Friday, September 9, 2016

Top 10 Channel Awesome Duos

10. Malcolm and Rob as the Chart Guys (various). Specifically, they were in top form in the Alvin and the Chipmunks review, and I liked their song lyrics in the Phantom of the Opera review. In general, I'm not too interested in these characters, but they look like they're having fun.

9. Doug and Tamara as Uncle Lies and Aunt Deceit/Despair (various). They were standout characters in The Happening review, and even before that when they weren't named (they'd just been labeled The Abusive Parents). They're not my favorite characters in the new review format, but they are good for a laugh. "Our daughter is a twat!" "You guys like hotdogs, right?"

8. Count Jackula and the Horror Guru (various). While I don't watch either of their shows (horror's not really my thing), I have seen them pop up in other people's reviews, and I loved it when they were in Some Jerk's Haunted Mansion review. More recently, they appeared in Calluna's review of Scooby-Doo & KISS Rock and Roll Mystery (though I could've sworn they'd done a KISS episode in the past) by helping her kidnap Luke Spencer of Rocked Reviews (as well as stick around for commentary and the hallucination at the end). I've mentioned before how much I enjoyed Jack's song in part two of the Haunted Mansion Review, but Horror Guru was no less entertaining (especially the running gag of shaving his head between the pre-filmed bits and the actual review segments).

7. Billy Jo and Patty as Doctor Affect and Nurse Cause (various). I too was under the assumption that these two had their own show, but they don't. They are two of ERod's allies in the Blockbuster Buster reviews. They are actually a couple, so their back-and-forth is believable as well. I especially liked when he was criticizing her for the breach in security and she just flipped him off. Lately they've taken on the personas of Doctor Doom and his assistant, but they are nowhere near as funny as their completely original Cause and Affect (except maybe the "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me" bit).

6. Film Brain and Mike J, Uncanny Valley. These two are friends in real life and have appeared in each other's videos before. However, their submission into the Year Five movie Uncanny Valley took things to the next level. I enjoyed their interactions more than I did the ones between Film Brain and Luke Mochrie in the Year Three and Four films. Their performance is the most sincere, even if they don't swing that way.

5. Doug and Tamara as Devil Boner and Hyper Fangirl (various). I can't help but smile at this pairing. It seemed to come out of nowhere, as they weren't introduced at the same time and even got together offscreen (as revealed at the end of the Mad Max Fury Road review). The joke could've been satisfied by any character played by Doug, but DB was the most over-the-top to match Hyper's enthusiasm. Their interactions during the Old vs New Cinderella review were the best, showing that he'd do anything for her (including fight Benny over her and settle the Old vs New argument himself).

4. Tim and Beth, Phantom of the Opera review. I have seen a few episodes of their show Shark Jumping, but their appearance in the Phantom of the Opera review was outstanding. I'd say their being a real couple helped in this instance, as they were stand-ins for Raul and Christine. This was hilariously turned on its head as Tim and the others barely noticed her absence when she was kidnapped by the Fandumb Ghost (at most, Tim found himself without a ride home). They've made appearances in other  videos, but this one was the highlight.

3. Elisa and Paul, Les Miserables review. Like Tim and Beth, the couple was put into a musical production of the movie being reviewed as the romantic leads. In this case, they were the love-at-first-sight cliche in which they pretty much ignored everyone around them. Unlike Tim, Paul was sad to see Elisa go (Kyle tricked her into thinking there was a Buffy marathon going on downstairs). "Cockblocker!" These days they put out the occasional video, including their baby son.

2. Doug and Brad as Adam and Jamie, Sharknado review. It's crazy how well they pulled this off. Doug had all of Adam Savage's energy and enthusiasm, and Brad was as deadpan as the real Jamie Hyneman (even if the joke was that he had to drink to get into it). I certainly wasn't expecting the MythBusters to appear in a review about a deliberately ridiculous movie about sharks in a tornado, but I suppose they've done enough Shark Week episodes for it to make sense. I loved the parody these two did (the build team not so much, but at least the real build team are getting their own show now).

1. Malcolm and Rachel as the Devil and Evilina (various). Who else could be at the top of this list? While the Devil and Santa Christ can play well off of each other, it's not as entertaining as it was when Rachel was still around to play the daughter of Satan. Either bonding with the Critic over the original Dr. Seuss stories or torturing him under her father's tutelage (while annoying both with her My Little Pony obsession), Evilina is unforgettable. Malcolm plays the Devil so well that breaking character during the behind-the-scenes is quite jarring. The elevator scenes in the Devil review had him saying some of the best lines, like anticipating everyone turning to look at him accusingly or making up stuff about "Stupid Day." And of course there was Evilina in the control room the whole time.

Honorable Mention 1: Handsome Tom and 8-Bit Mickey. I didn't really know these two outside of the earlier anniversary movies, but who could forget them? Handsome Tom was the tall, mostly silent one, and 8-Bit Mickey was the short, excitable one (remember how he killed that federal agent when Tom wasn't around in To Boldly Flee?). Whether as themselves in Kickassia or as Willow and Peter Pan in Suburban Knights, it certainly wasn't dull with them around.

Honorable Mention 2: Nella and Elisa as Dr. Block and Dr. Tease. Lindsay/Nostalgia Chick's sidekicks appeared in several of her videos, but their standout roles were the two scientists. Nella as Dr. Block was the one grounded in realism and Elisa as Dr. Tease was overly enthusiastic. They also appeared in the beginning of To Boldly Flee when they were trying to decipher the message on the computer screens and figure out what was wrong with Spoony. They disappeared after the feds captured Spoony, allegedly fleeing to Mexico, and were never heard from again. Who knows what sort of adventures they had after that?  

No comments:

Post a Comment