Zogg From Betelgeuse
is an educational YouTube channel by Martin Kuppe, which attempts to explain human behavior from an alien's standpoint. The series ran for 13 episodes before it was cancelled on June 30, 2014 where no new content would emerge for 7 solar cycles until it was Un-Canceled in late March 2022.
Zogg From Betelgeuse provides examples of:
- Aliens Steal Cattle: Some indeed do.
- All Psychology Is Freudian: Earthling activity is dominated by the Beast, the Niggler, and the Ego.
- This was later replaced with a revised version that details two entities that control the mind, the Guesser and the Ponderer.
- Ancient Astronauts: Information Smugglers try to give the Egyptians the value of Pi in exchange for the recipe for beer. Too bad they've already used their great mathematical wealth to build the pyramids.
- The smugglers try their luck again with the Babylonians, to no avail.
- After returning to Egypt, they meet Euclid and promptly give up, never to return again.
- Couch Gag: Each episode starts with a different UFO approaching Earth and often foreshadows the topic or a story to come.
- Humans Are Special: Earthlings Are Special: Justified as Earth does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Galactic Bureaucracy and is the reason why Zogg has intrigue of the planet's lore and history.
- Earthlings Through Alien Eyes: The premise of the show.
- Insistent Terminology: Brain Suckers are not parasites. They are "Authoritative Symbionts".
- Once an Episode: Three segments: "Tips for Tourists," "Strategic Advice," and "Scientific Advice."
- A more recent segment that joined the series after it's 2022 revival is "Orbital Solutions," which appears to be a jab at how more recent videos will sponsor bigger companies.
- Panspermia: This is the In-Universe explanation of Earth life's origins, via a lost torpedo in the Squid War.
- Shout-Out:
- The show's Running Gag: "Except for... the microbes."
Microbes: Eyyehaheahehahahaaa!- Zogg mentions a "popular fictional work about an underage girl having a relationship with a vampire six times her age" when explaining the Vampires Are Sex Gods trope.
- An incident involving Xenu and Cthulhu are used to explain the Prisoner's Dilemma.
- My Little Pony is used as an example when explaining online groups.
- Spaceship Slingshot Stunt. The In-Universe explanation as to why it took 7 solar cycles for the series to be Un-Canceled? Zogg wanted to experiment with this trope near a black hole, but his calculations fail to account that time moves slower in black holes, forcing him to fight this error for 7 solar cycles from our POV.
- Take That!: Religious leaders and groups often get this treatment.
- "Disembodied thetans and mad cultists" obviously refer to the members of the Church of Scientology.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Discussed in Episode 3 and Earthlings 101, which explains why this trope occurs from a biological standpoint.
- Vast Bureaucracy: The Galactic Bureaucracy.
