Benthelooney

Ben has just made a new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M_YqEjFlMU Ben's Thirty Favorite Animated TV Shows Part 1! And My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is not number 1!

While his retcons mainly bother me due to inconsistency, that video wasn't that bad. Not as good as the original era, but more in tone and closer to the Ben videos of the original run and even the first few of the comeback era.

I will admit, I do love Ben's more liberal idea of not having a favorite cartoon.

Though one thing's for sure, Phineasand Ferb won't make the list this time.

I also like the idea of not being a Top 30 list, with all of them being equal. It makes me forgive him for valuing MLP over GF in his Gravity Falls salute. When I saw that he LIKED Invader Zim, a show I love mostly because of GIR, it made me happy. I hope Adventure Time is on here.

That vid was great. Better than his Ben T. looney videos IMHO.

edited 23rd Dec '13 6:12:31 AM by I-Block

Yeah, I liked the fact that he focuses more on the reviewing and less on jokes. When he actually reviews things without joke overloading, it makes me actually want to watch what he is reviewing (or not, if he is ranting).

When he did make jokes in the original seasons, they were actually geniunely funny as heck because he didn't resort to trying. They were just funny by themselves (The photo of his cat in one of his Cartoon Network rants still has me roaring with laughter to this day).

Yeah, Family Guy took the same route during it's revival (Less focus on story and more on jokes).

Was Family Guy EVER focused on story? From what I've seen, it's basically just pop culture references and a generic dysfunctional family. There were some great jokes and plots from Family Guy, but in a nutshell, it's just random references and jokes.

In the David Zuckerman era, it was. There were a few gags and random pop culture references, but story and heart was mixed in there. It's only since the show came back (And a little bit in later Season 3), was the show focused on gags and jokes.

I guess that's true. I still think the Surfin' Bird song is AWESOME!

I can't believe Ben didn't put Adventure Time in his list of favorite cartoons.

At least he put Regular Show as an honorable mention.

edited 27th Dec '13 9:03:44 PM by I-Block

I think the last season is probably his best in a while. While it can never touch the originals, it's still decent for what they were and he's going out with a bang. Can't wait for next week's.

edited 28th Dec '13 5:53:11 AM by anonymous1224

Since there was no Sunday video last week, I don't expect one this Sunday either. I'm still excited for a Friday video next week.

Ben has made two sunday videos today! It's a look back on the videos of his, and the criticism.

Why didn't he mention the original cancellation and resurrection of his rants? These new slate of videos are consistently amazing. He should have kept the first two seasons of his revived rants like this. The criticism video was almost Ben Strikes Back worthy.

I never knew the reason he made the new channel was because of some kind of Youtube error. I thought he just decided to make the new channel to perfect his videos.

It is a little ironic how he said he doesn't listen to his haters in his recent videos but alot of things he's done in the revival era seem to be trying to win the haters over, as Ben doesn't want anyone to think badly of him (Which I understand but I think he had a better way of going about this before his rants were revived).

Still, at least when he is his normal self, he is keeping consistent with his older videos and acknowledging his past (Minus mentioning the first cancellation and resurrection).

What I think was weird was how he never uses pictures of his old avatars. If he did that, it would make a good comparison of his drawings.

Also, he didn't mention that two of the avatars he used (the more cartoony one, and the detailed one) weren't drawn by him. Ben should really try to keep working on his drawing skills if he wants to make a cartoon.

The final part of his favorite cartoons list was made. I didn't really watch it all the way through, because after a few minutes it looked like he would only have classic cartoons. I completely knew HHPAY would be at the top, even if it wasn't a TOP 30 favorite cartoons.

He also made two sunday videos. One was about family guy, the other about the characters. I can just say that what I don't find great about the family guy video is how he says he doesn't know how someone can like Family Guy, and he was literally saying he doesn't know why he thought Family Guy was funny when he was a kid. And my complaint about his Characters video is that he appearantly thought that Ben being angry and negative and screaming about every single negative thing is funny, while I think it just means Ben can't see the good in the shows he dislikes.

I don't get how he says pre-cancellation episodes are like the new ones. I noticed a difference, even as a kid. And even rewatching them back in 2010. The older episodes were more like a straight-up sitcom with the odd gags and flashbacks where the new episodes are more about funny gags and jokes.

I hate the flanderization in Ben T. Looney. While he was angry and flipped out before the revival, it was in a way that made him exaggerated but I also feel that he was fair and voiced his opinions in a less opinion-forcing manner. I can't completely bash what he's doing as his grandma died (RIP :'( ) and I know how that feels but still, I do have to say I do disagree with him on 2013 being his strongest year. 2012 showed signs of his flanderization but by 2013, nothing of the original mindset was present.

While his normal videos are better than his post-uncancelled Ben T. Looney videos after the Gravity Falls salute , they're still not as good as his classic ones.

edited 15th Feb '14 6:28:06 AM by anonymous1224

I agree with that. I know Ben has the right to his opinion, especially about something he created, but I don't see how 2013 was his best year. I think the era of his more cartoony drawing was his best year. If Ben wanted Ben T. Looney to be wacky, he should have had him stay cartoony and not overly detailed like a King of the Hill character, and make him less bitter and angry. It's funny how Ben still didn't mention the fact that two of his new avatars were not drawn by him, as if even as himself he can't tell the facts. I don't like repeating myself, but he really should try to draw his own drawings and not ask other people to, if he wants to be a good drawer.

Going off topic, according to Ben's TV Tropes page, Ben failed to research Sailor Moon good enough. I hope Ben really does read his TV Tropes page, because then he can learn something. Speaking of TV Tropes and Ben, for some reason the "Ben Strikes Back" video and the one million moms rant are considered "Crowning Moments of Awesome." I don't see how those two are so awesome. In fact, I didn't like the One Million Moms rant that much.

If anything, I think 2013 was his worst year personally. Particularly amping up everything that I don't like about his post-cancellation rants. I almost stopped watching around the time of his Pixar rant (And I usually give things a chance). I only continued to watch as, when you have watched something for so long, it's hard not to give it up. It becomes a tradition.

I agree. The worst thing that happened to his videos was turning Ben into a cartoon character. I get that he wanted to test out for what his cartoons would be like, but still.

Honestly this is all of the result of the internet hate he got back in 2011. I really hope that those commentators from back then are really happy :/. I actually feel he did less research now than he did originally.

I hope this year will be an improvement for his channel and his future career, and I hope it turns out better then 2013.

That is exactly how I feel; I do think that turning Ben T. Looney into a cartoon character was a bad choice. I think he could've made it work if he tried hard enough by making Ben T. Looney more... loony, and drawing him better. He could have made it work the other way, by just acting as himself. He seemed to make the worst choice here.

I think if Ben wanted to make the commentators stop insulting him, he should have tried to improve his videos instead of putting less effort into them. I think one of his decisions that ruined his videos (compared to the pre-cancellation era) was, as previously mentioned, having somebody else draw his avatar. Currently, all his characters EXCEPT Dr. Soumtree are drawn by deviant art members. I think Dr. Soumtree is a good drawn character. I saw Ben's drawings on deviant art, and they are at least decent compared to his newest drawn avatars (no offense to the drawer of those avatars). He should try drawing more of his avatars himself.

I think what's more upsetting than the jokes focus is his retcons of opinions including the formula and the whole purpose of the rants. One of the most enjoyable and key worthy things about pre-cancellation was the Nostalgia Filter. Many of his fans think that's a good thing that he's no longer "blinded with nostalgia" but back then, he actually wasn't. He was just fairly nostalgic and missed parts of his childhood and that to me, was relatable. Unfortunately the nostalgia haters got on his case so much to the point of forcing to change his formula. He even said he doesn't like All That as a whole where before he said he liked pre-revival All That.

I think, after becoming a fan of Gravity Falls, he had a mindset that new things are better than the old which is the mindset his commentators had for the most part. ( I like the better modern batch of cartoons as much as the next person, but I'm not going to abandon my childhood just like that, just to get more viewers and less commentaries. Not only that but half of the nostalgia flack comes from mostly late 90s and 2000s babies/kids that don't understand our nostalgia and think that we're complaining because we're "old" when it's not the case. And it's sad that Ben (Who in my opinion despite his new claim, is a 90s kid) has sadly gotten drawn into that.

edited 15th Feb '14 6:27:44 AM by anonymous1224

I think when Ben said he only listened to his commentators when they give good advice, he was lying. When the haters and commentators said that they hate the Nostalgia Filter, what did Ben do? He took away almost all elements of nostalgia and just started only saluting on modern shows, and even worse, ranting on shows he already said he LIKES, and vice versa!

What I also don't understand about Ben is how he likes Ren and Stimpy. For one thing, the humor on the show doesn't involve much effort, just a bunch of dirty jokes with a plot. Secondly, he likes this show when it has dirty jokes, and likes South Park, but hates FAMILY GUY when it has the same kind of humor. In fact, Family Guy has LESS dirty humor than those shows!

I also like classic cartoons, like Invader Zim.