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Your favourite TOS reactions…

Warped9

Admiral
Admiral
Way back in 1966/67 they had a smart idea to save money by cannibalizing the unaired original pilot, “The Cage,” and building a framing sequence around it, resulting in TOS’ only two-part episode, “The Menagerie.” The enduring joke among fans soon became “watching Star Trek as the characters watch an episode of Star Trek.”

Flash forward decades later and we as fans share our rewatches and opinions online on message boards fostering debate amongst ourselves.

But now during past years we have a generation of people on Youtube sharing their reactions, either edited or in realtime. We are watching other people react as they watch episodes of Star Trek of which we are long familiar. It’s an interesting approach to revisiting an episode, series or film because our main focus is not the production itself, but focussing on someone else’s reaction to seeing something for the first time.

I admit to sometimes finding this entertaining, though largely dependent upon how the reactor approaches the subject matter.

My first extensive reaction watch was following a couple of guys calling themselves the Target Audience. I enjoyed their open-mindedness to TOS and their distinctive perspectives. I followed them all the way through TOS, TAS and their distinctive perspectives films, but bailed soon after their TNG reactions began.

Another I initially found interesting was the Sci-Fi Dog Lady. She was interesting at first, but her TOS videos became sporadic and she changed her format to the point she lost my interest.

Presently I’m following two different reactors I find entertaining and interesting. The first calls herself Bunnytailsreacts. She is enthusiastic and reflective as well as often sensitive to events she is watching onscreen. Presently she is midway through TOS’ third season and she is enjoying it.

Secondly I am also following a guy calling himself Warp Reactor. This guy is a riot as he clearly loves the show and gets into detailed discussions of elements he sees onscreen. He also has a post reaction sequence to his reactions where he looks behind-the-scenes of an episode’s production. In this part he dresses himself up as Q and then later as Trelane. He is fun. He is presently nearing the end of TOS' second season.


So, anyone else into this? does anyone else have any favourite reactors they’re following or even recommend?
 
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I still watch Bunny Tails. I don't mind spending time with her. I also watched a bunch of Target Audience, but not for a while.
 
I won't try to sell people on any of the reactors I watch or even describe their personalities, as I think this is something you've got to judge for yourself. But I prefer reactors who talk a lot about what they're seeing, criticise things and make observations, so there won't be anyone who watches TV passively showing up in my lists.

I've mostly been watching:

But I should try to get around to watching more of:

And these two reacted to 15-20 TOS stories in preparation to watch a complete run of a later show:
 
so there won't be anyone who watches TV passively showing up

Thanks for that list of reactors.

But wait - there are reactors out there who watch TV passively? I mean, you just watch them watching TV? LOL. They must be, as Spock said of Kirk, extremely dynamic individuals.
 
My favorite TOS reaction, for lack of prolific competition, must be the George Takei head-turn.

But I enjoy the TOS episodic blogs from time to time...when there's extra time.
 
But wait - there are reactors out there who watch TV passively? I mean, you just watch them watching TV?
There really are reactors like that, and when I come across one I'm kind of confused about how they have any kind of audience. But hey, people like what they like I guess.
 
I have to say right now, I'm really enjoying IT'S MR. VIDEO'S reactions!

"Kirk's a gangster!!!"

Can't wait 'til he gets up to "A Piece of the Action" to see Kirk actually dressed up as a gangster!

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Yeah, I checked out his reaction to the Motion Picture thinking "Oh man, this is an awkward place to start, I hope it doesn't put him off watching the other movies," and then he liked it so much he went right into the TV show!

Also, Motion Picture works pretty well when it's edited down to reaction length. You get to enjoy the character dynamics and proper sci-fi story without it continually taking long breaks to stare out of a window.
 
I've watched one or two of these, but it feels weird watching people watching things, rather than just watching things.

One thing I found entertaining was watching a young professional musician watching Karen Carpenter, and then Linda Ronstadt, for the very first time - sitting there in awe, discovering what we old folks already knew.
 
I find that a lot of YouTube Reactors start with the movies and then go back to the TV series, if they want to see more of the characters. 35 years ago, that's the way it was with me. I started with the movies, then I started watching the series.

I like seeing all kinds of people react to things I like, not just Star Trek, because I like to see the different perspectives. Especially the perspectives of people watching for the first time who don't know this stuff cold like us. As many different people as possible too, not just from someone who seems like a younger version of myself. Though it still is nice to re-live the experience of watching these for the first time either way.

They'll almost always point out at least something that I never thought of myself after all this time. Or just simply it's something that goes with the territory since I'm watching people from a different generation react.
 
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For me the appeal of reaction videos is:
  1. Getting to experience the episode for the first time again with fresh eyes and a different perspective.
  2. Learning more about how an episode functions (or doesn't) by getting feedback on every conversation and plot development. Seeing what makes them tick.
  3. Watching their edit is much faster than rewatching the whole episode!
Also I just like commentary tracks in general.
 
For me the appeal of reaction videos is:
  1. Getting to experience the episode for the first time again with fresh eyes and a different perspective.
  2. Learning more about how an episode functions (or doesn't) by getting feedback on every conversation and plot development. Seeing what makes them tick.
  3. Watching their edit is much faster than rewatching the whole episode!
Also I just like commentary tracks in general.
All of that, plus: with Bunnytails, Miranda, or Popcorn in Bed, I can almost feel like I'm spending time with a hot chick who in real life would keep walking.
 
At least two of them braved THE THING

“Don’t hurt the dog.”

Popcorn’ almost went to the ceiling herself.
 
At least two of them braved THE THING

“Don’t hurt the dog.”

Popcorn’ almost went to the ceiling herself.
I liked Popcorn in Bed getting startled by the underwater wrecked boat scene in Jaws.

It was reminiscent of the actual theater experience, which I had three times in 1975. There was one girl who flung half her (literal) popcorn into the air.
 
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