Videogum
Encyclopedia
Videogum is a daily Internet publication devoted to coverage of popular culture with a focus on movies, television, and trampoline accidents. Stereogum
founder Scott Lapatine founded Videogum as a sister site to Stereogum
in 2008, and enlisted editors Gabe Delahaye and Lindsay Robertson, who quickly gained a cult following for their humorous commentary on pop culture and the Internet. Videogum has spawned an online community known as the Monsters who continue to perpetuate a variety of internet memes through the site's commentary system, chat, and via Twitter
. The site has subsequently garnered several nominations and accolades, including a win at the 2010 ECNY Awards
for "Best Website."
Videogum has been mentioned in several prominent publications including the New York Times
and inspired segments on TV shows, including Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
.
>.
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
founder Scott Lapatine founded Videogum as a sister site to Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
in 2008, and enlisted editors Gabe Delahaye and Lindsay Robertson, who quickly gained a cult following for their humorous commentary on pop culture and the Internet. Videogum has spawned an online community known as the Monsters who continue to perpetuate a variety of internet memes through the site's commentary system, chat, and via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The site has subsequently garnered several nominations and accolades, including a win at the 2010 ECNY Awards
ECNY Awards
The ECNY Awards were created in 2003 by Derek Gordon to honor rising stars in the New York Comedy world in various genres, including sketch, stand up, improv, musical comedy acts, and video...
for "Best Website."
Recurring Features
- What's Up With Topher Grace?: Perhaps Videogum's most well-known feature where the site periodically checks in to see what is up with actor Topher GraceTopher GraceChristopher John "Topher" Grace is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Eric Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock/Venom in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 3, and Edwin in the 2010 film Predators....
and Grace's current career happenings. On September 22, 2010, Gabe stated that he was ending the feature, on the day of its one-year anniversary. Gabe explained his decision with "I think we’re done here. If even I am losing enthusiasm for this, then I believe I have made my point." He concluded the final column with "Best of luck to Topher Grace and all of the human beings trying to make it in this world."
- You Can Make It Up: A weekly piece of celebrity fan fiction. Unlike most fan fiction, Delahaye's pieces parody the celebrity, incorporating some current embarrassing action or statement from that celebrity. For example, after former model and talk show host Tyra Banks pretended to have rabies on an episode of her show, Delahaye wrote a piece called "Tyra Banks Has Rabies in the Forest," which cast her as a blood-thirsty animal.
- The Hunt for the Worst Movie of All Time: Videogum's longest running feature, in which Gabe attempts to watch as many reader-nominated films as he can in an attempt to find the worst. Often referred to simply as "The Hunt," the inspiration for this feature came from Gabe's feelings after watching the film Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon. There are many rules governing what films may be nominated including availability on Netflix, whether or not it is "intended" to be horrible, and inclusion of "A- or B-list" actors, among others.
- Why Don't You Caption It: Feature in which the site's commenters are encouraged to create their own caption for an absurd or funny photo selected by the editor. The comment with the most upvotes gets special placement in that week's Monsters' Ball.
- Teen Korner: A satirical commentary on teenage trends and interests written in slang.
- Taking One for the Team: This most recent addition features author and comedian Joe Mande participating in activities or attending events that would generally be mocked on Videogum. This feature has seen Joe performing many tasks, such as reading Glenn Beck's The Overton Window and attending a live taping of The Marriage Ref.
- Movies For Dudes: A weekly feature in which Gabe Liedman takes on the genre of Dude Flicks, where guns, pecs, car crashes and glib one-liners delivered in front of a burning building with only half a t-shirt on and nothing left to lose reign supreme. Gabe Liedman loves those movies for so many reasons, all of which are that they turn him ON.
- Best New Party Game: A semi-regular feature in which Gabe establishes a contest generally themed around cinematic wordplay or parodies of popular film quotes. The site's commenters can vote for their favorites, and the winner is mentioned in the Monsters' Ball.
- Monsters' Ball: The Week's Best Comments: This weekly feature compiles the 5 highest rated comments (rated by the Monsters themselves), the lowest rated comment, the Why Don't You Caption It winner, and an Editor's Choice comment.
- Videogum Movie Club: On weeks which see the major theatrical release of a movie relevant to the site's interests, Gabe posts a short review and open discussion of the film is encouraged in the comments section.
- Duh Aficionado Magazine: Not an official site feature but a very common recurring theme. The title is usually given to posts which feature news that serves to reaffirm the generally held belief about the subject.
- Videogum Promise: Videogum has promised to diligently follow a select listing of celebrities and post any interesting interviews or news relating to them. Currently the promise has been made for the following celebrities: Tracy MorganTracy MorganTracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
, Louis C.K., Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
.
- Videogum Archives: Includes, "The TWSS Archives" and "The Porno Switcheroo Archives." "The TWSS Archives" highlight typical That's What She Said moments in which someone makes an unintended sexual innuendo while "The Porno Switcheroo Archives" highlight instances where actual pornography is unintentionally shown in public.
- True Blood Recaps: A weekly column where Gabe reviews that week’s episode of True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
which he lovingly refers to as The Worst Show On Television.
- Top Chef Recaps: A weekly column where Gabe recaps that week’s episode of Top ChefTop ChefTop Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
.
- Glee Recaps: A weekly column where guest author Gabe Liedman (informally Soft Gabe) recaps that week’s episode of GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
.
- Mad Men Recaps: A weekly column recapping that week’s episode of Mad MenMad MenMad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
. This column is usually written by Benji Meyer, a 10-year-old who lives with his parents in Ohio. However, when Benji isn't forced to watch Mad Men and is allowed to go to bed early, Gabe writes the recap.
Former features
- Double Dog: The predecessor to "Taking One for the Team," these posts featured either Gabe or Lindsay completing challenges presented to them by the other. Some examples include Gabe attending a taping of Today and Lindsay taking a TV Bus Tour of New York City while alone and wearing a "Just JackJack McFarlandJohn Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
" T-shirt.
- Friday Fights: A feature during Lindsay's tenure in which she and Gabe engaged in a debate formatted as an IMInstant messagingInstant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
conversation. This feature was briefly revisited with Gabe and RichFourFour debating the merits of InceptionInceptionInception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
for the Videogum Movie Club.
- Lost Recaps: Gabe recapped episodes of the popular ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
show LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
until its final episode in May, 2010.
- The Event Recaps: Gabe recapped episodes of the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
show The EventThe Event (TV series)The Event is an American television series containing elements of science fiction, action/adventure and political allegory. The show was created by Nick Wauters, and premiered on NBC on September 20, 2010...
until Gabe realized the Event stinks and was not the new Lost.
Recent
In 2009 Lindsay Robertson left the site, leaving Gabe Delahaye as the sole voice of the site.Videogum has been mentioned in several prominent publications including the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and inspired segments on TV shows, including Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
.
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