It all happened so fast. There were hints dropped months in advance, and the evidence seemed to have piled up like crazy. And yet, this big shift feels like it happened at the drop of a hat.
It was over so abruptly.
Indeed, internet comedian and film reviewer Doug Walker has just announced that
he is not going to do any more Nostalgia Critic videos. This announcement comes on the heels of the conclusion of
To Boldly Flee, the eight-part special celebrating the fourth anniversary of the ThatGuyWiththeGlasses.com website.
From my personal perspective, the first hint at this revelation was the initial teaser for the special released back in June, around the same time Spoony's departure from the site was announced. I had my suspicions when the next Nostalgia Critic was for the Digimon movie, a crossover with anime critic JesuOtaku. Doug made it clear that the cartoon was far outside of the span of his childhood and that he didn't want to review it (even though it wasn't on his "Top 11 Nostalgia Critics I'll Never Do" video), and this was evident as far back as the April 2008 review of
Pokemon: The First Movie. If anything felt like crossing an item off a figurative bucket list, that review hit the nail on the head. Several reviews in the following weeks seemed to have followed suit, especially with all the crossovers that cropped up (and there were plenty in the year so far as well).
Still, I just shrugged those feelings off. But then came the
Scooby-Doo movie review with its feelings of finality, in homage to the
Star Trek: The Next Generation finale. And even then, I didn't really fall back into such suspicions until
To Boldly Flee ended.
As he said, Doug intends to move on to new projects. Based on the footage of his new studio, they look to be more ambitious than he's ever been in his videos. As someone who's been watching the Nostalgia Critic since his humble YouTube beginnings and never missed an episode, I look forward to this new venture. But with this chapter coming to a close, I feel like I should follow suit with what Doug has planned for the immediate future and reflect on what was, through-and-through simply a fun ride.
Over the next few days, I intend to post commentaries on my absolute favorite Nostalgia Critic reviews. First off, I'll post a list of honorable mentions, going over some of the great, memorable and very funny reviews that only barely made the final cut. And then, I start on my list of the
Top 11 Nostalgia Critic Reviews.
Keep watching this space!
