Back in early 2013, I first discovered a fairly obscure YouTube channel by the name of Olan Rogers. Here's a link to his channel, cuz trust me--by the time you're done reading this article, I've got a feeling that you're gonna want it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/OlanRogers

I briefly looked over the videos on Olan’s channel, and from a quick glance, it looked like he did a lot of anecdotal story videos from his own life, in addition to writing and starring in a lot of his own satirical fantasy fiction videos. I decided to check out one of his anecdotal videos entitled "Chuck E. Cheese”, where he talks about his first (and only) childhood visit to a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant, and the comedic horror that ensued within. Guys, I’m including a link to this video because if you couldn’t tell from the title of this article, IT’S FREAKING FUNNY. If you need more convincing, here’s a gif of a grown man trying to describe the sheer terror of seeing a Chuck E. Cheese animatronic for the first time.

I mean, look at this adorable terrified cheeseball. I watched “Chuck E. Cheese” for the first time, and I found myself being faced with a…slight problem. And that problem was that I had fallen off the couch and was laughing so hard and so painfully that I couldn’t even reach the pause button on my laptop to stop what was causing me to laugh so hard. So I kinda just had to ride out the spasmodic laughter, waiting until I could actually sit up and reach over to my laptop to pause the video and let myself catch my breath.

After that one video, I was hooked. I had to watch more from this guy. I had to see what else his channel had in store. So the next video I watched was another anecdotal story, entitled "Ghost in the Stalls”, where he describes the prank that he pulled in a Target bathroom stall one Monday. As Olan himself says:

And really, that’s all the justification you need to pull a prank like this. It’s Monday, man! You gotta do something to keep the joy in life on a Monday! Again, here are some more teasers: watch the video to find out what could cause a man to react like this—

And also this.

This is probably one of his best story videos to date. It exemplifies everything that Olan stands for in his style of entertainment—honest, clean, and fun humor with heart. Everything that Olan does comes from the heart, from the core of his personal passion for doing what he loves—making people laugh with his content. He’s produced content like this for over six years, on top of financing and filming personal projects on his channel. He even played Walt Disney in an independent bio-pic film on the Man Who Made the Mouse, called As Dreamers Do. He’s co-written a novel, gone on national tours to show off his comedic talent live, has a website where he sells his own quality clothing and merchandise, and has founded/currently runs a combined ice cream shop/clothing store/free arcade called The Soda Parlor in Nashville, TN. Local magazines and journalists have interviewed him on his rising success and diversity of interests.

Finally, this is probably the most impressive thing: on Olan’s channel, he has released a pilot episode for an animated sci-fi comedy series that he created called Final Space.

Several months ago, he pitched it to half a dozen TV execs to be launched as a primetime broadcast animated show. They all wanted it, and started a bidding war over it—this little animated pilot, made by a virtual small-town nobody from Nashville. At the end of it, TBS won the rights to Final Space. And get this—it is coming to TV next year.

A full-fledged animated comedy series by Olan Rogers, coming to TBS in 2018. Needless to say, when I heard this news, I was…pleased.

Yeah, pleased. That’s the word for it. That or “ecstatic beyond belief”, but ya know, who am I to mince words?

Why am I so excited for this? Beyond the fact that it’s gonna be a really good series, if the pilot is any indication, it’s incredible to look at how far this humble Christian entertainer and creator has come since he began. He started his channel to mess around with friends and to have fun, hopefully making other people laugh in the process. He has stayed so faithful and friendly to his fanbase throughout all of it, never isolating or alienating the community of people who supported him and rooted for him all the way. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be one of those people who, in some small way, helped him reach this point. I can’t think of any recent celebrity who deserves it more than he, honestly. He has come so far and still has so much farther to go.

With that, I will bid you all adieu for this week with a strong recommendation: check out Olan Rogers. You will not regret it.