Oh hey, I didn't see you there.
Economy Watch is a 2021 web series created by David Johnson, in which a fictionalized version of himself discusses economics and monetary trends in a comedic manner. He is joined frequently by Isaac Johnson (Dayan Hatchwell), Dennis Smith (Nico Davis), Jimmy Garcia (Jaime Abarca), Frederick Jones (Keith Johnson), Pepita Jones (Rocio Millan Johnson) and Matthew Stratton (Nathan Booth). Delia Millan serves as the show's cinematographer and plays additional unnamed roles, such as a store employee or a doctor. The posters were designed by Nico Davis and the theme music by Harshkrit Golla. The series is produced by Johnson's production company, Circumference Films.David developed the series in the summer of 2021, as he was always fascinated with video production and filmmaking, along with economics, and he felt as though there was a lack of channels, shows and videos that discuss the economy in a humorous manner, as opposed to something like gaming or other media. In August, the show premiered. Season 1 ran from August 1, 2021 to December 24, 2021 with 14 episodes, Season 2 ran from July 4, 2022 to December 25, 2022, with 10 episodes, and Season 3 ran from January 8, 2023 to December 27, 2023, with 8 episodes. A fourth season is in development.
The series was intended to be his ultimate passion project - a collaboration between artists, writers, programmers, filmmakers, friends and family all focused on the economy. An anime is in the works.
Episodes
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Season 1 (2021)
- Bitcoin (Episode 1)
- Dogecoin (Episode 2)
- El Salvador and Bitcoin (Episode 3)
- Non-Fungible Token (Episode 4)
- The Issue With The Penny (Episode 5)
- Inflation (Episode 6)
- Russian Rubles (Episode 7)
- The GME Stock Story (Episode 8)
- Gaming Currencies (Episode 9)
- The Lottery (Episode 10)
- Night of The Economic Dead (Episode 11)
- Swiss Francs (Episode 12)
- Pilgrimage Tercentenary Half-Dollar (Episode 13)
- A Very Hoarder Christmas (Episode 14)
Season 2 (2022)
- History of The American Currency (Episode 15)
- The Russian Gas Dilemma (Episode 16)
- Rent Inflation (Episode 17)
- Spanish Pesetas (Episode 18)
- Cryptic Cryptos (Episode 19)
- American Dollars (Episode 20)
- A Wall Street Thanksgiving (Episode 21)
- CAKE (Episode 22)
- The Economics of Football (Episode 23)
- It's An Economic Snowfall (Episode 24)
Season 3 (2023)
- New Year Token (Episode 25)
- Credit Cards (Episode 26)
- Chinese Yuan (Episode 27)
- The Economics of Healthcare (Episode 28)
- The Economics of American Football (Episode 29)
- Stock Stabber (Episode 30)
- Black Friday (Episode 31)
- 'Twas The Night Before Payday (Episode 32)
The tropes that stimulate the economy include:
- Aborted Arc: The homeless/lawsuit arc in Season 2, which was meant to conclude with a big trial episode for the season finale, but the idea was scrapped and replaced with a traditional Christmas special, taking place after David won the trial. The creator has jokingly said that the reason the trial episode was scrapped was because recording trials is illegal.
- Allegory: Several allegories are present throughout the series. The economy, for example, represents a variety of concepts - it represents the balance and structure of the universe, and David feels as though it's his responsibility to study and watch it. David's obsession with the economy can be seen as a metaphor for obsession with religion and the belief of a higher power, which causes him to question his existence in "It's An Economic Snowfall". His obsession with it could also be seen as a metaphor for depression and the need to find purpose in life.
- Angelic Abomination: The overarching antagonist of Season 2 is revealed in the finale, "It's An Economic Snowfall" - the Econiangel. The Econiangel takes inspiration from biblically accurate angels.
- Animated Credits Opening: The Season 1 and 2 Christmas specials have this. "A Very Hoarder Christmas" has Lego versions of scenes from Season 1 and "It's An Economic Snowfall" showcases elements around a festive living room based off the characters.
- Arc Symbol: Circles and coins.
- Arc Words: Coin, money, economy and eternally.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Even though David has canonically died twice, we've only seen his ascension to the Afterlife once in "A Very Hoarder Christmas", which displays the Afterlife as a festive and winter wonderland. This is because the Afterlife took a form that David's brain and soul could understand, so they went with a Christmas theme.
- Back from the Dead: Happens twice in the series. The first time in the Season 1 Halloween special, "Night of the Economic Dead", David returns from the dead as a zombie thanks to the old videotape being played. The second time is in the Season 1 Christmas special, "A Very Hoarder Special", David returns from the dead after being redeemed in the Afterlife.
- Bilingual Bonus: No subtitles are given during Jimmy Garcia and Ronaldo Garcia's Spanish rant over Franco, so the entire thing is in uncensored Spanish.
- Birthday Episode: Episode 22, "CAKE", is a birthday episode and follows David's birthday as he discusses the CAKE cryptocurrency from Pancake Swap.
- CharacterCatchphrase: "Oh hey, I didn't see you there".
- Central Theme: The central theme is about how the economy impacts people.
- Christmas Episode: The Season 1, 2 and 3 finales were Christmas specials.
- Episode 14: "A Very Hoarder Christmas"
- Episode 24: "It's An Economic Snowfall"
- Episode 32: "'Twas The Night Before Payday"
- Cliffhanger: Used infrequently throughout the series, most notably, in "The Lottery", in which David is threatened by a company to take part in a lottery or else he'll die. He doesn't do it in time, and thus dies at his desk, segueing into the 2021 Halloween special.
- Crusading Lawyer: Matthew Stratton is hired to get David's apartment back in one of the Season 2 episodes, and has no problem with helping David with his case.
- Curse Cut Short: David goes to Washington and compares the Washington Mounment to a penis in Episode 20, before getting cut off by the next informational section.
- Deadline News: The Meet The Johnsons news headquarters gets attacked by zombies whilst Pepita is reporting the virus outbreak in "Night of The Economic Dead".
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: David's pedophile neighbor, Ben Dover, was quietly killed off as he received the electric chair off-screen at some point after the 2022 Halloween special.
- Electromagnetic Pulse: The Econiangel has the ability to shut down electronics in its vicinity.
- Endearingly Dorky: David, Dennis, Isaac and the other protagonists are very nerdy and socially-inept, but that makes them all the more likable.
- Everyone Owns a Mac: David and Dennis own Macs, and the show is mainly made with Apple software.
- Faking the Dead: David fakes his death in Episode 30 in order to commit insurance fraud and get a life insurance benefit.
- Fallen Angel: Used literally in "It's An Economic Snowfall". The antagonist is a massive fallen angel from "the Economist's Afterlife". Not much is known about the Econiangel's origins, and it is suggested that it is a fallen angel.
- Fictional Holiday: In Episode 31, David comes up with an alternative to Black Friday given the amount of variants that exist, including Cyber and Green Monday. His new holiday is Discounted Three Tuesdays Later, and he shot a VHS advert for it as well.
- Foreign-Language Tirade: Jimmy Garcia and Ronaldo Garcia give a long rant about Franco in Spanish, without subtitles.
- Fugitive Arc: David goes under house arrest in the Season 1 finale.
- Genre Roulette: Some episodes parody genres and the tropes found in those genres. "Night of the Economic Dead" was a parody of zombie movies, "Cryptic Cryptos" was a parody of low-budget horror and werewolf stories, "Chinese Yuan" parodied elements of Chinese and 70s kung-fu movies, and the Christmas specials are parodies of typical Christmas specials. David has said he wants to do more of these genre parodies.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Jimmy Garcia and Ronaldo Garcia give a detailed rant about Franco in Spanish.
- Halloween Episode: Three have been done thus far, one per season. All three episodes parody common horror movie tropes, with Season 1's special parodying zombie movies, Season 2's parodying werewolf folklore and old horror movies and Season 3's parodying the slasher genre.
- Episode 11: "Night of The Economic Dead"
- Episode 19: "Cryptic Cryptos"
- Episode 30: "Stock Stabber"
- Harassing Phone Call: The Cold Open to Episode 30 is the Stock Stabber harassing David on the phone.
- The Hero: David is both the Hero and the Smart Guy.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: As the series goes on, it's increasingly obvious that David has little friends. He even mentions directly in Episode 24, "It's An Economic Snowfall", that his obsession with the economy has prevented him from connecting with people or making friends, leading him to rant about it with Frederick.
- The Illuminati: Referenced in the Season 2 premiere, "History of the American Currency". David has openly stated that he wants to introduce the Illuminati as an actual organization in Season 4.
- Iris Out: Used in Episode 19, "Cryptic Cryptos" to transition from the opening credits to the opening scene, done in a manner similar to old-school films.
- Kent Brockman News: News programs are used to provide exposition from time to time, often featuring different channels and hosts. Below are examples and the episodes.
- "Night of The Economic Dead" - Meet The Johnsons, hosted by Pepita Jones
- "A Very Hoarder Christmas", Meet The Johnsons, hosted by Pepita Jones
- "Spanish Pesetas", La Una, hosted by Jimmy Garcia
- "Cryptic Cryptos", Meet The Johnsons, hosted by Frederick Jones
- "The Economics of Football", La Una, hosted by Jimmy Garcia
- "The Economics of Healthcare", Noticias Derechas, hosted by Jimmy and Ronaldo Garcia
- "Stock Stabber", "Meet The Johnsons", hosted by Frederick Jones
- Kill the Lights: In "It's An Economic Snowfall", the lights dramatically go out when the Econiangel hovers above David's apartment.
- Loan Shark: This trope is used in an interesting manner in the show. A Season 3 episode is a parody of shark movies such as Jaws or Sharknado, and the main subject is about loan sharks, thus making it pretty meta!
- Mid-Review Sketch Show: The show often features additional sketches or skits that develop into a larger plotline or arc.
- NEET: David was revealed to be unemployed in Episode 32 and has never been seen going to school or developing training. He is said to have a net worth of 30 to 40 grand, but it's unknown how and where he gets this money.
- Nerd Glasses: David is a very nerdy boy and wears glasses.
- New Year Has Come: The Season 3 premiere, "New Year Token", was a New Year special.
- New Year's Resolution: David writes one in the Season 3 premiere, before realizing that he'll realistically never follow through with it.David: Now, let's see what I've got here. Finally discuss July 22, stop talking about stupid cryptocurrencies, make friends, actually be a good person; okay, I'm not doing any of that this year.
- No Social Skills: David is a character with difficulties with social cues. This is due to his namesake, who also had social problems.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The trial in Season 2 is done entirely off-screen, despite being hyped up for the entire season. This is because it is illegal to record trials.
- Patient Zero: David was Patient Zero of the Economic Virus in Episode 11, "Night of The Economic Dead".
- Played for Laughs: David's death in Episode 10, "The Lottery", is played for laughs.
- Production Foreshadowing: David's feature directorial debut, Frontiers Border, was referenced on a receipt in Season 3, Episode 2: Credit Cards. David was always fascinated with this trope.
- Random Events Plot: The series does follow a strict structure with arcs, but, from a certain perspective, the series can be seen as a sequence of plots and events strung together. In Season 1, David becomes Communist, reverts back to Capitalism, dies, comes back to life as a zombie, goes through house arrest, dies again, and comes back to life.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Several examples seen throughout the series.
- Episode 11, "Night Of The Economic Dead", was inspired by a zombie charity run that David did at the time.
- Episode 14, "A Very Hoarder Christmas", focuses on David losing his desk. This is because David was switching desks at the time, and it was written into the special.
- Episode 17, "Rent Inflation", has David visit a campsite in the mountains. This is because David actually did visit a campsite at the time of filming, along with Matthew Stratton's actor, for reasons unrelated to the show.
- Episode 20, "American Dollars", was written as David was visiting Washington D.C. and wanted to do a themed episode.
- Savage Wolves: Isaac becomes a werewolf in the 2022 Halloween special, "Cryptic Cryptos", savagely trying to attack David before he domesticates him. Isaac remains in the wolf form in the following episode, "American Dollars", but reveals he found a cure to his werewolf form in the 2022 Christmas special.
- Slasher Movie: Parodied in Episode 30, "Stock Stabber". More specifically, the episode pokes fun at Scream.
- The Smart Guy: Since all the members of the Economy Watch are nerds, most of them fall under this trope.
- Socially Awkward Hero: David is this in a nutshell, fused with Dork Knight.
- Spit Take: In Episode 29, "The Economics of American Football", David does a spit take when he realizes that Super Bowl tickets cost around $400,000.
- Story Arc: Season 2 featured an arc that lasted pretty much the whole season.
- In Episode 17, "Rent Inflation", David is evicted from his apartment and joins a camp for homeless people, where he finds a lawyer named Matthew Stratton. Matthew and David plot a lawsuit against his landlord, but Matthew tells him that it will take some time.
- In Episode 18, "Spanish Pesetas", David attempts to move to Spain due to rent being cheaper there than in other countries.
- In Episode 19, "Cryptic Cryptos", Isaac invites David over to his house in Michigan before the werewolf apocalypse happens.
- In Episode 20, "American Dollars", David flies from Michigan to New Jersey and swims to Washington, D.C. to meet up with a client that Matthew wanted David to talk to. Unfortunately, he forgets about the client and discusses American dollars instead.
- In Episode 21, "A Wall Street Thanksgiving", David eats turkey at a restaurant and makes a joke about his homeless status.
- In Episode 22, "CAKE", David spends his birthday alone at a restaurant, mentioning that he has trial duty soon.
- In Episode 23, "The Economics of Football", David visits the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. This is the final episode before the trial, which is done off-screen.
- In Episode 24, "It's An Economic Snowfall", David is revealed to have his apartment back.
- Tagline: "Oh hey, I didn't see you there".
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In Episode 10, "The Lottery", David's REFORM bottle is poisoned with cyanide, causing him to die.
- Team Title: Economy Watch is the name of the team that David creates.
- Title Drop: The phrase "Economy Watch" is used at the beginning of Episode 1, "Bitcoin".
- Thanksgiving Episode: Three have been done thus far, one per season.
- Episode 13: "Pilgrimage Tercentenary Half-Dollar"
- Episode 21: "A Wall Street Thanksgiving"
- Episode 31: "Black Friday"
- The White House: David visits Washington D.C., in the Fairfax county, which he grew up in. While he doesn't go inside the White House, he compares monuments like the Washington Monument to that of a massive organ.
- Threatening Shark: David fights threatening sharks that happen to be loan sharks in a Season 3 episode.
- Video Review Show: The show is a video-based review show.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Used in Episode 11, "Night Of The Economic Dead", with the apocalypse lasting only a day and a half.
TO BE PICKED UP ON AT SOME POINT IN THE NEAR FUTURE
