History Heartwarming / ToddInTheShadows

* Todd's willingness to accept Music/ChrisBrown, a person he had previously harshly berated for his infamous assault of Rihanna, back into the pop music world at the beginning of his "Deuces" review. That is of course, before he realizes that "Deuces" is one of the douchebaggiest songs he's ever heard.

* Todd being upset about how the couple from the music video of Music/AHa's "Take On Me" had their relationship end in the music video of "The Sun Always Shines on TV" due to the comic book sketch person reverting ''back'' into a comic book sketch. He really cared about that couple and was upset about how it ended.

-->'''Todd''': [Music/DexysMidnightRunners] were just such a strikingly different band from much of the rest of the 80s. I daresay that the entire decade would've been a lot different, and probably for the better, if Dexy's had managed to notch a few more hits in this country.

* His OHW dedicated to Semisonic's "Closing Time," which was essentially a love letter to a band who had an influence on who he is today.
* The video on "It's Raining Men," where he defends the song as being {{Narm Charm}} incarnate, and even manages to make clear that none of his fat jokes about the Weather Girls are anything but good-natured.

* Much like how he grew to admire Pickett despite knowing little about him at first, his newfound adoration of Biz Markie while reviewing "Just a Friend" definitely counts. As technically [[SoBadItsGood bad]] as the song is, Markie himself is just a tremendously lovable teddy bear, and Todd completely goes with it.

* In his OHW episode for "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors, Todd makes it clear that he thinks the fact that the lead singer became a lawyer for the musician's union, helping other artists out, is actually really cool. He also says that the idea of a former rock star becoming a lawyer to help out the little guy and prevent other musicians from being screwed over by "the man" would make a great TV show.

* That Todd is considerate enough to (briefly) tone down his hatred of Christian rock and Music/JarsOfClay's religious music out of respect for the person who requested the review (a reverend) of "Flood." He even sounds almost apologetic when he talks about how he doesn't know much about traditional church music either. It goes into heartwarming when Todd is pleasantly surprised that the song featured actually doesn't have the "lack of edge" that is his main criticism with Christian music, and even when he's disappointed by the band's follow-ups, he still notes that Jars of Clay's songs seem to have a recurring theme of people simply looking for comfort in their belief, as opposed to more arrogant displays of most Christian media he has seen.

** Todd also re-appraises the discography of New Kids on the Block and even though he finds some of it SoBadItsGood, he actually thinks some of their stuff is genuinely pretty good, and that they were a surprisingly eclectic group. And at the end of the episode, Todd says that Knight absolutely deserved better because, even if he doesn't really care for a lot of his music, he admits that he's a talented guy who proved surprisingly influential for the future of a good chunk of pop music.

-->'''Todd''': [Dexy’s Midnight Runners] were just such a strikingly different band from much of the rest of the 80s. I daresay that the entire decade would've been a lot different, and probably for the better, if Dexy's had managed to notch a few more hits in this country.

* When discussing "Crown Royal" by Music/RunDMC while he doesn't relent on how bad it is, Todd also doesn't downplay just how important they were and still are to the rap game and to music in general with many "first" to their names. If anything, especially after Jam Master Jay's murder in 2002, he laments how such a legendary group probably last album is going down as such a bomb and they deserved so much better then that.

* When discussing "Crown Royal" by Music/RunDMC while he doesn't relent on how bad it is, He also doesn't down play just how important they were and still are to the rap game and to music in general with many "first" to their names. If anything, especially after Jam Master Jay's murder in 2002, he laments how such a legendary group probably last album is going down as such a bomb and they deserved so much better then that.

* The first half of his review on Music/TheCalling is a ''[[AuthorTract looooong]]'' [[AuthorTract tear]] against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]] as he previously believed, but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and that Alex Band (even if Todd doesn't like [[{{Yarling}} his style of singing]]) [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously is clearly giving it his all]], and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the songwriting chops or artistic freedom to back it up or sustain further success.

* The first half of his review on Music/TheCalling is a ''[[AuthorTract looooong]]'' [[AuthorTract tear]] against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]] as he previously believed, but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the songwriting chops or artistic freedom to back it up or sustain further success. He also gives Alex Band credit for putting in a sincere effort with the song and clearly giving it his all, even if Todd finds his singing overwrought.

* The first half of his review on Music/TheCalling is a ''[[AuthorTract looooong]]'' [[AuthorTract tear]] against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]] as he previously believed, but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the songwriting chops or artistic freedom to back it up or sustain further success.

* Todd praises The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for "Face Down". While admitting the song is just okay to him, Todd appreciates the fact that the song is a no-holds-barred insult towards domestic abusers that justifies sounding so angry, which makes it better in Todd's eyes compared to [[{{Wangst}} whiny self-indulgence that pop punk is sometimes known for]]. Todd also mentions how the band got hundreds of letters from people explaining that the song helped them leave their abusive partners while also doing anti-domestic violence [=PSAs=], which makes Todd drop his sarcasm and say that [[SincerityMode it was a genuinely good thing for them to do]]. At the end of the episode, he says that for all the good the band did with the song, maybe The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus did deserve a little better, in spite of not liking most of their other songs.

* Todd notes that Jyoti Mishra, the OneManBand behind White Town’s “Your Woman,” is in fact active on [=YouTube=] and social media, and therefore has a strong chance of seeing Todd’s review. Knowing that, Todd makes sure to personally thank Mishra for creating such an awesome, remarkably ahead-of-its-time song (which he’s already spent most of the review praising as a timeless tune that effectively pioneered the Bedroom Pop sound that rules the charts today), and commending him for still consistently making music even after his label screwed him over and his follow-ups didn’t match “Your Woman”’s success. Sure enough, ''not only'' did [[ApprovalOfGod Mishra quickly appear in the comments, thanking and praising Todd for his review,]] but Mishra can also be found replying to other commenters and answering questions, in a nice bit of internet wholesomeness, and he even updated the original music video's description on [=YouTube=] to reference Todd's video.

** He and Lindsay, out of character, review ''Film/LesMiserables''. Lindsay says that everyone should read the book. He says "I've heard that... a lot!" It's obvious that his teasing Lindsay for her love of the book is affectionate, which is further supported by a kiss on her forehead.

* As bad as the end result may have been, the genesis of ''American Dream'' was that Neil Young only agreed to do another album with the three if David Crosby, currently on a wild decade-long bender of drugs and jail time, could manage to sober up and get his life together. In an amazing turn of events, he did. As Todd makes clear, Neil was notorious for suddenly quitting CSN with little to no warning, and could've easily gone back on a promise made when it seemed unlikely Crosby would be ''alive'' for much longer -- but, as a testament to the strange friendship between two men who absolutely can't stand each other, [[IGaveMyWord he didn't]].

* The first half of his review on Music/TheCalling is a ''[[AuthorTract looooong]]'' [[AuthorTract tear]] against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]], but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the songwriting chops or artistic freedom to back it up or sustain further success.

* The first half of his review on The Calling is a ''looooong'' tear against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]], but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the songwriting chops or artistic freedom to back it up or sustain further success.

* The first half of his review on The Calling is a ''looooong'' tear against the band and their hit "Wherever You Will Go", the disdain for which he makes very clear in describing them as born out of {{nepotism}} and [[ClicheStorm insipid songwriting clichés]]. Then the second half hits -- Todd admits that after getting everything out of his system, he still does manage to have ''some'' level of affection for the song, if only because of [[TheFourChordsOfPop those four chords]], and even gives it some credit upon learning it wasn't written about [[BreakupSong a breakup]], but [[DueToTheDead mourning the death of a loved one]]. The rest of the episode sees Todd overall going much softer on the band, making it clear he still doesn't like them, but understanding why they got big, if only for a moment. Todd considers them decent musicians for the primetime on a technical level, and at times seems personally disappointed that they didn't have the artistic freedom or songwriting chops to back it up.

* Todd clearly respects Mr Big for not only getting a hair metal hit in 1992, after Grunge exploded on to the scene, but surviving through out the nineties and seems happy that they [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff have found massive success in Japan]]. He also gives praise to singer Eric Martin, noting that he commits to "To Be With You" and makes it sincere and charming in sharp contrast to the many other metal ballads. He even closes the review saying that the band were the last hair metal band to reach that level of success and "made for a good send-off to the genre".

* Todd's response to the question of whether Los del Rio deserved better:
--->'''Todd:''' They were hard-working musicians who played for decades, built up a solid living, and for one moment had the biggest song in the universe. I can not imagine they are anything but proud of every second of their careers, their biggest hit naturally included.

* Todd notes that Jyoti Mishra, the OneManBand behind White Town’s “Your Woman,” is in fact active on [=YouTube=] and social media, and therefore has a strong chance of seeing Todd’s review. Knowing that, Todd makes sure to personally thank Mishra for creating such an awesome, remarkably ahead-of-its-time song (which he’s already spent most of the review praising as a timeless tune that effectively pioneered the Bedroom Pop sound that rules the charts today), and commending him for still consistently making music even after his label screwed him over and his follow-ups didn’t match “Your Woman”’s success. Sure enough, ''not only'' did [[ApprovalOfGod Mishra quickly appear in the comments, thanking and praising Todd for his review,]] but Mishra can also be found replying to other commenters and answering questions, in a nice bit of internet wholesomeness.

* Todd notes that Jyoti Mishra, the OneManBand behind White Town’s “Your Woman,” is in fact active on [=YouTube=] and social media, and therefore has a strong chance of seeing Todd’s review. Knowing that, Todd makes sure to personally thank Mishra for creating such an awesome, remarkably ahead-of-its-time song (which he’s already spent most of the review praising as a timeless tune that effectively pioneered the Bedroom Pop sound that rules the charts today), and commending him for still consistently making music even after his label screwed him over and his follow-ups didn’t match “Your Woman”’s success. Sure enough, [[ApprovalOfGod Mishra appeared in the comments thanking and praising Todd for his review.]]

* Reviews where he has blatant, overwhelming affection for the song in question are always fun. Besides "You Get What You Give" above, his enthusiasm for "Jump Around" (which he foreshadowed as far back as 2011, when he mentioned in his Q&A that it was his favorite one-hit wonder and he can rap the first verse in under thirty seconds - [[spoiler:which he does in the review, and well]]) is very infectious.

* In his review of "We Are The World", he makes it clear that there will be absolutely no jokes about the disaster in Haiti and says that, however narmy they may seem, he has nothing but respect for musicians who try to make a difference with their art. Best summed up with:
-->"I will take an insincere display of charity over a genuine display of apathy any day of the week."
** Subverted later in his "Earth" review, where he says that the "charities" the song's proceeds went to ended up being scams that didn't help at all, so it may well have actually been worse than doing nothing.

* Creator/WillSmith's ''Lost & Found'' ended the Fresh Prince's rap career on a bitter note, with the man feeling like the hip-hop community never gave him his due. But Todd acknowledges that Will Smith being more open about his personal life in recent years has made people appreciate him more as a person and not just as a superstar. Todd even noticed that after ''Lost & Found'', Will started taking DarkerAndEdgier roles to maybe help express this pain inside himself. And in 2020, Creator/JoynerLucas wrote a tribute that [[ApprovalOfGod Will Smith found genuinely touching]], encouraging him to jump on the remix and record music again for the first time in over a decade.

** A minor detail, but Todd using the proper pronouns for Music/SamSmith (who came out as non-binary and asked to be referred to with they/them pronouns in 2019) in his segment on "Dancing with a Stranger" (featuring Music/{{Normani}}).

** While The Class never being capable of reuniting due to Joe Strummer passing away so suddenly is pretty sad, the fact he and Mick Jones did at least made up and even played together a few times before Strummer's death does keep it from being a full-on DownerEnding.