Dream Tropes Wiki/The Annotated Series Tropes

Template:Trope
For everything you need to know see here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/TheAnnotatedSeries

## Material they've annotated, in chronological order:

### On TheAnnotatXperiment's channel

#### Main Series

* *Sesame Street* (a lot of 90's and early 2000's episodes)
* *Higurashi: When They Cry\*
* Reverend Billy videos
* *Caillou*
* *The Transformers*

#### Intermission Material

* *Doctor Detroit*
* *Deep Impact* (deleted due to Viacom, later reuploaded by PenguineCuisine to VidSpace)
* *Dora the Explorer* (A selected collection due to Viacom)
* *Welcome to the Discworld*
* *Soul Music*
* A Lets Play of *Bill Nye the Science Guy: Stop the Rock!* made by Stephanie Ryder's cousin
* *Wyrd Sisters*
* *Terry Pratchett's Hogfather*
* *Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic*
* The promotional material for "Music For Ice Cream Trucks" by Michael Hearst
* *Elmo Saves Christmas*
* *What Would Jesus Buy?*

### On TheAnnotationStation channel

#### Main Series

* *Father Ted*
* *Top Gear* (the Jeremy/Richard/James era)
* *Monster by Mistake*
* *Braceface*
* *lonelygirl15*
* *Redwall*
* *Mattimeo: A Tale of Redwall*
* *The Animals of Farthing Wood*
* *Fireman Sam* (the 1980's series)
* *Neo-Shifters*
* *Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat* (A selected collection due to lack of several episodes)
* *Hoze Houndz*

#### Intermission Material

* CineGroupe tryout:
	+ *Ovide Video* (two episodes)
	+ *Sharky & George* (two episodes)
	+ *Tripping the Rift* (two episodes)
	+ *Wunschpunsch* (two episodes)
	+ *Mega Babies* (one episode)
	+ *The Tofus* (one episode)
	+ *What's with Andy?* (one episode)
* *Spider Riders* (two episodes)
* *A Redwall Thanksgiving: The Great Feast*
* *A Redwall Christmas: A Winter's Tale*
* *Fireman Sam In Action*

### On Annoverse's channel

#### Main Series

* *Martin the Warrior: A Tale of Redwall*
* *Akazukin Chacha* (for Gotaku's Fandom Takeback)
* *Wedding Peach* (for Gotaku's Fandom Takeback)
* *Top Gear* (picking up where TheAnnotatXperiment left off)
* *Braceface* (picking up where TheAnnotatXperiment left off)
* *Thunderbirds*
* *Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons*
* *Starcom: The U.S. Space Force*
* *LazyTown* (A selected collection of episodes)
* Reverend Billy videos (picking up where TheAnnotatXperiment left off in 2014)
* *MOAB T&F*

#### Intermission Material

* *Bionicle VI: Island of Doom*
* *Father Ted* (re-annotated version of "Rock-A-Hula Ted")
* *Bigfoot vs. Snake Bite Volume 2: The Snake Bites Back*
* *Elmo Saves Christmas* (re-annotated version; with special guest annotator PenguineCuisine)
* *Kitchen Nightmares* (Amy's Baking Company, Fleming, Burger Kitchen, Pantaleone's, and Mama Maria's)
* Template:W ice cream and cereal commercials
* DrewPicklesIsSwell1957's rant videos
* *Shed 17*

## Examples

### A-H

* **Apocalypse How**: A couple of events in the shows have been discussed as such.
	+ In *Elmo Saves Christmas*, the possibility of snow still falling thanks to Elmo's wish was labeled a global catastrophe that would destroy the biosphere, likely a Class 2 to 3a. Midway through the discussion, an annotator shuts everyone up by reciting the MST3K Mantra (you know, the one that goes "It's just a show; I should really just relax."), and nobody ever speaks of this again.
	+ The whole plot of *Deep Impact* is interpreted as a class 5 planetary extinction throughout.
* **Author Appeal:**
	+ The *Redwall* franchise is revered by the annotators (especially by Fran-Knee), hence why there's very little Take Thats to the series.
* **Breaking the Reviewer's Wall**:
	+ A annotation sign reading "Warning: Cliff Ahead" inserted into the shot of Father Larry's car going off a cliff as a result of distraction from his mobile phone in one *Father Ted* riff.
* **A Good Name for a Rock Band**:
	+ The annotators, in the *Deep Impact* riff, state that "Killer Comet" would be a good name for a pirate metal band that performs songs about Space Pirates.
	+ When riffing a let's play of the obscure computer game *Bill Nye the Science Guy: Stop the Rock!*, the annotators agree that "Impending Dumé" (the name of the Apocalypse-causing meteor in the game) sounds like a good name for a grindcore band.
	+ The riff of *The Transformers* episode "A Prime Problem" has one annotator quip that Laserbeak sounds like a good name for a rock band.
	+ In the first of the two *Spider Riders* riff, the annotators agree that "Spiderrider" sounds like a good name for a *Warrior Cats* character.

### I-Z

* **Just Eat Gilligan**:
	+ It never occurring to NASA that they could build a gigantic laser to vaporize the comet to dust is a common complaint in the riff of *Deep Impact*.
* **Ms. Fanservice**:
	+ In the *Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat* annotations, much of the annotators like to depict Mama Miao and Nai-Nai as this, especially with Mama's "hindquart-purrs".
* **Nightmare Retardant**:
	+ Screamers Annotated, which is old screamer flash animations and videos from way back when in the internet's day with commentary from the annotators.
	+ Shed 17 Annotated turns a Nightmare Fuel *Thomas & Friends* spoof into a comedic funfest.
	+ Annotated Impact is what happens when you take *Deep Impact*, a (rather awful) drama about The End of the World As We Know It, and give it to the annotators.
* **Not Bad**:
	+ The annotators seem to like *Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat*.
	+ Many of the annotators really like *Father Ted* and it's humor.
	+ The annotators opinion of *Braceface* turned from So Bad It's Horrible to So Okay It's Average as the riffs for it went on. Though they still have a Drinking Game for whenever Sharon refers to non-vegetarians as "meat eaters"
	+ The annotators "shockingly" admit to liking the infamous *Mega Babies*.
* **Opt Out**:
	+ The riff of the Supermarionation commercials has one moment in a Lyons-Maid Zoom commercial featuring the *Thunderbirds* cast "changed" by the annotators to be this:

**John Tracy**: Emergency! We're under attack!
**Jeff Tracy**: Fire New Zoom!
**Annotators**: "Ask Starcom, I'm f\*\*\*ing busy here!"/"Wait, we don't have Zoom right now, just SpongeBob bars. We're screwed!"/"Let them kill us, I don't give a damn!"
* **Politically Incorrect Hero**: In the annotators' riffs of some *Arthur* episodes, Baby Kate and Pal and their friends are depicted as canine supremacists performing hate crimes against cats.
* **Relax-o-Vision**:
	+ Happens a couple times during the *Higurashi: When They Cry* riff by switching from it to one of the typical Annotated Series targets: one time it's changed to *The Irate Gamer* and another time it's changed to *Sonic Underground*.
* **Sequel Hook**:
	+ The end of *Doctor Detroit* advertises the never-made sequel *Doctor Detroit 2: The Wrath of Mom*. Annotations list a bunch of phony, crossed-out release dates, with the last one not crossed out:

~~"August 1984"~~
~~"June 1986"~~
~~"Veterans Day 1988"~~
~~"Christmas 1992"~~
~~"November 2007"~~
"We'll See..."
* **Spoof Aesop**:
	+ A Running Gag in the *Kitchen Nightmares* riffs is that the aesop is "Millennials/hipsters don't know how to eat food."
	+ The one episode of *Mega Babies* they riffed has the aesop of "TheMysteriousMrEnter is a lying f\*\*\*.... let's hope DrewPicklesIsSwell1957 didn't watch this."
	+ The moral of *Elmo Saves Christmas* is apparently "Never wish for Christmas to last beyond one day in December, or else every copy of every Christmas album ever will be damaged to h\*ll and back from being played over and over again."
	+ The moral of *Higurashi: When They Cry*, to the annotators, is "Any anime that isn't shojo is f\*\*\*ed up."
* **Take That**:
	+ The re-annotated version of the *Father Ted* episode "Rock-A-Hula Ted" dubs over "Big Men in Frocks" with the infamous DiC surf music. One annotator states "To the person on TVTropes who thought the part of our riff of *Our Friend, Martin* where Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at Washington was dubbed over with Mega Move was "a particularly awesome moment" and fit the scene well, you're probably a closeted Klansman."
* **Wham Episode**:
	+ *Higurashi: When They Cry*. The Annotators going in thought they were gonna mock it's fandom and the series successfully... but open seeing the R-Rated Opening of Keichi beating Rena and Mion into a pulp with a baseball bat, they seem mortally disturbed. Throughout the series, they don't even feel like they can even do a scathing joke because of the show's content. The playlist description even calls it "The anime we were too disturbed by to mock."

**Annotations when Satoko is murdered**: "Jeez, and I thought we had a dark sense of humor."/"And that children, is why Anime is Satan existed... which was bad in a way."/"My god..."
* + *lonelygirl15*. Like with *Higurashi*, even the annotators who say the most scathing Take Thats were too disturbed upon Episode 65's riff.
* **What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?**:
	+ The annotators have a field day with the Lyons-Maid Supermarionation commercials having British popsic- err, ice lollies being used to save the world.
* **What Do You Mean, It Wasn't Made on Drugs?**:
	+ The annotators treat *Monster by Mistake* like this.
	+ Similarly, they assume Terry Prachett was blitzed on drugs when he came up with most of the ideas for *Discworld* whilst riffing the Cosgrove Hall *Discworld* animations.

## Trivia

* **Approval of God** / **Actually Pretty Funny**: Mark Mayerson, the creator of *Monster by Mistake*, found the riff of the aforementioned series to be hilarious.
	+ Terry Prachett found the riffs of the TV adaptations of *Discworld* funny.
	+ The *MOAB T&F* riffs have been praised by missoliverandblossom.
	+ Mimi Leder, the director of *Deep Impact*, stated that she enjoyed the riff of her film.
* **Meaningful Release Date**:
	+ *Annotated Impact*, the riff of *Deep Impact*, was the "Mayan Doomsday Special" due to being released on December 21st, 2012: the day that the Mayans claimed that the end of the world would fall on.
* **Screwed by the Lawyers**:
	+ The *Reverend Billy Annotated* videos and *What Would Jesus Buy? Anything But This Movie!* were taken off TheAnnotatXperiment after the Church of Stop Shopping's theatrical director Savitri D. e-mailed Bry a cease and desist order in mid-March 2014.
	+ The riffs of Michael Hearst's "Songs For Ice Cream Trucks" album and it's promotional material were taken off TheAnnotatXperiment after Hearst sent a cease-and-desist email to Bry in 2013.

## YMMV

### A-H

* **Acceptable Targets**: Aka "the s\*\*\* list" of things the Annotators openly mock in the series:
	+ Anti-consumerist performance artist Bill "Reverend Billy" Talen (who was called "The Loony Preacher Who Shall Not be Named" for a bit because... well... read the next line). After his partner threatened the annotators with a cease-and-desist order via email, the attacks on his group from the annotators ramped up a bit. Some annotators have jokingly placed bets on if the Church of Stop Stopping will get exposed as a cult or not.
	+ The #MeToo movement began to go up on the list after the fallout in the movement from Vic Mignogna's sexual harassment scandal, while Vic himself got mocked as well.
	+ YouTube rant video maker DrewPicklesIsSwell1957, because his statements surprisingly *did not* go over with the annotators.
* **Alternative Character Interpretation**:
	+ *Arthur*:
		- Bitzi Baxter is depicted as having Squick-y feelings towards her son Buster.
		- When it comes time for the Annotators to riff their A Day in the Limelight episodes, Pal and Baby Kate and their friends are depicted as a canine supremacist gang that's highly racist towards cats.
	+ *Discworld*:
		- Every single character is blitzed on drugs, and everything in the franchise happened in their crack fantasies.
	+ *Father Ted*:
		- Father Dougal is actually an American who is a undercover spy for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, who sent him to Ireland to ruin the Catholic Church's reputation there (explaining why how he became a priest is unknown, his Cloudcuckoolander personality, his disbelief in any god from Catholicism, and how the funeral he once conducted ended in the hearse on fire in the grave).
		- Father Jack was in the French Foreign Legion (thus explaining his fighting skills, his ability to identify wines by sound, and why he feels compelled to stand whenever the Marseillaise plays and make everyone else stand for it). Some add onto this interpretation by saying that he fought in the Pacific to explain his description of the rabbits in "The Plague" as "hairy Japanese b\*\*\*\*\*ds!"
	+ *Sesame Street*:
		- A variant regarding Sesame Street's location: Sesame Street is a Pocket Dimension that's close to our plane of reality and the reason people always ask "How to get to Sesame Street?" is because most New Yorkers don't know it exists as it's like Platform 9¾ in that it's only accessible through a certain back alley in Spanish Harlem. There's also the theory that there's an alphabet factory nearby, explaining the building with the alphabet painted on its exterior behind the garage in the arbor we saw in the pre-1998 episodes.
		- Mr. Hooper faked his death to avoid having to continue dealing with the stress of repairing all those 1970's electronics and appliances.
		- Traction Jackson is Template:W's biracial cousin. In addition, Grandpa Mudcat is actually his legal guardian and not his grandfather.
	+ *Dora the Explorer*:
		- Dora is a sentient computer game protagonist driven mad by being left on for years in a house that's been abandoned since at least the early 2000's. In addition, the Seasons 1-2 intro depict a kid who was filming an adventure for a YouTube video and ending up breaking into the house and playing the Dora game.

## Heartwarming

Amidst the dark comedy, the annotators really show their seriousness on occasions.

* The project has included several tributes to late actors:
	+ The first *Father Ted* riff was dedicated to Father Jack's actor Frank Kelly.
	+ The riff of the *Caillou* episode "Caillou The Chef" was dedicated to the titular character's second voice actress Jaclyn Linetsky.

"For Jaclyn, even though you voiced such a infamous character, you clearly didn't deserve to die so soon."
* + The first *Redwall* riff was dedicated to the series' original author Brian Jacques and Constance's original voice actress Janet Wright.
	+ The riff of *A Redwall Thanksgiving: The Great Feast* was dedicated to Raymond Molina, one of the Other Darrins, who died in 2007 from leukemia.
	+ The first *Pelswick* riff starts with a screen reading "This riff is in honor of John Callahan. He showed that people with disabilities have the right to make fun of themselves too."
	+ The riff of *Bigfoot vs. Snake Bite Volume 2: The Snake Bites Back* was dedicated to Tom Herzog, the driver of the Midnight Rider monster truck, of whom was a friend of ChrisChantltNhacSirch.

## Characters

### The Annotators

#### Second Band

The second group of annotators that joined the channel during theAnnotatXperiment era. Bry, Hamsteere and MrGuyPwnsYou have all done their part but left, with MrGuy disappearing during Donkey Kong Country Season 1, Hamsteere leaving in June 2018, and Bry leaving at the tail end of 2018/start of 2019. (2011 - 2013).

##### Andi284393221

Annotator since- *What Would Jesus Buy?*

"I think Bry needs to be left alone with Mama Miao"

Annotation Color: Grey with blue text, mainly in the middle of the screen

The *LazyTown*-obsessed Canuck from Nova Scotia who needs to make at least one joke related to it per video. She also reacts negatively to any "boys rule, girls drool" moment.

* **Author Appeal**: She thought Robbie Rotten was number one (hey) before it was cool.
* **Canada, Eh?**: From Nova Scotia and proud of it.
* **Beware the Nice Ones**: She's nice half the time and doesn't usually give out harsh Take Thats, but don't you dare mock her friend Nixwerld (a DeviantArt user who's run into trouble with some trolls in the past).
	+ She's also protective of fellow Canadian DeviantArt user Knadire

"I don't care if she's a Creepypasta fan, don't f\*\*\* with her!"
* **LGBT**: Came out as transgender in 2018, and has legally changed her name from Xavier Mayers to Xochitl Mayers.

##### ChrisChantltNhacSirch

Annotator since- *Higurashi: When They Cry* (Kai arc)

Annotation Color: Orange with yellow text

His name came from a Christorian phase he had in his early days of being an annotator (and before it too) and hates having to remind people that he used to love ruining Chris-Chan's life.

* **Author Appeal**: Devo's music.
* **The Bus Came Back**: Got burnt out during *Kirby: Right Back at Ya!* in 2016 but came back for *Akazukin Chacha* in 2019.

##### Stephanie Ryder

Annotator since- *What Would Jesus Buy?*

"We should just send Reverend Billy to Craggy Island to replace Ted, he's even worse than he is!"

Annotation Color: First Pink, now Neon Blue

She's one of the few chicks on the annotator team.

* **Ascended Fangirl**: Religiously watched the beeupyou videos and TheAnnotatXperiment's early videos when she was in high school and joined TheAnnotatXperiment as one of the first members of the Second Band.
* **The Bus Came Back**: She left during 2016 after the last series of *Father Ted* (which is where her entry quote comes from) due to her deployment in the U.S. Peace Corps impacting her ability to regularly annotate, but she returned full-time in 2018 starting with *Martin the Warrior: A Tale of Redwall*.
* **Hollywood New England**: She's from Springfield, Massachusetts.

##### Fran-Knee

Annotator since- *Elmo Saves Christmas*

"Have you accepted Martin the Warrior as your lord and savior?"

Annotation Color: White

* **Author Appeal**: "OMG WE'RE DOING REDWALL! YES! YES!"
* **Canada, Eh?**: From Quebec.
* **He Also Did**: He also does French dubbing for the Quebec market under his real name, François Castex, as of 2017. He also became an Ascended Fanboy when he was chosen to voice Matthias when the *Redwall* animated series was given a Quebecois dub in 2019.
* **Learnt English from Watching Television**: He learnt English by watching Teletoon and YTV. He holds *Redwall* close to his heart as a result of this.

##### YokoCat21

Annotator since- *Deep Impact*

Annotation Color: Yellow

One of the few furries on the annotator team. Jokingly he was thought as an example of Last Episode, New Character at first since he debuted in *Annotated Impact*, the riff of *Deep Impact* that was the "Mayan Doomsday Special".

* **Author Appeal**: Old PBS Kids cartoons (his screen name was coined from Yoko from *Timothy Goes to School*, one of the Bookworm Bunch series).
* **Bi the Way**: Came out as bisexual and genderfluid in 2017 (as if the reveal of his Template:W fursuit in his slideshow at the end of the *Marie* riff the year prior wasn't a big enough clue)
* **He Also Did**: He's a fursuiter and is active on FurAffinity under his Annotated Series screen-name.
* **Self-Deprecation**: Mocks himself for being a furry.

##### J. Leung

Annotator since- *Elmo Saves Christmas*

Annotation Color: Fire Engine Red

A native of Hong Kong (he currently resides in Boston since 2015 though due to his voice acting jobs, see below), he is known for his love of Shout Outs and his tendency to point out flaws in characters. He also likes to point out the fact he debuted in the 2011 Christmas in July Special, *Elmo Saves Christmas Annotated*.

* **Author Appeal**: Anime and manga, obscure Canadian cartoons, the music of Electric Light Orchestra, and ice cream trucks.
* **Nice Guy**: Normally doesn't do Take Thats. Unless you're named Michael Hearst.
* **He Also Did** / **Ascended Fanboy**: Since 2015, he's a voice actor for Gotaku at Boston City Sound Studios.
* **Verbal Tic**: "Whua?"

#### Third Band

Annotators who stood out after Super Show burned most of the TAX-era annotators out, most of them joined around the second channel hop (2014 - 2017).

##### VanillaBean1957

Annotator since- *Father Ted*

Annotation Color: Red

* **Author Appeal**: The *Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat* episodes he's riffed reveal that he loves the series, especially Lik-Lik.
* **The Last of These Is Not Like the Others**: Openly admits to liking the Nostalgia Critic compared to many other annotators who mock him and the other Channel Awesome reviewers.
* **LGBT**: Came out as gay in 2018. This became a I Knew It! moment for other annotators.

##### MrPlumber21

Annotator since- *Father Ted*

Annotation Color: Yellow

An Annotator who also is active on DeviantArt.

* **Berserk Button**: Pastiches of anime, especially when made in Western Animation shows, *and* especially when the Magical Girl genre is spoofed.

"DO NOT SPOOF MY WAIFU ICHIGO, SHE IS BEST NEKO - NYA!"
* **Funny Foreigner**: Is from Paraguay but currently resides in Miami, Florida.

#### Fourth Band

Annotators that have joined the Annotation Station after the rebirth in June 2018. (2018 - Present).

##### IncrediJay

Annotator since- *Martin the Warrior: A Tale of Redwall*

Annotation Color: White

Another furry annotator.

* **Author Appeal**: The *Warrior Cats* series.
* **Vitriolic Best Buds**: With YokoCat21.

#### Fired Annotators

Former annotators who have left or have been removed from the group under less than civil terms.

##### ColbysThisOldHouse

Annotator from- *The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3* until *Fireman Sam In Action*

Annotation Color: Dark Grey

Real name Morgan Huwyler, he was known for his love of puns and enjoyed making Shout-Out-based jokes.

* **Canada, Eh?**: A Ottawa native (but he was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec according to news reports of his arrest)
* **He Also Did**: Used to be the drummer of the Ottawa music collective The Patrollers.
* **Role-Ending Misdemeanor**: Was fired from The Annotated Series after he was arrested in October 2016 for possessing child pornography. However, the annotators elected not to make him an Acceptable Target as a result because J. Leung stated that "it would make the whole thing worse."

#### Retired Annotators

Former annotators who have left the group voluntarily under amicable or positive terms.

##### CockingSpeed

Annotator from- *What Would Jesus Buy?* until the 2015 April Fools video

Annotation Color: Cream

* **Put on a Bus**: Quit after the 2015 April Fools video because he thought the treatment GoseiGreen was getting was akin to cyberbullying, saying "If you want to tell her how to behave, do so. But if you want to bully her and poke fun of her for it, don't." He has since switched his YouTube channel's focus to that of anime.

##### WeddingPeach15

Annotator from- *The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3* until *Wedding Peach*

Annotation Color: Dark Pink

Real name Samantha Brandt, one of the veterans and The Chick back in the beeupyou days.

* **Author Appeal**: Anime.
* **He Also Did**: She has raced in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series since 2014, and her car used to have the YouTube URL for TheAnnotationStation.
* **Put on a Bus**: Retired from annotating in 2018 after *Wedding Peach* (what her channel is named for) to focus on her career in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

##### BingoBongo

Annotator from- *Elmo Saves Christmas* until *Father Ted*

Annotation Color: True Blue

Real name Javier Rodriguez Oller, and the Funny Foreigner during the early days of TheAnnotatXperiment.

* **Author Existence Failure**: Bingo committed suicide in May 2016 at the age of 19. After being affected by the crisis in Venezuela where he was born and lived, he jumped off a office building in Barquisimeto and suffered multiple fractures and internal bleeding. A employee in the building took him to a hospital, but it was too late. His family and many annotators mourned his death, and his father set up a GoFundMe page for his funeral.
* **Funny Foreigner**: Venezuelan.
* **Learnt English from Watching Television**: He learnt English off Denver ABC affiliate KUSA, which was available on a local cable system in his native Venezuela by way of Primetime 24's Denver 5 package.