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"Now technically speaking, this is all opinion-based. But I have an online show which automatically means that my opinion is better than yours. Na-na-na-na-na."
Today, in the era of Internet, basically everyone can write and publish a review. So what do you do if you want to distinguish yourself? Why, make a Video Review Show, of course.
This concept is similar to Review Blog in that the author only reviews works that fall into one media type. There are, however, several main differences: That these reviews are made in video format, that they mainly focus on bashing the worst works ever, and that the "Show" part is integral to the idea.
The reviewers rarely get in front of the camera as themselves, instead they act as the show's main character (though some amount of Alter Ego Acting is usually evident). When James Rolfe picks up the controller and gets ready to break his record in most swears in one minute, he's not James Rolfe, he's The Angry Video Game Nerd. When Doug Walker sits behind his desk, suicide gun at standby, he's not Doug Walker, he's The Nostalgia Critic. Because of this, it is common for these people to assume multiple personas for multiple different shows. But the show goes beyond that. They often have their own theme songs, and aside from simple reviewing, the hosts also act out sketches of their own, always related to the work in question, and generally act in a manner usual reviewers don't.
An important aspect of this trope is the Review-to-Show Ratio, which can be projected onto a Sliding Scale of Review versus Show. It expresses how much time any given show spends actually talking about the product being reviewed. Shows on the Review end of the scale (e.g. Confused Matthew) tend to be little more than a written review read aloud. On the other hand, shows on the Show end ( Awesome Video Games) only use the reviewed item as a framing device to tell a story. However, most shows lie in the scale's center, maybe with a Mid-Review Sketch Show, usually a little off to the Review side.
Examples:
- The Agony Booth joined the fray with Mr. Mendo's Hack Attack
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- The Angry Video Game Nerd
- Animerica
- Books Vs Movies
- The Angry Video Game Fag: Largely a parody of video game reviewers in general.
- Cheap Arse Film Review reviews films purchased for £1 or less.
- Christian Fauteux. But then again, his name isn't important.
- "The Cine-Masochist": Positive reviews of exploitation movies, trash cinema and other obscure and underground cult films
- Classic Game Room, one of the few internet reviewers that isn't a Caustic Critic, and quite a bit older than most.
- Comix From The Underground: in which the Comix Scrutinizer reviews Underground Comics.
- Confused Matthew
- The Desu Des Brigade: Various anime and manga reviews.
- The Fanfiction Critic
- Frequenczy is a reviewer on YouTube that generally gives good reviews.
- Friendly Neighborhood Librarian, a video review show based around literature critique.
- The Game Fucking Fuck Fuck Fucker Fucking Fuck Fucker: A parody of the average foul-mouthed videogame reviewer.
- The Gaming Pixie
- Gay Comic Geek takes a look at current comics, both mainstream and independent, adding his own unique, gay perspective into the mix.
- Geekvision showcases several review shows.
- Generic Reviews
- Grumpy RPG Reviews: A series of reviews focusing on table-top role playing gamer material, as hosted by a cranky fictional character who knows he is a cranky fictional character.
- The Happy Video Game Nerd
- The Hardcore Kid, who isn't actually a kid. Does reviews on shows aimed at younger audiences, but has deviated to doing Robot Wars and A Nightmare On Elm Street sometimes.
- Infamous Animation
- "Infamous Sphere": Has three shows - Infamous Queer, which focusses on LGBT movies in general, Period Drama Drama, which is about period dramas, and Gender Hipster Reviews, in which a genderless/androgynous alter-ego reviews media featuring gender transgression
- The Irate Gamer
- Jon Tron: Jon and his Robot Buddy (and pet parrot) Jacques talk about video games, play candid camera pranks, and generally goof off and act weird.
- Joueur du Grenier
- Lazy Game Reviews concentrates on Amiga, ZX Spectrum and PC games (both old and new). Reviews are actually very extensive and not lazy at all.
- Lenny And Shinkos Disney See
- LittleKuriboh couldn't get hold of Yu-Gi-Oh! Season Zero, so started reviewing the manga, explicitly ripping off The Nostalgia Critic and Linkara.
- Mockbuster Mockery makes quite insightful and exhilarating reviews of low-budget b movies that try to cash in on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme a.k.a mockbusters. Affiliated with Cheshire Cat Studios.
- Moviebob makes Escape the the Movies and The Game Overthinker.
- Mr Coat And Friends is an internet review show site similar to That Guy with the Glasses in that it hosts other shows as well. Well worth a look.
- Mr TARDIS Reviews, who mainly reviews Doctor Who, but also covers films, other television shows and video games.
- Peanut Butter Gamer - Video game reviews, Top 10 lists and more from a really weird guy.
- Play It Bogart
- The Poparena: Greg "just greg" reviews old movies, lives action shows, and cartoons in a style similar to Sf Debris. He is most known for reviewing his favorite book series, Animorphs. Though he is also doing retrospectives on Alex Mac and the Hell Raiser films and taking requests.
- Phantom Reviewer, specializes in media based on Phantom of the Opera. Is often joined by Christine/Maria, voiced by Ascended Fanboy Biscuits.
- Reaction And Review
- The RPG Fanatic is a Youtube Partner who reviews computer roleplaying games while harassed by a talking puppet sword.
- SF Debris: Specializes in informative-yet-snarky reviews of Star Trek episodes and other sci-fi shows or films. He'll usually focus on bad ones (it's funnier) but he's got no problem with looking at good ones for comparison.
- Short Fat Otaku: A guy who is not short, fat, or an otaku. He reviews japanese animation, often specializing in relatively obscure/unknown titles.
- Shitcase Cinema: A british guy who often reviews movies in a comical manner.
- Somecallme Johnny: Mainly reviews game series like Mario, Sonic, and Metroid, although some obscure games will be shown.
- Some Jerk With A Camera: Reviews Disneyland, of all things.
- Space Monkey Mafia Studios:
- The Spoony Experiment: Movies, video games and other fannish things. Focuses on FMV games a lot.
- The Strawberry Dragon Project: Unlike the other entries on this list, this show does not focus on one media in particular. Co-hosted by the Japanese, homosexual, animated Ichigo.
- Stuff You Like has the presenter summarize what she likes about a wide variety of things.
- Taco-Man Plays A Video Game is a mix between this and a Let's Play.
- That Guy with the Glasses is a site alliance for video reviewers, many with their own specific focus, and usually humor-oriented:
- That Long Haired Creepy Guy: An internet reviewer of television programs, cartoons, softcore erotica, porn parodies, and telefilms.
- The Obscure
- They Made Me Watch This reviews various movies, but gives focus to the Barbie films his daughter makes him watch.
- Third Rate Gamer: A parody of The Irate Gamer.
- Warning Readers Advisory: Derek the Bard reviews books (during Warning! Readers' Advisory), movies (Better off Read), and 80s cartoon shows (What We Watched)—paying attention to both the good and the bad—in an informative and funny manner.
- Way Or No Way Comic Book Review Show featuring the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
- Wiiviewer
- Yotobi, somewhat of an Italian counterpart to both The Nostalgia Critic and The Angry Video Game Nerd in style, although his focus are general bad movies ("nostalgic" or not) and, not as often, video games.
- Zero Punctuation, but it deviates in several points.
- From an amateur sketch site called FreshLem.com, their answer to this is Taylorem and Dill. While some of the jokes in the show fall flat, a lot of them are actually laugh out loud funny.
- Non-review example: Cracked TV is a video version of the website's trademark list articles. What makes it notable is the fact that it perfectly illustrates all the other aspects of a VRS. Its successor, Does Not Compute? Not so much.
- Some things have gone meta thanks to:
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