Game Changer (game show)
Game Changer is a comedy panel game show on Dropout created by Sam Reich. The show follows players (typically three players, mostly comedians), participating in a new game every episode, with the players usually not understanding the premise and rules of the game beforehand. The show has been described as one that "combines improv comedy, puzzle solving, fierce competition, and a prankster ethos."[1]
| Game Changer | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Sam Reich |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Presented by |
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| Starring | Sam Reich |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 45 |
| Production | |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Dropout |
| Picture format | 1080p HDTV |
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History
Game Changer was created as an original show for the streaming service Dropout. The show was announced on August 29, 2019 and released on September 20, 2019.
After CollegeHumor was sold by IAC and restructured in 2020, the company temporarily halted production of all shows. Game Changer, which was affected by this, released their already-completed second season in January.[2] The third season of the show was recorded via video conference while the show returned to being recorded in the studio for its fourth season. In 2022, CollegeHumor produced three spin-offs based on previous episodes: Dirty Laundry which is based on the season 3 episode "Never Have I Ever", Make Some Noise based on the recurring episodes of the same name, and Play it by Ear based on the season 4 episode, "The Official Cast Recording".
Premise
The show is based on one central theme: the players start the game knowing nothing. While some episodes may deviate from this theme, most episodes follow this format. Most episodes follow three contestants playing against each other by following prompts and tasks put out by the host of the show, Sam Reich. It also sometimes parodies other shows like Survivor and The Bachelor.[3]
Occasionally, special guests will participate in the game. The very first episode featured the participants' significant others, and the inclusion of guests outside of the Dropout/CollegeHumor community began with the virtually filmed third season, which featured guests such as Tony Hawk, Michael Winslow, and Giancarlo Esposito.[4] Later guests have included Jewel, Ty Mitchell, Bob the Drag Queen, and Howie Mandel.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 5 | September 20, 2019 | October 18, 2019 | |
| 2 | 6 | February 25, 2020 | May 8, 2020 | |
| 3 | 15 | September 15, 2020 | April 16, 2021 | |
| 4 | 11 | November 1, 2021 | April 4, 2022 | |
| 5 | 13 | November 14, 2022 | May 15, 2023 | |
Season 1 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Lie Detector" | September 20, 2019 | |
| A mysterious machine subjects Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jessica Ross, and Tao Yang to increasingly intimate questions. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Make Some Noise" | September 27, 2019 | |
| Josh Ruben, Zac Oyama, and Brennan Lee Mulligan do impressions and fulfill improv prompts. Later spun off into the show Make Some Noise. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Game of Prizes" | October 4, 2019 | |
| Jessica Ross, Lily Du, and Raphael Chestang use points, paper, and precision to pile up as many potential prizes as possible. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Whodunnit" | October 11, 2019 | |
| When Josh Ruben is "murdered," Rekha Shankar and Grant O'Brien take a stab at finding the killer. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Nom Nom Nom" | October 18, 2019 | |
| Game time is meal time when Mike Trapp, Tao Yang, and Lily Du must feed a giant mouth exactly what it wants. | ||||
Season 2 (2020)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "Round 4" | February 25, 2020 | |
| Josh, Zac, and Brennan return for more noises, impressions, and competitive onomatopoeia. | ||||
| 7 | 2 | "Do I Hear $1?" | March 6, 2020 | |
| Ally, Grant, and Raph learn their limits as they out-bid each other for awful opportunities. | ||||
| 8 | 3 | "Sleeper Agents" | March 27, 2020 | |
| Lily, Katie, and Tao hit the streets to activate secret spies and suspicious civilians. | ||||
| 9 | 4 | "A Sponsored Episode" | April 10, 2020 | |
| Trapp, Rekha, and Grant compete in capitalism with Mad Men marketing and unexpected product pitches. | ||||
| 10 | 5 | "The Everything Factory" | April 24, 2020 | |
| Jess Ross, Jess Clemons, and Katie Marovitch complete increasingly complicated orders on the clock. | ||||
| 11 | 6 | "Yes or No" | May 8, 2020 | |
| Ally, Brennan, and Zac are asked a simple question, but is there a correct answer? | ||||
Season 3 (2020–2021)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | "Tell Us About Yourself" | September 15, 2020 | |
| Sam wants Jess, Christine, and Alfred to tell him true facts about [REDACTED] | ||||
| 13 | 2 | "Sell Outs" | October 5, 2020 | |
| Trapp, Grant, and Rekha return to showcase their sales pitch skills for Sam. | ||||
| 14 | 3 | "ChangerCon" | October 16, 2020 | |
| Carolyn, Lily, and Tao have to put together impromptu cosplay, at varying levels of success. | ||||
| 15 | 4 | "Is This Thing On?" | October 30, 2020 | |
| Rekha, Jess, and Raph take the most difficult challenge of all: reading Sam's lips. | ||||
| 16 | 5 | "Ham It Up" | November 13, 2020 | |
| Lou, Grant, & Christine test their acting skills against one of the greatest actors ever (seriously) | ||||
| 17 | 6 | "Never Have I Ever" | November 27, 2020 | |
| Lily, Trapp, Ryan, and Jess try to guess each others' personal histories. | ||||
| 18 | 7 | "Jeopardy!" | December 12, 2020 | |
| Brennan, Ify, and Ally play a simple, regular game of Jeopardy! | ||||
| 19 | 8 | "Secret Samta" | December 26, 2020 | |
| Grant, Ally, and Lily open some nice gifts from Sam. | ||||
| 20 | 9 | "20/20 Vision" | January 8, 2021 | |
| Grant, Katie, and Lily compete to remember the longest year in history: 2020. | ||||
| 21 | 10 | "The Substitute" | January 22, 2021 | |
| A new challenger approaches. | ||||
| 22 | 11 | "Three For the Price of One" | February 20, 2021 | |
| The sponcon crew is back to increase brand awareness and eat something gross. | ||||
| 23 | 12 | "Next Slide Please" | March 5, 2021 | |
| Trapp, Rekha, and Ryan are tasked to give presentations - along with slideshows they've never seen. | ||||
| 24 | 13 | "Make It Fashion" | March 9, 2021 | |
| Carolyn, Lily, and Katie compete to create the season's hottest new fashions. | ||||
| 25 | 14 | "Tome of Terror" | April 3, 2021 | |
| Katie, Jess, and Raph tell the scariest tales ever told (on Game Changer). | ||||
| 26 | 15 | "Secret Samta 2: The Samta Clause" | April 16, 2021 | |
| Lily, Katie, and Raph open some presents (and punishments) from Samta Claus. | ||||
Season 3 was produced remotely due to lockdown restrictions in California due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Season 4 (2021–2022)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Sam Says" | November 1, 2021 | |
| Sam says Brennan Lee Mulligan, Isabella Roland, and Lou Wilson play a simple game of Sam Says. | ||||
| 28 | 2 | "Like My Coffee" | November 15, 2021 | |
| Trapp, Grant, and Jess try to out innuendo each other. | ||||
| 29 | 3 | "Noise Boys" | November 20, 2021 | |
| Josh, Zac, and Brennan return to make some more noise. | ||||
| 30 | 4 | "Secret Samta 3" | December 13, 2021 | |
| Raph, Tao, and Carolyn open some presents (and punishments) from Samta Claus. | ||||
| 31 | 5 | "The Official Cast Recording" | December 27, 2021 | |
| Zeke Nicholson, Zach Reino, Jess McKenna, and Scott Passarella make up a musical on the spot. | ||||
| 32 | 6 | "Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience" | January 10, 2022 | |
| Becca Scott, Isabella Roland, and Erika Ishii give the audience what they want. | ||||
| 33 | 7 | "Don't Cry" | January 24, 2022 | |
| Luke, Jess, and Rekha face the ultimate challenge: emotional vulnerability. | ||||
| 34 | 8 | "Race to the Bottom" | February 7, 2022 | |
| Ally, Grant, and Lily degrade themselves for a safe full of money. | ||||
| 35 | 9 | "Survivor: Part 1" | February 21, 2022 | |
| Seven castaways compete to knockout, watch out, and dropout their opponents for the grand prize in Game Changer Survivor | ||||
| 36 | 10 | "Survivor: Part 2" | March 7, 2022 | |
| Five Comedians remain, the teams merge, alliances fracture, and a winner is declared. | ||||
| 37 | 11 | "Cut for Time" | April 4, 2022 | |
| Here are all the moments left on the cutting room floor from season 4 of Game Changer! | ||||
Season 5 (2022–2023)
Originally, 9 episodes were announced as being a part of the season ahead of the season premiere in November, with a 10th episode being a cut-for-time special. However, in March 2023, a special 4-part mini-series titled Game Changer: Battle Royale was announced with the mini-series being a sequel to Season 4's Survivor season finale.[6]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 1 | "Sam Says 2" | November 14, 2022 | |||||||||
| Sam says Zac, Jacob, and Ally play a simple game of Sam Says. | ||||||||||||
| 39 | 2 | "Karaoke Night" | November 28, 2022 | |||||||||
| Zach, Ross, and Rashawn make up songs on the fly with help from Aaron Wilson. | ||||||||||||
| 40 | 3 | "Like My Coffee 2" | December 12, 2022 | |||||||||
| Rekha, Grant, and Jess try to out innuendo each other. | ||||||||||||
| 41 | 4 | "Name a Number" | December 26, 2022 | |||||||||
| Becca, Izzy, and Erika bet how many. Of what? That's the question. | ||||||||||||
| 42 | 5 | "A Game Most Changed" | January 9, 2023 | |||||||||
| Joey, Ross, and Blaine improvise a play in the style of William Shakespeare. | ||||||||||||
| 43 | 6 | "As a Cucumber" | January 23, 2023 | |||||||||
| Katie, Brennan, and Carolyn try to stay cool under pressure. | ||||||||||||
| 44 | 7 | "The Bachelor: Part 1" | February 6, 2023 | |||||||||
| Grant O'Brien. Ten eligible suitors. One day to get to know them all. Who will he pick? | ||||||||||||
| 45 | 8 | "The Bachelor: Part 2" | February 20, 2023 | |||||||||
| Grant must choose which suitors will get the boot and who will ultimately get the booty. | ||||||||||||
| 46 | 9 | "Escape the Greenroom" | March 6, 2023 | |||||||||
| Brennan, Siobhan, and Lou must figure out how to escape the greenroom before time runs out. | ||||||||||||
| Game Changer: Battle Royale | ||||||||||||
| 47 | 10 | "Game Changer: Battle Royale" | April 3, 2023 | |||||||||
| Ten contestants. Two days to compete. One winner. This is Game Changer: Battle Royale. | ||||||||||||
| 48 | 11 | "Game Changer: Battle Royale" | April 17, 2023 | |||||||||
| The teams merge, the contestants make a meal, and receive some gifts. | ||||||||||||
| 49 | 12 | "Game Changer: Battle Royale" | May 1, 2023 | |||||||||
| 50 | 13 | "Game Changer: Battle Royale" | May 15, 2023 | |||||||||
References
- Polo, Susana (March 15, 2023). "Puzzle, performance, or prank? TV's best game show isn't a game show at all". Polygon. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- Wright, Megh (2020-01-08). "Almost Everyone at CollegeHumor Has Lost Their Jobs". Vulture. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Volk, Pete; Millman, Zosha; Staff, Polygon (2023-02-21). "The best TV of 2023 so far". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- Jacobs, Mira (2020-11-14). "The Mandalorian's Giancarlo Esposito Gives the ABCs a Villainous Twist". CBR. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- "Dirty Laundry on Twitter". Retrieved 2023-02-09.
- Polo, Susana (20 March 2023). "Watch the trailer for Game Changer's surprise four-episode season finale". MSN. Polygon. Retrieved 21 March 2023.