History WebVideo / Unabridged

* InMemoriam: Played for laughs. The series finale is dedicated to Nick, where the epilogue specifically notes that he had died two years after the events of the show from sniffing markers, with a "In Memoriam" message appearing afterwards.

* BrickJoke:
[[spoiler:The Squirrel that was mentioned to be living in the walls of the offices in Episode 1 finally appears, [[BackForTheFinale reuniting with Grant and Kirran in time for the finale]].]]

* TheDividual: Grant and Kirran, who are frequently paired up together and rarely appear one without the other, along with their jokes stemming from the two bouncing off each other.

* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:The Squirrel that was mentioned to be living in the walls of the offices in Episode 1 finally appears, [[BackForTheFinale reuniting with Grant and Kirran in time for the finale]].]]

* OnceAnEpisode: The events of each episode start “on a Monday” and kick off with a special meeting occurring in place of their usual Monday huddle. We never actually get to see what a Monday huddle is normally like.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The titles of Episodes 1-4 have a word beginning with the letters “Un“ somewhere in them. Episode 5 breaks this a little, but still has "un" in the title as "Ga'''un'''tlets & Goblins".

** Jesse Nowack plays Mr. Fork, the enemy of Lani during his segment in Episode 6.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Grant and Kirran.

** Zito was last seen caught in a shootout with the local police and gunmen. An explosion was seen, but [[NeverFoundTheBody his body was never found]]... [[https://www.twitch.tv/zito but Zito can be found on Twitch]].

* SelfDeprecation:
** In the series finale, when the TFS crew is putting out ideas to help get their channel back on track. Stephan suggests making a live-action scripted comedy series (like ''Unabridged''), which Kaiser shoots down by saying "that sounds like a lot of time and effort that I don't wanna do."
** In the series finale, Kaiser's Abridged section is a brief Abridged version of ''Unabridged'', with jokes about how the series ostensibly takes a bunch of established tropes in past sitcoms but applies it to the Team Four Star crew and ''Unabridged'' instead.

After the first season was put on hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic effectively shutting down production, Team Four Star confirmed in late 2021 that they were working on completing the remainder of the season, which started filming in June 2022. It wasn't until December 15, 2023 that the fifth episode was released.

* TheCameo: Creator/GaijinGoombah, a friend and close affiliate of the group, makes an appearance in episode 3 in a photo of possible suspects for who smashed the Mr. Coffee maker.

** Grant and Kirran's introduction interview features them talking about how they come up with all of the best ideas, while defensively recounting an instance where they were berated for [[NoodleIncident bringing a live squirrel into the gaming room.]]

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Episode titles have a word beginning with the letters “Un“ somewhere in them.

* IncrediblyLamePun: Nick appoints himself as the office's Swear Tzar, whose sole duty is to collect money for the swear jar. Funny considering he's just as foul-mouthed as Zito.

* MythologyGag: Kaiser inexplicably wears an eyepatch throughout episode 3, with the only acknowledgement of it being a “Where did the eyepatch come from?” caption below his name. It's a nod to ''DBZA's'' infamous “Where did that scouter come from?” joke, [[OldShame which has been a source of embarrassment for Scott for close to a decade.]]

* NotSoAboveItAll: Kaiser is the beleaguered and constantly ignored voice of reason in the office. Except when it comes to the subject of coffee, where he's just as insane as his coworkers.

* OffTheRails: All Zito wants wants the guys to do when he is [[GameMaster GM]]-ing a game of ''Dungeons & Drag-'' uh ''-[[BlandNameProduct Goblins & Gauntlets]]'' is for them to fight the [[BigBad Shadowmancer]]... but the party want to do ''anything'' but that instead starting a fight with/seducing the royal guards and attempting to flee.

* OnlySaneMan: Stephan, and to a lesser extent, Scott.

* {{Railroading}}: When, during a TabletopRolePlayingGame, the guys ignore Zito’s plot hook he's created as GameMaster of fighting the Shadowmancer who killed Lani’s character's family he trys to force them into in various ways.

** Creator/MatthewMercer of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' fame as the narrator of episode 5 which is about the guys playing a TabletopRolePlayingGame.

* TakeThat: Episode 4 is one long one directed at Website/YouTube and its over-the-top demonitization practices, pointing out how what is (and isn't) at risk of getting flagged is rife with UnfortunateImplications.

* {{Railroading}}: When, during a TabletopRolePlayingGame, the guys ignore Zito’s plot hook he's created as GameMaster of fighting the Shadowmancer who killed Lani’s character's family the trys to force them into in various ways.

* OffTheRails: All Zito wants wants the guys to do when he is [[GameMaster GM]]-ing a game of ''Dungeons & Drag-" uh ''[[BlandNameProduct Goblins & Gauntlets]]'' is for them to fight the [[BigBad Shadowmancer]]... but the party want to do ''anything'' but that instead starting a fight with/seducing the royal guards and attempting to flee.

* OffTheRails: All Zito wants wants the guys to do when he is [[TheGameMaster GM]]-ing a game of ''Dungeons & Drag-" uh ''-[[BlandNameProduct Goblins & Gauntlets]]'' is for them to fight the [[BigBad Shadowmancer]]... but the party want to do ''anything'' but that instead starting a fight with/seducing the royal guards and attempting to flee.

* TheAlcoholic: The rest of the team's antics have pretty much driven Kaiser to this.

After the first season was put on hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic effectively shutting down production, Team Four Star confirmed in late 2021 that they were working on completing the remainder of the season, which started filming in June 2022.

* CureYourGays: Kaiser was subjected to [[Series/TheMuppets Muppets]]-style videos as a child that were intended to do this. He's pretty sure all they did was make him a [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry]] and a [[WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973 King Richard fanboy]].

After the first season was cut short due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic effectively shutting down production, Team Four Star confirmed in late 2021 that they were working on a second season, which started filming in June 2022.

* CureYourGays: Kaiser was subjected to [[Series/TheMuppets Muppets]]-style videos as a child that were intended to do this. He's pretty sure all they did was make him a [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry]] and a [[WesternAnimation/RobinHood King Richard fanboy]].

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Lani and Kaiser invoke this in episode 4 when they introduce a company-wide policy that bans any kind of behavior Website/YouTube may deem demonitization-worthy. This includes swearing, lewd gestures, discussing drugs in any context, [[HideYourGays being openly gay]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking owning an anime body pillow]].

* AdultFear: Most of the BlackComedy in episode 2 plays for laughs the fears of a mother whose son has been kidnapped and is seemingly held for ransom.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: While Stephan’s denial of having broken the office’s coffee machine is sound, he later mentions having hated his former job as a barista and suspiciously denies having broken any coffee machine at '''this''' location. [[spoiler:[[RedHerring He didn't do it after all]], as while Grant and Kirran were blackout high the previous night they'd gone to the office and smashed the machine for kicks.]]

* INeedAFreakingDrink: ''KaiserNeko''. Happens in the second episode when Lani’s antics cause him to just pull out a flask and drain it.

-->'''{{KaiserNeko}}''': Wait, hold on a second. You weren't at the Monday huddle this morning. How do you know about this?\\

-->'''KaiserNeko''': Wait, hold on a second. You weren't at the Monday huddle this morning. How do you know about this?\\

* AloneWithThePsycho: DoubleSubverted in Episode 1. Kaiser throws Stephan into an office room with Zito and is worried for the former when he leaves the room 22 minutes later, though Stephan insists he’s fine and him and Zito just talked for a bit. The moment Kaiser leaves, Stephan breaks down and reveals that the experience was just as traumatic as Kaiser expected.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Nick being a loud kid at the start of vacation reportedly led to a cop tackling him.

** Kaiser greets Stephan and tells him not to bother with names because he's not sober and just gives Stephan an awkward, sleepy-looking smile before taking him on a tour of the office.

--->'''Nick''': They might! One day, they might...

* HonoraryUncle: Nick considers Kaiser a terrible one to his “son” in episode 2 when Kaiser insists on returning the child to his actual mother.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Kaiser. Happens in the second episode when Lani’s antics cause him to just pull out a flask and drain it.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Nick appoints himself as the office's Swear Tzar, whose sole duty is to collect money for the swear jar.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Zito's response to hearing that Kaiser takes his coffee "Four times a day, Irish as Zito."

** Nick's only comeuppance for his actions in Episode 2 is getting unsuccessfully chewed out by Kaiser and reluctantly dropping the kid off at the mall after he turns out to have a dog allergy.

* MythologyGag: Kaiser inexplicably wears an eyepatch throughout episode 3, with the only acknowledgement of it being a “Where did the eyepatch come from?” caption below his name. It's a nod to ''DBZA's'' infamous “Where did that scouter come from?” joke, [[OldShame which has been a source of embarrassment for Kaiser for close to a decade.]]

* OnlySaneMan: Stephan, and to a lesser extent, Kaiser.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Nick and Kaiser invoke this in episode 4 when they introduce a company-wide policy that bans any kind of behavior Website/YouTube may deem demonitization-worthy. This includes swearing, lewd gestures, discussing drugs in any context, [[HideYourGays being openly gay]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking owning an anime body pillow]].
* PoorCommunicationKills: When talking to the mother and the cop on the phone in episode 2, Nick demands to see an exorbitant amount of money when the return happens but neglects to explain further (he wants the people he leaves the kid with to be monetarily well-prepared), [[HanlonsRazor understandably leading to them thinking he’s holding the child for a ransom]].

* RedOniBlueOni: Kaiser (rational, collected, and serious) is the blue, next to Nick's (narcissistic, impulsive, and loud) red.
* RewatchBonus: In episode 3, [[spoiler: knowing that Grant and Kirran broke the coffee machine adds to the {{Irony}} of them investigating their own crime. Notably, there is a moment that Kirran that says he doesn't think he did it, which turns about to be the best way to word it since [[IntoxicationEnsues he and Grant were blackout high]] when they smashed the thing. There's also the fact that he says that [[WhatDidIDoLastNight they don't remember their Ding-Dong Bing-Bong the night prior]]]].

* SeriousBusiness: As Stephan learns the hard way, one does not casually dismiss the destruction of a Mr. Coffee around Kaiser.

* YouDoNOTWantToKnow: In Episode 2, after Zito arrives to give Lani what looks like a burner phone, Kaiser asks how Zito knows about the kid situation.
-->'''Kaiser''': Wait, hold on a second. You weren't at the Monday huddle this morning. How do you know about this?\\

'''Kaiser''': No, that's fair.

'''''Unabridged''''' is a live-action series produced by Creator/TeamFourStar. It is a faux-behind-the-scenes look at the production cycle in TFS Studios through the eyes of new employee Stephan Krosecz (who is the director of the series).

Production of a first season of seven 15-minute episodes has begun. The pilot episode premiered exclusively to TFS’s patrons on July 22, 2019, and went public on Website/YouTube on March 21, 2020.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Nick is a self-absorbed dumbass who never thinks about the consequences of his actions and often does stuff without thinking, along with claiming that "Vice CEO" isn't good enough of a title for him and that he thinks "Emperor" sounds better.

* DiggingYourselfDeeper: The entire plot of the second episode. First, Nick unintentionally kidnaps a lost kid on the street and “adopts” him. Then, when Kaiser finally persuades him to call his mom and return him, Nick says that she needs to bring a hundred thousand dollars [[SkewedPriorities because most people don't even have a thousand squared away for emergencies]], then hangs up on her. Unsurprisingly this gets the police involved, but during the call with them he ends up hanging up on them.

** Nick’s only comeuppance for his actions in episode 2 are getting unsuccessfully chewed out by Kaiser and reluctantly dropping the kid off at the mall after he turns out to have a dog allergy.
** Despite the PoliceBrutality mentioned below, it’s implied that the officer who tackled Nick in his childhood kept his job and is in fact the same cop that calls TFS to negotiate the safe return of Nick’s “adopted son.”
** At the end of episode 3, it’s explicitly stated that [[spoiler:Grant and Kirran were never caught]] for the coffee machine case.

* RewatchBonus: In episode 3, [[spoiler: knowing that Grant and Kirren broke the coffee machine adds to the {{Irony}} of them investigating their own crime. Notably, there is a moment that Kirren that says he doesn't think he did it, which turns about to be the best way to word it since [[IntoxicationEnsues he and Grant were blackout high]] when they smashed the thing. There's also the fact that he says that [[WhatDidIDoLastNight they don't remember their Ding-Dong Bing-Bong the night prior]]]].