In addition to watching the usual streaming channels like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, etc., I watch a wide variety of YouTube channels. This has led me to discovering several YouTube channels (and a podcast) that particularly produce some great content. Here are a few of my favorites:
Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast
When comedian Gilbert Gottfried passed away in April, I wrote an appreciation of his podcast on Facebook. Here’s a more “formal” review…
I discovered the terrific
Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast in 2021, an interview show with co-host Frank Santopadre. Launched in 2014, they’ve hosted hundreds of guests from a wide range of fields, ranging from comics, comedy, animation, and films. Tying them all together is a deep love for classic pop culture and Old Hollywood. Both Gottfried and Santopadre are incredibly knowledgeable about the golden age of Hollywood, including classic films, television, as well as the dark and seamy side of the industry, both true and apocryphal (and the seamier the better lol).
To name just a few, guests have included Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, Kevin Pollack, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Reiser, Alan and Adam Arkin, and literally hundreds more. As this suggests, many guests are the last connection to the golden age of Hollywood, with conversations running the gamut from admiration, to the profane and the hilarious. Being comedians, there’s plenty of needling, but to his credit, no one laughs the hardest than Gottfried when he is the butt of the joke. For anyone with an interest in classic Hollywood, it’s a wonderful way to hear first person reminiscences from the people who were there.
Even with Gottfried's passing, the site has remained active under Santopadre and shows remain available online.
Cartoonist Kayfabe
Hosted by “master comics makers” Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg,
Cartoonist Kayfabe covers the comics field broadly, ranging from a look at specific comics, magazines and books, interviews, and appreciation of other cartoonists—essentially, just a couple of comics geeks shooting the breeze as fans and talking shop as pros.
What particularly impresses me about the two hosts is their deep knowledge and broad appreciation of all comics, past and present, and diverse genres from classic comic strips, comics from the golden age to the present, undergrounds, alternative and more. Given how broad and fragmented comics have become over the past several decades, it would be easy to suffer from tunnel vision, but Piskor and Rugg are knowledgeable and well informed, and even as successful pros, clearly retain a youthful and infectious appreciation of the form. They have great chemistry and an affable presence. Even when they discuss controversial issues, they generally always do so with humor, fairness and without negativity or disparagement. They both also have remained prolific as cartoonists and leveraged their popularity to promote their own work. They’re great inspirations as fans and cartoonists. After all, anybody who can wrangle an interview with Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth has my respect!
Comic TropesComicTropes is somewhat similar to Cartoonist Kayfabe (though I believe came first), hosted and produced by comics fan and historian Chris Piers. As the show’s name suggests, it focuses on the tropes and the “recurring elements that creators or characters use” which provides “an excuse to drill down on various techniques and comic book history.” That said, this definition allows leeway for a wide range of topics. The show is primarily focused on comic books and comic book history—Piers is also affable and good humored, encouraging interaction with his viewers through small contests, funny little stunts and fan art. (One hilarious bit featured him taking swigs at offbeat sodas in between segments.)
BeKindRewind
BeKindRewind host Isabelle C. looks at Hollywood history primarily through a feminist and progressive lens, focusing particularly on actresses and issues related to diversity and representation. The show's angle makes the channel particularly fascinating and informative.
Though her work covers the broad history of the entertainment industry, she has a particular interest in classic Hollywood and actors from the ‘30s through the ‘70s, but also to the present day, having covered actresses like Bette Davis, Deborah Kerr, Jane Fonda, Myrna Loy and more. (A piece about Lee Grant’s history as a blacklisted actor even got a complimentary shout out from the actress herself!) She does a great job as well in recounting the behind the scenes stories and maneuverings behind Oscar races, performances and casting, often citing the sources of her research. Though never shy about expressing her opinion and views, she never comes across as unreasonable or inflexible. She's well informed and knowledgeable and offers a fresh perspective on Old Hollywood.
Nerd of the Rings/The Broken SwordThough there are, perhaps unsurprisingly, a plethora of YouTube channels devoted to the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's
Lord of the Rings, I found the
Nerd of the Rings and
Broken Sword channels to be the most informative and entertaining. Though definitely for the serious fan, I have found them to be great companions to the books and films (including the recent first season of the
Rings of Power), exploring the histories, characters and world of Middle Earth, both well known and obscure, for people like me who love the series but have perhaps found the original source material like the
Silmarillion and the appendices of the
Lord of the Rings too dense or inaccessible. I don't know if anyone beyond hardcore fans will appreciate the channels, but their success and the number of such panels suggest that there's a large, receptive audience.
Cultured Bubble
I’ve always been puzzled by the appeal of “reaction videos,” where you watch someone else watch a movie trailer or even full-length film, usually for the first time, while they provide commentary and real-time reactions.
That is until I came across the YouTube channel
Cultured Bubble, hosted by “Tanya from Germany,” who says she is trying to break out of her culture bubble (and heal from C-PSTD). The first video of hers I came across was Jojo Rabbit—given her background as a German, I was curious about her reaction to the film. Other films she covered have included
Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the Star Wars films, which amazingly she had never seen!
I found Tanya’s videos because she is such a genuine and sweet presence—very open hearted, sensitive and receptive. (What made her videos on the Star Wars films particularly amusing and insightful was that she decided to watch them in the order they were intended, i.e., episodes I-III first, rather than when they were made chronologically—as a result, when she sees Darth Vader appear in Episode IV, she gets a bit upset because she was became so invested in having watched Anakin grow up as a child in the initial films lol.)
Tanya recently announced she was taking a break, feeling that the channel and watching the films was preventing her from attending to personal wellness issues (she occasionally has mentioned an abusive childhood). I hope she finds the peace she seeks, as she is seems a very sweet, perceptive and delightful individual.
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