Line #54 WebVideo/PBSIdeaChannel


1	-> ''Here's an idea...''
2	-->'''[[OncePerEpisode Every episode beginning]]''' [[note]]Well, maybe not ''every'' episode[[/note]]
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4	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ideachannelimg1_7417.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300:The intro.]]
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7	Started in February 2012, The Idea Channel was a series of weekly videos supported by Creator/{{PBS}} and hosted on Website/YouTube by Mike Rugnetta. It examined the weird, wacky and fascinating connections between pop culture, technology and art. Basically, its philosophy is bite-sized form, facilitated by millions of references, gifs, funny pictures and an ''extreme'' motor mouth.
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9	Every week introduces a new idea, ranging far and wide in topic and scope. For example, take the following video titles; "What Do Santa And Wrestling Have In Common?", "Is [=YouTube=] Making Us Smarter?" and "Is A DOS Attack A Weapon?" Each video used to have a short minute or so section where a selection of comments on the previous video were highlighted for further discussion, but now, those comments are shown in stand-alone [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtHP6qx8VF7cnu582A7K8W8daSYtMR_vC videos.]]
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11	Winner of two Webby awards in 2013, for Best Editing and Best Web Personality/Host. Can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/user/pbsideachannel/videos here]].
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13	On June 30, 2017, Rugnetta [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ1jUpetuDA announced that he was ending Idea Channel]]. The final Idea Channel aired on August 28 and the final Comment Response on September 4. Since the channel's retirement, a similar channel, the open-sourced [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxVG9JnDocRPTiBMc_G04_w/featured Idea Project]], has taken up the mantle left in its absence with Rugnetta's approval.
14	-----
15	!!Tropes:
16	* AprilFoolsDay: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYrmlgiv8eM "Is Vine The Future of Cinema?"]] Well, that and a helping of "SarcasmMode: The Episode".
17	** The year after that had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00vL3QYVyLY "What Does IKEA Say About The Human Condition?"]] [[spoiler:Which was just the host saying IKEA products.]]
18	*** Interestingly, a few months later [[spoiler:they decided to ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ9tDuPHirE&list=UU3LqW4ijMoENQ2Wv17ZrFJA actually]]'' answer that question]].
19	* AlternateUniverse: The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAWKD6OXGnA 100th-ish Episode Special]]"
20	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Mike's description of "horror proper" in "What Do Horror Movies And Cable News Networks Have In Common?", as illustrated by the 90 percent of the iceberg that's submerged:
21	--> Fiscal crisis, water shortage, income disparity, climate change, school shootings, social unrest, high unemployment, [[TakeThat more]] Film/{{Transformers\|FilmSeries}} [[TakeThat movies]]
22	* BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce: Mentioned as part of Mike's discussion on "What Do Hot Sauce Labels Say About America?"
23	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA-_5Xb0M18 Discussed]] about the [[Manga/AttackOnTitan Titan's]] supposed evilness.
24	* BreathlessNonSequitur: Mike has been known to diverge from the point mid-sentence.
25	* BrickJoke: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKvaip_sMGE the first video responding to comments]], Mike starts by describing Idea Channel as the guy at the party who starts a conversation but then leaves to get more guacamole. Then, at the end...
26	--> '''Mike''': ...And if you'll excuse me, I see that they have refilled the guacamole.
27	* BulletHell: Discussed on how it can be [[MoodDissonance meditative]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY-45DjRk_E this video]].
28	* ChristmasCreep: Discussed in the episode "Holidays Be Creepin'".
29	* ClickbaitGag: The announcement video for the end of the channel has the description "(NOT CLICKBAIT), as the kids say." This is a parody of the trend to use all-caps and claims not to be clickbait as a tactic in clickbait, with the irony being that the video is not clickbait and Idea Channel really was ending.
30	* ColorCodedCharacters: "The Experience of Being Trolled" has Red Shirted Mike, who talked about the topic of the video as it was originally written and Blue Shirted Mike, added in after the original filming, who realized that he didn't agree with what he wrote. Pointed out by Mike himself.
31	* DeathOfTheAuthor: InUniverse Discussed in regards to Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVm65tlhqw8 Does It Matter What Evangelion's Creator Says?]]".
32	* [[invoked]] FandomRivalry: They once drew the ire of the Anime fandom, so commented on it.
33	--> ''Consider the following: [[http://youtu.be/2j7SIxMGj5Q?t=8m15s I got more mean emails and messages]] about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRfv5a9QFu8 last week's episode about Anime]] than I did about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHSSNyIlAps the Trolling episode.]]''
34	* FascinatingEyebrow: Mike often raises an eyebrow as he reads and responds to comments.
35	* GrandFinale: The three-part "Ideas Trilogy," in which Rugnetta [[PassingTheTorch passes the torch]], discussing the basic principles of the channel and talking about having ideas and discussing them.
36	* InsultBackfire: After the Unboxing Video someone called him a Vsauce wannabe. He took it as a compliment.
37	* {{Jump Cut}}s: A lot of these happen throughout the videos. Of course, without these, videos might go on for much longer than they need to for Mike to get his point across.
38	* LogicalFallacies: The ones discussed on this channel include:
39	** AdHominem
40	** AppealToAuthority: Particularly the Appeal To Irrelevant Authority fallacy.
41	** AppealToNature
42	** FalseDichotomy: Referred to as "The Black & White Fallacy".
43	** MovingTheGoalPosts
44	** NoTrueScotsman
45	** SharpshooterFallacy: Referred to as the "Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy."
46	* MilestoneCelebration: [[{{In-Universe}} ]] PlayedWith in the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAWKD6OXGnA 100th-ish Episode Special]]"
47	* MoreDakka: Referenced word-for-word in the BulletHell video.
48	* MotorMouth: Mike.
49	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed: Mike admits that when he found himself writing the line "Why am I taking this so seriously?" for the original version of "The Experience of Being Trolled", he had "a moment of crushing doubt" and then "crushing self-awareness". ..."[f]ollowed by [[{{InUniverse}} crushing [his] own head]] in [his] own hands".
50	* ReferenceOverdosed: Attempting to list every single piece of work this show has made reference to would probably make the wiki explode.
51	* ShoutOut: To TV Tropes itself during the BulletHell video.
52	-->'''Mike''': Generally you control a flying ship or warrior dodging an impossible onslaught, hundreds if not thousands of electricity orbs, energy spheres, lasers, bullets, and a crazy colorful assortment of fast-moving whatnot that TV Tropes collectively refers to as [[MoreDakka "dakka"]], for the sound that a machine gun makes. You know like, dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka--
53	* SoBadItsGood: {{Invoked}}, as it's an offered explanation for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQsq9gCit9Y the appeal of Horse eBooks]].
54	** Later {{Discussed\|Trope}} if it can be {{Invoked\|Trope}} in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwQjBC0_2eA Can You Make a Movie So Bad It's Good On Purpose?]]
55	* SpecialGuest: Daniel Floyd of ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' makes an InkSuitActor appearance to talk about a related video on his channel.
56	* TakeAThirdOption: In the debate over how to pronounce ".GIF" ("hard G or soft G?") Mike proposed another pronunciation: /ʒɑɪf/. It has since become the standard Idea Channel pronunciation. Possibly satirical.
57	* VerySpecialEpisode: The description of "The Experience of Being Trolled", which concerns... [[{{Troll}} yeah]], labels this as such. He was trying to argue that trolling has an upside. It helps that partway though writing out the episode, Mike realized he didn't agree with what he wrote, leading to the above ColorCodedCharacters example.
58	* WhamLine: A minor one, but "The Experience of Being Trolled" has one in the intro that takes what originally seemed like a regular episode and made it a tad more complicated:
59	-->'''[[ColourCodedForYourConvenience Red Shirt Mike]]''': Here's an idea: maybe there's a ''positive'' side to trolls on the internet.\
60	([[JumpCut static]])\
61	'''[[ColourCodedForYourConvenience Blue Shirt Mike]]''': [[{{In-Universe}} ]] [[FlipFlopOfGod Or... not.]]
62	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: [[{{In-Universe}} ]] {{Discussed\|Trope}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHZyzvLxEpUin their examination]] of Film/EndersGame.
63	* WordSaladPhilosophy: The end result of letting a [[ArtificialIntelligence Recursive Neural Network]] write an episode and then [[TheComicallySerious reading that script with complete sincerity]].
64	* YouSayTomato: For the debate over how to pronounce ".GIF" ("jiff" or "giff"?), Idea Channel [[TakeAThirdOption prefers to use]] "ʒɑɪf".

Context WebVideo / PBSIdeaChannel