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Televoid!

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Televoid! (Web Video)

"I bet you're wondering who I am, where I am, what this show is all about and how I get all these old TV shows and videos on my TV? Let me explain. My name is Ian and I'm...(ERROR)...Now that you know everything you need to know about Televoid, let's watch some TV!"
-Ian, First Episode

Televoid! is a series of reactions to old television shows and instructional videos created by Brutalmoose in 2016.

Unlike his normal reviews, Televoid! contains somewhat of a plot, and features much darker fare. From the very beginning of the first episode, it quickly becomes clear that something is very wrong. For one, the setting of the series is a sparsely decorated, pure black room with only a couch, a potted plant, and an old television in it. And, furthermore, the video glitches out when Ian attempts to explain the series at the beginning of the first episode.

It only gets stranger and creepier from there. Ian meets strange figures and objects that appear in the room as if by magic, and it eventually becomes clear there is some unknown force in control of him that glitches his reality whenever he tries to resist.

It's also Presented In COLOR.

List of episodes:

The series 'Brutalfoods' would also feature a mini-crossover with the series in the episode 'TGI Friday's Frozen Foods'

This show provides examples of:

  • Accidental Innuendo: Averted In-Universe. Ian quickly clarifies that the song about 'loving' time with the instructor in Episode 1 is about bikes.
  • Ambiguous Ending: The final episode ends with Frank The Fox walking through an unknown static-y door, and Ian cautiously watching on. Did Ian walk through the door? Did Ian finally escape the Televoid? We'll never know.
  • Ambiguous Situation: The entire premise of the show, but more specifically, all of episode 5. Are the Ians in the two different rooms different people, or the same person but the one in the white room is a dream of the one in the black room? Did Ian get killed by someone or something- most likely whatever was keeping him in the room, kill himself, or let someone or something kill him?
  • And Now for Someone Completely Different: Possibly. The beginning of episode 5 shows a much more cheerful Ian in a white room instead of the previous black, and given the cuts back to the black room at the end of the episode, it's possible this Ian is a completely different person. Maybe.
  • And I Must Scream: Ian's life in the Televoid seems like this, as he is constantly bombarded with strange events, pain from an unknown higher power, and forced to wait endlessly between videos in an empty black void with no friends or TV to entertain himself. Ian says he doesn't even get to sleep and time doesn't flow normally inside this world. Even death isn't a way out, as after he dies a horrific death, Safety Woman brings him back to life for him to suffer more.
  • Back from the Dead: Ian is brought back to life by the 'Safety Woman' in Episode 5.
  • Blood from the Mouth: The Ian in the black room is seen with this at the end of episode 5, following several brief flashes of it on the Ian in the white room that all quickly vanished. In addition, judging by his coughing at the end of the video, it's possible it started in episode 4.
  • Breaking Old Trends: Episode 6 is the first episode to cover 2 old films instead of just one.
  • The Bus Came Back: Frank The Fox and the babies re-appear in Episode 5 after being absent for over a year.
  • Call-Back: In the opening of Episode 4, we see the 'STOOP' sign from Episode 2.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Ian retains this quality from his main videos, often making snide remarks at the expense of the characters in the show he's watching.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: The sections where the camera is off are filmed in black and white.
  • Disguised Horror Story: The series initially seems to be an ordinary TV review show, but eventually spirals into horror.
  • Double Meaning:
    • The second Ian on the TV says the game 'race your baby' is the only game where it's ok if your child is 'racist'. This is a pun on 'race' meaning both speed and ethnicity.
    • Stinky the Skunk tells Ian to 'reflect' which means both memory and to use the TV's reflection.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The pilot episode, focusing on an episode of Beat the Clock, lacked much of the Ontological Mystery elements of the series proper and used a different set as well as lacking the intro song entirely. Considering comments from the creator and the fact it was removed from the show's playlist on YouTube, it can be assumed it isn't canon.
  • Eldritch Location: The series appears to be set in one.
  • Faux Symbolism: In-Universe. Ian points out that the shield of 'Safety Woman' looks like a Jewish menorah, despite this having no relevance to the plot.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Ian says he 'doesn't have a computer' in Episode 1, which should be a clear hint this isn't the real creator and this series is a Disguised Horror Story.
    • The First Episode's bicycle safety PSA is produced by 'Cough and Cold Pediatrics' which is more significant when he ends up coughing up blood in Episode 4.
    • Episode 4 shows women emerging from a television screen before the intro, just as 'Safety Woman' will do next episode.
    • There is an old advert for cigarettes shown before the intro for Episode 4, which hints at him coughing up blood and dying at the end of the episode.
    • When static appears in the beginning to cut off Ian not knowing what the film is about, he grabs his chest and groans after coming back with information, showing the static is harming him, hinting at his death at the end of the episode.
    • In Episode 4, Ian says he feels scared by Patricia's ownership of Stinky the skunk, which hints at Ian being trapped himself by a higher power.
    • In Episode 4, Stinky is horribly killed by dogs, hinting at Ian's own death later.
    • In Episode 4, Ian wonders what it would be like if he was 'just thoughts inside someone's head' which hints the next episode is just a Dying Dream.
    • In Episode 5, the background is white instead of black, hinting at the dream and afterlife.
    • In Episode 6, the advert before the intro shows the trick Ian later uses at the party.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you pause in Episode 3 when Ian looks at his fan mail, you can see an email about how 'they' are in control and are going to take over the world.
  • Fun with Subtitles: In Episode 5 when Ian wakes up at the end and swears silently, the subtitles say 'Fiddlesticks'.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Considering Ian doesn't remember how he got in the room, it's likely this trope is in effect. In addition, some comments from the Ian in the white room in episode 5 indicates perhaps it goes a bit farther than that.
  • Mind Screw: The entire series is one at times, but especially the ends of episodes, in which glitches disrupt Ian's readings of emails from fans, a character from or like one from the show he just watched comes to interact with him, or it becomes clear his health is deteriorating.
  • Messy Hair: Ian's interview of the first Baby Game baby in episode 5 causes him this. The second turns his eyes visibly tired, and the third results in Blood from the Mouth.
  • Mood Whiplash: Frequent and drastic. The show can go from fairly cheerful and funny to horror in a matter of seconds.
  • No Fourth Wall: Ian is not only fully aware of the audience watching him, but looks forward to their presence and frequently showcases fan art from them and letters emailed in, though said emails aren't always the same between what shows up on screen for a split second and what he reads out.
  • Ominous Visual Glitch: Frequent, and as the show progresses, it starts to seem the glitches are actually physically harming Ian.
  • Ontological Mystery: The whole show is one framed with reactions to old media.
  • Surprisingly Creepy Moment: At the end of episode 3, another Ian on the television starts introducing a game show that consists of racing baby dolls, which come to life in an unsettling, jerky stop motion style that even disturbs Ian.
  • Tomato Surprise: The series at first seems to be a regular review series by Brutalmoose in a dark room, but eventually is revealed to be about a fictional version of him trapped in a black void and controlled by a higher power.
  • Time Skip: One seems to be implied between episodes 3 and 4, as at the start of episode 4, Ian's hair has grown much longer and it's clear he's rather sickly, or at the least hasn't slept much.
  • Values Dissonance: In-Universe. Ian often comments on attitudes that haven't aged well in the old programs.
  • White Void Room: Despite the typical setting being a black version of this trope, the white one appears in episode 5 before switching back to the old black one at the end of the episode.

"Well, that's all for today! I'll see you next time. I'll be right here, just...kind of waiting..."

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