This page shows a list of episodes for the web television series Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager, created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan of Blame Society Productions. The series was initially launched on Channel 101, but was cancelled after the first two episodes were released. Yonda and Sloan decided to continue the series on YouTube, as well as Blame Society Productions' independent website. It has become the signature show for Yonda and Sloan, who have since built on their success with additional shows and characters.

The show stars Chad Vader, the non-canonical brother of Star Wars villain Darth Vader; Chad is visually indistinguishable from Darth, save for his selfish and petty demeanor. The show follows Chad as he interacts with the eccentric customers and co-workers at Empire Market, where he is the day shift manager. Chad has a best friend in his "apprentice", Jeremy Wickstrom, while he is often at odds with night shift manager Clint Shermer and corporate owner Margaret McCall.

Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager has been the subject of great fanfare and acclaim, winning an Official Star Wars Fan Film Award. Because of his near-perfect impression of Darth Vader when voicing Chad, Matt Sloan was tapped by LucasArts to become Vader's new voice; Sloan voices Vader in the video games Empire at War: Forces of Corruption^[1][2] and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.^[3] Chad Vader has also appeared on other web series, as well as Star Wars fan conventions.

Season 1: 2006–2007[link]

Season 2: 2009[link]

Season 3: 2010[link]

Season 4: 2012[link]

In the Fall of 2011, Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda announced in a YouTube video that in previous seasons, actors weren't paid and funding was privately done. However, they had discovered that this was not technically legal, and they needed fans to pledge $1,000 to fund Season 4. The pledge fund was good It has been announced that season 4 will start on June 12 2012.

References[link]

This page is a comprehensive listing and detailing of the various characters in the web series Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager, divided sectionally as appropriate.

Main characters[link]

Chad Vader[link]

Chad Vader is played by Aaron Yonda and voiced by Matt Sloan. He is the main character of the series, and day shift manager of Empire Market. Sometimes using lines lifted from the Star Wars films, Chad's main goal is to crush the store's competition and help make it dominate the food retailing industry. While he has harsh relationships with some of his co-workers, most notably Clint, he has better ones with others, such as his "apprentice" Jeremy. Chad implies in "The Date" that his older brother is Darth Vader, and that he gave Chad a life support suit similar to his own when Chad accidentally rode his bicycle into a volcano;^[1] Chad lost touch with his family when they moved to Tatooine without him. Though Chad's loyalty to the store is unquestionable, his habit of maiming customers and brandishing his lightsaber has led to trouble with management. He was devoted to his initial day shift manager position, and quit his job when he was demoted to the night shift; however, he later returned. At the conclusion of the third season, Chad is finally promoted to the general manager position.

Jeremy Wickstrom[link]

Jeremy Wickstrom is played by Paul Guse. He is an Empire Market employee who idolizes Chad and wears the headpiece of an Imperial Ground Officer (which is the back piece of the Hasbro Darth Vader Voice Changer mask). He is usually referred to by Vader as "Commander Wickstrom", and is treated as his "young apprentice". Jeremy eventually transfers to the Night Shift with Chad, until Chad went back to being a Day Shift Manager. In "Laser Trouble", he is shown to have the power of the Force when he pulls a broom to his hand. Jeremy often sees Chad more as his leader than his boss. In the second season, Chad neglects Jeremy in favor of Robby Johnson, which leads to Jeremy being persuaded by Margaret McCall to betray Chad by spying on him with Libby. In "Bandito Beatdown", Jeremy is shown to be very upset with Chad's apparent betrayal and very confused about what he should do. He also regrets telling McCall about Chad dating Libby. After his fight with Chad in the episodes "Showdown" and "Somebody Dies", they eventually make amends. However, in "Somebody Dies", Jeremy accidentally delivers a fatal wound to Weird Jimmy with his lightsaber. In season 3, Jeremy is being trained in "expecting the unexpected". It is revealed that he is being haunted by Jimmy's spirit, who also informs him that Jeremy is "the key for stopping him" (referring to Randy). In "Six Ways to Die", after learning that the final Baby Cookie bomb is inside the Surveillance Assailant, he decides to sacrifice himself by taking it out of the store, but Damien Nightshayde stops him and instead does so in his place. Feeling responsible for the deaths of both Jimmy and Damien, Jeremy informs Chad that he is leaving to go on a journey of self discovery. Michelle, however, assures Chad that he will be back.

Clint Shermer[link]

Clint Shermer is played by Matt Sloan. He is Chad's nemesis and the Empire Market's former night shift manager. In the first season, Clint is a bully who constantly abuses Chad; the two had frequent altercations where Chad brandished his lightsaber at Clint. After Chad quit his job in season one, Clint—having been promoting to day shift manager in Chad's place—began abusing his subordinates. His treatment of Jeremy greatly angered Chad, who subsequently defeated Clint and forced him to quit.

In the third season, Clint returns at the behest of Maggie, who hires him back as a "manager-for-a-day". This time around, Clint has filed a restraining order against Chad, wearing a device that electrocutes him if he comes within a certain distance. As manager-for-a-day, he has Empire Market run as a "crazy store" to attract new customers. Tensions between him and Chad boil to a point where they have a lightsaber duel in the stockroom, though they stop when they learn that Randy has planted bombs around the store. Clint defuses most of the bombs. As a result of his actions, Clint is promoted as the general manager of a new Empire Market branch.

Randy Morgan[link]

Randy Morgan is played by Brad Knight. He is Chad's boss as the general manager of Empire Market, but is later demoted to night shift manager and janitor. Chad, who takes his day manager job very seriously, practically worships Randy, kneeling before him and calling him "Emperor". Randy—as seen in the first Chad Vader episodes, as well as Chad's training videos—is often unsettled or annoyed by Chad's valorous treatment of him. Randy demotes Chad to managing the night shift during the first season for spying on him with a hologram, causing Chad to quit. However, he hires him back after Chad settles his score with Clint.

During the second season, Randy himself is put on the night shift by McCall after a demonstration of Empire Market's checkout system goes awry. The night shift drives Randy insane, making him believe he can talk to Baby Cookie, a doll belonging to a strange customer named Hal. Randy steals Baby Cookie and proceeds to have hallucinatory one-sided "conversations" with the doll. With Cookie's help, Randy tries to kill Chad with a sword; when he fails, he is appointed janitor in Weird Jimmy's place. In the third season, Randy claims to be cured, but relapses when Baby Cookie turns up in the store. After Hal retrieves Baby Cookie, Randy reveals his collection of Baby Cookie-like dolls, rigging them with time bombs and planting them throughout the store. Randy's bombs are defused by Chad and Clint; a final bomb is taken out of the store by Damien and explodes in the parking lot. Randy's status in the store remains unknown.

Yonda (left) plays Chad Vader and Hal Thompson. Sloan (right) voices Chad Vader and plays Clint Shermer and Champion J. Pepper

Recurring characters[link]

• Clarissa (Christina LaVicka) - A cashier at Empire Market who went on a date with Chad, but later dated Clint. She twice asked Chad if he wanted to go on another date after Clint had quit his job. The first time, Chad said he had to check his schedule, the second time he completely declined, saying that he was dating Libby. Apparently, she still has some feelings for him.

• "Weird" Jimmy (Craig Johnson) - An insane janitor. He used to be the day shift manager, but has become unstable since moving to the night shift and losing his position as manager. He consults his mop (named "Mop") before he does anything, believes in elves, and possesses, shown on two occasions, a gun with a long silencer. In the second season finale "Somebody Dies", Jimmy was accidentally killed by Jeremy when he was trying to save Chad from an assassination attempt by a crazed Randy. He then reappears as a spirit and haunts Jeremy, calling him a murderer, out of a need to be avenged (though this seems to merely be his excuse, as he derives great pleasure from scaring Jeremy, but is a big help when it comes to saving the store and getting him out of the cooler).

• Margaret McCall (Karen Moeller) - The new owner of Empire Market. She is the liaison for Red Leader Foods that Mr. Pepper sold Empire Market to. Outwardly, she appears nice, but, in truth, has many hidden unpleasant qualities. She is very indifferent to others' well being, and apparently has a very small amount of values, especially when she starts turning Jeremy into her personal spy, using a technique similar to that Emperor Palpatine did to Anakin Skywalker. McCall is also responsible for Randy's mental collapse after assigning him to the night shift, and for having Libby deported to her native island country New Zealand, after she learns of her romantic relationship with Chad. In many episodes, Chad fantasizes about killing McCall. She is subsequently removed from Empire Market by a clause in her contract, but she demands a job, accepting the Night Shift Manager job (which she takes as an honor, much to Champion's annoyance).

• Libby (Kate Sprecher) - McCall's assistant whom Chad begins to fall in love with. The two of them kiss "First Kiss", directly before she is deported back to New Zealand by McCall after learning of her relationship with Chad.

• Lloyd (Rob Matsushita) - An employee who often makes sexually suggestive remarks and is a friend of Clint. Chad is deeply irritated by him and will often torture him in many different ways, including Force chokes and using the Force to hurl store produce and items at him.

• Sean Banditson (Sean Moore) - A former customer of Empire Market who became Chad's "arch-nemesis" after Chad ended a store sale on marshmallow. His alter-ego is called "Marshmallow Bandito", which appeared twice in Season 2 and once in Season 3. He was a failed manager-for-a-day in the episode "Rockets and Chaos". When he injured several customers, he was placed in jail and his last request for Chad was to bring him marshmallows. He wasn't seen again in Season 3, although he appears in "Chad Vader's Halloween Seance", one of the Babelgum videos.

• Damien Nightshayde (Ian Zander) - An emo-esque vampire-like man who was hired by Clint as the new stock boy. All female employees find him very attractive, annoying Chad. Damien claims that he will protect various characters "until [his] heart stops beating." He is killed protecting Jeremy when a Baby Cookie bomb detonates inside the Surveillance Assailant. Played by Ian Zander, son of Robin Zander from Cheap Trick.

• Baby Cookie - A cursed doll which Clint finds in a shop, and is bought by Hal. She is able to speak telepathically and give "special powers", like the ability to debone a chicken. Hal keeps her until Randy steals her. Cookie's influence corrupted Randy, driving him to attempt an assassination on Chad Vader. Randy failed, causing Weird Jimmy to be slaughtered instead. Later, when having partially regained his sanity, Cookie attempted to enslave him to her will, but failed until "Return of Clint", in which Clint is able to pressure him to join him in a struggle against Chad. Later, Hal confronts Randy in an attempt to liberate his "special baby friend". After defeating Randy, Hal takes her back with him. Randy, however, has several different Baby Cookie dolls in multiple lockers. She is the childhood doll of producer Courtney Collins. Baby Cookie was featured in a video parody of Bing Crosby and David Bowie's Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy. She also starred in her own unique "Baby Cookie's Got Answer."

• Champion J. Pepper (Matt Sloan) - The original owner of Empire Market and Clint's father. He wears a cowboy hat and speaks with a Texas accent, and is fond of introducing himself every time he enters a room, as it is a "new thing [he] is trying out". He sold the market to Red Leader Foods, a corporate conglomerate, but bought it back in the third season finale.

• Ben (Mike McCafferty) - A Jedi spirit who stopped Chad from committing suicide and helps him get his life back together. He claims his death was caused by driving drunk over a gas station pump, which then exploded. He appears suddenly, but disappearing requires additional effort, such as performing a song and dance. He finally finds another way to disappear — by doing a strange scream three times. He briefly reappears in one of the Babelgum videos, "Chad Vader's Halloween Seance", with some important news for Chad. Unfortunately, Chad does not want to hear it.

• Hal Thompson (Aaron Yonda) - An odd man who searches for bizarre items within the store, often for his "voodoo ritual." He is one of the main characters in one of Blame Society Productions other series, "Fun Rangers". Yonda also plays Chad (but does not provide the voice). This factor is the main reason both Hal and Chad have rarely been seen in the same shot standing. Hal is also the original owner of Baby Cookie, who he bought from an unknown shop. He spent quite a lot of time with her until Randy stole it from him in "The New Employee", but was able to reacquire in "Sick Day".

• Tony Edwards (Asa Derks) - An employee in Empire Market who doesn't like Chad very much. He can be seen in the first two episodes. Chad refers to him as "Commander Edwards," much to Tony's annoyance. He also hates being told to search his feelings to find an aisle. He made a comeback appearance in "Surveillance Assistant", where Chad considers him for the role as manager. He makes his prominent appearance as the manager in episode 4, season 3, when he is chosen to be the manager for a day. His cynical and careless point of view affects the store employees as they find the things that they do everyday are boring. In the end, Tony belatedly storms out to go home in excitement, with Chad remarking that he is the greatest manager ever.

• Tammy (Kealynn Kees) - An employee in Empire Market who refuses Chad's proposal for her to work an extra shift in the first episode. She will occasionly appear in the background.

• Lionel (William Bolz) - A weird employee in Empire Market who always says that customers "save a lot". In one of the episodes he asks Chad if anything is faster than the speed of light (referencing Star Wars spaceships). He also asks Chad if he likes light bulbs. He brings his dog into the store in episode 4 but refuses to search for him saying "I'm not supposed to leave the cash register". He made a short appearance in "Showdown", where he uses the conveyor belt to move a coconut, telling Jeremy "It's alive!"

• Star Wars Nerd (Steve Agee) - A Star Wars fan whom Chad sees when he's about to commit suicide.

• Mayor (Mayor Dave Cieslewicz) - The mayor of Madison. Chad tries working for him but it didn't work out. He appears in two episodes of season 1 (episodes six and eight).

• Bartender (Drew Foerster) - The bartender who serves Chad in Episode 5.

• Mouse Droid a somewhat Dalek like droid that cleans the floors and attacked Hal in season two. It also appears in Season 3, when Chad Vader tests his lightning powers on it.

• Frustrated Customer (Adam Koralik) - A customer confused by the incredibly high price of beans sold at Empire Market in season 3.

• Robby Johnson (Wolfgang Stein) -An Empire Market employee who had worked there for half a day, before he was terminated after following the instructions in Chad's training videos. He was rehired by Maggie in the episode "The New Employee". In "First Kiss", he was selected by her as an employee who demonstrated skills, and thus was given a free meal at Gino's Pizzeria Facility. He was accompanied by Chad and Libby, all of whom became intoxicated with alcohol, leading Robby to obsess over "Staying drunk for forever!". In "Somebody Dies", it is shown that Robby has since become an alcoholic, even getting drunk while at work. In his debut episode, he states that, as he doesn't have a family, he views the market's staff as his family, particularly Chad, who he sees as a mentor and father, before saying he believes that Chad "Probably is [his] father", since he's "Never seen [Chad's] face". Despite this, an exchange between Chad, Maggie and Robby in "First Kiss" implies that he is attracted to Chad.

References[link]

Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager is an American comedy fan web series created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, who write, direct and appear in the series, which parodies Star Wars. The show's central character is Chad Vader, the day-shift manager at the fictional supermarket Empire Market, who clashes with his customers and employees. Initially produced for Channel 101, the project was canceled after only two episodes were released. However, Yonda and Sloan decided to continue the story and the project achieved significant popularity following its airing on YouTube. It is largely filmed in Madison, Wisconsin at Willy Street Cooperative.^[1] The show has received several awards, including an Official Star Wars Fan Film Award.

Production[link]

Filming style and locations[link]

The "Empire Market" scenes were filmed on location at Willy Street Co-op, Madison, Wisconsin.^[2]

Series overview[link]

The first season follows Chad and his interactions with his co-workers. He admires his boss Randy, acquires Jeremy as an apprentice, hazes Lloyd and dates Clarissa. After troubles with Clint, Chad is moved to the night shift, where he meets Weird Jimmy, before quitting his job at Empire Market. After unsuccessfully working briefly at a number of jobs, he returns to Empire Market to re-ally with his coworkers and battle Clint to reclaim the day shift manager position.

In the second season, Empire Market is bought out by Red Leader Foods, a large corporation. Maggie McCall arrives as the corporate liaison for the new owners. After failure on the new laser checkout system, Randy is demoted to night shift manager, where he becomes mentally unstable, and Maggie becomes the acting general manager. The series also introduces another love interest for Chad, Maggie's assistant Libby and a minor antagonist, Sean Banditson. The season focuses on Chad's misuse of Jeremy and Maggie's attempts to ally with Jeremy. Afterward, Jeremy and Chad duel, leading to the accidental death of Weird Jimmy.

The third season begins with the trial promotion of employees to general manager for a day. After the employees' failures, Maggie trials Clint as manager-for-a-day, where he pressures Randy to ally with him. New employee Damien Nightshayde allies with Chad and Jeremy, while a dead Jimmy, in Jeremy's visions, tells Jeremy a prophecy. Randy claims an unspecified plan is in motion. Later, former store owner Champion J. Pepper returns to the store and is the manager-for-a-day. He appears to do nothing, although a bit more than Tony. Later, Randy is seen crazier than ever. In the ending of the episode, Baby Cookie is seen ticking behind products. Soon, it is finally Chad's turn to be manager-for-a-day although Maggie has already decided that the best manager is Clint. To compensate, Chad goes to challenge Clint for a duel to the death and they initially duel in the back room, before moving towards the front of the store due to product damage to continue their duel. Soon, Chad surrenders and Jeremy and Damien throw a small net at Clint. Clint is irritated. However, soon after, Jeremy found a Baby Cookie bomb behind the shelf, and the timer indicates six minutes until detonation. Clint, Chad, Jeremy, and Damien race to find the other five bombs before the store blows up. When the sixth and final bomb is found, it turns out to be in the surveillance assailant. Damien grabs the bomb and is killed when it blows up in the parking lot. Seeing the explosion, Champion J. Pepper comes in and exercises a clause in the original sales agreement with Red Leader Foods that allows him to reacquire the store. He hires Maggie as the night manager, and promotes Chad to general manager. Jeremy, however, feels guilty about causing the death of Jimmy and Damien, and goes on leave.

Cast and characters[link]

Yonda in character as Chad Vader at YouTube Live in 2008

Chad Vader (Aaron Yonda/voiced by Matt Sloan) is the show's central character. He is the day shift manager of Empire Market. Sometimes using lines lifted from the Star Wars films, Chad's main goal is to crush Empire Market's competition and help make the store dominate the food retailing industry. However, as Season 2 progresses along and Chad follows Randy's orders to "ditch" the Star Wars attitude and become more normal and the new leader announces that everyone has a chance to be General Manager, his main goal morphs into a great ambition to become General Manager (which he succeeds in the end of Season 3). While he has inappropriate and rocky relationships with most of his co-workers, most notably Clintfield Chadton, he has better ones with others, such as Jeremy, whom he adopts as his apprentice. Chad implies in the second episode that he is Darth Vader's younger, less successful brother, and that Darth gave Chad a life support suit and helmet similar to his own after Chad accidentally rode his bicycle into a volcano. This fact is mentioned explicitly on the Blame Society website (www.blamesociety.net). Though he uses a red Sith lightsaber as a weapon to threaten opponents and shoplifters, he may not be a Sith; he is never referred to as "Darth", the title given to all members of the Sith order. He is, however, referred to as "Lord Vader" by some characters. Chad had lost touch with his family when they moved to Tatooine without him. LucasArts was impressed by Sloan, and eventually this led to him becoming the new voice actor for Darth Vader. His voice appears in the games Empire at War: Forces of Corruption^[3][4], Soulcalibur IV, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed^[5]. It is also noted that in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, if the player kills 12 Stormtroopers, they will receive an achievement entitled "Worst Day Shift Manager Ever".

Awards and honors[link]

• Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda were awarded the George Lucas Selects award for The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards 2007, presented at Star Wars Celebration IV, for their work on Chad Vader. George Lucas personally selected the short movie as the best fan movie of the year. The annual competition is hosted by AtomFilms.^[6]
• Chad Vader appeared on the cover of Isthmus Magazine, January 25, 2007.^[7]
• Clips from episodes 1 and 4 appeared on the October 11, 2006 episode of ABC's Good Morning America.^[8]
• Matt Sloan was selected to be the voice of Darth Vader in the video games Soul Calibur IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and its sequel.

Distribution[link]

The first episode of Season 2 was released on the internet on February 1, 2009 and subsequent episodes have been periodically released. Season 3 started being released on the internet from early 2010.

The series also has a DVD, which contains all 8 of the first season episodes, and one for season 2's ten episodes. Released on DVD in Fall 2008, Season 1.5 features the collection of "Chad Vader Training Videos" and other material created after the release of the Season 1 DVD. Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager has been translated into at least 6 languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, Hebrew and Lingua Franca Nova.

Other media[link]

The titular character of Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager has appeared outside of the web series.

• Chad Vader appeared on YouTube Live on November 22, 2008
• The character appeared as a guest riffer on Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back for Michael J. Nelson's RiffTrax service.^[9] Nelson and fellow riffer Kevin Murphy also appeared in a special episode of the series.^[10]
• Chad also appeared in an episode of a YouTube series called "Retarded Policeman" starring alongside the eponymous learning impaired policeman.
• Chad also appeared in an episode of a Youtube series called "The Key of Awesome", along side Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger

A spin-off web series, Empire Market Training Videos was produced in 2008. In the webisodes, Chad covers issues of customer satisfaction, custodial duties, the importance of the dress code, the perils of shoplifting and patrolling in a series of in-universe training videos teaching the potential employee of Empire Market. It retained many characters from the main series.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chad Vader

• Official site
• Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager at Atom.com
• Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager at the Internet Movie Database
• Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager at TV.com
• London Metro Article
• Lightsaber and Hologram FX by Saul Mandel

Aaron Yonda
Aaron Yonda (left) & Matt Sloan at ROFLCon 2010
Born	(1973-01-19) January 19, 1973 (age 39) Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Occupation	Film, voice actor

Aaron Yonda (born January 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and director from Madison, Wisconsin.^[1][2] He is most notable for playing the role of Chad Vader in Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager, a web serial he co-produces with friend Matt Sloan, who also provides the voice of Chad.^[3] Prior to creating Chad Vader, Yonda was known as one of the co-creators of the Madison public access show "The Splu Urtaf Show". He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.^[4] His short film, The Life and Death of a Pumpkin swept the Chicago Horror Film Festival awards, receiving "Best Short Film" and "Best Concept." Yonda's shorts have screened at festivals worldwide including the Just for Laughs Comedia Festival, and the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto.

See also[link]

• YouTube celebrities

References[link]

External links[link]

• Aaron Yonda at the Internet Movie Database
• Blame Society Productions - Official website

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Matt Sloan
Born	(1974-11-04) November 4, 1974 (age 37) Madison, Wisconsin,  United States

Matrick P. Sloan (born November 4, 1974) is an American director and comedian from Madison, Wisconsin.^[1][2] He and his friend Aaron Yonda are notable as the co-creators of Chad Vader, who he also voices in both series and 'spin-off' episodes. He also appears in season one as the main antagonist, and has a minor appearance in the first few episodes of the second series as said antagonist's father.^[3]

Star Wars[link]

As a voice actor, Sloan played Darth Vader in Soulcalibur IV. Sloan went on to reprise his role as the voice of Darth Vader in the LucasArts video games Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,^[4] and Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption. He also appeared as the voice of Darth Vader during an episode of Deal or No Deal.^{[episode needed]} He also played Vader for the comedy short promoting TomTom devices. He returned as Vader for the Force Unleashed sequel: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

See also[link]

• List of YouTube celebrities

References[link]

External links[link]

• Blame Society Productions - Official website
• Matt Sloan at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a performing arts director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e