The Best YouTube Channels
You may pay for YouTube Premium because of its ad-free experience that lets you binge without break, but the service would be nothing without its best shows. From amazing video game documentaries to painful eating challenge contests to original narrative shows, YouTube has everything you could ask for. Here are our favorite shows, along with some of their must-watch episodes. Credit: Adam Savage’s Tested
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Noclip (Sep 2016 to present)
Helmed by games media veteran Danny O'Dwyer, Noclip is a documentary channel that chronicles how some of the biggest video games in the world got made. The channel offers enthralling deep dives on such major titles as Doom, Fallout 76 and Half-Life, while also delivering smaller clips that spotlight indie studios and gaming communities. If you want to know the stories behind your favorite games — and get to know the developers that made them possible — Noclip is a must-follow. — Mike Andronico
DOOM Documentary: Part 1 - To Hell
Binging With Babish (Feb 10, 2016 to present)
Food and TV are so universally beloved that it's shocking it took this long for a show like Binging with Babish to take off. In the series, amateur cook and pop culture connoisseur Andrew Rea re-creates dishes from his favorite shows and other projects, including the maple bacon pancakes from Adventure Time, the banana pudding pizza from Doug and the Teamsters' sandwich from 30 Rock.
And, yes, sometimes he features culinary abominations — such as the Every-Meat Burrito from Regular Show — that were never meant to be eaten by real people. So, in those cases, Rea attempts to use his cooking smarts to fix the dish, and make it actually great. Which the Rum French Toast from Mad Men and the Trifle from Friends really needed. — Henry T. Casey
Binging with Babish: Rachel's Trifle from Friends
Up Up Down Down (Jun 15, 2015 to present)
It's time to play the games, as Up Up Down Down gives Austin Creed (better known as WWE Superstar Xavier Woods) and his fellow pro wrestlers a chance to show off their gaming chops. And, yes, even if you don't watch Monday Night Raw (it's not for everyone), I'm sure you'll find the over-the-top enthusiasm of Creed and his fellow gamers infectious. Whether you're laughing at how upset crossfit nerd Seth Rollins gets over sports games or geeking out with anime fan Sasha Banks while she talks Sailor Moon, you're going to laugh. And maybe, you'll see these athletes as multi-faceted human beings, and not the shallow, two-dimensional steroidal weirdos that you might find synonymous with pro wrestling. — Henry T. Casey
MADDEN CHAMPIONS MATCH: SETH ROLLINS vs. KOFI KINGSTON - Gamer Gauntlet
Hot Ones (March 12, 2015 to present)
You may not know Sean Evans, but after watching a single episode of Hot Ones, you'll respect his iron stomach. Each episode is filled with "hot questions and even hotter wings," as guest after guest is asked a question after they eat a chicken wing (or tofu substitute) that's been cooked in a spicier sauce than the one they just ate. And by the end of the 10-wing gauntlet, guests such as Jeff Goldblum, Abbi and Ilana of Broad City, Chrissy Teigen and Michael B. Jordan have suffered more pain than any press junket they've ever handled.
Seriously, one of the hot sauces they use is called Da' Bomb: Beyond Insanity, which packs 119,700 Scoville Units of heat. So, if you want to watch as Gordon Ramsay curses his way through straight fire food, press play right now. — Henry T. Casey
Michael B. Jordan Gets Knocked Out By Spicy Wings | Hot Ones
How to Be a Great Game Master (Aug. 13, 2014 to present)
Guy Sclanders' self-explanatory channel has relatively niche appeal, but if you're part of that niche, it's nearly perfect content. How to Be a Great Game Master teaches you how to run excellent tabletop role-playing games. And with a channel name like that, what else could you expect? But as any experienced GM knows, greatness is a moving target, as you and your players become more experienced and start craving deeper, more intricate stories with more complex rules. Sclanders, with his gentle demeanor, patient instruction and pleasant South African accent, makes even difficult concepts feel approachable and fun, from creating your own setting from scratch to crafting the perfect villain. — Marshall Honorof
How to be a Good DM - Running Your First Game - DM Tips
Trekspertise (Aug. 27, 2014 to present)
There's no shortage of YouTube channels to deal with the minutiae of Star Trek. But where Trekspertise sets itself apart from the herd is that it's not really interested in nitpicking continuity, or creating fan films. Instead, Trekspertise sets out to analyze every "big idea" sci-fi trope in the series, from the rate at which the Borg assimilate sentient species, to the varying types of artificial intelligence portrayed on the show, from Data to the Emergency Medical Hologram, and beyond. In addition to creator Kyle Sullivan's measured delivery and solid video production, Trekspertise also simply captures the imaginative, inquisitive spirit of Star Trek better than any other show on YouTube. — Marshall Honorof
Artificial Intelligence In Sci-Fi
Keloid (July 13, 2017 to Aug. 24, 2017)
The world needs more black superheroes, even reluctant ones like Keloid. A seven-episode web series, the show centers around Keloid, a black teenager who recently discovered he has the power to teleport and control electricity. Seems pretty cool, right? Wrong. When a classmate goes missing, police are eager to finger the young boy, forcing him and his mother, who has her own secrets, to go on the run. It's a coming-of-age tale wrapped in a sci-fi superhero story cloaked in a story of isolation and otherness. The series' creators are currently crowdsourcing to fund the next season. — Sherri L. Smith
Keloid Episode One: New Web Series for Blerds and Nerds
Every Frame a Painting (April 16, 2014 to Sept. 12, 2016)
This now sadly defunct channel contains 28 of the best-made movie analysis videos you will ever see. If you've missed out until now, or want a good starting point for getting serious about film, then here's how you do it. Created by Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, this series is not a comprehensive primer, but rather a selection box of varied topics that will hopefully engage your interest. Why do certain directors use certain kinds of shot? How do you represent texting on screen? How do you make scenes even funnier with the power of editing? And what's so good about chairs? Watch just one of these short videos, and you'll be brimming with more questions that will help turn your curiosity into an unquenchable passion for movies. — Richard Priday
The Marvel Symphonic Universe
Lindsay Ellis (Oct. 10, 2013 to present)
The academic style of film criticism can be a tricky thing to get one's head around. However, one of Lindsay Ellis' series is designed to teach you the major schools of movie critique — via the medium of Michael Bay's Transformers films. If that doesn't take your fancy, then you can try out her earlier project, Loose Canon, where she maps the history of certain characters, historical figures and events through the different eras of film. The major part of her current output, though, is the good old video essay about movies. The standouts of these would be her trilogy exploring the making of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Here, one of the most disappointing series of movies ever made is dissected with a mix of genuine fan enthusiasm and dispassionate criticism, as she explains how the films took their toll on the production company, the actors, and even the nation of New Zealand. — Richard Priday
The Hobbit: A Long-Expected Autopsy (Part 1/2)
Wisecrack (June 3, 2013 to present)
If you've ever taken a philosophy class, then you know that the topic can be fascinating, enlightening and very, very dense. Wisecrack wants to make even the most esoteric philosophies available to the everyman, and the best way to do that is to engage with what the everyman already knows: books, movies, TV shows and video games. Whether it's analyzing the modern conception of God in Marvel's Daredevil, or what BoJack Horseman can teach us about nihilism, or the ethics of representational democracy by way of Super Mario, Wisecrack puts a friendly, familiar face on some of the most important concepts in abstract thought. Also, be sure to check out Thug Notes, which uses hip-hop lingo to break down classic literature. — Marshall Honorof
Gaze Into the Abyss - Nihilism in Rick and Morty
Simone Giertz (March 15, 2013 to present)
The self-proclaimed "Queen of sh***y Robots," Simone Giertz is an inventor of hilarious contraptions. From her lipstick-applying robot to a drone that carries babies (don't try this at home), her bizarre inventions have been entertaining YouTubers for years. You don't go to Giertz's YouTube channel to learn about building machines, you go to see what Giertz's limitless imagination cooks up next, and in what humorous ways these robots fail. But Giertz didn't earn 1.5 million subscribers from her creations alone. Her quirkiness and self-depreciation are the perfect companions to her helpless gadgets. So, what did Giertz do when she had a non-cancerous brain tumor removed? Sent it to Antarctica for a selfie. The tumor recently returned but Giertz isn't letting "Brian The Brain Tumor" affect her infectious personality. You can support Giertz on her Patron page. — Phillip Tracy
The Wake-up Machine VLOG
Grantwoolard (March 19, 2012 to present)
Grant Woolard doesn't post videos all that often, which means that each new one is like a precious gem. In fact, in six years, he's created only 10 videos — but they're the kind of videos you'll want to watch over and over. That's because Woolard is a composer of what's known as polyphonic music, which incorporates two or more independent, simultaneous melodies. This was very common during the Renaissance, but has fallen out of favor in recent years. That's why Woolard has revived it with a modern twist. Woolard's polyphonic music is drawn almost entirely from tunes you already know, whether he's combining the all-time greats in his Classical Music Mashups, or chiptunes in his Nintendo Mashup. After you listen to one, you'll never want to go back to a single melody again. — Marshall Honorof
Nintendo Mashup
Geek & Sundry (Jan. 12, 2012 to present)
Love it or hate it, Geek & Sundry is the channel that made tabletop RPGs cool again (assuming they were ever "cool" to begin with). Geek & Sundry has a little bit of everything, from board-game demonstrations, to video-game commentaries. But the meat and potatoes of Geek & Sundry is its incredible roster of live-play RPGs. By gathering experienced Game Masters, beloved internet personalities and experienced actors, voice actors and musicians, Geek & Sundry creates unforgettable adventures of the imagination in systems like Star Trek Adventures and Vampire: The Masquerade. However, the channel's star attraction is Critical Role: a long-running Dungeons & Dragons campaign under the watchful eye of bravura GM Matt Mercer — Marshall Honorof
New Players (GM Tips with Satine Phoenix)
Game Theory (April 14, 2011 to present)
Have you ever wondered how tall Mario is? Are Pokémon more dangerous than they appear? Will we ever see the end of Five Nights at Freddy's? MatPat and his team of experts use math, physics, psychology and even pop culture to answer any and all theories presented to them. For premium Youtube Users there's even extra content with MatPat's Game Lab, dedicated to testing out video-game mechanics with real-world circumstances. Whether you're a casual gamer or a hard-core player Game Theory is a show for all. — Catherine Strachan
Kingdom Hearts Timeline - NOT What You Thought! | The SCIENCE... of Kingdom Hearts
Video Game Dunkey (Oct. 24, 2010 to present)
Game critic Dunkey provides a bizarre combination of hilariously terrible and surprisingly astute video-game reviews. A prime example of his weird reviews are the diametrically opposed takes on Let's Go Pokémon Eevee and Pikachu, where he spends one video praising a game past the point of reason, and another demolishing it cruelly. The joke, of course, is that these are the same exact relatively middle-of-the-road games that's treated like genius by its fans and despised by the Elite Gamer community. While this starts off subtle, it winds up in full farce territory when Dunkey claims Let's Go Pokémon is a "thinking man's game." Your enjoyment will often hinge on whether or not you can accept Dunkey mocking one of your favorites (beware, Octopath Travellers).
Of course, Dunkey sometimes plays his hand more traditionally, such as his review of Kingdom Hearts 3, which he rightfully shreds for its incomprehensible plot. Every once in a while, Dunkey provides content from the weirder end of the pool, as he does with Japan World Cup, the most bizarre racing game you'll ever watch, which he provides mock commentary for. — Henry T. Casey
Pokemon Let's Go Eevee
Unbox Therapy (Jan. 3, 2011 to present)
Lewis Hilsenteger didn't start the trend of unboxing videos, but he's most certainly the king of the genre. But while he's most well-known for unpacking weird and anticipated gadgets, he's also willing to rant on topics that are especially important to him, such as the MacBook Air's flawed keyboard. Also, since I'm never going to drop $1,300 on the Devialet Phantom Reactor speaker — the priciest Bluetooth speaker ever — I'm especially thankful for Lewis' reaction video about it. — Henry T. Casey
This Is Not A Flamethrower...
The Slo Mo Guys (Aug. 15, 2010 to present)
This is what YouTube is all about: two guys doing crazy stuff and filming it with super-expensive slow-motion cameras. The results are breathtaking. Even seemingly trivial stunts, like jumping onto a 6-foot-wide water balloon, creates some mesmerizing footage. That particular video has been viewed more than 176 million times. Apart from the high-speed footage captured with professional equipment, most of their videos are shot on a hand-held camera in a backyard. That said, every once in awhile the Slo Mo Guys will film some MythBusters-style destruction, like when they created a tornado using a fire pit and a circle of fans. Whether they're shooting a pistol underwater at 27,000 fps or hitting a ball of jelly with a tennis racket, the slow-motion images this likable duo captures will make your jaw drop. — Phillip Tracy
Football to the Face 1000x Slower - The Slow Mo Guys
Tested (March 8, 2010 to present)
Do you miss the MythBusters? Don't worry, YouTube has you covered. Adam Savage's Tested channel features the TV host building insane gizmos from NERF mods to King Arthur's armor. The channel's extremely popular One Day Build videos show Savage crafting intricate items in a short amount of time. Must-watch builds include a NASA spacesuit helmet and a NERF gun with a magazine that holds 1,000 rounds. Tested also gives viewers a first-hand look at TV and movie props, like the spacesuit in The Martian or the weapons used in The Expanse. The content on Tested ranges from discussions about 5G networks to Adam Savage going undercover as Totoro at New York's Comic-Con. Needless to say, if you're a proud nerd, then subscribing to Tested is a no-brainer. — Phillip Tracy
Adam Savage's One Day Builds: 1000 Shot NERF Blaster!
Red Letter Media (Dec 10, 2009 to present)
It's not easy to describe Red Letter Media's full scope in only a few sentences. For the most part, it's a movie review and analysis channel, focusing especially on science-fiction and horror properties. But a lot of Red Letter Media fans first discovered the channel through Mr. Plinkett's reviews of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In this weird, rambling diatribe from the fictional Mr. Plinkett (who is, apparently, an elderly serial killer with a foul demeanor), the channel breaks down the filmmaking missteps of the Star Wars prequels step-by-step. But unlike similar videos that feature a lot of aimless ranting, the Red Letter Media crew opted for a deep analysis, steeped in Film Theory 101. It's an incredible way for neophyte filmgoers to learn why some movies simply "feel" better than others. — Marshall Honorof
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review (Part 1 of 7)
CaptainDisillusion (Sept. 17, 2007 to present)
A partly silver and slightly portly "alien," Captain Disillusion is humanity's protector against the scourge that is viral videos with hidden visual effects. Presented in each episode with a video showing a nearly impossible feat, the Captain will demonstrate that it is entirely possible if you know your way around some good software. He points out and picks at the seams that reveal the tricks, and sometimes re-creates the shots himself to show you more easily how it was done. He will even occasionally send his completely unrelated human assistant to teach you how to use the powers of video fakery yourself, but only for good, of course.It’s a wonderful mix of comedy and in-depth VFX analysis, and the only negative is the long gaps between uploads. — Richard Priday
Chinese Invisibility Cloak Hoax DESTROYED!!!
Tom Scott (May 17, 2006 to present)
Be warned: clicking on one of Tom Scott's educational clips will make you spend the rest of your day watching his extensive catalog of videos. For more than a decade, Scott has been teaching us about the world's most fascinating phenomenon and doing so in a way that is engaging and easy to understand. In his most viewed video, Scott finds out how garlic bread tastes after sending it to space. Other fascinating videos explore topics like watching a video in 2D and 3D at the same time, how a town in Georgia uses golf carts to keep cars off the road, and whether YouTube could ever run out of video IDs. Scott's explainers are brief, informative and engrossing, thanks to the host's passionate and carefully crafted delivery. There is a lot more to Scott than his YouTube videos. The British YouTuber/web developer/educator made a deep run in the U.K. game show Only Connect and he even received 84 votes when he ran for Parliament as Mad Cap'n Tom. — Phillip Tracy
How Zero-G Planes Work
SmarterEveryDay (April 3, 2006 to present)
More than 6 million subscribers watch this appropriately named channel explore science's most fascinating secrets. SmarterEveryDay combines everything you could ask for in a YouTube video, including slow-motion footage, high-resolution close-up shots, and over-the-top experiments with a healthy dose of education to go along with some gorgeous imagery. The video that turned me on to SmarterEveryDay explored the Prince Rupert's Drop, a tadpole-shaped glass bead that's mysteriously indestructible. In the clip, our likable host Destin shoots a small piece of glass point-blank with a pistol, only to discover that it barely has a scratch on it. It's mind-bending clips like this one that will have you returning to SmarterEveryDay each time the channel posts a new video. — Phillip Tracy
Slow Motion Flipping Cat Physics | Smarter Every Day 58
ProZD (May 16, 2006 to present)
You may know him from Vine, but ProZD (SungWon Cho) has been posting videos to YouTube since 2006. His most popular videos are 30-second or so clips that humorously criticize video games, anime, social media and a variety of other topics. These bite-size videos are easily consumed but you'll find yourself watching the same clip over again and laughing at the punchline every time. ProZD is a multitalented creator whose brilliant voice acting (watch him nailing every high note in "Take On Me" video) allows him to effortlessly switch betweenn characters and leverage many distinct personalities within one skit. Along with his gut-busting clips, ProZD also reviews products and stars in the show Anime Crimes Division. — Phillip Tracy
ready player one
Nardwuar (Dec. 4, 2006 to present)
Kurt Cobain. Snoop Dogg. Drake. Jay-Z. Mac Miller. This is just a sample of the musicians Nardwuar The Human Serviette has interviewed in the past few decades. But it's not who he interviews that makes Nardwuar's video so fascinating. Rather, it's the amount of research he does on the interviewee and the surprised, impressed and sometimes scared reactions these artists have to the minute details Narduwar digs up about them, from their favorite restaurants to the names of their high school friends. Before you start your journey into the rabbit hole that is Nardwuar's Video Vault, I strongly suggest you watch his Ted Talk, where you'll get a taste for his uniquely eccentric yet genuine personality. From there, I recommend his mind-blowing interview with Quest Love, or you can go straight into the "Rappers Mind Blown by Nardwuar" compilation videos. Just remember to keep on rockin' in the free world. Doot Do. — Phillip Tracy
Nardwuar vs. Questlove(2013) - 9 min Version
Rooster Teeth (July 10, 2006 to present)
Before YouTube was even a thing, Rooster Teeth started as a couple of guys developing a comedy web series in their apartment. Eventually it evolved into a multimillion-dollar company that currently spans its reach to several YouTube channels creating various forms of content. On Rooster Teeth’s own channel, they host popular shows like Red vs. Blue and RWBY, but the company also creates content through channels like Achievement Hunter, Let’s Play, The Know, ScrewAttack, Funhaus and Sugar Pine 7. Rooster Teeth also have partnerships with channels like Kinda Funny, Cow Chop and Game Attack. If you’re on YouTube at all, it’s hard to miss their handiwork. The company's most recent project is an animated web series called Gen:Lock, which stars popular talent like Michael B. Jordan, Dakota Fanning, Maisie Williams and David Tennant. — Rami Tabari
Season 1, Episode 1 - Why Are We Here? | Red vs. Blue
