Character comes to life through YouTube series

CEDAR RAPIDS - In a galaxy far, far away, Thunderbird Starkiller is on a mission to help the Telepathic Hot Dog People defeat the Barbarian Buns.

OK, he's not in a galaxy far away. He's in a Cedar Rapids basement, fighting his battles in front of a blue screen, but for his YouTube fans, he is the space captain.

“The Adventures of Thunderbird Starkiller” debuted on computer screens in February 2011, but the idea for the space hero started years earlier.

“My friend, David Nemeth, and I created the character my junior year of high school,” says John Rairdin, the series' director and head writer.

Their goal, though, was to create the worst character possible. Think “Mystery Science Theater 3000” meets “Futurama” with a little bit of “Veggie Tales” thrown in for good measure.

Drama students at Cedar Valley Christian School are required to put together a production that could result in a summer performance if selected by the class. Rairdin and Nemeth were the class pick their sophomore year and Rairdin says they didn't want to risk winning again.

“Honestly, we didn't want to do the work, so we made the worst thing possible,” Rairdin, 19, says.

There was a moment where it seemed the plan would backfire.

“They all seemed to like it and, for a while, we were worried it would be picked,” Rairdin laughs.

It wasn't, but that wasn't the end of Thunderbird Starkiller. Rairdin brought the character back for his senior year drama project - a one-act play. Now a freshman at Kirkwood Community College, with plans to attend film school, Rairdin now shares his and Nemeth's creation with the world, launching a web series to expand his experience.

Rairdin and his cast, which includes his brother, Dillon, as Captain Thunderbird Starkiller, have posted six episodes of “The Adventures of Thunderbird Starkiller.”

Kaytee High, a junior at Cedar Valley Christian, plays Thunderbird Starkiller's computer. A stage actress, High says performing in front of a blue screen is different, but fun.

“I think the sixth episode is my favorite because I'm in it a lot,” High laughs, “It's like ‘Yay me!' ”

Ethan Uphouse, also a junior at Cedar Valley Christian, made his debut in the series' sixth episode.

“Dillon wrote that one and he asked for help, I think because it was neither stupid enough or boring enough,” Uphouse jokes.

The series itself feels like a joke everyone is in on, except Thunderbird Starkiller.

“When we first started, I was playing the character 100 percent hammy 100 percent of the time, just trying to channel 1950s Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers,” says Dillon Rairdin, a senior at Cedar Valley Christian. “We've been trying to experiment. I throw around more of his erratic, emotional side that peaks when he gets hungry or doesn't get his way.”

Three more episodes will round out the first season, which Rairdin hopes to have finished by February. He hopes to eventually air the show at local festivals, garnering interest for the second season. Right now, each episode has achieved between 150 to 400 views.

“My sister is a fan,” High says.

“I think half of our views are her little sister,” Rairdin adds.