uploaded a video entitled "First Blog / Dorkiness Prevails". In this video, she introduced herself as Bree, a sixteen-year-old self-confessed dork. More video blogs followed, many also featuring her best friend, Daniel, perhaps better known as Danielbeast.It wasn't long before viewers began to suspect that the blogs were not genuine, and it was eventually discovered that lonelygirl15 was actually an online TV series created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried and Amanda Goodfried.
The early episodes are all set in and around Bree and Daniel's houses, and mainly deal with relationships between characters. Over time, it is revealed that Bree is a member of a religious cult, the Hymn of One, and that they want her to take part in a strange ceremony. Everything changed after episode 65, "Life's Not Fair", when the series took a decidedly dark turn.
Along with various friends, such as rich orphan Jonas and sarcastic "emo" sexpot Sarah, Bree and Daniel go on the run from the Order of Dederah, an evil secret society, and discover the sinister truth behind the ceremony.
While the series tends to stay within the grounds of what is technically possible, the plot is often very implausible, to say the least. Fortunately, the people behind the show seem to be aware of this, and the show is certainly not above the occasional Lampshade Hanging and self-parody. The show's greatest strength is possibly the high level of Character Development it features, which is usually portrayed realistically. The show also describes itself as "interactive", with fans sometimes being named or even making cameos in the series. However, it is probably best known for being one of the earliest Vlog Series, and establishing a legacy of introducing the novel concept of company-based production value on YouTube videos.
The show may be watched at its official website, although this episode listing omits some early episodes (including the first episode) and includes videos from the old OPAPHID Alternate Reality Game, behind the scenes videos, and some fan videos. A complete list of episodes, with the original numbering, may be found here. A character sheet has been created.
The show is sequelled by LG15: the resistance, a Spin-Off featuring Jonas and Sarah.
On June 16th of 2016, ten years after it originally launched, a revival of the lonelygirl15 series was announced. So far, a teaser has been uploaded that shows the main character, Bree, Back from the Dead and seemingly in the employ of the Order of Denderah.
This show provides examples of:
- Abandoned Warehouse: Where the Season 1 finale is largely set.
- Adorkable: On a normal day, Bree acts pretty awkward in a cute sort of way.
- Ambiguous Gender: Bree doesn't really specify whether whether P. Monkey is a boy or a girl.
- Ancient Conspiracy: The Order of Denderah has been around for a long time.
- Anyone Can Die: So much so that Bree, the main character, dies.
- Are We There Yet?: Said by Bree in "Swimming!".
- The Artifact: P. Monkey and the other stuffed animals don't really fit with the tone once Bree and Daniel have been on the run for a while.
- Artifact Title: Particularly after Bree's death, seeing as "Lonelygirl" refers to her.
- Ascended Meme: "Jennie is a plantcake!", among others.
- Back from the Dead: As part of the show's revival, Bree is revealed to be this.
- Badass Boast: At the end of "How Dumb Am I?"
- Bree: I really was clueless before. But that dumb girl died the day that you killed her father.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Aleister Crowley founded the Ancient Conspiracy.
- Black Comedy: In "It's Not Kidnapping", Jonas and Daniel tie up Julia, intending to help her (they are not kidnapping). Cut to outside, where she can be seen screaming for help as Daniel proceeds to melodramatically explain how she doesn't like them.
- Black Helicopter: Used by the Order.
- Blessed with Suck: Trait positive girls may have some kind of live-giving gift, but that makes them targets of the Order.
- Breather Episode: "Backyard Bikini Patrol" is an obvious example, a fanservicey character-based episode following numerous Wham Episodes.
- Catch-Phrase:
- Bree: "Proving science wrong!" (usually with the same low, sing-song tone)
- La Rezisto: "Fight the Order!"
- Edward Salinas: "We will build a stronger community."
- The Hymn of One: "The Hymn of One is fun!"
- Character Blog: It's the entire premise.
- Claymation: Several of Taylor's blogs.
- Companion Cube: Bree frequently talks to P. Monkey and the other stuffed animals as if they were real people. The others tend to either play along or get really pissed that she's not taking thing seriously.
- Cult: The Hymn of One, which works as a front for the Order.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Sarah's threat to breathe on the nonplussed Jonas.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sarah.
- Doing In the Scientist: The revelation at the end of the third season that trait positivity derives from the line of the Goddess Hathor.
- Dumb Blonde: Averted. Daniel mentions early on that Bree was one of the smartest kids in her class.
- Sarah is a Subversion of sorts. While she can be pretty ditzy (e.g., holding maps the wrong way up), she also repeatedly shows herself to be competent, manipulative, and prone to being a Deadpan Snarker. She also frequently plays up the "dumb blonde" stereotype to her advantage.
- Everything's Better with Monkeys: P. Monkey, despite being a stuffed animal, definitely qualifies.
- Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: In the early days of the lonelygirl15 series, "Bree" would respond to the users' comments at YouTube.
- Gender-Restricted Ability: You have to be a girl to be trait-positive. Almost always.
- Genre Shift: Takes a sharp turn away from straight realism and comedy towards increased action, conspiracy and drama.
- Goofy Print Underwear: Daniel's "English flag" - actually Union flag - underwear.
- Gratuitous Spanish: While the gang are in Mexico.
- Have a Gay Old Time: "He thinks she should try a fish taco...".
- Human Resources: The Order's blood-draining antics.
- In-Series Nickname: Daniel is frequently called "Danielbeast" after the name of his YouTube channel.
- Intentionally Awkward Title: Several episode titles sound like something a teenager would write for their YouTube videos. This goes as far back as Episode 1: "First Blog / Dorkiness Prevails."
-
It Was His Sled: Anyone starting an Archive Binge today already knows that this is a scripted web series. Early on, lots of people thought Bree was a real girl.
- Jitter Cam: Justified since, In-Universe, these are kids recording their experiences with camcorders.
- Jump Cut: Frequent, fast, deliberate jump cuts are one of the defining characteristics of the series. It also influenced how vlogs are edited today.
- Lie Detector: Bree produces a very low-tech and unconvincing example using Daniel's hand during the initial on-the-run road trip.
- Living in a Furniture Store: In one episode, Daniel investigates Bree's house. It's surprisingly clean for a family who is either kidnapped or on-the-run. On a more meta level, one of first things that twigged viewers to the fact that the series was fiction was the fact that everything in Bree's room was bought from Target—and some of the furniture still have the store tags on them.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Jonas. His parents "went missing" years ago and he's been alone in their huge house ever since.
- Male Gaze: Bree often wears revealing outfits, such as tank tops and short-shorts.
- The Mole: Gemma never actually joins Bree or Daniel, but she helps from a distance. In "Tough Cookie" it's revealed that she works for the Order and isn't even British.
- Mr. Fanservice: Jonas appears shirtless regularly with little provocation.
- Mundane Made Awesome: In the episode "Foosball Battle", a game of table football is portrayed through epic close-ups and accompanied by the William Tell Overture.
- Mysterious Watcher: The Watchers follow Bree and observe her for the Hymn of One.
- No Theme Tune: There's no title sequence, likely in the name of realism. Most of the music is in-scene or regular pop music.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Occasionally you can hear Bree's accent slip into Jessica Rose's native New Zealander. Justified since Bree was partly raised in New Zealand and the US.
- Pac-Man Fever: The classic Video Games in "Mission Gamma".
- P.O.V. Sequel: Only with episodes instead of sequels.
- Scrapbook Story: Lots of videos are on channels other than lonelygirl15 to show perspectives other than Bree's. Characters with channels include Daniel, Gemma, and Jonas.
- Spin-Off: EQAL seems determined to have a spinoff in as many countries as they could. KateModern for the UK, n1ckola for Poland, and ones being currently developed in Italy and Japan.
- Spoiler Title: Happened lots of times. "Bree's Dad Is Dead" is kind of a giveaway.
- Subject101: There is an episode titled "Interrogation 101".
- Sunglasses at Night: Lucy, who wears sunglasses, even in the dark or while fighting.
- Tonight, Someone Dies: Done in the ads for "Bloodlines" and "Prom: It's To Die For".
- Tone Shift: After "Life's Not Fair," the series turns away from "sitting in front of a camera and talking" and shifts toward an "on-the-run" adventure story.
- Trope Maker: Usually regarded as the first "YouTube celebrity". Also the first Vlog Series.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Daniel's "English flag underwear" in "Crazy Emo Chick".
- Yawn and Reach: Demonstrated by Bree in an early episode.
