What, if anything at all, comes to mind when I mention CollegeHumor? Most people who recognise the name of the erstwhile Internet comedy group will probably remember an early-to-mid 2010s brandy of faux-edgy comedy with some absurdness thrown in. Few, though, will know of their bankruptcy and dissolution as a company. Fewer still will have heard of their resurgence through the phoenix-company Dropout, led by former CollegeHumor employee Sam Reich. On their own streaming service, they host a mixture of old CollegeHumor skits, combined with their new offerings. One such show, their actual-play series Dimension20 recently sold out Madison Square Garden in New York for a special live show, and were the subject of this Rolling Stone interview. However, it is another show of theirs that I would prefer to focus on.
The trailer for the seventh season of GameChanger has just dropped, and with it speculation of what could be coming for the comedians who fill up the slots of the contestants. The premise of the show is both exceedingly simple and befuddlingly tricky. Sam Reich, as the host, puts it best: “GameChanger, the only game show where the game changes every show.” The contestants are not told the rules of the game they will be playing prior to the show, and thus have to play along with the game in order to figure out how to win. Most games will have one twist or another, designed to throw off the players (and in one memorable case, drive a specific star to the edge of madness). There are often very real prizes attached to the competitions, with Reich proving as generous a boss as he is devious a host.
One thing that makes the show a great watch is the lack of a sense of exploitation that tends to haunt many other game shows (particularly American ones) – there is no spectre of desperation hanging over the show, no competition between two people desperate for a life-changing jackpot. Instead, the vibe of the show tends to a more familial setting, built in large part by the cast’s comfort and experience with one another, and nurtured by Reich’s natural charisma. When CollegeHumor went under, Reich (who happens to be the son of former US Secretary of Labour Robert Reich) bought out the company, and had to make tough decisions to revive it. He cut the staff to a skeleton crew of just seven, forcing him to essentially part ways with many long-time friends and colleagues. Despite that, he maintained a positive relationship with much of the talent – how many bosses have you heard spoken of positively even after the sacking of the speaker?
Dropout has to deal with the maelstrom of making a profit producing comedy online, a notoriously risky prospect, but is so far appearing to manage, with its ethically-driven approach to creating content, and that is encapsulated brilliantly through the show Gamechanger – there are multiple episodes free to view on YouTube, and I would heartily recommend anyone who wants a laugh to check them out, and see what else they have to offer.
“Sam Reich (cropped)” by Sela Shiloni is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.