Reacting To Our First TV Show

- Look, we had to start somewhere. - Let's talk about that. (upbeat music). Good mythical morning. - Now there's a growing number of cringe compilations. and reaction videos online, and we thought, "Hey, we can cringe too, see.". So we decided to jump on that bandwagon. - Yeah, but we don't feel great. about cringing at other people's videos. if we're not willing to cringe at ourselves first.

And then I remembered a specific stack. of old DVDs that I'd hidden in a shoe box. - Now, listen, we have done a lot. of cringe-worthy stuff over the decades of making videos, but I think that what you're about to see. with us represents the highest concentration. of cringe-inducing content. that we've ever been involved with. - Yeah I gave the stack. of old DVDs to the team to digitize them. and we've still not seen what they found, but we know that we're not ready for it. - But I'm sure you are,

so let's get it over with. It's time for, (graphics whooshing) (upbeat music). "Watching Our Old TV Show May Be a Cringe-a-rama: We Might Need Our Binkies & Calls. From Our Mommas.". Oh, Momma. (graphics whooshing) All right, back in 2007, way back, way back in 2007, this was a long time ago. - Where were you in 2007? - When YouTube was still in its awkward toddler phase, and we apparently were too, even though we literally had toddlers at the time, the CW Network cast us as co-hosts. of a clip show called "Online Nation.". - "Online Nation.".

- It aired on television, which was something special. They flew us out to LA to shoot it, which was something special. And the show aired for less than a month. before it was canceled. because the show itself was really something special. - Here's how it would work. Basically people would send. in their own original internet videos, sketches, whatever, and then we, as two of the hosts, would introduce them. It was basically like if YouTube. and "America's Funniest Home Videos" had a baby. and that baby also lived inside.

of a '90s music compilation CD commercial. - You know the ones. Okay, so these clips we're about to see were selected. by the Mythical crew. And Stevie, if I understand this correctly, you have also not seen these, right? - [Stevie] I have not seen them yet, but the Mythical crew wrote setups. and intros for me to read, so I will-. - Okay, but you know what, you know about this, this era of our past. - Yeah, the only clips I've seen are like. easy to find representations. of this show, but I have not seen any deeper.

I didn't go into your DVD set. So I'm pretty sure this is gonna be a cringe for everybody. - And I never have either, but I know-. - Yeah, this is stuff I haven't seen since we recorded it. - I know there was eight episodes. that I gave to the crew, which means there's-. - Well, we recorded eight episodes, but four of them made it on television. and the show was canceled. - And then four were never seen by the public. until right now. - That's pretty awesome. - Yeah, oh, is it? - Yeah, well. - Pretty awesome, okay. - [Stevie] Okay. (Link cringing). - Okay, many clips shows begin. with the hosts introducing themselves.

along with a quick, funny one-liner. and then very naturally throwing to a clip. - Oh god. (laughs). - [Stevie] Sounds simple enough. Let's see how you guys handle it back in 2007. I'm told it's all very natural. - We're Rhett and Link, better known on the internet as... - Uh, Rhett and Link. - I'm Rhett, he's Link. - We are armed and ready to bring the internet experience. to your TV. (Link laughing). - Just think of us as partners. - Because without you creating and uploading content. with your own unique perspective,

we'd just be another ordinary show. - In addition to sending in content, you'll also be able to provide feedback. and viewer responses to the videos you see. - I can't look at it. - But enough babble, you get it. You're uploading them, we're finding them. So let's get watching. (static vibrating). - It's like staring (Link laughing). at the sun, but like, (crew laughing) but like a dark sun. that steals your soul. - Yeah, yeah. - Like, what? I just... There's a lot that we can say. about our physical appearances. - Yeah, let's start with this first clip. Okay... - [Stevie] We're gonna have a special fashion section, I've been told.

- We'll just go with hair then. - [Stevie] Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. - I have a mullet. (crew laughing). I mean, you can see from this side. and I've got lamb chops. - Those sideburns are nice. - I got like lamb chop sideburns there. - And my beard was doing the only thing that it could do, which was just hold the bottom half of my face intact. - Holding on for dear life. (Rhett laughing). - [Stevie] Did you have a teleprompter? Did they feed you the lines right before... - Oh, it was a teleprompter. - There was a teleprompter on a crane. - On a crane. - And it, you know, it's like. it was always moving a little bit.

- And the camera was very far away. I mean, like, it was very far away. It was at least 20 feet. At the closest, it would get 20 feet away. and they would zoom in on us. and the teleprompter was really big, and we would just like kinda walk into, and of course you could see. I had kind of adopted this like, I'm serious. (crew laughing). You know what I'm saying? - And I adopted this, I'm here too. (Rhett laughing) (crew laughing). Now, a couple things I'll notice.

Can you cue up the part where we describe. how the whole thing is supposed to work? - Just think of us as partners. - Because without you creating and uploading. - Okay, stop it. First of all, you said... - Think of us as partners. - Like, what? - Everybody was already doing that. (laughs). - We're gay together. - Yeah, that's right. They are gay, right? - Together. - I mean, listen, all these lines were written for us. In fact, what we would do is we would take, they would send us the scripts. and we would sit in the hotel room. at the Beverly Garland Hotel.

- Yes. I remember this. - And we would rewrite the-. - Before the... Yes. - Every single thing. - We wrote. - Every single thing we would rewrite. - [Stevie] Oh, so you're claiming this? - [Unison] No, no, no! - Then they would let us do it. - We would- - And then they'd. never once use anything we wrote. Never once. - [Stevie] Oh, that's smart. That's smart. - They would only use the thing the network wrote. - Here's what they said. What they said was, "Well, we still want you to do the original script. but then we'll also do yours.". And that's what they told us. But then when we watched it on television, it never included any ever. - So actually, we would always record twice as many things.

and it was just so that they couldn't tell us, no. - Think of us as partners. - [Stevie] You had to be be super nervous. - It was a big set. - [Stevie] It was intimidating. - It was a little overwhelming. - It wasn't a green screen. Everything you see was actually there. It was built. It just looked like it was green screened. - Right, it was a white set with all this stuff. - Like that lattice behind us. - [Rhett] And that awesome computer. - So play after we're partners, how we said what our jobs were in this. - Just think of us as partners. - Because without you creating and uploading content.

with your own unique perspective, we'd just be another ordinary show. - In addition to sending in content, you'll also be able to provide feedback. and viewer responses to the videos you see. - But enough babble, you get it. You're uploading them, we're finding them, so let's get watching. - Enough babble, you get it. - You get it. You get it. - We actually do work here. besides reading the teleprompter. - Yeah, right. I've got the mic and I've got the computer monitor. That's all we need. - [Stevie] Can you repeat the last word you said. in that clip, Link? - So let's get watching. (static vibrating). - Let's get watching. - Watching. - Watching. - That was just me...

- [Stevie] Oh, flare, that was some flare that you like. - Yeah, me throwing some flare in there. - You still do that. - Watching. (crew laughing). - That's something you brought into the new era. - Well, I will say that in the single of you, look, you're staring into oblivion. Like, you were dead inside. - I look like I know I'm reading the lines. that they're going to use. You know what I'm saying? Like you're not gonna use, you're not gonna use what I stayed up. until 1:30 AM last night writing. You're gonna use what that dude wrote. that we never met. (laughs). - You look angry and totally dead inside.

- [Stevie] Angry. You look angry. - [Rhett] Yeah, yeah, yeah. - [Stevie] Okay, as seamlessly as possible, I'm going to usher us into these next clips, which all have to do. with seamless transitions between segments. These are moments where you had to segue. from one clip to another. and I've been told they're really good. and not at all embarrassing. - Okay. (rock music). - Warning, what you're about to see took a lot. of planning and supervision. - Don't try this at home or anywhere really. (digital tones beeping). - One of my favorite movies has always been. "Saving Plastic Ryan.".

- You just said plastic. - Yeah. (Rhett laughing). History is full of great debates. - Paper versus plastic. - Ninjas versus pirates. - Comb-overs versus mullets. - But the greatest of them all. - Mac versus PC. (static vibrating). Now that is art. (cymbals clanging). (upbeat music). - What's the most obvious way to stop traffic? - A red light. - An invisible rope. (Rhett laughing) (static vibrating). - You know there's nothing that spices up a lame party. like a good fight. - And hopefully somebody brings a video camera.

(digital tones beeping). - Our next upload from a group. of filmmakers in Brooklyn, New York. - Brooklyn! (Rhett laughing) (crew laughing). - You got it! You got the Brooklyn! Man, why was I so mad? - I remember it. - What was I mad about? It was like a dream come true. It was a dream come true. I seriously remember it, 'cause you know, we went from just two guys working. in a basement in Lillington, North Carolina. making these YouTube videos, to doing this.

- To going back to the basement. - Right, but during that short period of time. where this was happening, I would wake up in the morning. and then like 30 minutes after waking up, I would be like, "We're hosting a television show on television.". And I would think, "That's really cool.". - This is also a pretty cringey. - Well, yeah, now that I see it. but at the time it felt incredible. And I actually thought that we looked cool. (Stevie laughing). - Apparently we're not getting to our looks yet. but can we, let's analyze our desk for a second.

We share one laptop. - Well, I think that's my laptop. and you just doodle. (laughs). - I have paperweights, knick-knacks, and notepads that are turned the wrong direction. - And there's a server back there. That's a whole server. - Server rack, yeah. - [Stevie] I honestly didn't even understand. that they were going for an office type of look. until you just said that. - Yeah, it's like these guys are making the show. as they're talking to you about the clips. - It's like a TMZ kind of thing. - All right. (crew laughing).

I mean we're partners. - Think of us as partners. - [Rhett] Yeah. - [Stevie] Okay, what did you just say. in the one clip where you give the look? I mean, all your looks are very intense, Rhett, but there's one throw. - The invisible rope was really great. - [Stevie] Invisible rope, invisible rope. Can we see that one one more time? - What's the most obvious way to stop traffic? - A red light. - An invisible rope. (all laughing). - Bruh! - Invisible rope, that might be my best moment.

(Link laughing) That's my finest moment. - An invisible rope. - [Rhett] An invisible rope. - [Stevie] Can we try it now? (laughs). - What's the most obvious way to stop traffic? - A red light. - (chuckles) An invisible rope. - No, I think you turned to the camera. - [Stevie] Yeah, you have to, yeah. - A red light. - An invisible rope, duh. - Nah, better then, much better then. - It's tough to capture the magic. - How else should we cringe at ourselves, Stevie? - [Stevie] Okay, this is the fashion part.

We've finally gotten to the fashion part. - Finally, I've been taken by the fashion. - [Stevie] So we've talked, we've made fun of 2000 style on a show a lot, not enough though. Not enough. So the crew has chosen what I believe are screenshots, as far as I can tell, of different outfits that you were wearing. and I need you to explain why. So this is the first one. - [Rhett] Look at that face.

Oh, just right from the beginning. Look at the face I'm making. (crew laughing) - [Link] I mean that eyebrow. had to have gotten sore. - [Rhett] I was riding that eyebrow way too hard. - [Link] And I'm taller than you in the shot. - Okay, but look at the patterns. Now, those patterns looked great in 2007. Like Link's t-shirt was so tight. you could just, it almost looks like it was painted on. And then my embroidery that was going down my shoulder. - You liked that. You had some of that on your own, but this was the first time we ever had. a wardrobe person.

- Gordon. - No, it wasn't. His name wasn't Gordon. It was Walden. - Walden Neal. - And he had an accent. - [Rhett] Walden Neal. - Walden. - And he came up. So this is the first time I ever heard this. So you know how when you need to take. like a brand or something that's written-. - A logo. - You need to change it and so you Greek it. - [Stevie] Yeah. - He said, "You geek it." (laughs). And he was like, "We're gonna need to geek that.". - We've got some geeking we need to do right here. - You got to geek that. And so we thought for the first-. - Leave it to Walden. - Five years in this business,

we would say, "We've got to geek that.". (crew laughing). - We didn't... - We didn't know. - [Stevie] Can we geek your entire shirt? (laughs). (Rhett laughing). - Yeah, the shirt is entirely geeked out. Let's see another one. - [Stevie] Yeah, this next one, you're not even gonna see much of a difference. (laughs). - Wow, it's the same thing, just different. - I would wear a t-shirt. with lots of geeked up stuff on it. and you'd wear a geeked up button-up. - Why did I have so many undershirts? I mean, the shirt on top is bad enough. but why you got to put a t-shirt underneath it? - Watch out now, Brooklyn! - [Stevie] This next one is great.

'cause you're sitting down and that's the... Yep, here we go. - [Link] Sitting down. - [Rhett] Okay, now I went t-shirt. over long sleeve shirt. - This is the most normal we looked at. - I believe that might even be a shirt that you owned. - I actually think that's the shirt that we cut. in the belly button music video. I think I actually wore it. - [Stevie] It looks familiar, yeah. - I think this is the best. - It had geeking all over the back. - This is the best wardrobe for both of us. - [Stevie] I know. - Link might dress like that. 'cause it's a normal plaid, and I just have a t-shirt over a long sleeve shirt. I do that all the time. (chuckles).

- [Stevie] Okay, this one, this next one, we go back to the shirt that you wanted to talk about. - [Link] Yes, Lord, thank you for bringing this back up. First of all, Rhett, you're going western wear. - I remember. I remember when Walden said, "Why don't we tuck? Let's tuck.". And I was like, "Hey man, I'm in Hollywood, I'll tuck.". (Link laughing). I didn't know. I couldn't say no to anything. You suggested something to me, I was like, "I guess that's what they do in Hollywood.". - The belt, big old belt buckle. - Big old belt buckle, I remember that belt buckle. - [Stevie] It's also like, it looks like you're grabbing your.

all the material available. in the crotch section and just pulling it up. a little bit. (laughs). - Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing, but let's talk about Link. 'cause I've never seen anyone do that. - [Stevie] And Link, is that one shirt or two? - Okay. - Is that a... What do you call that? A dickie. - This is my moment, so shut up. (Rhett laughing). Don't steal my thunder because this is, this is my idea. I started, I was like, "I gotta dude dressing me. I can come up with things.". I was like, "You know what I wanna do?

I wanna wear a t-shirt, but I want a collar to come out of it.". I don't wanna wear a collared shirt underneath it, I just want the collar to come out of a t-shirt. And he was like, "Oh, a dickie.". (Rhett laughing). And I'm like, "Yeah, a dickie". - [Stevie] So this was your request. - It was my idea. - [Stevie] Idea. - I reinvented the dickie. And I wore this. - It didn't catch on. - I wore this and then I remember. when we were done filming, we went out to dinner and I liked this dickie so much,

(laughs) I wore it out to dinner. I have pictures of us in public with me wearing this. - I wonder if I kept my shirt tucked in. for that dinner. - I mean, yeah, we were taking risks, man. You know? We had made it. - We felt like this is what we were supposed to be doing. No regrets. - [Stevie] You know what actually is a good idea? - What? - [Stevie] The Mythical Snackiverse. Lunchbox & Thermos Set. - Yeah, that's right. - You don't want to regret missing out. on the Mythical Snackiverse Lunchbox & Thermos Set.

It's right over there. - Listen, you gotta join 3rd Degree. quarterly or annual Mythical Society. by the end of this month, okay? And there's a lot of other stuff going on. over there in the Mythical Society. If you wanna see us react to other videos, we do this what we're doing right now, we do that with our old videos. and other videos over on the Mythical Society. Gotta join 3rd Degree to watch. our Society-exclusive series, "Rhett & Link React.". Go over there, MythicalSociety.com. - Stevie, I remember we had an exchange. Was it on El Tat when we were making fun of Brooklyn.

- [Stevie] Yeah, yeah. - So we have watched some of these clips. on El Tat. - [Stevie] Well, some of them lived. on a special place on the server. and they were just very short clips, but we had never gotten our hands on the DVDs. So yeah, we've talked about some. of the things, I believe, in this next set of clips. because there's a reference to hands and eyebrows. This next set is all. about interesting physical performances. So, let's take a look.

- [Rhett] Right, taking risks. (upbeat music). - Hey, we're swimming laps. - I'm not, you are. - Well, swimming is not just for the pool anymore. As these viewsers from Atlanta demonstrate. - I'm mad. - And here's some more hand talent. - But before attempting this at home, crack your knuckles. (digital tones buzzing). Here's a viewer-user. - Or viewser. - With his own style of street magic. - With my crazy schedule of watching videos, making videos, commenting on videos, searching for videos,

taking care of a pet is nearly impossible. and I've flushed my fair share of goldfish. - Lucky for you, you're not a goldfish. - (laughs) Is that how you hold a dog? - Hold on. Here's my theory. - You hold a dog like a forklift? - My theory is that they gave you the dog. and you were like, "I'm gonna do this. where I can still talk with my hands.". That was a choice. - I gotta talk with my hands. - They did not direct you to do that. And they were like, "You know what? Link's different, let him do it." (laughs). (all laughing). - And they invented the term viewser.

and thought that was a good idea. - They thought that viewser would really catch on. - You know, viewer user, viewser. You know what we're getting at here. This is how I hold a dog. (laughs). - I'm not, you are. (laughs). - (laughs) You were so angry. - Look how mad I am. I would never swim across set. (both laughing). Hey, that is a cool shirt though. That... (crew laughing). - Two guys riding an elephant. - I think that's my favorite shirt of all the shirts, now that I see that one. - [Stevie] Finally, we thought you may want.

to take this opportunity to get. a little "Online Nation" redemption. - Is that a new show? (laughs). - [Stevie] So we've set up a green screen. I mean the "Online Nation" set, tracked down some wardrobe you may be familiar with, and put a little something, something in a teleprompter. that's not on a jib though. I think what we're getting at here is, we're going to have you play a little "Online Nation". in 2021, you know what I'm saying?

(crew laughing). (air whooshing). Okay, guys, nothing to be nervous about. Everything's in prompter. You got this. - Redemption time. - [Stevie] Here we go. (upbeat music). - Hey, we're Rhett and Link. - History is full of great debates. - Paper versus plastic. - Over expressive eyebrows versus duck lips. - Bangs versus chin strap goatees. - Big old belt buckles versus Affliction t-shirts. - And in case you're wondering,

I do know how to properly hold a dog. - And one of my favorite movies is "Saving Private Ryan". because that's a real movie. - Brooklyn. (crew clapping). (crew cheering). - We did it man! Look at us! - Yeah, man, that felt good. - We look good, we sound good. - CW Network... - Here we come! - Thanks for subscribing and clicking that bell. - You know what time it is. - This is Morin from Tehran, Iran.

I'm studying psychology. Next semester, I'll be graduated. I'm at my university here. and it's time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality. - Congratulations. Click the top link to watch us reveal. some other crazy canceled TV shows. you've probably never heard of. in "Good Mythical More.". - And to find out where. the Wheel of Mythicality's gonna land. Get the latest quarterly collectible item, the Mythical Snackiverse Lunchbox & Thermos Set. by joining the Mythical Society 3rd Degree. quarterly or annual plan by March 31st. Visit MythicalSociety.com.