The TTV Channel
is a YouTube channel dedicated primarily towards the Lego theme BIONICLE. The content of the channel includes news, podcasts, reviews, Game Theory-esque videos, and Top Ten Lists. Initially beginning in 2010, the channel soon became one of the premiere Bionicle channels on the site. They eventually branched out onto their own website, where they, again, share news and information with their fans as well as allow their fans to communicate with their various members and each other through message boards.
The cast of The TTV Channel include:
Krischan Jennings AKA Varderan: Varderan is the founder and CEO of Pandemic Panda LLC, the TTV Podcast, and its predecessor, iBZP. He originally started iBZP with several other friends of his and eventually recruited many of the current members, including Mesonak and Kini.
Var has been a long time fan of BIONICLE since it’s inception in 2001, and is known inside of the group as its “Jack of All Trades.” When he applies himself, Var can do a myriad of things including artwork, spriting, web design, fanfiction, BIONICLE related musical parodies, Mo Cs, and much, much more. Many things from the group's past (and present) are owed to Var, as well as their entire existence. Towards the end of BIONICLE’s run Var’s interests in the line had declined dramatically, but with the spike in popularity of the YouTube channel he eventually got back into the line and branched out his interests towards general LEGO.
He is currently best known for his "BIONICLE Autopsy" series, although his accomplishments are many. One of the more notable things he has done is create a Mo C for a BZPower contest managed by Lego that went on to appear in the Hero Factory TV series.
Mesonak: Mesonak is a long-time member and current manager of the TTV Podcast. He was initially recruited to iBZP, TTV’s predecessor, and went on to become a prominent fixture in both that podcast and TTV, eventually being given the leadership position by Varderan.
Meso is a large fan of Hero Factory, and perhaps the most devoted fan of the theme in the group. His notoriety stems from his ability to be one of the first people to locate leaked set images and other news surrounding the theme (as well as other Lego lines) and bring it to the group’s attention.
He also is known for his strange catchphrases and sayings, such as the notable “How’s Life and Such?”, among many others.
Jonathan Juan AKA Kahi: Kahi is the best there is at what he does, but what he does is probably the farthest thing from nice you can imagine. He was originally interviewed by Eljay early into the podcast’s history due to his popular BZPower comic series, and became a member of the podcast shortly afterward.
Kahi is notorious for his analytical prowess and strategic, ruthless, stone cold mind. Stories of his cruelty run rampant in the podcast, such as ruining small kids’ belief in Santa Claus, punching homeless people in the face, and his eventual plan to build a giant laser cannon on the side of the moon facing the Earth to hold the world at ransom.
All jokes aside, however, Kahi heads up the business management and marketing division of company, using his talents to keep TTV ahead of the curve. As a computer science major he also is one of the two head admin on the site and handles a lot of things from the technical standpoint. He also heads up the series “TTV: On Air”, an animated series about the TTV Cast’s endeavors.
Venom: Venom is sort of the one who brought all the founding members of TTV together. During his early days in the BIONICLE community he founded a chatroom, with which many friends and associates of TTV converged and discussed with one another. He joined TTV soon after the podcast’s creation and has been a mainstay of the cast since.
Venom has several talents, consisting of Mo Cing, artwork, and managing a popular comic series on BZPower for many years. He is also responsible for creating the music used in the TTV Podcast as well as the soundtrack for BioCraft: Chronicles.
His main source of notoriety comes from his popular series “On Ebay Today,” as well as several other videos made during his history on the channel, such as funny sessions of Halo gameplay.
Phweffie: Phweffie is the first of the new wave of members to join TTV. She found TTV through her sudden nostalgia of BIONICLE and joined after applying through a casting call.
She is known for her fascination with Zaktan, the infamous Piraka whose chemistry got her into the canon story, not to mention that Zaktan’s bizarre and “out-of-it” nature is something she can relate to. This makes him her favorite character in the story, and she greatly enjoys joking and referencing him and his “gang.”
Phweff is usually laid back and is accepting of different opinions, even though they clash with her own. She loves to tell stories with a much darker tone as well as including characters who have a moral shade of grey, making them more realistic. Finally, does having a British accent count?
Phweff has quickly become a rising star among the TTV staff and has worked her way up to the higher-ups faster than anyone else in the group's history.
Takuma Nuva: BZPower Blog Assistant and TTV cast member, Takuma Nuva is the Avatar, the bridge between two worlds. He joined the Bionicle fandom at the line’s original 2001 release but didn’t join the online community until 2007 when he registered as a member on BZPower. In 2011 Takuma Nuva joined the BZPower staff as a blog assistant and later became The TTV Podcast’s newest member alongside Exxtrooper in 2014.
Never as invested in the sets as much as the lore, the “Evil Blog Master’s” most notable activities among the fandom include his sizeable and popular library of comedy fan-fiction and the only successful MNOLG-style comics series. He also was a regular participant in the BZPowercast and, let’s be honest here, is in all likelihood a bigger Bionicle lore buff than Eljay.
Exxtrooper: Exxtrooper is one out of three new hosts to be brought into the TTV podcast, being recruited alongside Takuma Nuva, with Viper’s introduction proceeding theirs. He discovered the podcast through controversy on Lego forums and was intrigued by the discussion aspect of the channel.
A notable aspect of Exxtrooper is that he expresses his LEGO passion through a image hosting website named flickr, where he posts his LEGO photography. While he’s an avid member of a couple BIONICLE forums, he’s mostly known for his customization interest in the LEGO-system based community, making minifigures based of known video games such as Call Of Duty.
He’s very passionate, has a lot on his mind and is never afraid to share his thoughts on the matter, to the point in which he might not ever stop talking. With English not being his native tongue and mostly being taught through the internet, he can often cycle through multiple accents in conversation. His main motivation for joining the podcast is contributing to the BIONICLE discussion, and with a lot to say he hopes to be a voice to be heard.
Prpldragon: Prpl is both not actually a dragon, nor is she purple, but she can do art which makes her somewhat useful (but only somewhat). Prpl enjoys hating on all things positive and happy, relishing in her perpetual teen angst as she dreams of the world dying in a fiery (and colorful) explosion of pain and suffering.
One may attempt to get under her skin, however this will only result in agony; for finding new and creative ways to turn your own words against you is a prpldragon specialty. It is uncommon for Prpl to elicit any form of true emotion, leaving her real motives ambiguous; but one thing is certain: she is very, very dangerous.
In August 2017, it was announced that one of their long-standing members, Eljay Johnson, would no longer be a part of the group due to various reasons that will not be discussed here. However, in 2018, Eljay returned via an episode of Ninjagocast.
As for the various shows on the channel:
Art Farts: Members of the group get together and just draw based on a particular theme.
NinjagoCast: A podcast dedicated to the Lego theme Ninjago.
Lego Set Reviews: Reviews of various Lego sets.
TTV Gag Reel: Compilations of the various skits in Eljay's Classic Reviews.
Bionicle Autopsy: A Game Theory-style show hosted by Varderan, where he discusses the various aspects of Bionicle, from the lore to the business decisions.
Eljay's Recap Reviews: Eljay reviews every set released for the line between 2001 and 2010, discussing the various pros and cons, and throwing in humorous skits to supplement each video.
The TTV Podcast: The bread and butter of the group, where the members just get together and talk about the various news surrounding Bionicle and Lego and sometimes take humorous jabs at each other.
The TTV Channel provides examples of:
- April Fools' Day: They always have something lined up for the first of April, which usually involves someone getting the ax.
- This reached its logical conclusion in 2015 when Eljay pretended to make copies of himself, take over the channel,and rename it The TTE Channel.
- Audience Participation: At the end of every Top Ten list, whoever hosted it asks the audience to list their own in the comments or on the TTV Message Boards.
- Art Evolution: The original thumbnail image for the group's YouTube channel was the image of the Three Virtues, but eventually became what it is today.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Jokingly done in one podcast at the expense of Eljay.
- For clarification, the group was waiting for him to purchase the newest Bionicle book so they could begin a show called Bio-Talk Book Club, but Eljay was taking his time, saying he was waiting for enough money to make a bulk purchase. Cue up Var telling Eljay that he'd just get a big box of useless junk in the mail.
- Berserk Button: Not so much berserk as annoyance, but Eljay isn't a fan of red axles and blue pins in most Bionicle sets, saying that they clash with the color scheme.
- For the majority of the group, the Av-Matoran build.
- Big "NO!": Done a lot by Eljay towards Meso in their let's play of the Mata Nui Online Game, usually when Meso wanted to mess around or just wasn't doing as Eljay instructed.
- The Faceless: Eljay's face was always covered by a replica of the Kanohi Miru, as that was his favorite mask.
- Fan Boy: Of Bionicle, duh.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: For Brickfair 2015, they decided to have a video podcast instead of an audio podcast.
- Guide Dang It!: Done a few times when they play a game.
- Or, in the case of Eljay and Meso playing MNOG 1 and 2, Eljay is the guide yelling "Dang it" when Meso messes with him or does something stupid.
- Large Ham: Any one of them could count when they get in the same room together. Look no further than the video podcast for Brickfair 2015.
- Laughing Mad: One comment on the Top 10 TTV Moments of 2015 Video that Var should be voted Most Recognizable Laugh if a TTV Yearbook was ever made. It's just so contagious.
- Mondegreen: Kahi invokes this when he speaks, as he has a tendency to sometimes mispronounce words, like the time he called Ekimu "Ekuvu."
- My God, What Have I Done?: Eljay in the 2015 April Fools video.
- The Reveal: Eljay's face.
- Running Gag: At the beginning of every podcast, at least one person will shout "Mardi Gras!", throwing everyone else off.
- Sudden Name Change: From The Three Virtues to The TTV Channel, as apparently, The Three Virtues was already being used by someone else.
