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People Watching

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People Watching (Web Animation)
People Watching is a Web Series created by Winston Rowntree of Subnormality fame, published by CBC in Canada and the Cracked Youtube channel everywhere else. People Watching deals with the lives of various 20- to 30-something city folks dealing with the everyday struggles, problems and neuroses that go along with life.

The playlist for Season 1 can be found here, while the playlist for Season 2 can be found here.

Season 3 was produced in 2024, with post-production wrap announced via official social media.The new season was released via OU Ttv (and affiliated platforms) and is available in various regions through Prime Video as of August 2025.

Not to be confused with the album by Sam Fender of the same name.


This series provides examples of:

  • All in the Manual: The Pilot of the series gives some background to some of the characters such as Ted's Jewish Chinese Heritage, Candy's IQ & Jeremy's Gender.
  • Alternate Self: Candy meets three of her alternate selves in the museum of alternative history: a self-made business woman with a family, a small town politician, and a Russian fashion designer involved in fighting Human trafficking. She discovers that despite being the least successful in terms of profession all versions of herself are activists fighting the good fight.
  • Amicable Exes - Brian and Joan decide to just be friends after their off-screen break up in Season 3 episode 7.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: Safra personifies her depression. It takes the form of a bespectacled, mustachioed man with arm tattoos wearing a short sleeved shirt in jeans who constantly makes remarks on how broken she is and how she will never be truly happy.
  • Attractiveness Isolation: Candy is so attractive that clients for her job as an exotic dancer gives her a lot of free stuff and her image is used as a poster in her workplace, but she comes of as intimidating to guys especially combined with her high IQ. Because of this, she has no real/close friends to the point that nobody visited her in the hospital during her four-month stay.
  • Autism in Media: Flossie, who had pretended to be “normal” during the first two seasons, has become more open about being autistic during the interim. She even gives an interview to a publication where she talks candidly about her diagnosis and experiences.
  • Better as Friends: Martha and Ted discuss this trope in Episode 5 in terms to their platonic relationship.
  • Brutal Honesty: Jeremy and Candy opted to be brutally honest about themselves during Speed Dating and the people that they talked to started doing the same thing.
  • Catfishing: Inverted - Joan reverse catfished Brian in Season 3 Episode 2. A dating strategy where someone downplays their attractiveness, accomplishments, or financial success in their online profile to attract someone interested in them for deeper reasons rather than superficial qualities. She used a 2012 photo of herself hiding her face and before her impants.
  • Confessional: A Non-Religious Confessional in Episode 2
  • Continuity:
    • Ted mentions being in a relationship with Christianne at the end of Episode 5, the only girl who reacted positively when Ted mentions he likes the beach and pegging in speed dating.
    • Candy mentions her accident in the Secret Losers Anonymous Meeting.
    • After their shared hatred of the movie and discussion on why talking should be allowed in theaters in Episode 9, Jackson, Ted & Martha became friends. We can see Jackson being invited for a movie night in Ted's Apartment as well as Jackson cheering Ted on in one of his rants in a comedy club in Episode 10.
    • Candy mentions her date with Jeremy in a conversation with her alternate self.
  • Cool Teacher: Mr. Dolan, Ted's Grade 7 Teacher inspired him to be an Artist/Comedy Writer, Ted writes a very beautiful letter to him at Episode 8, grateful to the role in his development despite him not being a success.
  • Dead All Along: Martin, Jackson's brother in Season 2, Episode 2
  • Demoted to Extra: Jeremy, who was a major character in the first two seasons, is reduced to a minor role in Season 3. In the interim, he’s become the owner of the restaurant where he once worked as a waiter.
  • Driven to Suicide: Also Martin.
  • Fake Boobs: Candy admits to having Breast Implants.
  • Hypocrite: Most guys ask Candy out for the sole reason of her looks. When she asked out Jeremy, she kept bringing up the fact that he is transgender & how brave he is. It is also hinted that she did not read through his online dating profile, which made Jeremy ask her if she only asked him out because he is transgender.
  • Insecure Love Interest: Both Saffra and Jackson believe they’re not good enough for each other, but Martha encourages them to keep the relationship going and be honest about their feelings. After sharing their insecurities, they decide to continue dating.
  • Grand Romantic Gesture: Joan or Candy made an elaborate strip show for Brian, when he says that he will come and watch the show, she reserved a seat for him with a Rose. The show itself is a Star Trek themed strip show where Candy is dressed as an Orion, it features an elaborate light show featuring star ships and fireworks. He did not show up to the performance, and after the show, Candy went outside of the Emergency Door and she cried ending the episode.
  • Hiding the Handicap: In earlier seasons, Janis avoided being shown standing because she needs crutches to walk. After being inspired by Flossie’s openness about her autism, she decides to stop hiding her condition to Flossie as their relationship has become more intimate.
  • The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: Candy found the Museum of alternate history near the building where she works only for it to disappear the next day.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Ted & Martha. Ted is a sensitive beach-loving guy who enjoys getting pegged; Martha is an aggressive girl who loves Metal & Action Movies.
  • Meaningful Background Event: In Episode 5, when Ted & Martha were in College eating in a Diner, we see Jeremy before his transition and when they return years later, Jeremy's transition has been completed.
  • Moose and Maple Syrup: Since the series takes place in a Canadian city, most characters use the "Eh" interjection and Candy the stripper mentions making the guy on a $5 Bill look like Spock, an act called "Spocking" which is a common thing in Canada.
  • Near-Death Experience: Candy is hit with a Car in Episode 4. The trauma causes her to rationalize the concept of death.
  • Nostalgia Ain't Like It Used to Be: Ted delivers a rant about Nostalgia and being grateful about their lives in the present. We are treated to a showcasing of some of the other characters lives, their challenges as well as their triumphs, while time-travelling future people are watching each of them and agreeing to his rant.
  • Posthumous Character: Martin.
  • Stage Names: Candy the stripper mentions that her real name is Joan several times in several episodes.
  • Real-Time Timeskip – Season 3 takes place in 2025, a full eight years after the end of Season 2. The time gap is reflected in the characters’ appearances and life changes.
  • The Reveal:
    • At the end of Episode 1, it looks like Candy and Jeremy are talking to each other only for it to reveal that they are talking to different people on different days.
    • At the end of Episode 3, after a successful date with Jeremy, Safra talks to him in her apartment only for his comments to become suddenly negative and dismissive. It turns out she is talking to Depression Guy. Her date with Jeremy was over a week ago and she hadn't talked to him since.
    • At Episode 6. Flossie seems busy with her phone during her break at her live concert rudely ignoring her fans. It is revealed that she isn't really doing anything but switching screens on her phone during all of her minimal interactions during her shows
    • At Season 2, Episode 1 has the characters talking about their experience in 2017 documentary style It turns out that this is being filmed in 2067 asking the characters about their experiences five decades ago and that they are being digitally altered to make them look younger.
    • We spend the entirety of Season 2, Episode 2 with Jackson spending time with his brother talking about memories and what it means to be alive forever. Only to be revealed that his brother has been Dead All Along and he has been talking to himself to cope with his loss.
    • Season 2, Episode 4 has Safra talking to a Bar Patron named Mau about how hard it is to make friends, and they say that people should just invent a device that could find you a perfect friend no matter where or when that would be. Mau is from the future where both time travel & a universal friend finder existed, and Safra has a 99.97% compatibility with her. The title of the episode "37" refers to the amount of time Mau has returned at that exact moment to befriend Safra.
    • Season 3 Episode 3: It is revealed that Flossie is autistic, but at the end of the episode it is revealed that her date Janis needs crutches to walk, as we never see her standing in the previous season
    • Season 3 Episode 4: Brian uses an app to make a superficial friend — someone he doesn’t have to know deeply so he won’t risk ruining the connection. At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that his secret friend is Janis, his sister whom he detests.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Brian and Janis can barely stand each other, fueled by years of resentment and the added tension of being forced to share a cramped one-bedroom apartment.
  • Smarter Than You Look: Candy is a stripper with a 180 IQ.
  • Speed Dating: The main characters and some background characters try speed dating on Episode 1.
  • Stalker with a Crush: An unnamed man starts following Martha after she rejected his advances in a club.
  • Starving Artist:
    • Ted is revealed to be this in Episode 7. Ted is a successful artist with thousands of fans, but makes only $12,000 a year.
    • Flossie's internal monologue in Episode 10 mentions that she is poor.
  • Stood Up – Brian fails to attend Candy’s performance, which becomes the breaking point in their relationship.
  • Tropaholics Anonymous: Safra, Candy, Jackson, Ted and Flossie discuss why they are losers despite not looking it.
  • Used to Be More Social: Safra mentions that she used to have a lot of school friends, but after graduation she lost out of touch with all of her friends and never recovered socially.

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