Line #5 WMG/DemoReel


1	'''All spoilers are unmarked!'''
2
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	[[WMG: The series will be to the Internet what ''Series/{{Entourage}}'' was to film.]]
6	[[EpicFail Granted, I haven't actually seen Entourage, but that show does have to do with the film industry itself, right?]]
7	* If anything, it will be more like ''Film/BeKindRewind'', only they'll remake the videos ([[StylisticSuck Albeit badly made]]) on purpose. ''Entourage'' is about guys in the Hollywood movie business, not into remaking films.
8
9	[[WMG: Potential Future collaborations for Donnie and his crew.]]
10	* Brad Jones and his crew
11	* Ed Glaser and Ninja the Mission Force
12	* James Rolfe
13	* Phelous and Lupa, with their Zen-film making style
14	* Mara Wilson
15	** Confirmed as of episode 3 as the voice of Donnie's distant wife.
16	* Team [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick NChick]], who will then nitpick everything about Demo Reel's set up
17	** Alternatively, Team [=NChick's=] new team, Chez Apocalypse, playing a rival production team
18	* Linkara
19	* Carl Copenhagan & Quinn meet Diamanda Hagan (especially since Hagan and Quinn are both Irish)
20
21	[[WMG: The show will be almost certainly grounded in reality.]]
22	* OP here, and I think this may be jossed, considering the PS on the letter from the complainers.
23
24	[[WMG: They will do WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd Movie]]
25	* And James Rolfe will make a cameo.
26
27	[[WMG: They will remake ''Film/BeKindRewind''.]]
28	Which would then have them remake REMADE video tapes of movies, thereby leading to an ''Inception'' parody.
29	* We have to go cheaper.
30
31	[[WMG: The letter that [=DuPre=] got at the end of the 1st episode will be relevant:]]
32	* And it will be during a Demo Reel parodying Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
33	Demo Reel:
34	--> P.S. If our demands are not met, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur!
35	Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera (twice):
36	--> Should these commands be ignored, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur.
37	** It could also allow for a crossover with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, as Elisa said in formspring that Lindsay was waiting until after WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee was done to do anything on the franchise.
38	*** That would be an awesome cross-over with Team [=NChick=]. Not to mention Doug and Lindsay showing off their pipes again.
39
40	[[WMG: Future parodies]]
41	Feel free to add more, fellow tropers.
42	* Franchise/HarryPotter- [=DuPre=] as Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore, Rebecca as Hermione, Snape, and [=McGonnogal=], and Tacoma as Ron, Malfoy, and Longbottom.
43	* ''Film/{{Twilight}}''- [=DuPre=] as Edward, Rebecca as Bella, and Tacoma as Jacob.
44	* ComicBook/SpiderMan Film Trilogy- [=DuPre=] as Spidey, the Green Goblin, and Jameson, Rebecca as Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Doc Ock, and Tacoma as Venom, Harry Osborn, and the Sandman.
45	* Franchise/StarWars trilogy- [=DuPre=] as Luke and Obi-Wan, Rebecca as Leia, Boba Fett, and C-3P0, Tacoma as Han Solo, the Emperor, Yoda, and Lando Calrissian
46	** Alternately, Donnie and the crew will remake the Star Wars Christmas special in order to be recognized to make Star Wars Episode 7.
47	* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' trilogy- [=DuPre=] as Jack Sparrow and Bootstrap Bill, Rebecca as Elizabeth Swann and Tia Dalma, and Tacoma as Will Turner, Hector Barbossa, and Davey Jones
48	* ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and ''Film/TronLegacy'' -- Donnie as Kevin Flynn and Clu, Rebecca as Lora/Yori, Quorra and Gem, Tacoma as Tron/Alan and Castor
49	* Film/{{Enchanted}}- Rebecca as Giselle, Tacoma as Robert, Donnie as Edward
50	*** All Jossed.
51
52	[[WMG: Donnie will meet Creator/TommyWiseau]]
53	The version played by Doug, of course, though meeting the real Tommy Wiseau would certainly be interesting as well.
54	* Alternately, they'll consider remaking ''Film/TheRoom2003'', but Donnie will reject the idea on the grounds that it's the one movie he could never hope to outdo.
55	* The scene where it happens will parody the Orson Welles scene in ''Film/EdWood''.
56
57	[[WMG: Quinn is actually on LastNameBasis with everyone.]]
58	* It's his surname that is Quinn, not his first.
59	** Though, for extra [[RuleOfFunny funny points]], both of his names are Quinn.
60	*** Quinn Q. Quinn. (The Q stands for Quinn)
61
62	[[WMG: Donnie has a fear of [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]].]]
63	* The character shows up as one of "Batman's" fears (twice) and was the villain in WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph vs. VideoGame/AngryBirds.
64
65	[[WMG: [[ChekhovsGunman Chekhov's Gunmen]]:]]
66	* The fact that Rebecca's employers are part of the Mafia will be important when SWAG shows up.
67	** As will be the fact that Carl and Quinn are [[BlatantLies most definitely not former mercenaries]].
68
69	[[WMG: Donnie probably idolizes James Rolfe]]
70	* Though this might seem like an old joke, it does kinda make sense. It's the total opposite of the Critic's hatred for the Nerd, and James has just done his own movie with a very Hollywood-esque budget. In a way, James Rolfe is sorta the Orson Welles to Donnie's Ed Wood.
71
72	[[WMG: WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic and Donnie [=DuPre=] would not get along.]]
73	* Donnie thinks that ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' is nostalgic. As of the airing of the episode, it was still showing in theatres.
74	** Confirmed, as in Blue Patches, Doug-as-Donnie meta-rants about what an awful concept Critic was (�You took something that was miserable from the past and you just obsessed over it, you made it your life�), and in ''The Review Must Go On'', Critic is in CrazyJealousGuy mode and accuses Donnie of being a ReplacementGoldfish when in reality they have very few things in common.
75
76	[[WMG: The Head of SWAG is played by...]]
77	* Noah Antwiler
78	** '''Jossed.'''
79	* Luke Mochire
80	** '''Jossed.'''
81	* An actor brand new to TGWTG.
82	** '''Confirmed.'''
83
84	[[WMG: Rebecca has a DarkSecret she's not telling the others about.]]
85	Just look at her sad silence when Tacoma reassures her that she's not hurting anyone.
86
87	[[WMG: Rebecca and Tacoma will one day portray Nostalgia Chick and Todd in the Shadows.]]
88	Try looking at these two pairs side by side and tell me they don't look identical.
89
90	[[WMG: Donnie didn't [[ExactWords add the lines]] at the end of TDKBR just to be a JerkAss.]]
91	* Tacoma asked that they not ''see'' what [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Alfred]] sees, Donnie's problem is that he is too LiteralMinded.
92
93	[[WMG: Tacoma and Rebecca will eventually be used against Donnie]]
94	We don't know what happened in the studio after she screamed, and why else would we have three moments in three episodes where he expresses how much he cares about them?
95
96	[[WMG: Donnie's (surprisingly tragic) backstory:]]
97	Warning, the following theory is quite distressing (and quite long).
98
99	[[folder: Seriously, read at your own risk.]]
100
101	* What we know so far about him is that his mother was (past-tense) an actress [never find out stage or screen], his favourite film is ''Blue Badges'' (an independent film from the sounds of it that I was unable to find any existence of it in our universe. Also, he loves it because of the acting), he has a certain animosity for Hollywood and its methods, his surviving family wants nothing to do with him, nor does his wife who also travels a lot. All this was established in the episodes.
102	* Onto the theory: Donnie's mother was the only child of an older couple with no nieces or nephews (only children themselves or their siblings died young or just didn't reproduce, etc.). In the early 80's, when she was of a certain age, she ran off to Hollywood to become a star, hoping to see her name in lights. Instead, she was stuck with menial jobs and her auditions tended to be of the [[CastingCouch couch casting]] variety. One of these couch castings was with a married executive producer (with a personality disorder) who promised her a role. The role was basically a glorified extra as her major scene ended up on the cutting room floor. To add insult to injury, her name didn't even end up in the credits. But, she had more important things to worry about at the time of the opening night; she realized she was pregnant. She went to his house to tell him only to find out that he was married and his wife found out that she was expecting.
103	* For one reason or another, she went through with the pregnancy and Donald (Donnie) was born. She tried to get Donnie's father to pay child support but he threatened to blacklist her if she went through with it. She moved back to her parents' home and they (until their deaths of old age prior to Donnie's marriage) helped raise him as she did various, small acting gigs [stage, small and big screen]; commercials, plays, etc. His father, still annoyed that his mother would have the nerve to ask for child support and for notifying his wife of the affair, decided to use Donnie as a way to hurt her. He would show up unannounced, sometimes even picking him up from school and returning him hours later when his mother was beside herself. On the (planned) last visit per trip, he would promise to take Donnie to something incredibly fun (carnival, zoo, etc.) only to not show up and later call and blame Donnie's mother saying she had sent him away when he tried.
104	* When Donnie was older, his mother got a role in ''Blue Badges''. It did well in the Independent Film category and got the attention of Hollywood bigwigs. Donnie wanted to go with her to Hollywood when she went to film her next (and last) film, wanting to be in the film industry himself. This led to an argument and the last thing he said to her was that he hated her. During the filming, his mother was killed in a stunt gone wrong. There was an inquiry, and no one was found culpable (even those who should have been). No longer needing him as a bargaining chip, his father lost interest in him. He went to film school and tried to make movies. Because of his willingness to revolutionize / overturn the film industry from the inside and animosity stemming from his mother's death, he was seen as a threat. Enter: Operation Suburbia.
105	* He met his wife (part of the crew) on the set of one of his short films. What he didn't know was that she was there on purpose, a [[ActorAllusion former child star]] (though in this case, one that got famous too fast and experimented with a dangerous lifestyle) that was trying to get back into the good graces of her family (one of her parents was on speaking terms with his father). He married her and settled down in a white collar job and a house in the suburbs. But, he was bored and jaded by the stuff that was coming out of Hollywood and she was increasingly distant and traveled more for her job as the marriage had not been her idea. Then he found out about the massive pre-nup; he accepted it at the time as his only "family" left was technically his father and his father's family but it was enough of a push for him to quit his job, change his name and start up Demo Reel.
106	* He sees a lot of his mother in Rebecca which is why he gave her a job as an actress knowing how hard it is to get started in the business. Also the failed stunt is why female actresses that die in their original movies are saved like Sévérine in ''{{Film/Skyfall}}'' or turn up okay even if it's not really explained Rachel Dawes in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Learning of Demo Reel, probably through Donnie's wife, [[GreaterScopeVillain his father]] tipped off SWAG (why else would the Swedish Actors Guild care what a little, American studio does unless there's something in it for them, like the chance to make a big-budget Hollywood movie?) to do the dirty work for him.
107	** For an added connection to the Awesomeverse, [[WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee Christopher Clod]] is an acquaintance of Donnie's father.
108	*** Partially Jossed.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[WMG: Donnie's favourite movie is going to be relevant:]]
112	* It's called ''Blue Badges'' and when the SWAG Agent's car is being towed he shouts that he has a handicap sticker. In European countries, a handicap sticker/sign is called a blue badge. ForeShadowing?
113	** Considering they're in the US, I doubt this.
114
115	[[WMG: Carl is going to pull a BigDamnHeroes Moment.]]
116	* At the end of the Film/LostInTranslation episode, Rebecca, Tacoma and Quinn's fates are uncertain, and Donnie has been kidnapped. Only Carl is left.
117	** Confirmed in episode 5
118	[[WMG: Rebecca and Tacoma are going to become an OfficialCouple.]]
119	They'd be adorable together, Donnie can't really do [[HoYay much]] with Tacoma considering he's still trying to make his marriage work, she's protected him, he's protected her (or at least tried) and calling him a "tasty black man" is a little suspect even in context.
120
121	[[WMG: Episode 4 will start off with a SWAG movie.]]
122	It'll be weird if we don't get an ActionPrologue after the first three, it'll be a good way to get to know the bad guys a bit more, and Donnie's pretty incapacitated at the moment.
123	* Jossed
124
125	[[WMG: Rebecca is ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
126	Don't get me wrong, she's still a CloudCuckooLander, but as shown in the fourth episode, she knows her shit about what the acting industry is like and actually acts decently intelligent in some of her scenes with Tacoma. Perhaps she's acting dumb so she'll be more likely to get roles?
127
128	[[WMG: Elissa Hoffman is a replacement for real life actress Elizabeth Hartman]]
129	On Facebook, Malcolm was talking to Rachel about needing to watch ''Film/APatchOfBlue'' for the fourth episode. Donnie's favorite film is ''Blue Badges'' or ''Blue Patches'', and that's the only film that could fit. The actress who plays the lead Selina, is Elizabeth Hartman (who sounds like Elissa Hoffman), who was plagued with depression, threw herself out of a window in 1987 and reports say '''she was killed by Hollywood'''. Something else worth noting is that Hartman's last role was Mrs. Brisby in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', one of Doug's favorite films.
130	* Confirmed
131
132	[[WMG: Mrs. [=DuPre=] is (a version of) Mara Wilson]]
133
134	In episode 3, Mara Wilson cameoed as Donnie's wife during the phone call. Knowing what we know about Donnie after episode 5, I believe that Mrs. [=DuPre=] IS Mara and not just a randomly named character (eg Heidi Thurman[=DuPre=]). Of course, this Mara is a different version of the one already established in the Awesomeverse. Mara and Donnie have something major in common: They were world-famous child stars. While filming their own movies (Matilda, Jingle Sells), their mothers die. They soldier on but their coping is on opposite paths. Donnie and Mara are cast in the same movie at some point after the Phantom Menace equivalent is released, fall in love, marry, and have kids. However, Donnie still hasn't gotten over the scars of child stardom and his mother's death. Mara and Donnie drift apart and Mara leaves him as Donnie starts up Demo Reel. Because Mara has no interest in returning to acting regularly, Demo Reel cant be used to rekindle the marriage.
135
136	[[WMG: Donnie is a JustForFun/TimeLord]]
137
138	Don't pretend you didn't see this coming. Why would he look like he just got back from the Amazon if the house he escaped from was in the US? How long were Tacoma, Rebecca, and Quinn out for? I doubt that he could got to Africa and back in that time. Also, he picked up Carl in his TARDIS and that's why he's back at the studio at the end of Blue Patches. And that also explains how he was able to talk to [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester]] about the Christmas collaboration when he was kidnapped.
139
140	[[WMG: Donnie's family blames him for his mother's death]]
141	His dad had to come back from deserting his wife to look after him, and did nothing to stop his child getting abused by complete strangers on the street. Other family members very likely did nothing to help either, so when his fiancee comes along with an unfair pre-nup agreement, they leaped at the chance to exclude him. It would be a darker version of Tacoma's backstory, and you might as well add to the already-DarkAndTroubledPast.
142
143	[[WMG: Donnie had an affair, ruining his marriage]]
144	It's fairly obvious to everyone that he flirts a lot, and judging by pre-nup talk, their relationship was always rocky. So he needed some affection, got drunk and slept with someone (his reaction after seeing Creator/{{Egoraptor}} on the other bed instead of Uncle Yo suggests this has happened before), ruining her faith in him. She gives him money so he can do whatever he wants - innuendo slightly intended - without bothering her, and has no patience for "I love you"s.
145
146	[[WMG: If Demo Reel ends, it's not because of the fanbase, but because of writer's block]]
147	Doug (the actual Doug) seemed to be struggling with what to write next, so that could probably mean some sort of symbolic connection to why he might stop doing Demo Reel.
148
149	[[WMG: Neither Doug Walker nor Donnie was hallucinating in The Review Must Go On]]
150	When Doug talked to the Critic, he really was talking to him. The Nostalgia Critic had gotten tired of guarding the Plot Hole, and used its powers to send messages to both Donnie and to Doug in the real world, trying to force his creator to write him out of the Hole and give him his show back. He wanted Demo Reel out of the way, to make sure that his show became Doug's number one priority. (Note that the ways he contacts them is similar to the way Ma-Ti contacted the Critic in To Boldly Flee, with the repeated messages, the voices in their heads, and the general feeling of having something they had to do
151
152	[[WMG: Donnie will pop up in the Life of Timothy Green Review.]]
153	We already know that the Nostalgia Critic wants to kill Demo Reel...but I don't think Donnie is so eager to die just yet...I think that in the end, Doug Walker will make room for Demo Reel once a month, or just "when its done." This could lead to a running gag where Donnie tries to derail NC to make more room for DR.
154
155	[[WMG: Something went too wrong in the PlotHole]]
156	Just last month, Critic was helping Harvey Finevoice getting over his anger towards Linkara, and now he's willing to have Doug go through a breakdown to get himself back in the limelight. An ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' villain poisoned his mind, and made him forget that he hated his job for years.
157
158	[[WMG: The Critic (being basically a god now) will offer Donnie a HappyEnding...Donnie will refuse.]]
159	Okay, this theory actually has some practical reasoning behind it: Doug is in an awkward position. He already [[BrokenBase broke his base once]], and trying to pull the AuthorsSavingThrow of the century. And the forums are making it quite clear that there are still plenty of people out there who want more Demo Reel, so Doug can't risk alienating those people, thus he MUST continue Demo Reel in some form. But, how to do this if Donnie was just the Critic the whole time?
160
161	Simple: Donnie manifests himself through his will to continue existing, and the critic, trying to get him out of the way, offers him an independent existence as a major film director...but Donnie realizes that it would all be meaningless to just have it all handed to him. So, instead, the Critic "sets him free." He becomes an independent entity, free to continue Demo Reel, no longer as a mere extension of the Critic, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything no longer bound by unrealistic expectations to try to be something he's not]]. And, from there, DR continues as a once-every-few-months thing.
162
163	[[WMG: ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' was always planned to be a short aside.]]
164	Writer! Doug was established as another level of fiction in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' with the story bleeding into his world, and the other producers shown also play exaggerated versions of themselves. Therefore what ''his'' creative struggles and motives are don't necessarily have any connection to the real Doug Walker.
165
166	Further backing that up is that frankly, it was over. The characters had resolved all their interpersonal issues and come to terms with their lives; it would have been a completely different kind of story. The bitterness and infighting were what drove the drama and humor, with everyone a big happy group there was nothing to do but watch a group of friends make the genuinely best movies they can, which would get old really fast.
167	* Jossed already. Doug kept saying they had new ideas and it'll be like a sitcom with seasons and even Lewis and Lindsay were going to show as up as non-tgwtg characters.
168	** Doug lies a lot.
169	** He sounded ridiculously excited saying all that. And JO said it wasn't planned at all.
170	** The Critic character straight-up says that "we already know what Demo Reel was this whole time. What Donny was this whole time. You were even starting to write it" twenty-one minutes into ''The Review Must Go On''.
171	*** This means nothing. The Critic was just pushing Doug to bring him back. It's not like revealing Donnie as Critic was his only option. Critic only forced that upon him.
172	** In ''Blue Patches'', Donnie ranted over people who were obsessed with the past and made it their lives, in short a TakeThat towards Critic. Plus, Critic was being played as evil and what was the point in making Donnie so tragic if you're just going to take that away.
173	* The original Demo Reel concept was likely an honest attempt at something new as it revolved around Doug's love of parody sketch humour (see the Judge Dredd bit from ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''), involved leasing studio space which is optimal for the large GreenScreen effects with props and sets (as seen in the first episode) and addressed Doug's worries about copyright crackdowns while still being based on popular films. After the first episode [[EpicFail went over like a lead balloon]] the series was [[ReTool re-tooled]] at which point this WMG may become valid.
174	** Doug kept saying at cons that he wanted more drama building up in everything until people asked him to stop. Rob also said before the pilot began, that a lot of the first script was lost, and he wrote the second by himself because Doug had cons. Plus they'd already written the third episode (WIR) before the second was pulled, and that also started the seeds of everyone's awful backstory.
175
176	[[WMG: ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' may return with Douchie in purgatory as Donnie.]]
177
178	If Doug even needs another Nostalgia Critic hiatus we might get a second season of Demo Reel, but this time TheReveal would be that Donnie is actually Douchie [=McNitpick=] learning a lesson about being a filmmaker. Would probably only happen if Doug's fandom, represented by Douchie, grows up, or if Doug wants to try to [[AnAesop teach them a lesson]] about what filmmakers have to go through.
179	* That's even more insulting to Donnie's tragic backstory.
180
181	[[WMG: ''The Review Must Go On'' isn't a triumphant return at all]]
182
183	I thought it was odd that Doug chose to use "The Review Must Go On" instead of Sad Panda's "Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic" song or something more upbeat and happy. "The Review Must Go On" was used at the end of the Critic's ''Film/MoulinRouge'' review. It was funny and epic but ultimately a pretty sad song, about how the Critic is tired and exhausted of his reviews, one of many foreshadowing moments leading up to the end of the Nostalgia Critic in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' a few months later. It was used in reference to the use of the song "The Show Must Go On" in ''Film/MoulinRouge'', where Satine resolves to put on a charade, all the while knowing that she's dying. The original song, by Music/{{Queen}}, despite sounding epic and uplifting, is actually about Freddie Mercury's struggle to keep performing despite dying of AIDS. The line "my make-up may be flaking / but my smile still stays on" is a reference to Mercury's use of makeup to conceal from the public the fact that he was seriously ill. He almost wasn't able to record the song because he was so debilitated.
184
185	If that's not a thinly-veiled hint that perhaps Doug isn't happy about canceling ''WebVideo/DemoReel'', a show he said he'd been wanting to do since 2008, and going back to the Nostalgia Critic, a character he said he was over and done with, and is perhaps putting on a brave face for fans while he's hurting on the inside � it sure seems that way.
186
187	** Or he just could've been making a reference to a big part of his favorite review.
188
189	*** Why make the reference the use of a slow, tragic song the Critic was singing about how draining and exhausting reviews were for him, and of how much of a toll they were taking on him, which ended with him being shot? It's not a triumphant song, it's a song about death, exhaustion, and putting on a brave face for fans/friends/family. Yet this is the song Doug chose for his "triumphant return" episode, not the more upbeat "Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic" song by [[WebVideo/SadPandaQAndA Sad Panda]] or anything else.
190
191	*** So he's using this song as his new theme to passive aggressively show his disdain for having to be brought back? That seems like an awfully long stretch.
192	*** Doug has a brain, he wrote the song to be like that and to foreshadow Critic's death, he must remember. And "NC Anthem" is a hell of a lot more upbeat, and doesn't have a TearJerker history like "The Show Must Go On".
193	*** Actually he wrote the song to parody the scene in ''Film/MoulinRouge''. He may have thought he'd never top the review, but he never said he was using the episode to set up the Critic's death.
194	*** Just because it's a parody doesn't mean it can't work for the character. Take a look at the Snob/Clodd scene in part five of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', it's a parody of the opera scene in Franchise/StarWars, but it still furthers the story and Doug's love for the "every piece of work is a little miracle" anvil. Critic has hated his job for years, and has a breakdown in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' about the fans just wanting to see him hurt. And speaking of TBF, they'd already planned it out and were writing by this point, Doug said in a commentary that he'd inserted loads of {{foreshadowing}} for the movie in post-WebVideo/SuburbanKnights reviews, and ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a biggie.
195	*** That may be, but they definitely weren't planning "The Review Must Go On" by that point, where the Critic is literally pushing Doug over the edge to come back, thus contradicting this WMG.
196	*** That's what we're saying, that the first use of the song was foreshadowing for TBF and the Critic's end. So ... why use it for his "triumphant" return? It makes no sense. Why use a melancholic song about putting on a brave show for the sake of the fans and try to pass it off as somehow triumphant?
197
198	[[WMG: All the characters in Demo Reel were real - though Dead To Begin With.]]
199
200	They were actually the souls of dead people who had many misfortunes and made a lot of wrong choices in their lives. For them, the purgatory was their chance to redeem themselves by dealing with their suffering and making the choices they should have made in life.
201
202	In reality, Tacoma never did reveal his father�s criminal connections or win the Pulitzer Prize. Instead, he become a member of his father�s gang and eventually died in prison, of a drug overdose, or of fatal injuries in a violent conflict with a rival gang or the police. In purgatory, he finally made the right choice and fulfilled his dreams of becoming a good screenwriter.
203
204	Rebecca�s Rape as Backstory, failure at finding any long-time jobs, and constant accusations of being stupid originally had a much more severe effect on her self-confidence and mental health. She sank into a deep and long depression that eventually made her take her own life. In this world, she got a much more positive outlook on life, realizing that it is possible-no matter how difficult it may be- to enjoy the good things life has to offer, even if you encounter huge setbacks.
205
206	Quinn was a member of the IRA who, after some tragic incident, left the organization and didn�t want to ever be associated with it again. He started drinking to deal with the pain, slipping into alcoholism, which eventually led to his death. He is ashamed of his past and wants to forget that he was ever a part of such an organization.
207
208	It�s pretty much canon that Carl was a member of the East-German Secret Police, and that he has killed and tortured several people and animals in the line of duty, giving him a lot of things he would have to redeem himself for. He has also been shown to regret at least some of these actions, making this even more likely. It�s even possible that he briefly realized that he was in a purgatory when he thought he was going to die in �Wreck It Ralph VS Angry Birds��
209	->I will go down with my shipmates, a lifetime of killing all creatures, great and small finally atoned for.
210
211	The SWAG-members who left the organization in disgust originally stayed on until the bitter end, probably ending up in jail. Here, they made the right choice and jumped ship before it was too late.
212
213	Fabrizio�s stay in purgatory made him a lot friendlier, though he will still remain there until he gets off this whole mobster-thing.
214
215	When Donnie�s friends disappeared without a trace one by one, they were actually released from the purgatory and allowed to pass on, letting their souls finally be at peace. But they all decided to return for one final goodbye before they actually ascended, to give Donnie some closure. They now knew their true nature, which made them appreciate the times they had together even more. They were also happy for Donnie, who wasn't actually dead and therefore could return to the world of the living. Finally becoming the popular entertainer he always wanted to be.
216	** Except Donnie didn't want to go back, and wanted to stay with the only people who had ever actually loved him.
217	** OP here: I didn't say that Donnie was eager to return, and certainly not to leave his friends behind, but neither of them really had a choice. Donnie/Critic HAD to leave purgatory and go back to the real world, and his friends HAD to pass on. But they seem to be aware of who Donnie was, and who he is going to become. And since the Critic FINALLY seems to have started enjoying his job again (, if the ending and his conversations with Doug is any indication,) they know that he is going to a place that he, at least for the moment, will enjoy. (Also, my point wasn't really to make the ending less sad, it was to make the events of Demo Reel feel less pointless for any character who wasn't the Nostalgia Critic.)
218
219	[[WMG: Tax Season]]
220
221	Demo Reel was operational for roughly six months, half a fiscal year. Demo Reel was cancelled right around tax season, likely after Christmas when Chanel Awesome was looking over its financials and filing their taxes, looking at the profits from Demo Reel and the cost of new actors, a studio, new equipment, etc. and comparing it to previous years and the money generated from Nostalgia Critic episodes. Considering Doug was posting with excitement about Demo Reel cameos from Lewis and Lindsay for the future and upcoming episodes merely two weeks before the cancellation, it seems likely that this was a decision made very quickly and for business reasons, not solely for creative reasons.
222	** Lewis and Lindsay did show up as parodies of themselves. In fact he had almost certainly written the "last episode" and had probably shot parts of it when he said that. Either he was lying then or he's bluffing about it being canceled (there has been no out-of-character statement on that as of yet by ''anyone'' directly involved.).
223	*** Doug said Lewis and Lindsay were going to show up as different characters other than Linkara or the Nostalgia Chick.
224	*** And they did - they were Lewis and Lindsay, not Linkara and Nostalgia Chick.
225
226	[[WMG: The real Nostalgia Critic didn't browbeat The Writer into cancelling Demo Reel.]]
227	The Nostalgia Critic that appeared was the personification of The Writer's desire to bring him back. That was no more The Nostalgia Critic than Head!Six was Six in Battlestar Galactica.
228	* Then why was it filmed and acted so much like a psychotic breakdown?
229	** ... What's your point? It ''is'' a psychotic breakdown. There are two Nostalgia Critics. One, the real one, is the PlotHole who gets retconned into being Donnie, and the other is The Writer's manifested desire to bring him back.
230
231	[[WMG: Tocama and Rebecca symbolize struggling independent writers and actors in general, thus giving Critic a better insight to what they go through while he criticized them]]
232	** Creator/MaraWilson had already taught him that lesson. And ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' had him blaming himself for everything going wrong in the world, even internet laws. He didn't need any more "insight".
233	*** If he learned that lesson, he wouldn't have had to become a child actor himself.
234	*** Which was my point. That "reveal" was shitty writing and screwed both characters over.
235	*** Or it gave them greater significance by being metaphors for the misfortunes of those occupations. Or at least Tacoma was, since Rebecca's "my uncle touched me" backstory seemed like a throwaway joke for shock value.
236	*** The RapeAsBackstory bit was mentioned twice when she was under the influence, got Tacoma worried about her, and she was clearly upset about it.
237	*** And both times it was casually passed over as a joke and never taken seriously. Once during Episode 2 when she was on her sugar rush, and once in Episode 4 when they were playing Truth or Dare. Tacoma asked her about her first sexual experience, and when she started to talk about it, he and Fabrizio stopped her. What she was upset about was how people didn't take her seriously and how Tacoma misspoke and said her career wasn't going anywhere.
238
239	[[WMG: Critic found out about Doug wanting to do Demo Reel since 2008 and went crazy]]
240	Thinking you had Daddy's attention for years, but realizing that he was planning another big character all that time? One who is a complete TakeThat to how you acted, even? Then it makes somewhat more sense why Demo Reel is the only new show he forced Doug to give up, why he acted so psychotically, why he had a SelfServingMemory that made him forget that he loathed his job, and why he accused Donnie of being a ReplacementGoldfish when Chester's recent cynicism and Ask That Guy's new patheticness make them more suitable targets.
241
242	[[WMG: The Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 Live Review directly precedes Demo Reel]]
243	* After revisiting his own work and denying it was him, his mind was already fractured, but attempting to come out of retirement to conclude what he considered the worst movie franchise of all time (at least at the time, considering his first editorial since his return), his mind literally broke under the stress, forcing him into an imaginary world of his own design!
244	** Except right at the end he wants back in the PlotHole (as how many times did Doug brag about Critic getting his happy ending and being okay? loads), and makes the big CharacterDevelopment deal of realizing he can't get stuck in the past anymore and needs to move on.
245
246	[[WMG: The sketches in the new Critic episodes are sub-contracted to the ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' characters.]]
247	* It explains the use of the same actors in-universe and why those sketches resemble the movies the crew put out rather than the more competent "behind-the-scenes" acting.
248	** But Rebecca would never agree to acting like MsFanservice with her issues, and Tacoma wouldn't either, given that he never wanted to be an EthnicScrappy. Plus Word Of Actor and Co-Writer is that they're all dead.
249
250	[[WMG: If the show had gone onto more seasons, Rebecca would have gone down the director road.]]
251	Her actress issues were pretty deep-rooted, and sexism in Hollywood isn't exactly going to go away any time soon. She had great fun telling what Tacoma what the Blue Patches sequel should be like, and while she gave a great performance too, the film was destroyed and nobody else will see it. Plus, excuse for more her/Donnie interaction, which was always nice.

Context WMG / DemoReel