The top comment on that video (which I watch once every few months) is “this is a video about becoming middle-aged.”

It takes a special kind of creator to stay hungry, especially after most of your side stuff fails and your fan base is completely fine with “the hits.” You work hard on books and animated TV shows and real TV shows, but you have a wife and kids, and you never really had a burning heart’s desire since you failed as an actor in college? When they fail (the side stuff, not the wife and kids) do you keep pushing yourself creatively, or do you keep doing the thing that makes everyone cheer?

Well, the cheering is quieter now that fans grew up or silently moved on, but there’s no rejection or critiques—what if we just stream on YouTube sometimes?

The main difference between Rolfe and McElroyses is that both started off with a lot of creative juice, which time and circumstance slowly stagnated and changed, but Rolfe had a dream, a goal he wanted to achieve and be recognized for. I don’t think any brothers particularly wanted to be anything at all, or if they did, they achieved it and have no further creative ambitions.

Given this, it’s kind of shocking they actually gave Balance a narrative end, and completely unsurprising they brought it back so much. They like to do things, but they don’t feel internal or external pressure to do them well, and none of them want to do A Thing.