Hey everyone! We just had our first meeting of 2026, and I spent a long time discussing our upcoming projects. I wanted to do a write up for those of you that missed that meeting detailing what's in store for the future of the Defunctland channel and Patreon.
Before I begin, I want to thank all of you for your support. Your monetary contributions have made it possible to continue creating, and there are two points specifically that illustrate how important your patronage is.
First, all of the contributors that have worked with Defunctland over the past year, from assistants to editors, have all received raises this year because of the continued success of the Patreon and the channel. I am grateful to be able to pay people what they deserve for helping us produce content, and my ability to do that is, in large part, because of you all.
Second, the Defunctland YouTube channel has become the target of a copyright harassment campaign. This started two weeks ago and I only realized it yesterday, meaning I have lost several hundred dollars worth of revenue, and if it is not resolved, I could lose thousands if not tens of thousands in the future. The details of this are somewhat interesting and really infuriating (it's a third-party company that claims to represent large copyright holders, and while they might, they have targeted us with frivolous and inaccurate claims), but I am hoping to settle this internally with YouTube shortly. Should that not happen, you will hear more about it, but I want to say thank you at this point, because I could at least sleep last night knowing that I had the Patreon to fall back on if the worst were to happen. So thank you all.
Now onto the fun stuff. My goal this year is to upload at least two, and potentially three, videos on the main Defunctland channel. These include:
Defunctland: The Abandoning of Celebration City
In the heart of Branson, Missouri sits an abandoned theme park named Celebration City. The unique theme park attempted to be a "sequel park" to the popular Silver Dollar City, with the owners only opening the park at night in hopes that people would wander over to it after the daily closing of Silver Dollar City. This concept must have failed, because a few years after its opening, Celebration City was abandoned. Remnants still remain today.
This will be what I call a "classic-style" Defunctland video. The runtime will be between 20-40 minutes. I hope to have a final version by the end of March.
Defunctland: Gym Class
Some "attractions" do not exist at theme parks or even themed entertainment locations. One set of shared experiences that American children had was Gym Class, a fun and/or terrifying gauntlet of strange activities, most of which have been shared by the general public over several decades. The video will jump between activities such as climbing the rope, the parachute, dodgeball, scooters, fitness tests, and cup stacking, exploring the origin and history of these activities that so many children participated in.
One of the things that I've always loved about my DefunctTV series is that it allows people that have never been to the often-expensive tourist destinations I discuss to have content that they feel connected to. Our video on Kid Cities took this idea one step further, by focusing on a type of experience that was not a singular location, but rather a concept seen throughout the country and often experience in conjunction with school, increasing its accessibility. This idea is a continuation of that, testing the limits of what "Defunctland" can be while keeping the same tone and themes. This is the video that will not be produced if we run out of time this year, but I imagine this being in the 40-60 minute range, as Kid Cities was.
Deal or No Deal: A History Heist (November 2026)
Our big project this year is a DefunctTV special, our long-awaited Deal or No Deal video. This video explores the history of the popular game show through the lens of a heist, in which I try to mathematically dissect the show in attempt to "beat" the game.
This project has been a long time in the making, and I anticipate it being long, between 2.5 and 3.5 hours. I do not want it to be as long as Living Characters: A Broken Promise, but I do anticipate it having a lengthy runtime. My hope is to release it in our typical late-November slot.
Now onto some of our Patreon-exclusive content that you can look forward to in 2026.
Where We Parked
For those of you who don't know, Where We Parked is our Patreon-adjacent podcast. All Patreon members receive new episodes months in advance from public release, and Patreon members also have access to several bonus episodes and clips that are not available to the public. Jack and I have already recorded several additional episodes, and we can't wait for you to hear them. If you haven't checked out the podcast already, I would highly recommend it! If you are not a fan of podcasts, I would still urge you to give ours a shot, as both Jack and I also do not like the typical podcast format. Did we make something even worse than that? Decide for yourself! It's included in your membership.
Defunctland After Dark
Our Patreon-exclusive video series Defunctland After Dark will continue in 2026. The first video that is already being edited is the sequel to last year's Worst Commercials of 2024. This video will be appropriately titled the Worst Commercials of 2025, and it's going to be me complaining about commercials again. I have a few other Defunctland After Dark ideas that I am excited to try, including a video essay I wrote titled Who Won the Gay Baseball Game in High School Musical 2? Keep an eye out for more world-changing content such as this.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the beginning of a multi-year journey on a documentary that I am referring to as my North Star. The project is under the working title This Building is for Birthdays, and it is a piece I have been doing preliminary work on for years. It will be an exploration of the American packaged birthday, the industrialization of everything, and the colonization of our memories. More details to come, but this could be our biggest project yet, and I hope that it will be able to go a different path than a typical upload, possibly going to film festivals, theaters, and maybe even a physical media release while still ending on a public platform. I am very excited about it. Stay tuned.
Once again, thank you for your help in all of this, and I hope you stick with us for our, if you can believe it, tenth year of Defunctland! Happy New Year and take care!
Sincerely,
Kevin Perjurer