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ChuckieDregs (sometimes written Chuckiedregs or Chuckie Dregs) is an internet-based videogame show by Ryan Macleod, Dee Custance, Owen O'Donnell and Michael Hoffs et al. The show ran between November 2012 and December 2015 with episodes posted to the official website and promotional material on YouTube. The episodes were uploaded to the official ChuckieDregs YouTube channel in late August 2020. Chuckiedregs.com is no longer accessible in November 2020.

Cast
In order of appearance

Ryan Macleod
Twitter @RyMacleod / @RyKaizen (accounts unaccessible in November 2020)

Ryan self-professes he used to be famous after his successes on BBC's VideoGaiden and Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe appearing somewhat world-weary and incompetent at the proposition of presenting a low-budget, homemade, internet-based videogame review show. Behind the scenes, the desire to bring a range of people from Ireland, Scotland and England together was his idea after his passions for games were re-ignited (pun intended) by playing Dark Souls following a spell away from his amazing hobby. It is therefore unsurprising that Dark Souls often appears in the show in the form of reviews of the main game, DLC (Dark Souls: Artorius Of The Abyss), sequel (Dark Souls II), prequel (Demon's Souls), successors (Bloodborne) and associated postmortems and extended cuts and also in conversations between Ryan and Dee (the latter is sick of it and finding it a stressor on their relationship). Ryan's other common confession is that he is the man who only likes two games as The Last Of Us was released in early 2013 and becomes a similar muse/obsession with conversations by Ryan often extending past the game and its DLC to discussions of society's collective fantasy of a zombie apocalypse and its relationship to creativity. Ryan also has extensive videogame review show experience as co-founder of Consolevania and contributor to Gaming Gents.

Dee Custance
Twitter @deeselle

Dee is Ryan's partner in real life (an on-screen source of surprise to members of the cast who have known him for a while) and co-anchor of the show. She has a cat called Groucho, loves Christmas and is the foil/counterpoint to Ryan's self-deprecation and also his narcissism. One of the rolling jokes is that she always ends up spending the holidays with her Mum due to Ryan's apathy to Christmas and threatening to leave him because of his obsession with Dark Souls. Dee filmed most of the show from the beginning. She met Ryan on Twitter along with recruiting others for the show including Owen.

Michael S Hoffs
Twitter @Astilius

Michael is also from the days of Consolevania. He reviews his games in a rather Thunderbird-5-esque fashion: he is never on screen with any of the other cast (except in the Millennium special episode 1.8 and in episode 3.1). He sections are often high concept (on a bench, in a shed, etc.) and often asks why gamers undertake so much onanism.

Owen O'Donnell
Twitter @MechaGamezilla / @QuentinCadbury

Art Blog / Mechagamezilla Podcast

Based in Ireland before seemingly moving over to Scotland (or at least travelling very often) Owen's reviews are therefore geographically removed from the others and take a magazine format branded around his pseudonym Mechagamezilla. His reviews are often as much about something else as they are about games including the awfulness of online players (and the English). Since Chuckie Dregs Owen has chosen to take his review concept further and is aiming to review everything in his Patreon-funded Infinite Review YouTube videos beginning February 2018. Owen's character is societally aware but socially awkward and very uncharitable to Ritchie. Owen often reviews multiple games grouped by year of release, for example, with video footage of different games. This trend appears infectious on ChuckieDregs and has reached 1 take reviews and promotional material.

Gerry McLaughlin
Twitter @GerryMcLaughlin

Gerry joined the team from episode 2 onwards but with sporadic absences, presumably around filming as he is a successful English Actor appearing in shows like Shameless and Outlander. Behind the scenes Ryan and others think Gerry is too good for the show and Ryan struggles to understand why Gerry remained friends with him long after the others he made from his telly-days have left him since he left industry. This puzzle in their relationship is translated to the screen as something approaching a dependence of Gerry on Ryan as he is overly affectionate (bordering on homoerotic) and eager to please. For example, Gerry regularly mandates meetings with Ryan to report Chuckie Dreg's popularity in Finland through his proxy: a faceless marketer named Johan Kjåberg. Despite the good news it is clear Gerry knows less than anything about Finnish culture (often mistaking it for Sweden) and there is never any financial or commercial benefit seen (much to Ryan's discombobulation) to all of Gerry's demands. The in-programme explanation is hinted that Gerry is deeply lonely and socially incapable as evidenced by a disharmonious home life (all of which is only funny because it is clearly not the reality of the situation).

Richie Morgan
Twitter @Laslo_Panaflex (account unaccessible in November 2020) / @WretchedMorgan (post ChuckieDregs)

Richie Morgan YouTube / Pleasureland (GameWank Podcast) YouTube

Richie is first mentioned as a thank you for help with editing of the early episodes however later provides onscreen content as various guest characters (both an interviewer and a tramp in 2.3) and as himself and called by name, admitted whilst pretending to be Irish documentarian Art Prykke, in 2.4.

Richie runs his own podcasts and video editing/filming services and is a filmmaker in his own right. He often collaborates with Owen on his other projects and is a the presenter of I Hate Doctor Who podcast, Video Namaste and Gamewank (also including Ryan and Guy). Richie loves Doctor Who.

Guy Woodward
Twitter @NightmareModeGo

Nightmare Mode Go YouTube

Guy was introduced as a stand-in guest in episode 2.2 and immediately became a permanent member of the team. Guy's character is the über-gamer described as smelly unsocialised, deluded and possessing strange pornographic tastes that hint at psychopathy. Guy shares Ryan's elevating simultaneous contempt and jealously of successful YouTubers as the show progresses. Guy (like Owen and Ritchie) also posted his contributions to the show on his own YouTube channel.

Matt Lees
Twitter @Jam_Sponge

Matt provides reviews for the show towards the end of season one and the beginning of season two.

Others
Being a community project and often requiring the help of others. There are a range of special guest, contributors and credits.


 * Dominik Diamond (Twitter @DominikDiamond) the host of Games Master makes a special guest appearance in episode 1.4 commending (read: condemning) Ryan's return to video games reviews following their last onscreen connection through VideoGaiden.
 * Videogamera - A special thanks from episode 1.2 presumably for video editing.
 * Tam McGleish (Twitter @Tam_Mcgleish) the darling of Kotaku makes a guest appearance in episode 2.1, the second Christmas special.
 * Limmy (Twitter @DaftLimmy) plays a mean version of himself in the film special, episode 2.3. Limmy and Ryan go way back with Limmy playing the role of Zack Eastwood in the sponsor's butchering of Consolevania called C (Consolevania 3.4).


 * @Adfurness is credited in the film special, episode 2.3.
 * FitzThistleWitz (YouTube) makes an uncredited voiceover in Owen's review in episode 1.7 and again (this time credited) in episode 2.2. Fitz and Owen have collaborated previously.
 * Andy Kelly (Twitter @Ultrabrilliant) is credited in episode 2.4 regarding his online art project Other Places.
 * The Midnight Resistance podcast team (Twitter @MidnightResist / website) consisting of Andi Hamilton (Twitter @andihero), Owen Grieve (Twitter @davehurricane) and Sean Bell (Twitter @CaptainToss) appear as games makers ready to plug their new product, Pissman, in episode 2.6.
 * Episodes 3.1 and 3.2 credit @calso as a cast member who is / they are presumably Calzo Houdini who made the latest Chuckiedregs.com website. Rob McCallum, Mitch Miller, Aileen McGibbon, Pablo Clark and Owen are also credited with the site redesign according to a Facebook post from 9th January 2015.

Episodes
There have been three series of Chuckie Dregs between 2012 and 2015. Episodes were originally uploaded to iTunes podcasts before transitioning to their own servers as direct downloads and then ultimately website by the end of the first series. Promotional material was mostly posted to YouTube however the main episodes remained on their website until it went offline. Episodes have since been reuploaded to YouTube as of August 2020. The original upload dates, titles, and descriptions for content that was not originally placed on the Chuckie Dregs YouTube channel have been taken from the assumed accurate secondary source episodecalendar.com.

Series 1 (2012-2013)
The first series has mainstays Ryan and Dee with Thunderbird 5-esque inclusions from Owen and Michael. Gerry also joins the team by episode 2. By episode 3 the team are offering direct downloads rather than through iTunes podcasts and propose a kickstarter to help by editing and compiling equipment. Many subsequent episodes are dedicated to Kickstarter backers and the team are hosting their content on their servers and website. The website continued to thrive with a bottom drawer containing all kinds of information including a separate podcast for Owen and the series ends triumphantly with a Millennium special. Episodes are interspersed with 1 Take Reviews and scathing dissections of the Xbox One's launch, dashboard and launch line-up, respectively. There are also two commentary tracks reviewing episodes one to four and five to eight.

Series 2 (2013-2014)
Series two begins less than three months after the close of series one with the gang's second Christmas special. Closely followed by the announcement they were moving to a subscription-based model with Patreon (7th February 2014). There is considerably more promotional content in the form of extended cuts, excerpts and preview material released directly to YouTube seemingly coinciding with the in-world narrative that the gang are getting increasingly competitive/jealous of the younger, more financially successful YouTubers.

Series 3 (2015)
The final series follows a five month hiatus in which time the website was redesigned (early January 2015). The series was released in advance for Patreon subscribers. There were no promotional videos, 1 Take Reviews, extended cuts, or commentaries. The series is also shorter than the previous two (each with eight episodes) at three episodes. The series ends with the in-world gang quitting Chuckie Dregs and Ryan has never been happier. 3 months after the end of Chuckie Dregs, Ryan and Robert Florence gave a sneak peak of their upcoming third series of VideoGaiden at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow.