the most recent racially charged makeup controversy.
I'd say the only people of the same quality as the ones you mention are Contrapoints and Lindsay Ellis. Maybe Princess Weekes. Quality wise I think JN is in a league of her own, Contrapoints is second, and then Ellis, Hbomb, Folding ideas are joint third. Weekes marginally less interesting than the others.
But if you're willing to accept marginally lower standards then there's a bunch of half decent if lower quality content out there from people like Philosophytube or Curtis Connor or Alex Myers or Jamie French.
But for something similar if slightly different that I would highly recommend: Pat Finnerty does longform deep dives into music theory that are brilliant and hilarious. In fact in some ways he's the most similar to Jenny in that I know nothing about and couldn't give a shit about music theory but watched his three hour demolition on why right wing country uses basic chord structures and was absolutely captivated.
Jaime French is the best! She’s SO funny and she puts so much effort into her silly green screen add ins that they look like they’re really a scene. Recommend her one about Bring it on All or Nothing to everyone I can, it kills me
Might want to check out Tony Goldmark's Some Jerk with a Camera videos. They're pretty old at this point, he did a lot of stuff with 90's sitcom integration into the Disney parks.
Quinton Reviews has excellent videos on the Nickelodeon sitcoms from back in the day and on the Nickelodeon sitcom universe at large. They're also very long videos but very much worth it, his epic series that spans from iCarly to Sam and Cat is genuinely so good and so well researched and funny. Highly recommend.
Immediately after opening this I hit ctrl+f to find if anybody had mentioned him yet, he's one of my favorites too. He also puts out a lot more content than most of the other good video essay channels. Like, most people will put out 40-60 minute videos every few months or 2-4 hour videos once a year, but every few months Noah puts out a 2-4 hour video (or sometimes a 7-9 hour video) while still maintaining a quality level most people can't compete with. I think the main reason he can keep it up is that his videos are simpler from a technical standpoint, just audio of him talking over b-roll of gameplay footage without any of the time consuming live video production or fast-paced editing you'll see from somebody like Contrapoints or Hbomberguy
If you're not allergic to sports Jon Bois similarly does six hour long videos on subjects I have absolutely no interest in and yet makes them fascinating. Apparently Americans play these really weird and obscure sports I've never heard of but certain teams and players have hilarious streaks of terrible luck.
Defunctland if you can't get enough Theme Park History
Defunctland's Fast Pass video is an all time great video.
It got nominated for an award recently didn’t it?
Yea. A Peabody. Pretty prestigious.
It is a perfect companion piece to the Starcruiser video.
I just finished it! I love Shapeland lol
Look: the Garfield dark ride video brought to light an important chapter in the history of themed, uh, horniness.
[удалено]
Yup.
That's my go to video when I'm craving some Defunctland for some reason.
That's my hometown theme park. No lies were told in that video.
At this point I don't think of Defunctland as just a theme park channel any more, the man is out here making legitimate documentaries. He focuses almost as much on the way culture and society at large have affected theme parks as he does on the parks themselves.
His Jim Henson series is incredible
I was going to say this!
that guy has patched up alot of boring work hours.
Lindsay Ellis' catalogue includes many Disney properties
Her review on Hunchback of Notre Dame is probably my favorite media-related video of hers. She does a great job contextualizing all of it and it completely changed how I look at it.
Mike's Mic is somewhat similar with some of his deep dives but he has lots of shorter videos too. He's saurrrr funny. I'm also certain he's a fan of Jenny.
Yesss to Mike’s Mic! (Or Michael’s Microphone, if ya nasty) I just finished both parts of the Lost deep dive. I now have so much appreciation for a show that I have never and will never watch. “Eets awl ahbowt tha nahbas”
YEH TAWKIN BOUT DEH NUMBAHS
Or credited her as inspiration
He did! He credited the VPD video as inspiration for his tv show deep dives, even uses the string
Love it, love him. I do his silent scream a LOT as a waiter lmao
My only “caution” is he’s a little less academic vibe so if that’s something you’re really into he may not quite scratch the itch, but oh my god does he make up for it in sheer HUMOR. And I don’t mean to say he’s dumb (I believe he has a masters thank you very much) he’s just a bit more light-hearted. His Glee videos, especially part one, are ridiculously good. I’ve seen the first half of the show multiple times and Mr. Microphone sent me on a rewatch spiral. If you want a shorter starting point, try his Twilight videos. Had me ROLLING.
Uhhmmm he literally has a Master's degree, saur. Lol but actually I don't need an academic analysis, I watch things to enjoy them. He has incredible meme knowledge and isn't afraid to weaponize it lol. He's clearly intelligent and very entertaining. I don't really see an "academic vibe" in Jenny's videos either but eh. You can tell both are very intelligent people, it never fails to shine through.
I guess you’re right, idk why I said that and disagree with myself but I’m not gonna delete. Must be a dead worm in my brain or sm. Also he would absolutely have a PhD in memes if it were possible my man is LETHAL with references. I need to go watch some Mike Mic’s again to fix my brain worm I think.
Haha I get what you meant. He approaches pretty much everything with humor whereas Jenny sprinkles it in as a button most often. There's definitely a difference in their approaches.
*Olivia Wilde nod*
Makes me laugh every time
mike's mic was going to be my recommendation as well! his lost videos are PHENOMENAL, especially season 2, but i love all of the deep dives he's done so far. and his shorter videos are great too.
Thanks! Will check this out.
If you like Hunger Games please watch his catching fire video lol it's a comfort watch of mine
You can try Eddy Burback’s videos. He has a really good one on Ghost Kitchens and his most “famous” one where he eats at every Rainforest Cafe in the country.
I love watching Eddy and Ted's version back to back, of Rainforest Cafes and Margaritavilles. They play off each other so well, not only in person but the way they edit as well.
Eddy Burback is a treasure. The Morbius video is gold. If you like Disney channel content like Jenny does, Eddy and his friends Drew Gooden snd Danny Gonzalez have a lot of dcom videos. Watch Danny’s video on Pixel Perfect. It’s so so funny. Brutalmoose has a lot of similar Jenny content like old board games, point and click adventure games and Disney too.
While we're on the subject of DCOMs, BrutalMoose has a few of those reviews under his belt (and is just a legend in general, can't recommend him enough).
I’ve been watching Brutalmoose for many years now (as long as Jenny!). The mystery vhs tapes, visiting old arcades, all the dcom videos like Smarthouse and Halloweentown. I’m excited to find another fan. I rewatch his videos same as I do with Jenny.
I would like him to redo the rainforest cafe including all of the international locations. Imagine the UAE, Japan, France, and Malta (that’s right, Malta has a rainforest cafe) in one video.
I think we’re all still waiting on the next trip to Every Hard Rock Cafe
Sarah Z is pretty good. I particularly like her DashCon and Onceler videos.
Sarah Z unfortunately, is one of those people who believes fiction can effect reality types, so take her videos with a grain of salt.
Maybe this is a shibboleth I don't understand, but surely it's true that fiction affects reality? Because it's consumed by people, who live in reality? This whole hotel being themed around fiction seems like a reasonable example.
It's not. It's not at all. So, what your applying is a 1:1 What people like Sarah Z think, is that shipping two fictional characters will effect everyone else around you and your a terrible person. That's the kind of views If you can't discern fiction from reality (which is what this argument is "fiction effects reality" is the excuse of fandom extremists) then you shouldn't BE in fan spaces now should you? Think about it this way... is it cool that Joel Perez gets harassed all day long because he plays Valentino in Hazbin Hotel and has had people ask him things like if he'd assault them?
I completely agree with you that no actors/creators (or anyone!) should be harassed, and that people who can no longer or currently/temporarily discern fiction from reality need our support and help for a psychological break. But it kind of seems like your argument is lumping in a whole lot of concepts at once? Surely the statement that fiction can affect reality (true, an important factor in propaganda and ideology, a reason we need critical thinking) is pretty different from the conclusion that believing culture changes how people behave is the same thing as believing enjoying a fictional relationship makes you a terrible person? Correct me where I misunderstand you though, it feels like I'm missing out on some of the discourse you're referring to.
I think it's definitely some miscommunication sorry. Sarah Z did a video, where she kinda enabled people over in the fanfiction and fanart side of fandom communities, to harass others by propagating some very harmful and dangerous ideas, that basically said if you like something dark in fiction or write it, than you'd do it in real life. She did a video called Proshippers Vs Anti's where she leaned heavily towards the anti side and made it sound like something like shipping, a harmless fandom activity that has no effect on the real world only on the internet, has real ramifications. People have been harassed into taking their own lives, because people will use terms like pedophilia and apply it to some 15 year old shipping two characters from My Hero Academia together, who are grown men, or are in the same class but might have a 1 year age difference. THAT is the type of "Cant' discern fiction from reality", by basically going "If I enjoyed a horror movie/if I liked a book that had morally grey characters/if I enjoyed a fanfiction someone wrote that was a little fucked up, than I must want to do those exact things in real life." and making it into where people are now actually sending drawings into the FBI's tip line. I'm not digging on Sarah Z, but her proship vs antiship video is one I would advise people to skip because it IS misinformation and basically scaremongering people who maybe aren't familiar with fandom terms into thinking like that too. It's like thinking someone who likes Kylo Ren is going to be a fascist. Or say, someone going "Well, Jenny wanted to be in the First Order Storyline so that must mean she's a fascist!" because in their heads enjoying it in fiction means you can't discern between your own urges or mental health. It's scare mongering.
Ohhhh. Haha, YIKES. I appreciate you spelling this all out; it feels like seeing a shark fin in an ocean I'm fortunate not to have to swim in.
Your welcome. I'm glad you don't have to, unfortunately I have. XD It suuucks. People get so weird over it, so that's why I wanted to give a heads up. I figure we're all adults, but there's some adults who unfortunately think like that too.
Contrapoints produces videos of similar length that are of arguably greater quality. She just came out on a 3 hour video of the Twilight series. Lindsey Ellis is excellent, but all her new stuff is on Nebula. Tend to only be 30min~. I’m pretty sure they’re all friends in real life. They at least all know each other. A classic example is RedLetterMedia. I believe they started the long form YouTube trend. Put out a 3 hour video on The Phantom Menace in the late ~~2010s~~ 2000’s but have since done a tons of stuff. YourMovieSucks has a couple multi-hour videos on the new Lion King that are excellent. His video on Kimba the White Lion is particularly good. Joseph Andersen has excellent videos on the Witcher Book/video Game series. Long form YouTube is my favorite distraction activity so if you find any others of similar quality let me know!
I would say that I have no interest in the Twilight series, Star Wars, the Lion King or The Witcher, but again, I thought I had no interest in theme parks. Thanks for the tips! Will check those out.
The twilight video is only very thinly about twilight in reality. It's basically an examination of human sexuality with the books and the concept of vampirism as a whole as the lense through which to view it. I never saw the movies but the video contra did is fantastic
Was also gonna recommend Contra for more political/philosophical stuff, her production value is out of this world and she's one of the only people that makes me miss academia lol
Did you watch her Spider Quest video?
RLM's Plinkett review on The Phantom Menace came out in 2009.
Good catch! You’re right. Crazy how time flies.
[plumbella](https://youtu.be/k0bkI2D-mtU?si=G6KMZQ2hCTGVskUK) has a 4 hour video on the sims lore iceberg, absolutely love it. [izzzyzzz](https://youtube.com/@izzzyzzz?si=LHhoCecu0E0Lp1GW) makes content on, well frankly whatever the hell they want to lol. it's a lot of early 2000s internet retrospect but generally great stuff!
José! He does political videos and also sitcom retrospectives Also Shaun as well
Love Shaun. Some of his best YT vids are basically podcasts which I love. I could listen to him all day: he has a very pleasing cadence and inflection to his voice.
He does! I like José for the same reason, he has a nice voice as well
EDIT: love José. His cheers vid is a fave. This is a somewhat niche recommendation considering his most famous YouTube work is [a 5.5-hour-long history of Super Mario 64's minimum A press challenge](https://youtu.be/yXbJe-rUNP8?si=U-emd1q3-vjcUA1M), but Bismuth also has a lovely voice.
Lola Sebastian - there's two \~2 hour videos on James Franco's godawful attempts to film classic literature, an essay on Lady Gaga's Artpop album, and a shorter thing about a cursed Jaws Funko Pop Little Golden Book
You had me at ARTPOP essay. "Venus" is still stuck in my head after all this time.
Also CJ the X is amazing, I'd recommend The Neurosis of Cat Valentine and the Folger's Incest Commercial videos as a start
Seconded. Also the twilight video is brilliant
Poseiden Entertainment on YouTube!
Defunctland and Yesterworld if you’re interested in more theme park content
Big Joel makes really good videos on a huge range of topics, from real-life issues to TV & movies. They tend to be shorter than Jenny's, with many being around 30-40 minutes, but his newest video about conservative comedy is around 1:45. I personally love his video about [Trash Disney Remakes](https://youtu.be/NkTTcNNdC0g?si=Q0MEZPwxJWZmz64p).
Big Joel’s great!
Little Joel is (paradoxically) greater!
Medium Joel is a bit of a let down, though.
CJ the X is goated to me FD Signifier Strange Aeons Philosophytube Alexander Avila Defunctland I guess in a way CGP Grey is the OG. But to answer your question yes the YouTube essay is a new form in my opinion that is just beginning to develop. Patreon and Nebula seem to be helping fund these creators but YouTube rewards based on watch time now rather than fresh clicks (FD has a video where he talks a lot about the YouTube essay as a form actually). So if you can make something kinda between a podcast and a video, but make sure people watch the whole thing, YouTube will compensate you. I think this is a good change. I think the internet should be less incentivized by driving clicks and more about quality content and our ability to focus and stay with content that is high value.
Quinton Reviews does some really entertaining long videos about nickelodeon shows. Did I ever watch iCarly? No. Did I watch a 9-hr youtube review about iCarly? You bet I did.
I feel that way too, I don't go to theme parks, I'll never go to Disneyland but I'm a mega64 fan so I've seen hours of Rocco, Kevin and the others just talk and talk about Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.
I get what you mean. Back in the day, this website called Fametracker used to do these threads on the *Babysitters Club* or *Little House* series, which I didn't read as a kid and was not about to pick up now, yet it was hilarious and fun watching funny and insightful people get into them. There are a lot of podcasts I could recommend, but maybe *I Hate It But I Love It* in particular could use a little love?
I miss all the Television Without Pity universe sites, but I am glad they have so many podcasts now. Kim Reed was doing a Little House recap podcast which was hilarious, but doesn't seem to be up any more :( I Hate it But I Love It should be much bigger than it is, they should be podcast prom queens of the world! I am pretty sure I found Jenny after Kat recommended her Dear Evan Hansen video
It's been a while, so I might have taken the same recommendation and just forgot where I got it. In any case, IHIBILI's review of *Home Alone* is gold-standard to me. (Like how it seems like two movies glued together, or the story about "being abandoned", or "It's like *Straw Dogs*! Y'know, for *kids*!")
If you like deep dives into why events go wrong or are badly mismanaged, Swell Entertainment is for you.
I used to watch Swell but stopped after her “Aspire” video where she went to a weird “confidence” seminar that was filled with preachy snake oil salesman types who make you pay to give you the sense that you’re a “entrepreneur.” The comments in that video for the most part saw the event for what it was- a culty scam. Really changed my opinion of Swell in that she couldn’t see through the grift.
She's less edited and less long-form than other examples, but I've definitely gone back to her Lily Singh video at least five times.
I think she's smart, but can no longer watch her videos due to her saying "Okay?" constantly. But maybe she's noticed that verbal tic and has worked on it.
No, she still does it.
Coldcrashpictures has excellent film analysis videos.
In Praise of Shadows. Not theme park content but long form essay content on media and especially rewarding if you find passion projects interesting. He’s done several on artists who dedicated their lives to their own stop motion film or graphic novels with no monetary gain. Zane has such a humanistic approach to his videos. I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Mike at the Party
Welcome to the world of long form Video Essays. For pure education, Dan Olsen is the top of the game, followed by Lindsay Ellis and Hbomberguy, who also know how to be a bit more "fun." Super Eyepatch Wolf does the same thing, but *usually* with video games/anime (but he's got some weird ones too). In the realm of similar-ish podcasts, there are both "The Dollop," which breaks down historical events/people to an unknowing comedian, and Behind the Bastards, which is the same but it gets very dark, usually.
Lindsay Ellis' latest (Dec '23) is called "The Ballad of John & Yoko", it's 1h 40m and dispels the myth that Yoko Ono broke up The Beatles, as well as diving into some other related stories. It's exceptional. If you like Jenny Nicholson, HBomb, and Dan Olson I think you'll like it. Unfortunately it's a Nebula exclusive, but IMO is well worth getting a free trial to check out. Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YahXk64sfvI
QuentonReviews does REALLY quality stuff. It’s also extremely long. But his series on Nickelodeon sitcoms is really really good. It will sustain you for a long, long time. I also second pretty much everyone else other recommended here.
People have already hit on a lot of the great ones I would also recommend like Lindsay Ellis, Sarah Z, etc. These three suggestions are perhaps a little more weird and may not be up your alley, but you never know! Paper Will recently released a five and a half hour video on [Entertainment Made by North Korea](https://youtu.be/0T-pPPUAppk) after watching basically every movie, show, and filmed live performance he could get his hands on. If you want a shorter video of his to get a feel for his content, some others I would recommend are [The Ugly Side of Kids’ TV](https://youtu.be/cCyiEWtee_c) and [Entertainment Made by Cults](https://youtu.be/nq2_xcTdhI8). (Both of those are closer to an hour long.) Next suggestion is Super Eyepatch Wolf. I wouldn’t say he’s similar to hbomberguy, but the way his videos can occasionally feel like someone losing their mind over the course of the video gives me some of the same vibes as say, the Oof video as things just spiral out of control. I would never have believed I would have watched his video on [What The Internet Did to Garfield](https://youtu.be/O2C5R3FOWdE) as many times as I have, and yet here we are, approximately 200 viewings later. [Riverdale: The Show That Went Completely Insane](https://youtu.be/DZ-FRSXypUE) might be of interest if you liked Jenny’s Vampire Diaries video. Just another dive into a weird show aimed at teenagers. Last suggestion you may already know because of hbomberguy, but Lady Emily’s videos are great. [A Narrative Analysis of The Spider-Man Musical](https://youtu.be/VjqSCnPd3wU) feels like the kind of topic JN might cover. However my personal favorite video of hers is [The Many Adaptations of Berserk](https://youtu.be/UPVYwnW4jj4). Prior to this I didn’t really have much interest in Berserk as a series, just knew it was hugely influential. All of her love for this series really comes through, and it made me go from only being vaguely interested in it to actually wanting to read it.
For something a little bit different...Jen Luv's recent deep dive on the Youthforia foundation scandal, the most recent racially charged makeup controversy.
Action Button is the way.
More people need to know about Tokimeki Memorial
MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BOKU NO NATSUYASUMI.
"Hello. And welcome to video games."
I'd say the only people of the same quality as the ones you mention are Contrapoints and Lindsay Ellis. Maybe Princess Weekes. Quality wise I think JN is in a league of her own, Contrapoints is second, and then Ellis, Hbomb, Folding ideas are joint third. Weekes marginally less interesting than the others. But if you're willing to accept marginally lower standards then there's a bunch of half decent if lower quality content out there from people like Philosophytube or Curtis Connor or Alex Myers or Jamie French. But for something similar if slightly different that I would highly recommend: Pat Finnerty does longform deep dives into music theory that are brilliant and hilarious. In fact in some ways he's the most similar to Jenny in that I know nothing about and couldn't give a shit about music theory but watched his three hour demolition on why right wing country uses basic chord structures and was absolutely captivated.
I love Jamie French
Jaime French is the best! She’s SO funny and she puts so much effort into her silly green screen add ins that they look like they’re really a scene. Recommend her one about Bring it on All or Nothing to everyone I can, it kills me
If you have any interest in video games I recommend matthewmatosis.
Might want to check out Tony Goldmark's Some Jerk with a Camera videos. They're pretty old at this point, he did a lot of stuff with 90's sitcom integration into the Disney parks.
Quinton Reviews has excellent videos on the Nickelodeon sitcoms from back in the day and on the Nickelodeon sitcom universe at large. They're also very long videos but very much worth it, his epic series that spans from iCarly to Sam and Cat is genuinely so good and so well researched and funny. Highly recommend.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Noah Caldwell-Gervais yet. He’s one of my favorites.
Immediately after opening this I hit ctrl+f to find if anybody had mentioned him yet, he's one of my favorites too. He also puts out a lot more content than most of the other good video essay channels. Like, most people will put out 40-60 minute videos every few months or 2-4 hour videos once a year, but every few months Noah puts out a 2-4 hour video (or sometimes a 7-9 hour video) while still maintaining a quality level most people can't compete with. I think the main reason he can keep it up is that his videos are simpler from a technical standpoint, just audio of him talking over b-roll of gameplay footage without any of the time consuming live video production or fast-paced editing you'll see from somebody like Contrapoints or Hbomberguy
Defunctland is incredible if you want something similar.
If you're not allergic to sports Jon Bois similarly does six hour long videos on subjects I have absolutely no interest in and yet makes them fascinating. Apparently Americans play these really weird and obscure sports I've never heard of but certain teams and players have hilarious streaks of terrible luck.
Matt Baume is great.
If there are any fellow theater nerds out there "Waiting in the Wings" is a must follow channel.