Anal Cunt New material, Putnam's death, and permanent dissolution (2010-2011) When was the new material released? In April 2010, Putnam announced that the new album was almost completed. What was the name of the album? The "cock rock songs" would be released on an album called Fuckin' A in a style similar to that of Motley Crue's debut Too Fast for Love, Did the album have any singles? The songs "Fuck Yeah" and "Cranking My Band's Demo on a Box at the Beach" were released on Myspace Music. Did any of those songs chart on the billboards? I don't know. When did Putnam die? On June 11, 2011, How did Putnam die? suspected heart attack,
How did people react to his death?
How did people react to Putnam's suspected heart attack?
In April 2010, Putnam announced that the new album was almost completed. The album was delayed due to Josh Martin being in jail (for a third time). The lead guitar tracks were recorded when he was released. On May 11, 2010, Putnam announced that the band decided to split the new recording into two albums. The "cock rock songs" would be released on an album called Fuckin' A in a style similar to that of Motley Crue's debut Too Fast for Love, and the noisegrind songs would be released on an album called Wearing Out Our Welcome, which would also feature backing vocals from members of The Raunchous Brothers, Vaginal Jesus, and Mudoven. On June 22, 2010, Putnam completed Fuckin' A. The songs "Fuck Yeah" and "Cranking My Band's Demo on a Box at the Beach" were released on Myspace Music. On June 24, 2010, Seth Putnam announced on the Anal Cunt Myspace blog that guitarist Josh Martin "is out of A.C.". Putnam continued by stating that the band would play and record as a two-piece outfit. Fuckin' A was released on January 11, 2011. At the same time, it was announced that Josh Martin was once again back in Anal Cunt, after only two shows performed as a two-piece. In April 2011 Anal Cunt embarked on what would be their final tour. The last show was on April 30, 2011, in Cleveland.  On June 11, 2011, the band's frontman and founder Seth Putnam died of a suspected heart attack, seemingly ending the band.  A compilation CD of obscure Anal Cunt releases was announced in 2009 and was planned to be released by Wicked Sick Records (Seth Putnam's label). In October 2011 it was announced to be a two-CD set entitled The Old Testament. It is a re-release of The Early Years 1988-1991 with a new cover, liner notes penned by Putnam, the band's first demo (which was never before heard by anyone outside Anal Cunt or two girls that visited Putnam's house and were in the room when the recording was made), and tracks from Anal Cunt's final rehearsal session in 1991. It was released in November 2011 by Relapse Records. CANNOTANSWER
CANNOTANSWER
Anal Cunt, also known as AxCx and A.C., was an American grindcore band that formed in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1988. From its inception, the band underwent a number of line-up changes and never had a bass player. Known for its grindcore musical style and controversial lyrics, Anal Cunt released eight full-length studio albums in addition to a number of compilations and extended plays. Anal Cunt disbanded in 2011 after the group's founder and frontman, Seth Putnam, died of a suspected heart attack.

The band is often referred to by their initials A.C. (often written as AxCx) due to the offensive nature of their name and censorship limits on some radio and publications, and many of their album covers simply display the initials A.C. However, the band managed to subvert even this abbreviation by drawing these letters in a manner resembling an anus and a vulva.

The group's early material contained no pre-written lyrics or music. Rather, the band developed an entirely improvised style which consisted of extremely loud, fast, and aggressive noise. Over time, the band gradually shifted their style and slowly began to incorporate more riffs and pre-written lyrics into their songs. It was not until then that Anal Cunt had earned the reputation for intentionally being outrageous and offensive. 2010 and 2011 saw the release of their final two albums; one of which is a "cock rock" album entitled Fuckin' A, and another being an album of material similar to their old grindcore albums called Wearing Out Our Welcome.

Biography

Formation (1988)
Anal Cunt was formed on March 1, 1988, in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston, by Seth Putnam, who had previously been a member of bands such as Executioner and Satan's Warriors. The name Anal Cunt came from Seth Putnam's attempt "to get the most offensive, stupid, dumb, etc. name possible". A common misconception is that the band is named after the song "Anal Cunt" by GG Allin, but in fact Allin's song was written years after the band had started. The band did, however, later in their career render tribute to him by recording a version of "I'll Slice Your Fucking Throat (If You Fuck with Me)", originally recorded by Allin and the Murder Junkies.

In Q magazine's 2005 book The Greatest Rock & Pop Miscellany Ever!, Anal Cunt was included in a list of "25 Band Names That Should Have Stayed on the Drawing Board". Putnam originally formed the band as a joke, and they were supposed to only record one demo and do one show; however, they were active up to 2011, despite several brief break-ups.

Originally, the band was to produce a form of 'anti-music', without rhythm, beats, riffs, lyrics, song titles or any other of the normal features of a band, an approach exemplified by the 5643 Song EP.

Early performances and recordings and brief breakup (1988–1992)
The band's first performance was a rehearsal in 1988 at Putnam's mother's house in front of some family members, namely his mother, his two little brothers and his grandmother, as well as some of his mother's friends. Several other small performances followed, in various basements and living rooms, before their first public show live over the radio at Brandeis University, with Anal Cunt being the latest in the long line of Putnam's bands who had performed in this way. This was scheduled to be the band's first and last show. Putnam invited future member Fred Ordonez, from the band Shit Scum, to the show, but he failed to turn up. As a result, it was arranged for the two bands (Anal Cunt and Shit Scum) to play a concert together so Ordonez could see Putnam's band, and a further show was arranged at Shit Scum's rented practice warehouse. The first demo was recorded on a four-track in April in his mother's attic but this has never been mixed, released, or heard by anyone outside of the band members themselves.

After a few more shows, the band decided to attempt a U.S. tour, in August 1988, a few days before which they recorded their 47 Song Demo, which was later re-released on a compilation of the bands' material from the early years. They recorded their 88 Song EP later that year and after its release, a number of record labels started showing interest in the band, including Earache Records, with whom they would later sign a contract.

A few releases later, Earache Records again made an offer to the band, this time to license the 5643 Song EP for a European pressing (and later to buy the whole pressing), but Anal Cunt continued to turn down such offers. This was also the point where the band decided they had done as much as they could and decided to split up, after releasing Another EP and completing their first European tour. This tour was in April, and recordings from this tour are numerous, appearing on the compilations Fast Boston HC The Early Years and the bootlegs Harmonized Noise and the Anal Cunt/Patareni split.

Following appearances in a few other bands, including (recently reformed) George H. Brown (a blues rock act whose song "Foreplay with a Tree Shredder" would later be recorded by Anal Cunt for the album Top 40 Hits), From Sloth to Anger, and Post Mortem, Seth Putnam and Tim Morse decided to reform Anal Cunt on March 1, 1991, exactly three years after they had initially formed.

After the band's reformation, they decided they wanted to change their style to avoid getting bored again. The guitarist for the new, slightly more musical, Anal Cunt was originally supposed to be future member Paul Kraynak but ended up being Fred Ordonez, an ex-boxer. Some more EPs followed, including the world's first acoustic noisecore record, the Unplugged EP, before Putnam finally decided to introduce some elements of "real songs" into the band's material. Seth Putnam and Tim Morse tried out this idea in a six-song session in 1992, just before Putnam successfully auditioned for the reformed thrashcore band Siege, but it was a while before the plans were fully realized.

Later that year, Anal Cunt decided on another European tour. Despite the fact that Tim Morse pulled out at the last minute, the tour still went ahead, with the band deciding to find a drummer while they were touring. The two drummers who auditioned were not fast enough for the band, so Anal Cunt decided to have them both playing the same drum kit at the same time for the beginning of the tour, before resorting to just using the faster of the two. Most of the shows consisted of Putnam and Ordonez going into the crowd, punching people and destroying equipment, not only because of drunkenness but to conceal the fact that the drummer did not know their songs very well. This was also the tour that saw Putnam joining Fear of God on-stage as their drummer for one show and Putnam and Ordonez recording with Seven Minutes of Nausea.

On returning to the U.S., Anal Cunt decided to get a second guitarist who could carry on playing with the drummer during the violence and shouting. The choice was John Kozik, and with him came a new era of the band.

The Earache years (1993–2000)

Although Anal Cunt had released a lot of material, their records were mostly out of print and hard to find, so they got in contact with Earache Records, which had previously shown an interest in the band. Anal Cunt wanted a label that would not only keep their records in stock but also pay for their tours, as the band at the time was operating essentially at a loss. Earache replied to Anal Cunt, asking to hear some new material. The band thereupon went into a studio in September to record what would later be released on Relapse Records as Morbid Florist. Fred Ordonez briefly quit, but was invited to rejoin after unsuccessful searches for a replacement and Earache Records decided to sign them.

Anal Cunt started recording their first album on the label, Everyone Should Be Killed, in March 1993. Soon afterwards, Ordonez was kicked out of the band for good and was replaced by Paul Kraynak. Recording was put on hold for a short West Coast tour in mid-1993, after which Kraynak too quit the band. This was also the tour when Putnam got arrested for hitting a woman in the face with a microphone in San Francisco during a show that, along with another show from earlier that year in Massachusetts, is documented on the EP Breaking the Law.

After some searching for a replacement for Kraynak, Anal Cunt decided to just stick with one guitarist, John Kozik. Following the release of Everyone Should Be Killed in 1994, the band did more tours, one in Europe and one immediately afterwards in the United States. The European tour encompassed Germany, Belgium, Spain and Austria, and Anal Cunt were supported by W.B.I. and the Necrophiliacs; on the American tour, they were joined by Incantation, Morpheus Descends, Afterlife and Gutted.

The transition from noise-style to fast-hardcore-style songs began in the fall of that year with the recording of their next album Top 40 Hits, which featured the single "Stayin' Alive (Oi! Version)".

Anal Cunt toured America again, and in June toured Japan for the first time. After this, Kozik was replaced by Scott Hull, of Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed fame. With this line-up (or variations on it), the album 40 More Reasons to Hate Us was recorded. This album marked another change in the band's direction, with lyrics – and insults – being included in their songs for the first time.

Another two-week long tour with Eyehategod followed, but Hull refused to tour and was temporarily replaced by a returning Kozik. After this tour, the band was again close to breaking up (for the second time), but instead decided to shuffle the line-up once more. The problem seemed to be with Tim Morse, so he was kicked out of the band. Seth Putnam was now the only surviving original member of Anal Cunt.

The band was briefly on hiatus while Putnam put together a new line-up. The only thing they recorded during this time was the song "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side", for the Smiths tribute album The World Still Won't Listen, and the song "Two Turds and a Golf Ball" for the compilation CD of the same name, with Hull on guitar and Putnam performing drums and vocals. During this period, Putnam also did backing vocals for Pantera's The Great Southern Trendkill in New Orleans, and lead vocals for an Eyehategod show.

In January 1996, Putnam hired a new guitarist, Josh Martin. Martin was a student at New York University in 1994–1995, when Anal Cunt used to play in New York a lot, and they had become good friends. Indeed, this was a friendship that would continue, as Putnam and Martin would join forces later in Adolf Satan and acoustic black-metal band Impaled Northern Moonforest. Martin moved to Boston following his graduation, and was appointed by Putnam as the new Anal Cunt guitarist. After trying out a lot of drummers, they hired Nate Linehan.

Yet another tour followed, this time with Incantation and Mortician. Anal Cunt then released their next full-length release, I Like It When You Die, which they had recorded prior to the tour. This album was essentially a collection of insults and featured the songs "You're Gay" and "Technology's Gay", as well as a guest appearance from Kyle Severn from Incantation. A lot of the songs refer to things being "gay", as this was a common slang word in Massachusetts and in junior-high schools across the United States at the time.

Following the tour, Linehan left the band and again activities were put on hold. Even so, Putnam and Martin recorded a few songs for a Black Sabbath tribute, In These Black Days Volume 1, which was a split with Eyehategod and featured Putnam on drums. A few months later, Putnam and Martin asked Linehan to rejoin the band and he agreed.

Another two tours later (the first in America with Murder One, the second in Japan), Anal Cunt recorded what would be their last album on Earache Records, It Just Gets Worse, which was released at the end of their 1999 European tour with Flächenbrand. The album was surrounded by much controversy: the label changed some of the song titles and also censored the lyrics to two of the songs.

In May 2000, Anal Cunt were dropped from Earache Records due to distributor problems.

Second breakup, reformation, and 20th anniversary (2000–2009)
Despite being dropped by their label (although Earache did later make them an offer to come back, which they turned down) and Linehan leaving again in September 1999, Anal Cunt continued on, now with John Gillis on drums. Some more touring and a few releases followed, such as the Defenders of the Hate EP and a split 7-inch with Flachenbrand (who had opened for AC on their 1999 German tour). There was also a Defenders of the Hate tour in 2001, featuring two legs: one to California and back in June, and one to Texas and back in September. The band released a limited tour edition of the record as part of the tour. Anal Cunt issued an official press release at the end of December 2001 saying that they had broken up again. This time, the band seemed to have permanently disbanded, with only a few compilation tracks and the Very Rare Rehearsal from February 1989 CD being released.

During a show in 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island, Dropdead opened for Anal Cunt, but when Anal Cunt took the stage, Putnam began insulting Bob Otis from Dropdead, and eventually the audience, throwing out racial slurs and performing Nazi salutes; Otis eventually got on stage and knocked Putnam off the stage, and a fight broke out.

Anal Cunt reformed in August 2003 with the lineup of Putnam, Martin and Linehan. However, after one practice, Martin was forced to leave the band, due to him going to jail. Putnam brought John Kozik back to replace him. After a few gigs in late 2003 (including one opening for Superjoint Ritual) and a short Japan tour in January 2004 with Napalm Death, Nasum, and Pig Destroyer, Linehan left the band yet again. He was again replaced by John Gillis.

In October 2004, Putnam went into a coma for nearly a month as a result of a drug overdose. Initially reported as a sleeping pill overdose for legal reasons, he later claimed it was a combination of alcohol, crack, heroin, and a bottle of sleeping pills. Doctors thought that even if he survived, he would suffer permanent serious brain damage and were intending to "pull the plug", before Putnam's mother intervened. Even after coming out of the coma, Putnam was now paralyzed and had sustained severe nerve damage, needing months of physical therapy to recover. For the first show that Anal Cunt played following this coma (with Eyehategod), Putnam had to remain seated in a chair throughout. Putnam said he would continue to play songs such as "You're in a Coma" and had promised that the band would release new material.

After a festival appearance in Norway in 2006, at which Putnam completely passed out on stage and was unconscious for the entire gig, both Kozik and Gillis quit the band. Martin (now out of jail) soon returned to the band and got Linehan to return as well. Anal Cunt released the Defenders of the Hate full-length CD in 2007, which featured bonus out-of-print tracks, such as those from the 13 Bands Who Think You're Gay and Thrash of the Titans compilations, as well as the tracks from the split with Flächenbrand. Other releases that had been promised included a sequel to Picnic of Love (Picnic of Love II) and an Anal Cunt/Gay Bar split, featuring unreleased Anal Cunt material from the Putnam/Martin/Linehan era on one side and a recording of Seth Putnam in a gay bar on the other. These albums were never recorded. The Defenders of the Hate re-release sparked another tour in March 2007 which included an appearance at the Los Angeles Murderfest Version 3.0 on March 24, 2007. with Accused, Brutal Truth, Pig Destroyer, and others, and a UK festival appearance later that year.

2008 was the 20th anniversary of the band, so Putnam celebrated it with several original lineup reunion shows with Tim Morse and Mike Mahan. By this point Linehan had yet again left the band, and Martin was again in jail. They played shows in Boston, Texas, and the West Coast. On November 17, 2008, the original Anal Cunt line-up (Seth Putnam, Mike Mahan, and Tim Morse) finished recording their 110 Song CD. The album was made as a celebration of the band's 20-year anniversary. The album's musical style is the same as Anal Cunt's early noisecore style.

After the original lineup reunion was over, Morse decided to stay on as the permanent drummer. Martin also returned. In early 2009 the Old Stuff Part 3 CD was released, featuring all the non-Earache tracks recorded by the Putnam, Martin and Linehan lineup in the 1990s. This sparked another round of touring. In 2009 AC played all over the US, plus a short tour of Norway in October. Also in 2009, Anal Cunt recorded their next two albums.

New material, Putnam's death, and permanent dissolution (2010–2011)
In April 2010, Putnam announced that the new album was almost completed. The album was delayed due to Josh Martin being in jail (for a third time). The lead guitar tracks were recorded when he was released. On May 11, 2010, Putnam announced that the band decided to split the new recording into two albums. The "cock rock songs" would be released on an album called Fuckin' A in a style similar to that of Mötley Crüe's debut Too Fast for Love, and the noisegrind songs would be released on an album called Wearing Out Our Welcome, which would also feature backing vocals from members of the Raunchous Brothers, Vaginal Jesus, and Mudoven. On June 22, 2010, Putnam completed Fuckin' A. The songs "Fuck Yeah" and "Cranking My Band's Demo on a Box at the Beach" were released on Myspace Music. On June 24, 2010, Seth Putnam announced on the Anal Cunt Myspace blog that guitarist Josh Martin "is out of A.C.". Putnam continued by stating that the band would play and record as a two-piece outfit. Fuckin' A was released on January 11, 2011. At the same time, it was announced that Josh Martin was once again back in Anal Cunt, after only two shows performed as a two-piece. In April 2011 Anal Cunt embarked on what would be their final tour. The last show was on April 30, 2011, in Cleveland.

On June 11, 2011, the band's frontman and founder Seth Putnam died of a suspected heart attack, seemingly ending the band.

A compilation CD of obscure Anal Cunt releases was announced in 2009 and was planned to be released by Wicked Sick Records (Seth Putnam's label). In October 2011 it was announced to be a two-CD set entitled The Old Testament. It is a re-release of The Early Years 1988–1991 with a new cover, liner notes penned by Putnam, the band's first demo (which was never before heard by anyone outside Anal Cunt and two girls that visited Putnam's house and were in the room when the recording was made), and tracks from Anal Cunt's final rehearsal session in 1991. It was released in November 2011 by Relapse Records.

Former guitarist Josh Martin died on May 28, 2018, after accidentally falling off an escalator and hitting his head on a table at the Providence Place mall in Rhode Island.

Musical style and controversy
Anal Cunt has been categorized as grindcore, noisecore, noisegrind and hardcore.

Lyrics
Anal Cunt were often cited as having common lyrical themes that include misogyny, homophobia, Nazism, antisemitism, racism, politics, criticism of popular culture, and ridicule of the unfortunate, although this has not always been the case. Many of these songs included insults and/or targets, either general or specific to one person, examples including African Americans, Jewish people, homosexuals, foreigners, victims of HIV/AIDS, rape, suicide and/or child abuse, school students, musicians, actors, and the citizens of Allston.

The album I Like It When You Die developed the idea of containing insults in their songs, with a recurring song title being "X Is Gay", with examples including "You're Gay", "Technology's Gay", "Recycling Is Gay", "The Internet Is Gay", "Windchimes Are Gay" and even "The Word 'Homophobic' Is Gay". Another recurring song title is "You X", with examples including "You Own a Store", "You Live in a Houseboat", "You Are an Orphan", "You Go to Art School", and "You Keep a Diary". The band even parodied this theme with the songs "You (Fill in the Blank)" and "I'm in Anal Cunt".

The 1999 album, It Just Gets Worse, took the idea of intentional offense a step further with more extreme examples of racism and sexism. Examples include "You're Pregnant So I Kicked You in the Stomach", "I Lit Your Baby on Fire" and "Women: Nature's Punching Bag". The lyrics to two of the songs on this album were altered, and one of the songs on this album had its name changed from "Conor Clapton Committed Suicide Because His Father Sucks" to "Your Kid Committed Suicide Because You Suck", because they were working for a record label in Britain, where libel laws are very stringent. Another song on the album called "Easy E Got Aids from F Mercury" contains the lyrics "Now Freddie's dead and he's in heaven; at his wake you ate watermelon".

It was also on It Just Gets Worse that the band began to include references to the Holocaust in their songs, including "I Sent Concentration Camp Footage to America's Funniest Home Videos". This theme of seemingly glorifying Adolf Hitler and his actions continued on their subsequent EPs, with songs such as "Hitler Was a Sensitive Man", "I'm Hitler", "Body by Auschwitz", "I Went Back in Time and Voted for Hitler" and "Ha Ha Holocaust".

Another common lyrical theme in the band's material was that of insulting other bands, or music in general. Such examples include the song titles "Rancid Sucks (and The Clash Sucked Too)", "Limp Bizkit Think They're Black, but They're Just Gay", "Anyone Who Likes the Dillinger Escape Plan Is a Faggot" and "311 Sucks".

Next to this offensive material, some of their other songs were deliberately much more light-hearted, which was done to self-parody. This includes the satirical Picnic of Love album, and also covers of songs completely different from their style including "Can't Touch This", "Stayin' Alive", "Escape", "Electric Avenue", "The Theme From Three's Company", "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side", "Hungry Hungry Hippos", and "Just the Two of Us", as well as their karaoke rendition of the Steve Miller Band song "Abracadabra" (intended to be a "cover" of "Sabbra Cadabra" by Black Sabbath). On their "Another E.P" 7 inch they covered "Goon" by Goon and Riverbottom Nightmare Band from The Muppets. They also played snippets of "Why Not Try Suicide" by P.T.L Klub and "Breakin' The Law" by Judas Priest.

Criticism
Critic Steve Huey called their album Morbid Florist "barely listenable".

Seth Putnam admitted that they had sent material to publications they knew would hate it just to get bad reviews.

Band members

Final lineup
Seth Putnam – vocals, guitars (1988–2001, 2003–2011; died 2011)
Tim Morse – drums (1988–1996, 2008–2011)
Josh Martin – guitars (1996–2001, 2006–2011; died 2018)

Previous members 
Mike Mahan – guitars (1988–1990, 2008)
Fred Ordonez – guitars (1991–1992, 1992–1993)
John Kozik – guitars (1992–1995, 2003–2006)
Paul Kraynak – guitars  (1993, 1995)
Scott Hull – guitars (1995)
Nate Linehan – drums (1996–1999, 2003–2004, 2006–2007)
John Gillis – drums (1999–2001, 2004–2006)

Timeline

Discography

Everyone Should Be Killed (1994)
Top 40 Hits (1995)
40 More Reasons to Hate Us (1996)
I Like It When You Die (1997)
Picnic of Love (1998)
It Just Gets Worse (1999)
Defenders of the Hate (2001)
110 Song CD (2008)
Fuckin' A (2010)

References

External links
Official page on MySpace

American grindcore musical groups
Noisecore musical groups
Musical groups from Massachusetts
Relapse Records artists
Earache Records artists
American musical trios
Obscenity controversies in music
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 1990
Musical groups reestablished in 1991
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2011
Musical parodies
React is a media franchise used by the Fine Brothers consisting of several online series centering on a group of individuals reacting to viral videos, trends, video games, film trailers, or music videos. The franchise was launched with the YouTube debut of Kids React in October 2010, and then grew to encompass four more series uploaded on the Fine Brothers' primary YouTube channel, a separate YouTube channel with various reaction-related content, as well as a television series titled React to That.

In 2016, the duo announced React World, a program and channel in which they would license the format of their React shows to creators, which led to widespread negative reception from viewers and fellow content creators, as well as confusion about what their format is. This eventually lead to the Fine Brothers removing all videos related to React World, essentially pulling the plug on the React World program.

YouTube series

Kids React
Benny and Rafi Fine launched a series titled Kids React on October 16, 2010, the first video being "Kids React to Viral Videos (Double Rainbow, Obama Fail, Twin Rabbits, Snickers Halloween)". The Kids React series features The Fine Brothers (and one of the staff members since 2016), off-camera, showing kids ages 4–14 (7-13 as of September 2016, 7-11 as of October 2016) several viral videos or popular YouTubers and having the kids react to the videos.

The most popular Kids React episode to date is “Kids React to Gay Marriage", with over 40.2 million views as of September 2, 2018. The popularity of Kids React made it possible for the online series to win a special Emmy Award at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2012. The Emmy Award, that was given in cooperation with AOL, was awarded to the Fine Brothers for "Best Viral Video Series". After their Emmy win, the brothers explained, "Not a lot has changed [after winning the Emmy] other than realizing that there are shows on YouTube like React that can get similar if not better viewership than mainstream entertainment can."

Videos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to by the kids include Smosh (who later reacted to the kids' reactions), planking and President Obama addressing the death of Osama bin Laden, among several other topics. Kids React has been compared to Kids Say the Darndest Things. In October 2012, the kids of the show were shown videos of the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Kids React won the Streamy Award for Best Non-Fiction or Reality Series in 2013.

Teens React
Due to the popularity of Kids React, The Fine Brothers spawned a spin-off dubbed Teens React on November 17, 2011 with "TEENS REACT TO TWILIGHT". The show has a similar premise to Kids React, however the younger stars are replaced with high school teenagers aged 14-18, some of whom have aged out of the Kids React series. Due to this, the Fine Brothers are able to show more mature and less "kid-friendly" videos such as videos on topics like Toddlers & Tiaras, Rick Perry's Strong commercial, Amanda Todd's death, and the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Other viral videos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to include Salad Fingers, the Overly Attached Girlfriend, "Gangnam Style", The Hunger Games trailer, Shane Dawson, and One Direction, among other topics.  Later on, The Fine Brothers launched a series titled Teens React: Gaming consisting videos of teenagers reacting to popular games such as Mario Kart 64, Flappy Bird, Rocket League, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Teens React launched the career of Lia Marie Johnson, it also featured some "famous" 'reactors' as guest stars, including Lisa Cimorelli, Amy Cimorelli, Lucas Cruikshank (who later appears in YouTubers React), Alex Steele, Jake Short, and Maisie Williams.

Elders React
Elders React was debuted in 2012 and it included seniors over the age of 55. In 2021, it became a subseries for Adults React.

YouTubers React
YouTubers React was debuted in 2012 and it included famous YouTubers. On November 2020, it is retitled Creators React due to the success of other social medias and is currently airing its one-off episodes as of June 2021.

Adults React
On May 30, 2015, the Fine Brothers announced Adults React, which premiered on July 16 later that year. It consists of people ages 20 to 55, including former stars of Teens React that have aged out of the series. Depending on the video or topic, Adults React will be specific of which type of adults are going to be reacting, such as parents or college kids.

Parents React

The first episode of Parents React premiered on August 6, 2015 with “Parents React to Don’t Stay At School”. This series involves parents reacting to stuff that kids were getting into.

College Kids React
The first episode of College Kids React premiered on June 23, 2016 with "College Kids React to The 1975". This series includes stars who have aged out of Teens React along with new stars, as well as stars that have not yet aged out of Teens React but have begun college. The content of College Kids React is similar to the content found in Teens React but more mature.

One-off episodes
In April 2014, as an April Fools joke, the Fine Brothers teamed up with Friskies and released Cats React, which went viral. In July 2016 they released another part of Cats React.

In August 2014, they released Celebrities React to Viral Videos, and now re-released yearly.

In April 2018, in another April Fools joke, they released "Teens React to Nothing" where they showed the teenagers on a blank screen. The following year, they released a sequel, "nothing reacts to teens react to nothing.", which featured the original video being played in an empty studio.

React YouTube channel
After creating four individual successful React series on their primary YouTube channel, the Fine Brothers launched a separate YouTube channel in 2014, for reaction-related content, simply dubbed "React". With the intent of running programming five days a week, the channel launched with five series: React Gaming (a Let's Play-style series with real youths from their primary React series), Advice (a series featuring real youths respond to questions from viewers), React Remix (musical remixes of past React footage), People Vs. Foods (originally Kids Vs. Food until 2016) (a series featuring Reactors taste-test "Weird" or international foods), and Lyric Breakdown (a series in which Reactors break down the meaning of various songs). The channel launched with a teenage-focused playthrough of Goat Simulator.
From September 18th 2020 to May 31st 2021, the React YouTube channel was retitled to "REPLAY", following the renaming of the main FBE channel to "REACT" in the wake of FBE's distancing from Benny and Rafi Fine as a consequence of the scandal in Summer 2020 that led to many reactors leaving the channel.
On June 1st 2021, REPLAY is retitled "PEOPLE VS FOOD" and moved all the non-food videos to REACT.

React to That
In early 2014, it was announced that the Fine Brothers made a deal with NCredible Entertainment, a production studio founded by Nick Cannon to develop a television series for Nickelodeon. The series, dubbed React to That, was "entirely re-envisioned for television," as the reactors "not only watch and respond to viral videos, but pop out of the reaction room and into showdowns where the clips come to life as each reactor is confronted with a challenge based on the video they just watched." Following the announcement of the series, Benny Fine explained, "All these viewers now watching are also pioneering what it is to be a viewer of content. They follow us through all of our different endeavors, all our different series, and now will have the opportunity to follow us to another medium." Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes to be produced, but only 12 were made and aired.

React World

Background
In July 2015, the Fine Brothers filed for trademark protection on "React" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark was filed for "Entertainment services, namely, providing an ongoing series of programs and webisodes via the internet in the field of observing and interviewing various groups of people." The USPTO approved for a 30-day opposition period which was set to begin on February 2, 2016; if no parties filed an opposition to the Fines' trademark request, it would have proceeded through the process. The brothers had recently filed for and been granted trademark registrations for "Elders React" and "Teens React" in 2013 as well as "Kids React" in 2012.

Announcement details
On January 26, 2016, the Fines announced that they would be launching React World, a way to grant content creators the license to create their own versions of the React shows. Specifically, the Fine Brothers explained they were going to license the format of their React shows. A Variety report detailed that React World would "aggregate videos in a channel to launch later this year to promote, support and feature fan-produced programming based on their shows."  The brothers' company, Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE) explained they would be working with YouTube and ChannelMeter on the launch of React World. FBE also expressed they would be able to monetize React-style videos uploaded under their license. On monetization, Digital Trends detailed "Although licenses are free, React World creators must agree to share 20 percent of AdSense revenue and 30 percent of premium brand deals with FBE." Additionally, the Fines explained they would provide ongoing production guidance, creative guidelines, format bibles, and other resources, as well as promotional and technical support to those creators who participated with the brothers on React World.

Reception
Although YouTube's VP on content partnerships, Kelly Merryman, originally proclaimed "This is brand-building in the YouTube age — rising media companies building their brands through collaborations with creators around the world," the Fine Brothers were met with overwhelmingly negative reception to their React World announcement. BBC News reported that "critics of the Fine Brothers have expressed concern they may use the trademarks to stifle competition," and quoted one YouTuber who detailed "People don't trust them because a few years ago when Ellen DeGeneres did a similar video—not that similar, it didn't have the same format or branding—they claimed it was their format." Viewers and fellow content creators alike condemned the Fines for their announcement, with The Daily Dot reporting, "Backlash poured in on Reddit and social media, and other YouTubers posted their own reactions and parodies of the enthusiastically corporate React World announcement video." The backlash led to a dramatic drop in subscribers, with upwards of 675,000 accounts collectively unsubscribing from the React and Fine Bros Entertainment channels as well as recent videos getting many dislikes in protest as of February 22, 2016. Mashable described that one Reddit post "ignited a thread of haters, defenders and overall discussion about whether what Fine Brothers Entertainment is doing is fair." Ryan Morrison, a gamer, lawyer and Reddit user, declared that he would file a legal challenge to the Fine Brothers' trademark request on "React", writing "These guys didn’t come up with the idea of filming funny reactions from kids. And they certainly don’t own an entire genre of YouTube videos. It wasn’t their idea, and it’s not theirs to own or police."

Though there was an overwhelmingly negative response to the React World announcement, other personalities expressed milder opinions; Internet personality Hank Green wrote "This could actually be a very cool project if it could be divorced from the idea of two very powerful creators attempting to control a very popular YouTube video format. Franchising one of YouTube's biggest shows? Yeah, I’d love to see how that goes." New York reporter Jay Hathaway wrote "The trademark and React World are dead. And that's a shame, because it was an interesting idea that suffered from tone-deaf execution."

Responses and discontinuation by the Fine Brothers
After seeing the initial backlash from their announcement, The Fine Brothers posted comments on various social media websites including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and the comment section of their YouTube announcement video. On Facebook the Fines wrote, "We do not own the idea or copyright for reaction videos overall, nor did we ever say we did. You don’t need anyone’s permission to make these kinds of videos, and we’re not coming after anyone", adding "We are in no way claiming reaction content in general is our intellectual property. This is purely a voluntary program for people wanting direct support from us, and we continue to be so excited to work with all of you who may want to participate". They additionally tweeted "We're not saying we hold a copyright on reaction videos overall, no one can. We're licensing our specific shows, like TV has done for years". The brothers also explained they would "not be trying to take revenue from other types of reaction videos, and will not be copyright-striking". However, other YouTubers have reported multiple copyright related video takedowns. The Guardian also reported that unrelated channels featuring diverse groups of people reacting to videos were also removed after takedown requests from the Fine Brothers; the "Seniors React" video was noted to be released prior to the Fines launching their Elders React series. The Fines also posted an update video in response to what they described as "confusion and negative response" to React World, in which they try to clear up confusion on what their format encompasses, as well as inviting viewers to e-mail them about any further questions.

Ultimately, the Fine Brothers removed all React World videos, and posted a statement on Medium, declaring they have filed the paperwork to rescind all their "React" trademarks and applications, will discontinue the React World program, and will release all past Content ID claims. In their post, the brothers expressed "It makes perfect sense for people to distrust our motives here, but we are confident that our actions will speak louder than these words moving forward". Reaction to this Medium post was negative on Reddit, where users were reported commenting they would not forgive the Fine Brothers.

Accolades

References

Citations

Sources

Footnotes

See also 
 Reaction video

2010 web series debuts
Fullscreen (company) channels
Fullscreen Media franchises
YouTube original programming Elegy For a Stillborn Child written by Seamus Heaney is a poem about the death of his friend's stillborn child.

It deals with the sad eventful death of the baby and how the mother and father react to the traumatic event as well as Seamus Heaney himself.  The poem was published c. 1966 along with others such as Triptych for the Easter Battlers, Homage to Pieter Breughel, Persephone, Rookery, Requiem for the Irish Rebels, The Peninsula, and Orange Drums, Tyrone 1966.

References

Irish poems
Stillbirth