Channel Awesome
Channel Awesome
Advertisement
ThatGuyWithTheGlasses

Doug-walker

Real Name
Douglas Darien Walker
Affiliation
Nationality
American-Italian
Website
Born
November 17, 1981 (Age 43) Naples, Italy

That Guy with The Glasses, aka Douglas Darien Walker, is an Italian-born American Internet comedian from Illinois who typically pokes fun at entertainment of the past and present.

Inspiration for "That Guy With The Glasses"

On the That Guy With The Glasses website forums, Rob "The Other Guy" Walker wrote where the inspiration for the whole idea came from:

"It was sort of organic. Not really spur of the moment, nor totally planned either. Before he did any of this, Doug went through like a mid-midlife crisis. He got big into all the things he watched as child, including ordering a DVD of old 80s commercials. Of the shows and movies he tracked down, some still held up. Some did not. Some things I didn't recognize at all, but there was a 2 year age difference, so occasionally we saw something the other missed. Point being, he made it his quest to track down old things he remembered and I constantly made fun of him for it. Finally, I asked when this whole freaky phase was gonna pass, and he said, 'Now. I think I'm done. I'm all out.' So that nostalgia thing was DEFINITELY there. But that was one or two years before any of this. Fast forward since then...

The first thing was 5 Second Movies, which was a fluke, in that we had no idea it would take off on YouTube. Doug did it as a joke. Next, Doug found Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue. He had totally forgotten about it and found it hilarious. He wanted to try his hands at reviewing something. For a while, I think he wanted to exorcise his inner Lewis Black. We used to film stuff all the time in high school and college, and I think he was just rediscovering how fun it could be. Eventually, it spread to The Transformer's Review, and then the Harry Potter event just happened to occur. Over time, he found his style for reviewing nostalgic crap. I think the idea came from various Generation X sites that posted humorous written reviews of 80s stuff. We looked at each other, kinda pissed, and said, 'This situation sucks. WE can do this! WE loved and hated this stuff. If only we had the means.'

Eventually Mike Michaud and Bhargov and Ellis said they were looking for a product to support as the first step in their glorious plans to create Channel Awesome. Mike offered to build the site. We would use the moniker Doug had on YouTube (TGWTG). At that point, most of Doug's work on Youtube was being done to get a fanbase going. The idea was, when we have enough fans, we'd launch the site. At that time, though, Mike's scheme was only one of like four things Doug had on his plate. So it started off slow. And Mike wanted to make sure the site was perfect before launch."

History

His first appearance on the web was on the website, YouTube. His stay on YouTube garnered many fans, but also complaints from major studios like 20th Century Fox and Lions Gate over copyright infringement. Despite Walker explaining quite clearly in his videos that his videos are satirical, thus protected by the United States First Amendment, the videos and channels were taken off anyway. He then attempted at giving each video a different channel so that if one video was deleted, his others would still be left intact. To escape YouTube deleting his videos, Walker and Internet webmaster Mike Michaud created a website called That Guy With The Glasses. In June of 2008, every single one of his videos was deleted from YouTube, much to the pleasure of Walker, who later announced he was planning on deleting the channels himself so that more people would see his videos on his official website.

Influences

Doug stated to have multiple comedic influences such as Robin Williams, Dave Chapelle, Animaniacs, Bill Murray, Rowan Atkinson, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, "Zucker, Abrams, & Zucker", South Park, Mel Brooks, Tom & Jerry, Jack Kinney, Disney cartoons, Lewis Black, Monty Python, The Simpsons, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. His biggest influence is the Looney Tunes (particularly Daffy Duck).

5 Second Movies

The idea for 5 Second Movies began when Doug and his brother Rob, aka The Other Guy, would horse around and make funny comments about movies. For example, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, they would shout "KIRK!" and "KAHN!" at each other. From there, they decided on creating the movie in five seconds.

After dealing with problems on YouTube, Doug decided to end 5 Second Movies for the time being and let others such as Suede and Film Brain create their own 5 Second Movies, 5 Second Games (in the case of Benzaie) and 5 Panel Comics (in the case of Linkara).

The Nostalgia Critic

Nostalgia Critic

Doug Walker as the Nostalgia Critic.

The Nostalgia Critic is another one of Doug's favorite shows and is based on his and his brother's childhood remembering shows of the 1980s and 1990s. The whole character is based on realizing that the shows and movies he watched as a kid aren't really as good now. When Doug talked about the Nostalgia Critic in his interview on Geek-lover.com, he said:

"I love the Nostalgia Critic. He’s everything I used to think of movies before I calmed down and chilled out. I also like the idea of a character who felt betrayed by his childhood and wants to ruin it for everyone else. Characters that self-centered and angry just crack me up."

Doug likes playing the Nostalgia Critic as it brings him back to shows and movies he liked when he was younger. The show also proves how times have changed and just how funny the shows were when he was younger.

The Bjork Show

Doug writes and plays guest stars in the surreal talk show parody, The Bjork Show. The Other Guy's friend little nemo hosts, giving a childish and omnipotent portrayal of the Icelandic singer Bjork.

Bum Reviews

Chester A. Bum from Bum Reviews is another popular character. This character sprung out of Doug's imagination from when he was doing the voiceover in the Cloverfield review for the Nostalgia Critic. The character is a homeless man and he reviews recent releases and popular movies such as X-Files 2 and Sex in the City.

Lori Prince Live

The title character of Lori Prince Live is a news anchor in Gotham City and occasionally he has famous Batman characters such as Batman and the Joker appear. This sketch often requires the most time to make as only two have been made thus far.

Ask That Guy

Ask That Guy With the Glasses is a segment where Doug would take e-mails from viewers that have stupid questions. The character, often wearing a robe and reading a big book, would answer them in usually sarcastic and off the wall manners.

Theme Lyrics

Each episode of Theme Lyrics consists of Doug playing the opening to a television show and singing original lyrics to the music.

Video Game Confessions

In Video Game Confessions, Doug plays Dominic, the bartender with a Cockney accent at the Pixel Palace, and recalls encounters he had with classic video game characters.

Xomba Reviews

Doug had decided to join the website Xomba to earn some extra revenue for his work, as well as attract outside attention for his work, and for a few weeks, the Bum Reviews premiered there exclusively a few days before they appeared on the main site. However, fans did not like this idea and so the Bum Reviews no longer appeared on Xomba. In their place, Doug writes serious film reviews, covering some of the latest releases. His reviews usually conclude by saying who would like the movie and who won't before summing up his own thoughts. Reviews are usually posted on Mondays.

To Boldly Flee

After going into the Plot Hole, the Nostalgia Critic found himself in what appeared to be his living room. Deciding to check his email, he instead finds a work in progress script named "To Boldly Flee". A man looking very similar to the Critic enters and is surprised to find the character in the room. This is a fictional version of Doug, who addresses himself as The Writer. He explains that the Critic was a character he created for a web series and was once a one note idea. However, the idea evolved, and the character became too complex for Doug to continue writing about. To prove this, Doug brings up the fact that in the 3 years prior, the Critic was a selfish power hungry maniac and now he is a troubled man looking for a way to help his friends.

When Critic sees the front door, Doug explains that outside is reality, where nothing is written and everything could happen. The Critic nearly makes the choice to step outside and abandon his fictional life, but reconsiders and apologizes to the Plot Hole, now bearing the mind and consciousness of Ma-Ti. Ma-Ti, now at peace with the Critic, leaves and the hole becomes out of control. The Critic finds out from the Angry Video Game Nerd that in order to survive, the universe must be consumed by the Hole, which the Critic convinces everyone to enlarge. After they make it safe, the Critic sacrifices himself in order to keep the Hole in check and joins with it, as Doug watches him disappear from existence.

The Review Must Go On

While writing for another episode for Demo Reel Doug Walker has trouble with writing a scene for his new character Donnie. After he (Doug) watches The Odd Life of Timothy Green, he starts acting like the Critic again & soon after sees the Critic again. After talking to his friends about the idea of bringing the Critic back he begins to see the Critic again this time with the Critic telling him that it is time to bring the Nostalgia Critic back to the net but Doug repeatably refuses, saying that the Critic has had it's run & that he no longer enjoys it.

However, the more Doug thinks on it the more he begins to realize how much he misses being the Nostalgia Critic & at the end decides to bring the Critic back with a few new rules. The first being that we will only put out videos every two weeks so he can keep his reviews fresh. The second is that he will no longer have the time requirements for the movie to be considered "nostalgic" is lifted (meaning that newer movies may also be reviewed, albeit films that were released on any home video format and not ones still in theaters so that he can get the footage he needs).

Finally Doug tells the Critic that the first review must be The Odd Life of Timothy Green, as it is the film that brought the Critic back & he feels like he owes it one.

After this the Critic tells Doug that there is only one thing left to do & Doug goes back to his computer to finish writing the last few pages of Demo Reel.

In the last few pages Donnie encounters the Plot Hole from To Boldly Flee which tells Donnie that he is in fact the reincarnation of the Nostalgia Critic but that with the lessons his learned as Donnie he can go on reviewing the way he did before but this time with a better understanding of what he is doing. Donnie, however, is unsure as that means leaving his friends behind & his has gotten to know them but they all a sure him that they will be fine & encourage him to return as the Nostalgia Critic, which he does at the end, much to the Nostalgia Chick's annoyance when she sees him online again.

Favorite Movies

  • Brazil
  • Amadeus
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Batman (1989)
  • Eyes Wide Shut
  • Lost in Translation
  • Good Night and Good Luck
  • The Dark Knight
  • Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
  • Citizen Kane
  • Fearless
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Spirited Away
  • Sideways
  • The Secret of Nimh
  • Fantasia
  • Ed Wood
  • Patton
  • Hamlet (1996)
  • Titus
  • Mary Poppins
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Inside Out
  • Where the Wild Things Are

Links





Advertisement