Nostalgia Critic is an American comedy web series created, directed by, and starring comedian Doug Walker. The series began on YouTube on July 3, 2007. Later, it moved to Walker's personal website, That Guy with the Glasses, and then to an online company called Channel Awesome. The show follows Walker as the main character, a film critic who reviews movies and TV shows. He often focuses on shows and films that are not well-received, using exaggerated and humorous reactions. His reviews sometimes include funny sketches, rants, or storylines that are part of the show.
In 2012, Walker took a break from the series to work on other projects. During this time, he removed the character from a Channel Awesome movie called To Boldly Flee. On January 22, 2013, Walker announced the show's return in a video titled The Review Must Go On. The series came back with a sixth season that focused more on stories and sketches, starting on February 5, 2013, with a review of The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Most episodes still follow the original format.
Main cast
Doug Walker, also known as The Nostalgia Critic, is a film critic who appears in all reviews. He is loud, angry, and quick to get upset. He dislikes bad movies and often talks directly to the audience while giving his opinions. He sometimes makes jokes about the films he reviews but also provides serious criticism. He plays many characters, including his past and future selves, a homeless man named Chester A. Bum, a polite but crazy version of evil named Devil Boner, and parodies of famous people like Optimus Prime, General Zod, and Michael Bay.
Rob Walker is Doug’s older brother. He often acts as a calm person who reacts to others’ funny behavior. He has played characters like Santa Christ (a mix of Santa Claus and Jesus) and Chart Guy. He also appears in other sketches as a minor character.
Malcolm Ray is a friend of Doug who helps him with his videos. He often gets teased or treated badly by the Critic, along with Tamara. He plays many characters, including the Devil, a version of Willy Wonka named Black Willy Wonka, and parodies of people like Pinhead and Barack Obama.
Rachel Tietz is a friend of Doug and Malcolm. She plays many characters, including Evilina (the daughter of Satan and Kim Kardashian) and Rita Repulsa. She left the show after season seven but returned for some episodes later.
Tamara Chambers joined the show after Rachel left. She often gets teased or treated badly by the Critic, along with Malcolm. She plays characters like Hyper Fangirl (the girlfriend and later wife of Devil Boner) and Malice, a violent version of Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Tamara left the show in 2024 to work on other projects but may return for future episodes.
Jim Jarosz is a friend of Doug who helps build props and sets for the show. He plays characters like a condescending therapist from Catwoman and Harvey Levin, a flamboyant person from TMZ.
Walter Banasiak hosts other shows on Channel Awesome, including Awesome Comics & Coffee and Fanscription. He also created Top 5, a show where he lists his favorite or least favorite things. He plays characters like Father Venkman, a man obsessed with Ghostbusters, and a parody of Zack Snyder.
Heather Reusz helps manage the Twitch channel where the cast plays games and talks to fans. She often fills in for Tamara and is now the main female actor in the Nostalgia Critic skits.
Aiyanna Wade was a guest on Awesome Comics and co-hosted The Orbit Report and Top 5 Best/Worst with Heather and Walter.
Orlando Belisle Jr. is a friend of Doug who plays characters like Peter Souless (a parody of greedy studio executives), Roger (an angel who helps Doug in a Christmas special), and The Angst (a parody of 1990s and 2000s heroes). He also played Malachite, the villain in a special called Suburban Knights.
Barney Walker is Doug and Rob’s father. He helps behind the scenes and sometimes appears as himself. Earlier episodes showed him being mean to the Critic.
Chaplin and Buster are Doug’s two cats. They appear in skits as talking versions of themselves and often say, “I’m Chaplin/Buster!” They are mentored by Lloyd, the talking cat from The Cinema Snob.
All cast members play characters based on themselves and other roles during sketches. The show has also featured guest stars like Dante Basco, Don Bluth, Kyle Hebert, JonTron, Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulsen, James Rolfe, Tom Ruegger, Michael Salvatori, Greg Sestero, Sherri Stoner, Chris Stuckmann, Cree Summer, Rob Scallon, Corey Taylor, and Mara Wilson. These guests appear as themselves, co-review films, act in sketches, or make cameo appearances.
History
The series began on YouTube on July 3, 2007, with a review of Transformers. However, many episodes were removed from the site due to complaints about copyright issues. In 2009, an agreement was made between the company and Blip.tv, which hosted the series and was part of Channel Awesome. This allowed the videos to return to YouTube, but Blip.tv remained the main platform for the series (along with the Channel Awesome website) until Blip.tv closed in 2015.
A spin-off called The Nostalgia Chick was introduced in a video titled The Search for the Nostalgia Chick on August 10, 2008. The idea was to have a female host review films and shows aimed at women that were popular in the past. Though it was presented as a contest, it was decided beforehand that three candidates would join the site: Lindsay Ellis (who reviewed Pocahontas), Krissy Diggs (who reviewed Sailor Moon), and Kaylyn Saucedo (who reviewed The Last Unicorn). Ellis, who used the name "The Dudette" at the time, became the Nostalgia Chick, as announced in a video titled Nostalgia Chick Winner! on September 15, 2008. Diggs and Saucedo later joined another series called That Guy with the Glasses, using the names "That Chick with the Goggles" and "Marzgurl," respectively.
On September 14, 2012, Walker announced that the Nostalgia Critic would retire, though the Critic planned to make appearances on special occasions. Walker and his brother, Rob Walker, who co-created and co-wrote the series, felt the series had reached its limits. They also worried that laws like the Stop Online Piracy Act (which was not passed) could harm Channel Awesome. The Critic was officially retired at the end of the site’s 2012 anniversary movie, To Boldly Flee, which was meant to be the final episode of the Nostalgia Critic series.
After retiring the Nostalgia Critic, the Walker brothers focused on a new web series called Demo Reel. The show followed a struggling film production company run by a filmmaker named Donnie DuPre (played by Doug Walker) and a team of people with different roles. The group aimed to create intentionally bad copies of famous movies to gain attention from Hollywood. However, Demo Reel was not successful. Only one season with six episodes was planned, but only five episodes were released.
On January 22, 2013, Walker released a short film titled The Review Must Go On, announcing the return of the Nostalgia Critic and the end of Demo Reel. Malcolm Ray, Rachel Teitz, and Jim Jarosz joined the Walker brothers in the revival. Later, Teitz was replaced by Tamara Chambers, who had originally auditioned for Demo Reel. Teitz continued to appear occasionally in later episodes. Chambers left the show in 2024 to pursue other acting projects, and Heather Ruesz, a cast member from Channel Awesome, joined the Nostalgia Critic series. Both Teitz and Chambers made occasional guest appearances in the series after their departures.
Episodes
On April 15, 2026, Nostalgia Critic has 797 episodes and is in its 19th season.
Episode format
The series follows the Nostalgia Critic, a film reviewer who is easily angered and often reviews movies from his childhood and teenage years. GigaOM calls the show "very energetic and full of pop culture references," while Reuters notes that the Critic has "unique and unusual characters." In each episode, the Critic summarizes key parts of the story, guiding viewers through the film while making jokes about important or strange scenes. The reviews include repeated jokes, funny voiceovers that change the original dialogue, comedic sketches, and pop culture references, such as joking about famous actors who appeared in less-known roles before becoming well-known. The show also includes special episodes, like "Top 11" countdowns of the Critic’s favorite or least favorite films, villains, or moments in television shows, and "Old vs. New," which compares a new version of a popular movie or series to the original.
Since the show returned in 2013, Walker sometimes makes videos that discuss important film topics. These videos still include the Critic’s personality but are less humorous and do not include jokes or other people acting in them. Starting with the movie Jurassic World on June 23, 2015, the series sometimes includes "clipless reviews" of movies still in theaters to avoid copyright issues. These reviews use scenes from the movies that are acted out by Walker, his friends and family, other contributors, and people connected to Walker instead of using actual movie clips.
Walker explains his philosophy this way: "[We need a critic of nostalgia] because everyone already does it. When we watch movies and shows from our past, they are rarely as good as we remember them, and it is often funny to compare what we liked before to what we like now. That is what the Nostalgia Critic is about—looking back at how much nostalgia made us see things in a better light and how strange the real situation is."