Channel Awesome: #ChangetheChannel

I’ve probably talked about being a fan of several contributors on Channel Awesome, formerly known as That Guy With the Glasses. After all, I started my Nostalgia Nook posts because there was media I knew the Nostalgia Chick would never cover and I wanted to discuss them.

(And I know I dropped the ball and didn’t review Halloweentown IV this past Halloween. I forgot but I will do it this year, especially as I’ve come to some realizations about it).

Anyway, I was introduced to That Guy With the Glasses when a friend sent me a link to Lindsay Ellis’ Nostalgia Chick review of Labyrinth. I loved it and watched her other videos before starting to explore the site’s other contributors, including the Nostalgia Critic. I remember watching Kickassia, eager for each part to be released each day, and discovering new people to watch (like Linkara) from it.

Then came To Boldly Flee, which featured the end of the Nostalgia Critic as Doug Walker (the man behind the glasses) wanted to focus on new, more original productions. While I was sad and knew I would miss the Nostalgia Critic, I wished him well. I even gave one of his new shows, Demo Reel, a chance—but soon found that it just didn’t hold my attention or strike me as particularly funny. There also ended up being long stretches between videos and while I understood that it was a more complex production than Nostalgia Critic, the long stretches were definitely more of a turn off. However, I was still watching other contributors on the site and kept going there almost every day.

Barely a year after To Boldly Flee ended the Nostalgia Critic, the last episode of Demo Reel brought the character back. I expressed my concern to some friends on a message board who also followed the site because I didn’t know if Doug was bringing the character back because he truly missed it or because they were losing viewers over Demo Reel, so they were just giving people what they wanted. I was concerned that he wouldn’t have the same passion as he had before. I’m not sure that didn’t happen—while I watched some of the new Nostalgia Critic videos, he started to do a lot more recent stuff that I had no interest in and eventually, I stopped watching his videos.

I did keep watching other contributors, particularly Lindsay, Linkara and Paw Dugan (also occasionally Todd in the Shadows) . So I was still going to the site almost daily.

Jesus Christ Superstar: A Real Superstar

I’ve been familiar with the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber since I was a little girl. My parents are big fans of his and have seen several of his shows on Broadway, including the original production of Evita with Patti Lupone. I used to counteract my insomnia by listening to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at night to fall asleep. And then I eventually graduated to more music, including Jesus Christ Superstar. I saw the 1973 movie version and my mother and I went to see the 2000 revival (which has a story attached to it that’s kinda funny, kinda sad. Maybe I’ll tell it later).

So I was thrilled when I found out the latest entry into the catalogue of live musical events would be Jesus Christ Superstar, fittingly on Easter (and my birthday!). The cast announcements proved it was shaping up to be a good one and I eagerly tuned in, waiting to be blown away.

I was not disappointed.

First, a little synopsis because some people were still confused about the plot even though it should be well known. Jesus Christ Superstar tells of the last 7 days of Jesus’ life…through song. We start before he rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as Judas worries about how large the crowds that surround Jesus are starting to get. He is afraid they will draw the wrong kind of attention from the Pharisees as well as the Roman officials, leading to disaster. It leads to some tensions between him and Jesus while Mary Magdalene tries to keep the peace. But Judas ends up turning Jesus over to the authorities as the crowd turns against him. Ultimately, Jesus is crucified.

Got it? Good. Let’s get on to the review!