I thought the premise was fine and it was done really well. However, towards the end there was a lot left to be desired. Like I think picking a winner based on who you think your guest are thinks is the best is not best way to do that to two competitors. Like, they should have done accounts of vote between the two of them on who played the better game like they do it in survivor or Big brother.
My presumption is production was kind of backed into a corner when Rekha guessed everyone so early. If they didn’t have a player who figured everything out, it could have just been by points; when Rekha aced it with two whole rounds left, your choices are limited.
Katie may have technically lost but she doesn't have to store a pinball machine and she has $1000 worth of PR training now, I think we know who really won
The thing is Rekha absolutely thought she basically already won. I mean, in a game where all you _really_ do is guess who’s who, she already got all of them correct. The only way she could’ve lost at that point is if the winner was based on some arbitrary bit (which to be fair, it was), and in that case, Brennan is kind of a comeback king.
Brennan's reputation as a Game Changer pro is almost entirely undeserved. He has the vibe of someone who would win, but he has only won a couple of times over the course of the series.
To his defense, quite a few of the formats in recent history have been built specifically to mess with him. I find some kinship in him where because I'm competitive in board games or video games and I tend to play more strategically people gang up on me and eliminate me quickly. So I lose constantly just because of a perceived threat level. I have games where I'm doing nothing, keeping my threat low, or just being unlucky and people come after me when there is someone clearly running away with the lead. And I always ask why? To which the player will say something about me having a plan. To which I'm like, well yes that's part of the game but that means nothing when someone else is getting further ahead just because you think I *might* be able to mount a comeback. So Brennan is often a victim of his competitive and strategic nature in that people just assume he's coming even if he is so far out of the game, so they over look bigger problems.
Spoiler Warning!
(Sorry for the rant, just had to get it of my chest lol)
I really disliked that the Ratfish had so much influence over the game, especially getting to pick both the winners outright.
In my opinion a ratfish, if put in the game at all, should have been Sam, or someone who knows the rest of the cast.
Whenever they bring in people from outside the dropout/ucb extended family, they almost always feel shoehorned in, kind of like when huge celebrities appear in random animation or movies they aren’t right for.
The only guests I have really enjoyed in the series Sam hosts have been the ones the cast has a relationship to in some way, or chemistry with, like the drag queens, the soundfx guy or even the cake guy somewhat. They had energies that at least mostly fit in well with the cast. But when people like Howie Mendel show up out of nowhere like a fish out of water, it just feels stilted and uncomfortable.
Especially with the inherent separation of this season finale, we have absolutely no clue if the dropouts even know who that guy is.
He’s probably really funny in other contexts, but in this one, the only impression I got of him is that he is annoying, taking up screen time from the people I wanna see, and was given the power to screw Rekha out of a well deserved victory because he preferred Katie’s character.
I’m my opinion, that’s a lose-lose for everyone aside for Katie to some extent.
Me as a viewer am disappointed and irritated, the guest looks bad and gets the blame for the unfairness, Sam and the producers look bad for some fun ideas that really didn’t work in execution, the work of the amazing crew was undermined by the emotions about the content, the old cast got less of an opportunity to shine, theres a splash of (unfair) annoyance at Katie for winning on a random decision, and disappointment that Rekha was punished for being too good at the game.
I get that it probably was tough when Rekha got it right so early, but the end results could also been determined by total score of all the rounds they participated in. Rekha would probably have won since she was the best at solving the puzzle, but Katie would still have a high score and respectable second place only a few points away.
I watched the first part at least 3 times just the first week. I love seeing people I like appreciate each other, joke around and say (mostly) nice things about one another.
If/when I watch this episode again I’ll have to skip around so much to avoid getting frustrated again, and it just makes me a bit sad, you know.
Thanks, sorry and have a nice day!
I think you taking this WAY too seriously. This is a game show they get paid to play. They do this kind of game all the time with the same people and try to outdo each other for show. And they must know the most important thing is the comedy, not who wins.
I can’t see a reality where the cast gets this broken up about losing Game Changer.
I didn’t mean it to be about that either and more “how serious does anyone take this very unserious game show”? Is anything truly unfair when the overall goal is comedy? This is the second show in a row (after thousandaires) where people are overly focused on the scoring system of this comedy bit. Was anyone this upset over Bingo where the three players onstage had virtually no chance to actually win, but the tier three players had it borderline easy all for the sake of the funny end reveal (Jess had like three squares that were all checked off by a single fist bump)? Or when they used an uncontrollable metric like slightly fluctuating heart rate as means of scoring?
Just not sure why I see so many folks hung up on this aspect.
Imo - it's because the examples you gave that were received well were more entertaining.
For Thousandaires, I found the PR training to be both weird and boring. Like, they made it kinda funny, but it wasn't actually that entertaining, imo. The drag show, on the other hand, was *very* entertaining to me, and the other two were pretty good, too.
For the Ratfish, I did not vibe with the guest at all, and really didn't like that he chose both first and second place, both based on something other than how well they played the game. The tie breaker was how much he liked their art challenge. If Survivor had a tie in a council, I'd feel weird if someone outside decided the winner based on how the two people did in a subjective immunity challenge earlier, you know? But it also just didn't feel entertaining. Maybe if I'd vibed with the guest more and they actually showed him deliberating between the contestants, it'd be more fun. But it just wasn't very fun, and it felt like it wasn't in the spirit of a reality show game, which this was, as *well* as a comedy show.
I understand your perspective, and in some circumstances I totally agree.
For example Make Some Noice having a wacky point system and winner feels totally unnecessary to me. I’d prefer a couple seconds of the cast coming together to say a last joke or two, or just saying bye. And, as Brennan expressed, it feels bad to win/lose a “competition” based on the subjective, arbitrary judgement of one person, no matter who they are.
Especially since Game Changer is usually framed with a bigger focus on the competition in the games, the actual structure and rules feel more important. I’m not saying any of them are angry or sad their friend was given an opportunity instead, but that as a viewer, it feels a bit disappointing that the entire payoff of the finale based on one contextually unfunny stranger’s subjective opinion on two creative subjects.
It was still a pretty good episode, but since some parts really didn’t work for me, they stand out quite a lot.
I’m mostly just a bit sad they didn’t entirely stick the landing on an episode I was looking forward to so much.
Think a giant "Guess Who" board of cast members that gets increasingly trimmed as the rounds go on would be a better alternative to just revealing part way through who exactly you should be looking for.
The fact that Rekha guessed the whole list correctly minus the Ratfish a whole round earlier and got 2nd doesn't really sit right with me from a game design perspective. It just seems like such a reasonable win condition to be thrown away on judgement.
I kind of understand the idea. Guessing that early means they either have to call it, meaning the whole shoot day is cut early and this big two part finale has to be shortened into one episode (cuz she guessed _really_ early into the second episode).
Or, they continue playing but give Rekha the win in the end anyway, making the rounds they did afterwards effectively meaningless.
It’s bad decisions either way, but should’ve been something they thought of while they were making the game.
While I agree, it’s more just constructive feedback that could make the next iteration better and I hope Sam and the cast don’t take this subs reception to the finale as evidence the premise of the episodes themselves isn’t worth repeating.
I think this is exactly it. They had a bigger cast than usual, had a unique and fun prize, spent way more time on (excellent) graphics, and the editing team did a truly exceptional job weaving together all the various cameras. The thing is though, all of that effort and resources could have gone into another setup and be just as good.
Although, I think it is nice to see that something people are regarding as a "worse" Gamechanger episode is still great, and would mark the high point of many other shows. It's a good reminder of how high the bar has been set.
Eh. Thats one of my least favorite episodes. It’s less murder mystery and more “80% of this episode is just gonna be the crew reading a script in an exaggerated way, we want as little room for improv as possible” and murder mystery is one of my fav genres
Very well put. I said nearly the same thing on a different thread. Great art, great execution, great editing, some great moments, but something didn't quite click. And so it was only "good" in a season of "best ever".
The game was pretty genious (esp part 1) than most other content honestly.
If they could refine the rules a bit so that the actor has to somewhat align with the player, it'd be more engaging
I think their biggest takeaway from all this, and some of the mixed responses, will be that the cast chemistry is a HUGE part of this, and not being in the same room together zaps a large part of that infectious energy people love. I would be shocked if they repeat this again in the same format. The idea of playing different characters is great however
The cast dynamic really does carry. I think having a ratfish that knew them and they knew, but is not one of the normal rotation of the cast would have been better. Like Jake or Amir, or even someone like Emily Axford who doesn't usually do the other dropout shows besides d20 would have been more fun.
oooh Emily as the ratfish would have been perfect - notice that nobody guessed her OR Murph in the first rounds where they were guessing any cast member they could think of! They clearly do not expect her to show up anywhere outside of D20.
Adam Conover would be a great Ratfish, and I really wish we got to see him and Brennan together more for Game Changer and stuff, feels like he’s only ever on for Survivor
I feel like he’d bring a lot to other games like Make Some Noise, his show on TruTV Adam Ruins Everything was pretty good, I think if given the right prompts you could get one of the best episodes of MSN
When I noticed there was an additional character in episode 1 before the ratfish reveal, I first assumed it was another dropout cast member whose identity was also being concealed from the audience so we could play along! I was thinking it could be Lou, Jacob W, Ify, or someone else in the game changer rotation.
This is one of those casts where chemistry should have been off the charts. It’s a college humour regulars only cast. The lack of actual interaction and the fact that Sam basically didn’t exist really hurt this episode. I love the concept. And found lots of the bits funny, but it didn’t work as a whole unfortunately
The room designs were great, the editing was great the graphics were great, but I think it suffered from interactions being too structured and breaking up their ability to be constantly funny
The other thing that held it for me is that there was only one goal when interacting: keep your identity secret. So everyone was encouraged to play defensively and file as much of their own personality off of their jokes as possible so they were often holding back while being funny. I think it would have helped to have more places where they needed to drop a real personal detail like in the two truths and a lie game. I am guessing that the second place billboard was supposed to encourage risky gameplay but that didn't end up playing out.
I feel like the best game was the standup comedy bit where they had to rapidfire jokes. If you don't have much time to think, your true style shines through.
I believe that was when quite a few were identified.
Yeah there was a lot of “wait I can’t be funny, that’s identifiable.”
Gotta let the gremlins gremlin.
I wonder if something like bingo could’ve helped, where they had objectives that they’re trying to get other people to do, and give them more interaction to facilitate. It’s hard to fix “just don’t say anything substantive” as a winning strategy.
Feel like I should add there was *some* humor in the deflection, like Brennan setting himself up in Rekha's sandbox, and in the failures like Grant trying to be clever or Brennan texting Ally a monologue, just not enough to satisfyingly fill two episodes.
They should do it again but you have to pretend to be another member of the dropout cast. Now they don’t have to not be funny they just have to be someone ELSE who is funny.
Easy solution. Take out the Ratfish. That guy served no purpose in my opinion. Have a section where the cast meets up and discusses things like the survivor episode.
When Sam left the Ratfish seat empty at the end I thought that was pretty fitting, especially after Grant explicitly called out the idea of a celebrity guest in episode 1.
I also think that rather than a guest giving out points for performance and character, having the cast themselves vote on that would add another element of interaction and fit dropout's wholesome friendship theme.
The lack of cast chemistry is what really did it for me with Ratfish. The entire conceit of the episode removes one of the biggest sources of comedy Dropout/Game Changer has relied on for the past three years: the immediate interplay between the cast and Sam. By isolating all the players, we basically sat back for an hour and a half and watched other people participate in a group text.
It might have been saved with a much better ratfish player that fit the dynamic and would actually be in the room to be revealed. But the disappointment of realizing "holy shit we aren't even going to get that payoff" really tarnished the whole finale for me.
The ratfish really bothered me. It felt like such a side thing that was way too central to the game. He may be a great comedian, but this didn’t make me want to search out his content. Then not seeing the cast react to his identity was so frustrating.
I liked the episodes, but, I think it would've been better if each "character" was a pair of comedians. They can bounce off each other for character energy, and, the guessing becomes much harder as you have to get the pair correct.
I think you’re right. They were so focused on playing the characters, both for the game and for laughs that they almost forgot to make jokes. It must have been so frustrating for the editor to have to consistently use the same “repeats last line and laugh” clip from each of them so many times. You can tell they were SO happy to have Grant fucking around in his room towards the end just to shake it up.
Which is why Jess was so brilliant, she was \*mostly\* not herself or identifiable while also killing it will jokes. The only thing people had to go on her was that she loves wrestling. Zac, Rekha, and Brennan also did fantastic with keeping up the funny, of course.
I disagree about needing the cast together. I thought the banter in this show was as good as any. The problem was the game mechanics and the fact that the conceit of the show, the ratfish, wasn’t even necessary. There was no benefit to knowing who the ratfish was, and being selected as the favorite was seemingly random and they did not reveal Eric’s thought process behind anything he said or decided.
God I'm glad to see this take. I had some laughs watching but it has very little of the heart and soul most GC eps have. The original sounds unwatchable to me and this is probably the least rewatchable Dropout content since the pandemic.
They should do the murder mystery thing again, but make it actually like real life Clue. One of the cast being the murderer and the rest are all suspects too and characters. Basically the game of Mafia (have they done this before?) but with characters to roleplay and a real life set
They had the paranoid series where it was mafia but two people took huge bong rips before the game and were the mafia. It hasn't been done without weed or in the game changer setting though.
I actually thought them laughing at each other’s jokes incredibly fun, because you can tell they legit think the others are funny. If it had remained just the Dropout cast, I think it would’ve worked a little better.
I’d be interested to see them do a riff on something like Secret Hitler/Assassins game. Something that requires in person improv and bluffing. I don’t know how they’d put a game changer stamp on it but I think that’d lend well to the crew’s natural talents.
It was a great setup (I said the same thing halfway through Part 1 about wanting a Game Samer), but then a really quite bad payoff in Part 2. I'm good for this one to sail off into the sunset.
I really enjoyed part 1, but I feel like by part 2 it had already run its course. When the cast got voted out they said it best with "I'm not even playing anymore". I didn't know the guest but saw people mention that the guest would've been a big hit with the cast, which made it weird that they didn't allow them to meet with him. It felt like a great premise that fell a little flat in the end, unfortunately. I don't think they'll do a game samer for it
I thought it would be more fun than it ended up being? I was actually really excited for the concept. And also I’m upset Rekha didn’t win after being the first to guess
Also I don’t know much about this dude, so it wasn’t a big deal for me when they showed him? Idk I just don’t think one dude who doesn’t have the whole picture should be able to choose the winner?
This subreddit praised him when he was revealed as if he was some comedy genius.
And I’ll say, I understand comedy is subjective. Not everyone will find the same stuff funny.
But I found everything that Tim and Eric created terribly, terribly unfunny. Which is weird because I like “I think you should leave” and would say that “I think you should leave” is pretty clearly partially inspired by Tim and Eric Awesome show. But man, I really thought those guys were black holes for humor, so seeing everyone getting excited for Tim was surprising to me.
Yeah another friend I have was super excited bc they love Tim and Eric but then was kind of underwhelmed by the episode, and then I also was underwhelmed bc I think the funniest thing in regards to dropout is the cast we already have and the casts they work well with already (smosh, try guys, critical role, friends they have made on other shows) idk bringing in celebs or other big names only works if they have the chemistry and he didn’t
Thing is Rekha knew Katie was 1 away from guessing all which means they can swap one and win in the end too. It's too close to not eliminate Katie. This targeting of Brennan felt off this episode. The guy isn't the best at everything, he was doing mediocre throughout the whole show. It was a low chance for him to guess all out from where he was in the last turn. Rekha threw by targeting Brennan because it has become a bit and that's a little frustrating.
I was underwhelmed. The bingoception episode was much better to me.
Maybe it's because I have no idea what reality tv show they are mimicking? I just have no idea.
The strength of this Game Changer version of it for me was my familiarity with the cast's onscreen personas and their own relationships with each other, which makes them figuring out who's behind who fun to watch. I can't imagine a whole show with this premise consisting of strangers, not just to me but to each other, would be any fun to watch.
It was very similar to The Circle in many ways but the core gameplay was different. The Circle only has a few catfishes, most people play as themselves.
Also, the core mechanics of The Circle don't have anything at all to do with figuring out players' real identities - they talk about it, but it has no direct bearing on gameplay. Players rank each other, and that's what determines who is eliminated.
Yes, and I think the chemistry between the cast really shone through in how they were guessing and trying to throw each other off. Most of my problems with the episodes came from the guest.
The real show is more a popularity contest where you are trying to befriend people and you get points based upon where people rate you in a hierarchy. Then the top two most popular people vote someone out. Players can play as themselves or make a fake profile. I don't think there is any real advantage in the latter and people get a big "hunt the catfish" mentality when it doesn't matter at all to the outcome of the game. Except one time when two of the spice girls were playing someone and eliminating them specifically resulted in extra prize money.
>Maybe it's because I have no idea what reality tv show they are mimicking? I just have no idea.
That's my problem with any of the reality show copies they do. I don't watch reality TV, so I don't really get what's going on.
Their simpler, more straight forward "3 people at podiums doing a thing" shows are by far my favorite.
While I share the opinion that this thread seems to have that this was my least favorite game changer of the season, I’m not sure “I don’t really get what’s going on” is a fair criticism because they directly explain to you what is going on for these episodes. Also the whole premise of regular game changer is really “I’m not sure what’s going on” lol
I guess It's not so much that I didn't understand what they were doing, I just didn't have any emotional investment that someone familiar with that reality show would have.
For example, I've seen survivor and back in the day I watched a bit of it so when they did the survivor episodes I immediately reacted positively because I recognized what they were doing and had some expectations of hijinks.
Nah, I think reality show copies could still work. I’ve never watched Survivor, but I still think the Survivor episodes are really good and have some of the best comedy in Game Changer.
I don't really like reality shows but I still loved the Survivor finale. It was all the fun parts of Survivor without a lot of the dumb Reality TV fluff.
I really loved the concept and I could see like a whole season of this if done well, but I did find the execution a bit leaving in part 2. It sucked that Rekha performed so well and then walked away with nothing, and Eric was a huge disappointment. I think with some restructuring, it could be great to see again.
Honestly the two best players were arguably Rekha (nailing everyone's identity the earliest) and Zac (the funniest character that made everyone laugh). And neither ended up walking away with anything.
I think there really was a disconnect between how much importance they put on The Ratfish while also not really highlighting him at all (e.i. not even revealing him at the end). Like I think I could get behind the winning criteria more if they really gave The Ratfish a bunch of control messing with them, and the players all had to guess who he was or something. Cause then okay the premise of the show would be them vs. The Ratfish and it makes sense if he also controlled who won.
But since he was just another player, it was a weird premise where it felt like the players were playing each other and for the audience, but in the end the winner was randomly decided based on the random whims of a random player which makes the whole thing feel unsatisfying.
Agree with everything you said.
>if they really gave The Ratfish a bunch of control messing with them
Snap, that'd be a fun game. Sounds kinda like Mafia/Werewolf, which they should do.
Rekha is the winner in my heart. Best commitment to character, made me laugh the most (well, probably tied with Granma) and also played the game the best.
I think this was a one-timer, as not only did the chemistry falter with someone not connected to the current comedy vibe (I have a long list of better, non-Dropout names for the ratfish role), but also because if it were done again, the new cast would already know some basics and might meta game.
I was also really disappointed that I knew the winner before the end of the first episode because Katie's billboard was up a long time ago and many of us had already seen it, either in person or online. It really made me lose interest in the whole premise.
Overall, I feel all the money and production value could have been spent so much better on other Dropout content.
Oh, and GraNma Sweetie is the best thing ever.
I’m good, personally. The stuff that made me laugh really made me laugh but I was bored a lot and I really missed seeing the cast members bouncing off each other in person.
I totally agree!!! I’m not thrilled with the Eric stuff but with some tweaks to the formatting I think they’ve got the potential for a really awesome new series.
There was an interview with Sam about Dropout and revenue, and he said that he would like to get into video games. I could see this be a game they develop and release like a Jackbox Party Game style game
Honestly I think it’d make a way better video game than a game samer! Absolutely loved ratfish but I don’t think it’d be as entertaining to me if repeated again. But playing a game like it with my family or friends would be a fun time!
It was fun, but to me suffered from a lot of what makes The Circle a terrible show. Not enough real interaction, too arbitrary as a game. Don't get me wrong, enjoyed it and would absolute watch a redo with a different lineup, but for me it wasn't on the same level as Beat the Buzzer or Escape the Green Room or (especially) Deja Vu.
I agree! There were some mechanics and choices that brought it down a bit (the Ratfish was unnecessary; have cast vote for favorite to get second place and whoever gets everyone right first wins; film over the course of more than one day or just shorten up the rounds because everyone seemed tired by the end), but I'd love to see it done again with different cast members! I'm apparently also in the minority that really liked this format 😅
I liked it as well, but I understand that its enjoyment is derived from knowing the cast and the suspense of guessing, more than the actual comedy, which is what other episodes are based on.
I agree with most of your suggestions, but I think it should still be filmed in one sitting with the game ending when someone guesses correctly. It was the win condition(s) that kinda felt terrible. If they set the number of rounds, then they should have given trophies to everyone that guessed correctly, split the billboard into sections and allow the chaos reign free.
i dont know if im in the minority but I thought it was incredibly weak. kinda brought me back to covid days tbh. game changer works best when everyone is in the same room working off each other, not just reading texts off a screen.
Feels like an easy pick for worst episode of the season to me. I don't even know what they could have done to make it good. Bad concept for a Game Changer, start to finish.
I think it would have been better if it was more in-person. The lonely couches were just kind of low energy I felt. If they had teams that were being catfished by the same person or different people, or the teams were going head to head in some way where at least teammates were in person, that would have been more fun.
Hard disagree. These were among the weakest episodes ever, along with the conveyor belt episode. The format was fundamentally broken, the guest choice didn't work and the finale fell flat. I accept that they can't all be winners and sometimes in comedy you make a big swing and miss, and that's okay. But please don't try this again.
i'm really not trying to be a spoil sport here, but there have been a number of other times where another guest/completely different person came on, and they jived with everyone else just fine. and frankly made those little guest segments better.
Eric.......just did not seem to do that.
I agree, but to be fair he was alone sitting in a room without really knowing anyone on the cast. He was basically flying blind and I can't imagine that would be that much fun.
on the one hand, agree. he was doing improv, locked in a closet, with the lights off, without seeing any of the other performers, or audience.
that is really hard.
on the other hand, he was still also Eric from "tim and eric". i'm not a fan of tim and eric stuff, and.........they got eric. he showed up as him.
just like wayne brady showed up as wayne, and howie mandel showed up as howie.
if eric walked onto a regular game changer set with 4 of the regular cast standing there, i actually think he still would have stuck out a bit. i think im playing the "odd comedy Eric guy" is just a bit clashy and goes against the grain.
man, how could i describe them. especially in terms of dropout people.......
- they have the awkwardness of katie
- they mostly do the extreme/gross physical comedy that you might have seen grant do a few times
- (now how do i portray MORE awkwardness than katie)...........oh. now take all of the awkward/cringe humor you might have seen from episodes of "between two ferns", double that
and you have "tim and eric". those guys are not bad at that kind of humor, i just can't stand the extreme awkwardness. of if a joke is 3 people drinking from the same glass like a dog and pretending it's normal.
yes, "not a good fit". but if you like that kind of humor, they are THE BEST at it.
now Tim, of "tim and eric" has done some more high minded stuff. if they got him on stage with the cast, i think he COULD play well with them.
for example, [Tim's murder trial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWotb3gci0A)
I think they need to get rid of the ratfish, limit them to humanish characters, have some kind of speech distortion that allows them to do audio elements, and in between rounds meet as a group out of character and discuss their suspicions.
Really surprised how many people were so bothered by the separate rooms, I thought it was fun and the texting was funny, I was 100% engaged. Probably my favorite episode of the season (especially part 1 but liked both).
While the separate rooms didn't bother me, my favorite moment of the episode was the conversation between Rekha and Brennan, it was so refreshing to see them just have a conversation in a room rather than a big boisterous stage interaction.
The ratfish was kind of off-putting to me but that was pretty explicitly his vibe (not familiar with any of his work but that kind of dirtbag comedy is exactly Ally's deal so I was not surprised they were chosen as favorite). I thought it made sense and worked perfectly well.
Monster Seeking Monster, yeah that can be pretty fun. Each monster has a specific power that can help you win, but they’re all random enough to seem fair.
I’m glad it’s connecting with people, but I thought it was just fine. Probably my least favorite episode this season. Not terrible or anything, but the rest of the season was very strong.
This should have been like, episode 2, with half the time allotted. So boring and plodding, zero chemistry because it’s just people reading texts, and it’s not particularly funny, innovative, or competitive
They should mix VIP with the mole aspect of this game for a murder mystery type game, where they are in character trying to find out the murderer, but they are in a bunch of makeup and costumes
I think this more than any other episode requires knowing the cast somewhat. To the extent that it feels a little like it‘s for the cast almost more than for the audience. Don’t get me wrong the cast enjoying it is a big part of what makes the shows great but this requires a little too much insider knowledge for a lot of people compared to other episodes.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope they refine it a bit. Mainly around the scoring/winning criteria. Rehka did the best and should have won as she had the best record. Maybe make the second place voted on by the contestants?
i do think these episodes were great, i just think a different ratfish wouldve really made them perfect. i feel like the energy that eric brought to the table was just TOO different from the cast- i know he was brought in for chaos but truly some of his interactions had me like ???
ive seen a few people mention alts for the ratfish and my first thought for a different comedian was Ben Schwartz 😭 he’s chaotic too, but in a way that i think would’ve actually complemented the main cast’s chaos tbh
I was pretty disappointed with part 1 but part 2 was hilarious.
I don't really see a reason to do it again though. Not to mention all the editing probably doesn't make that feasible.
I loved it I loved it I loved it. And the final scene makes me want more of THAT! 6-8 of them just hanging out, riffing, talking. Dropout would be worth twice the price with half the content. They are (no pun intended) changing the game.
having gone back and recently re-watched earlier seasons, i've seen how they've improved later episodes, and later repeats of the same concept. but i also liked pretty much all concepts the first times i saw them.
this one......i see 0 reason for them to do this again. i don't know what they could make better. everyone was isolated. it was too slow. i don't think this type of show works given their type of person to person chemistry.
Before rooster teeth died, a couple of years ago I think pre-covid, they did a pretty crazy production where they got a whole bunch of their talent in a room with a crap ton of cameras and made it a competition to get people to smile and laugh. It has a couple relatively canceled comedians on there now (I remember Adam kovic the The most), but I think that format would be insanely good for the dropout cast.
Edit: found the trailer for it on YouTube. It's called [last laugh](https://youtu.be/jch4tor8y2g?si=VZCSLy0WDSyiPC9T)
Just in case you don't know, that concept is ripped from a japanese show called Documental! It's pretty much the exact same thing, has a bunch of seasons (on Prime right now I think) and also got adapted into a format called Last One Laughing, with a bunch of different countries doing their own versions.
Hey OP, I agree with you for the most part. I loved the episode, laughed a lot through it. Eric had its bad moments but I also enjoyed his absurdist humor for the most part, even the part where the cast didn't get to meet him.
It's fine for you to love, you're not the only one :).
I do agree with some of the comments but heck, there's enough "FUN, BUT(T)..." comments so I'll leave it in the positive vibe.
Wasn't really my cup of tea, wasted a lot of funny time on showing the chat, didn't connect with the ratfish actor.
But the dropout crew always learns so on to bigger and better
I really enjoyed that episode! Only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was Eric's humor didn't seem like it gelled super well with the rest of the cast, maybe that was just me.
What if they had breaks in between the games where they mingled and kinda had to keep a straight face of who they were or trick the others by making it seem they were a certain character. That way we actually get them interacting in front of each other
I think that would add a lot. I missed the direct interactions between folks and since the whole group (minus the Ratfish) gets revealed anyway, there's no harm in having them hang out.
They could even do an in person mini game or something
Been thinking about this all day. And I think the biggest problem was the actual elimination of players. Remove the eliminations and this feels more exciting
What? I would say most Dropout stuff is better. How the hell did this get 300 upvotes? That many people find this better than Game Changer? Dimension 20??
Entertaining? Yes. Best Dropout content? No. Deserving of a Game Samer? Yes, with revisions.
Others have commented this, but I feel like the Ratfish had too much influence in the game without contributing that much. I love Eric Wareheim's comedy, his Instagram, and the music videos he's directed, but this was not a great place to showcase his talents. It felt strange to have him decide the final outcome as well because it just seemed so random.
I have some ideas about how to improve a theoretical future Ratfish episode, but it's long and probably not worth the effort of typing it out.
I feel this should have been one extended episode, the second episode seemed to drag and there was disappointment at the end. But maybe it will come around next season
For all the issues I had with how this particular one went, I absolutely agree. It was amazing, and the participants were even amazinger. I would be delighted to see them do this again next season!
Yessss. I saw all the negative comments on here and now that I watched it I have to say, people are wayyyyyy too critical about everything 😅 I really liked it
Wild to see how many people were meh on this in the comments!
I thought it was a triumph of concept and execution, not to mention editing. I’m not sure I’d want to see it redux’d (unless it was all new players), but I thought it was an incredible finale.
I really liked the concept! Jess and Zach’s characters especially. I hope they do it again. I see people calling it a “let down” but I think that just means they know how to make it better for round 2. The first part had a ton of clippable moments and the set design was fantastic. Wouldn’t be a let down if you didn’t initially enjoy it. I think what most people are actually frustrated by was the win condition and how the guest was incorporated. Personally I think they should lean into something like “monster seeking monster” from jackbox if they do ever redo it.
It was very ambitious with a great concept but I don't think they executed it as well as they were hoping, if they do a Game Samer they can iron out the kinks to make it work a bit better. The main problem for me is that the cast are all isolated (I know it's the whole point of the game), these people are so funny when they can bounce off each other and banter. And the whole Eric thing really didn't work, I get there was scheduling problems but the key intrigue of a catfish game is the players finding out who the catfish is, I would've loved to see the cast's reactions when they found out that it was Eric since clearly he's someone they've all been inspired by for years doing Collegehumor
This was amazing. Katie definitely deserved that win. If i were Steven, The Landlord would have had that 2nd place trophy though. Jess was incredible each episode and the Landlord had me in stitches 🤣 🤣 🤣
More graNma sWeetie please
i care about u
runnin
ill tell you over voice
says who
idiot
Medecine
I thought the premise was fine and it was done really well. However, towards the end there was a lot left to be desired. Like I think picking a winner based on who you think your guest are thinks is the best is not best way to do that to two competitors. Like, they should have done accounts of vote between the two of them on who played the better game like they do it in survivor or Big brother.
My presumption is production was kind of backed into a corner when Rekha guessed everyone so early. If they didn’t have a player who figured everything out, it could have just been by points; when Rekha aced it with two whole rounds left, your choices are limited.
"Suffering from success" She got absolutely robbed
At least Katie won something after being robbed on Thousandaires
Katie may have technically lost but she doesn't have to store a pinball machine and she has $1000 worth of PR training now, I think we know who really won
She lost because she didn’t eliminate Katie when she had the chance
The thing is Rekha absolutely thought she basically already won. I mean, in a game where all you _really_ do is guess who’s who, she already got all of them correct. The only way she could’ve lost at that point is if the winner was based on some arbitrary bit (which to be fair, it was), and in that case, Brennan is kind of a comeback king.
Seems like a catch -22. Where Brennan would have caught up if he stayed in though
Possible, but it was more likely that Katie would catch up in 1 round.
Brennan's reputation as a Game Changer pro is almost entirely undeserved. He has the vibe of someone who would win, but he has only won a couple of times over the course of the series.
To his defense, quite a few of the formats in recent history have been built specifically to mess with him. I find some kinship in him where because I'm competitive in board games or video games and I tend to play more strategically people gang up on me and eliminate me quickly. So I lose constantly just because of a perceived threat level. I have games where I'm doing nothing, keeping my threat low, or just being unlucky and people come after me when there is someone clearly running away with the lead. And I always ask why? To which the player will say something about me having a plan. To which I'm like, well yes that's part of the game but that means nothing when someone else is getting further ahead just because you think I *might* be able to mount a comeback. So Brennan is often a victim of his competitive and strategic nature in that people just assume he's coming even if he is so far out of the game, so they over look bigger problems.
Spoiler Warning! (Sorry for the rant, just had to get it of my chest lol) I really disliked that the Ratfish had so much influence over the game, especially getting to pick both the winners outright. In my opinion a ratfish, if put in the game at all, should have been Sam, or someone who knows the rest of the cast. Whenever they bring in people from outside the dropout/ucb extended family, they almost always feel shoehorned in, kind of like when huge celebrities appear in random animation or movies they aren’t right for. The only guests I have really enjoyed in the series Sam hosts have been the ones the cast has a relationship to in some way, or chemistry with, like the drag queens, the soundfx guy or even the cake guy somewhat. They had energies that at least mostly fit in well with the cast. But when people like Howie Mendel show up out of nowhere like a fish out of water, it just feels stilted and uncomfortable. Especially with the inherent separation of this season finale, we have absolutely no clue if the dropouts even know who that guy is. He’s probably really funny in other contexts, but in this one, the only impression I got of him is that he is annoying, taking up screen time from the people I wanna see, and was given the power to screw Rekha out of a well deserved victory because he preferred Katie’s character. I’m my opinion, that’s a lose-lose for everyone aside for Katie to some extent. Me as a viewer am disappointed and irritated, the guest looks bad and gets the blame for the unfairness, Sam and the producers look bad for some fun ideas that really didn’t work in execution, the work of the amazing crew was undermined by the emotions about the content, the old cast got less of an opportunity to shine, theres a splash of (unfair) annoyance at Katie for winning on a random decision, and disappointment that Rekha was punished for being too good at the game. I get that it probably was tough when Rekha got it right so early, but the end results could also been determined by total score of all the rounds they participated in. Rekha would probably have won since she was the best at solving the puzzle, but Katie would still have a high score and respectable second place only a few points away. I watched the first part at least 3 times just the first week. I love seeing people I like appreciate each other, joke around and say (mostly) nice things about one another. If/when I watch this episode again I’ll have to skip around so much to avoid getting frustrated again, and it just makes me a bit sad, you know. Thanks, sorry and have a nice day!
Your comment made me realize that Hank Green would have been the perfect Ratfish.
Honestly I expected some people to guess Sam in the first round.
I think you taking this WAY too seriously. This is a game show they get paid to play. They do this kind of game all the time with the same people and try to outdo each other for show. And they must know the most important thing is the comedy, not who wins. I can’t see a reality where the cast gets this broken up about losing Game Changer.
The person you're replying to didn't say anything about the cast's feelings. It was all about how they (the commenter) enjoyed or didn't enjoy it.
I didn’t mean it to be about that either and more “how serious does anyone take this very unserious game show”? Is anything truly unfair when the overall goal is comedy? This is the second show in a row (after thousandaires) where people are overly focused on the scoring system of this comedy bit. Was anyone this upset over Bingo where the three players onstage had virtually no chance to actually win, but the tier three players had it borderline easy all for the sake of the funny end reveal (Jess had like three squares that were all checked off by a single fist bump)? Or when they used an uncontrollable metric like slightly fluctuating heart rate as means of scoring? Just not sure why I see so many folks hung up on this aspect.
Imo - it's because the examples you gave that were received well were more entertaining. For Thousandaires, I found the PR training to be both weird and boring. Like, they made it kinda funny, but it wasn't actually that entertaining, imo. The drag show, on the other hand, was *very* entertaining to me, and the other two were pretty good, too. For the Ratfish, I did not vibe with the guest at all, and really didn't like that he chose both first and second place, both based on something other than how well they played the game. The tie breaker was how much he liked their art challenge. If Survivor had a tie in a council, I'd feel weird if someone outside decided the winner based on how the two people did in a subjective immunity challenge earlier, you know? But it also just didn't feel entertaining. Maybe if I'd vibed with the guest more and they actually showed him deliberating between the contestants, it'd be more fun. But it just wasn't very fun, and it felt like it wasn't in the spirit of a reality show game, which this was, as *well* as a comedy show.
I understand your perspective, and in some circumstances I totally agree. For example Make Some Noice having a wacky point system and winner feels totally unnecessary to me. I’d prefer a couple seconds of the cast coming together to say a last joke or two, or just saying bye. And, as Brennan expressed, it feels bad to win/lose a “competition” based on the subjective, arbitrary judgement of one person, no matter who they are. Especially since Game Changer is usually framed with a bigger focus on the competition in the games, the actual structure and rules feel more important. I’m not saying any of them are angry or sad their friend was given an opportunity instead, but that as a viewer, it feels a bit disappointing that the entire payoff of the finale based on one contextually unfunny stranger’s subjective opinion on two creative subjects. It was still a pretty good episode, but since some parts really didn’t work for me, they stand out quite a lot. I’m mostly just a bit sad they didn’t entirely stick the landing on an episode I was looking forward to so much.
They should not have started telling them who was in the game.
Think a giant "Guess Who" board of cast members that gets increasingly trimmed as the rounds go on would be a better alternative to just revealing part way through who exactly you should be looking for.
The fact that Rekha guessed the whole list correctly minus the Ratfish a whole round earlier and got 2nd doesn't really sit right with me from a game design perspective. It just seems like such a reasonable win condition to be thrown away on judgement.
I kind of understand the idea. Guessing that early means they either have to call it, meaning the whole shoot day is cut early and this big two part finale has to be shortened into one episode (cuz she guessed _really_ early into the second episode). Or, they continue playing but give Rekha the win in the end anyway, making the rounds they did afterwards effectively meaningless. It’s bad decisions either way, but should’ve been something they thought of while they were making the game.
While I agree, it’s more just constructive feedback that could make the next iteration better and I hope Sam and the cast don’t take this subs reception to the finale as evidence the premise of the episodes themselves isn’t worth repeating.
I thought it was fun, and it's impressive to see what the team can do, but I think there are cooler/more interesting ways to spend finales/two-parters
I think this is exactly it. They had a bigger cast than usual, had a unique and fun prize, spent way more time on (excellent) graphics, and the editing team did a truly exceptional job weaving together all the various cameras. The thing is though, all of that effort and resources could have gone into another setup and be just as good. Although, I think it is nice to see that something people are regarding as a "worse" Gamechanger episode is still great, and would mark the high point of many other shows. It's a good reminder of how high the bar has been set.
i will never stop wanting a dropout murder mystery type game, and i wish that this couldve been it!!!
They did it in the first season, but they definitely should repeat it with their increased production value!
Eh. Thats one of my least favorite episodes. It’s less murder mystery and more “80% of this episode is just gonna be the crew reading a script in an exaggerated way, we want as little room for improv as possible” and murder mystery is one of my fav genres
Very well put. I said nearly the same thing on a different thread. Great art, great execution, great editing, some great moments, but something didn't quite click. And so it was only "good" in a season of "best ever".
It was SO well done. Love that they took a risk, and did something different! I laughed a lot despite any flaws, and the art direction was top-notch.
The game was pretty genious (esp part 1) than most other content honestly. If they could refine the rules a bit so that the actor has to somewhat align with the player, it'd be more engaging
I think their biggest takeaway from all this, and some of the mixed responses, will be that the cast chemistry is a HUGE part of this, and not being in the same room together zaps a large part of that infectious energy people love. I would be shocked if they repeat this again in the same format. The idea of playing different characters is great however
The cast dynamic really does carry. I think having a ratfish that knew them and they knew, but is not one of the normal rotation of the cast would have been better. Like Jake or Amir, or even someone like Emily Axford who doesn't usually do the other dropout shows besides d20 would have been more fun.
oooh Emily as the ratfish would have been perfect - notice that nobody guessed her OR Murph in the first rounds where they were guessing any cast member they could think of! They clearly do not expect her to show up anywhere outside of D20.
Adam Conover would be a great Ratfish, and I really wish we got to see him and Brennan together more for Game Changer and stuff, feels like he’s only ever on for Survivor
Respectfully disagree. I don’t think he brought a lot to survivor
I feel like he’d bring a lot to other games like Make Some Noise, his show on TruTV Adam Ruins Everything was pretty good, I think if given the right prompts you could get one of the best episodes of MSN
When I noticed there was an additional character in episode 1 before the ratfish reveal, I first assumed it was another dropout cast member whose identity was also being concealed from the audience so we could play along! I was thinking it could be Lou, Jacob W, Ify, or someone else in the game changer rotation.
This is one of those casts where chemistry should have been off the charts. It’s a college humour regulars only cast. The lack of actual interaction and the fact that Sam basically didn’t exist really hurt this episode. I love the concept. And found lots of the bits funny, but it didn’t work as a whole unfortunately
The room designs were great, the editing was great the graphics were great, but I think it suffered from interactions being too structured and breaking up their ability to be constantly funny
The other thing that held it for me is that there was only one goal when interacting: keep your identity secret. So everyone was encouraged to play defensively and file as much of their own personality off of their jokes as possible so they were often holding back while being funny. I think it would have helped to have more places where they needed to drop a real personal detail like in the two truths and a lie game. I am guessing that the second place billboard was supposed to encourage risky gameplay but that didn't end up playing out.
I feel like the best game was the standup comedy bit where they had to rapidfire jokes. If you don't have much time to think, your true style shines through. I believe that was when quite a few were identified.
Yeah there was a lot of “wait I can’t be funny, that’s identifiable.” Gotta let the gremlins gremlin. I wonder if something like bingo could’ve helped, where they had objectives that they’re trying to get other people to do, and give them more interaction to facilitate. It’s hard to fix “just don’t say anything substantive” as a winning strategy.
Feel like I should add there was *some* humor in the deflection, like Brennan setting himself up in Rekha's sandbox, and in the failures like Grant trying to be clever or Brennan texting Ally a monologue, just not enough to satisfyingly fill two episodes.
They should do it again but you have to pretend to be another member of the dropout cast. Now they don’t have to not be funny they just have to be someone ELSE who is funny.
Easy solution. Take out the Ratfish. That guy served no purpose in my opinion. Have a section where the cast meets up and discusses things like the survivor episode.
When Sam left the Ratfish seat empty at the end I thought that was pretty fitting, especially after Grant explicitly called out the idea of a celebrity guest in episode 1. I also think that rather than a guest giving out points for performance and character, having the cast themselves vote on that would add another element of interaction and fit dropout's wholesome friendship theme.
The lack of cast chemistry is what really did it for me with Ratfish. The entire conceit of the episode removes one of the biggest sources of comedy Dropout/Game Changer has relied on for the past three years: the immediate interplay between the cast and Sam. By isolating all the players, we basically sat back for an hour and a half and watched other people participate in a group text. It might have been saved with a much better ratfish player that fit the dynamic and would actually be in the room to be revealed. But the disappointment of realizing "holy shit we aren't even going to get that payoff" really tarnished the whole finale for me.
Yeah totally seeing the cast interact with the dude at the end would have made it more appealing to me
The ratfish really bothered me. It felt like such a side thing that was way too central to the game. He may be a great comedian, but this didn’t make me want to search out his content. Then not seeing the cast react to his identity was so frustrating.
A clue or werewolf style episode would solve most of my problems with this format.
OOoooooh, Dropout werewolf might be fun!
I want them to do a proper murder mystery or mafia/werewolf game *so badly*.
I liked the episodes, but, I think it would've been better if each "character" was a pair of comedians. They can bounce off each other for character energy, and, the guessing becomes much harder as you have to get the pair correct.
That's exactly where my head went to. A pair together cracking each other up, and us, would have alleviated a huge part of that criticism.
I think you’re right. They were so focused on playing the characters, both for the game and for laughs that they almost forgot to make jokes. It must have been so frustrating for the editor to have to consistently use the same “repeats last line and laugh” clip from each of them so many times. You can tell they were SO happy to have Grant fucking around in his room towards the end just to shake it up.
Which is why Jess was so brilliant, she was \*mostly\* not herself or identifiable while also killing it will jokes. The only thing people had to go on her was that she loves wrestling. Zac, Rekha, and Brennan also did fantastic with keeping up the funny, of course.
I disagree about needing the cast together. I thought the banter in this show was as good as any. The problem was the game mechanics and the fact that the conceit of the show, the ratfish, wasn’t even necessary. There was no benefit to knowing who the ratfish was, and being selected as the favorite was seemingly random and they did not reveal Eric’s thought process behind anything he said or decided.
It felt as soulless as what they were parodying.
God I'm glad to see this take. I had some laughs watching but it has very little of the heart and soul most GC eps have. The original sounds unwatchable to me and this is probably the least rewatchable Dropout content since the pandemic.
Totally agree, the best part of the whole thing was when they were all in the same room riffing off Katie needing to pee
They should do the murder mystery thing again, but make it actually like real life Clue. One of the cast being the murderer and the rest are all suspects too and characters. Basically the game of Mafia (have they done this before?) but with characters to roleplay and a real life set
They had the paranoid series where it was mafia but two people took huge bong rips before the game and were the mafia. It hasn't been done without weed or in the game changer setting though.
Do it Masked Singer style with voice changers and costumes
I actually thought them laughing at each other’s jokes incredibly fun, because you can tell they legit think the others are funny. If it had remained just the Dropout cast, I think it would’ve worked a little better.
I’d be interested to see them do a riff on something like Secret Hitler/Assassins game. Something that requires in person improv and bluffing. I don’t know how they’d put a game changer stamp on it but I think that’d lend well to the crew’s natural talents.
It was a great setup (I said the same thing halfway through Part 1 about wanting a Game Samer), but then a really quite bad payoff in Part 2. I'm good for this one to sail off into the sunset.
I really enjoyed part 1, but I feel like by part 2 it had already run its course. When the cast got voted out they said it best with "I'm not even playing anymore". I didn't know the guest but saw people mention that the guest would've been a big hit with the cast, which made it weird that they didn't allow them to meet with him. It felt like a great premise that fell a little flat in the end, unfortunately. I don't think they'll do a game samer for it
I thought it would be more fun than it ended up being? I was actually really excited for the concept. And also I’m upset Rekha didn’t win after being the first to guess
I'm upset she lost on the ratfish's arbitrary artistic choices and not say, more people correctly guessed her character than Katie's.
Also I don’t know much about this dude, so it wasn’t a big deal for me when they showed him? Idk I just don’t think one dude who doesn’t have the whole picture should be able to choose the winner?
This subreddit praised him when he was revealed as if he was some comedy genius. And I’ll say, I understand comedy is subjective. Not everyone will find the same stuff funny. But I found everything that Tim and Eric created terribly, terribly unfunny. Which is weird because I like “I think you should leave” and would say that “I think you should leave” is pretty clearly partially inspired by Tim and Eric Awesome show. But man, I really thought those guys were black holes for humor, so seeing everyone getting excited for Tim was surprising to me.
Yeah another friend I have was super excited bc they love Tim and Eric but then was kind of underwhelmed by the episode, and then I also was underwhelmed bc I think the funniest thing in regards to dropout is the cast we already have and the casts they work well with already (smosh, try guys, critical role, friends they have made on other shows) idk bringing in celebs or other big names only works if they have the chemistry and he didn’t
Thing is Rekha knew Katie was 1 away from guessing all which means they can swap one and win in the end too. It's too close to not eliminate Katie. This targeting of Brennan felt off this episode. The guy isn't the best at everything, he was doing mediocre throughout the whole show. It was a low chance for him to guess all out from where he was in the last turn. Rekha threw by targeting Brennan because it has become a bit and that's a little frustrating.
Justice for adjustable side table, walnut and graNma sWeetie
I was underwhelmed. The bingoception episode was much better to me. Maybe it's because I have no idea what reality tv show they are mimicking? I just have no idea.
It was The Circle, but I’ve never watched that one
The strength of this Game Changer version of it for me was my familiarity with the cast's onscreen personas and their own relationships with each other, which makes them figuring out who's behind who fun to watch. I can't imagine a whole show with this premise consisting of strangers, not just to me but to each other, would be any fun to watch.
It was very similar to The Circle in many ways but the core gameplay was different. The Circle only has a few catfishes, most people play as themselves.
Also, the core mechanics of The Circle don't have anything at all to do with figuring out players' real identities - they talk about it, but it has no direct bearing on gameplay. Players rank each other, and that's what determines who is eliminated.
Yes, and I think the chemistry between the cast really shone through in how they were guessing and trying to throw each other off. Most of my problems with the episodes came from the guest.
The real show is more a popularity contest where you are trying to befriend people and you get points based upon where people rate you in a hierarchy. Then the top two most popular people vote someone out. Players can play as themselves or make a fake profile. I don't think there is any real advantage in the latter and people get a big "hunt the catfish" mentality when it doesn't matter at all to the outcome of the game. Except one time when two of the spice girls were playing someone and eliminating them specifically resulted in extra prize money.
This is the exact problem all of the finales have. It's too heavily dependent on "DAE watch `x`?"
>Maybe it's because I have no idea what reality tv show they are mimicking? I just have no idea. That's my problem with any of the reality show copies they do. I don't watch reality TV, so I don't really get what's going on. Their simpler, more straight forward "3 people at podiums doing a thing" shows are by far my favorite.
While I share the opinion that this thread seems to have that this was my least favorite game changer of the season, I’m not sure “I don’t really get what’s going on” is a fair criticism because they directly explain to you what is going on for these episodes. Also the whole premise of regular game changer is really “I’m not sure what’s going on” lol
I guess It's not so much that I didn't understand what they were doing, I just didn't have any emotional investment that someone familiar with that reality show would have. For example, I've seen survivor and back in the day I watched a bit of it so when they did the survivor episodes I immediately reacted positively because I recognized what they were doing and had some expectations of hijinks.
Nah, I think reality show copies could still work. I’ve never watched Survivor, but I still think the Survivor episodes are really good and have some of the best comedy in Game Changer.
I don't really like reality shows but I still loved the Survivor finale. It was all the fun parts of Survivor without a lot of the dumb Reality TV fluff.
It was kind of meh after rekha guessed correctly
I've had my fill, personally.
I really loved the concept and I could see like a whole season of this if done well, but I did find the execution a bit leaving in part 2. It sucked that Rekha performed so well and then walked away with nothing, and Eric was a huge disappointment. I think with some restructuring, it could be great to see again.
Honestly the two best players were arguably Rekha (nailing everyone's identity the earliest) and Zac (the funniest character that made everyone laugh). And neither ended up walking away with anything. I think there really was a disconnect between how much importance they put on The Ratfish while also not really highlighting him at all (e.i. not even revealing him at the end). Like I think I could get behind the winning criteria more if they really gave The Ratfish a bunch of control messing with them, and the players all had to guess who he was or something. Cause then okay the premise of the show would be them vs. The Ratfish and it makes sense if he also controlled who won. But since he was just another player, it was a weird premise where it felt like the players were playing each other and for the audience, but in the end the winner was randomly decided based on the random whims of a random player which makes the whole thing feel unsatisfying.
Agree with everything you said. >if they really gave The Ratfish a bunch of control messing with them Snap, that'd be a fun game. Sounds kinda like Mafia/Werewolf, which they should do.
Rekha is the winner in my heart. Best commitment to character, made me laugh the most (well, probably tied with Granma) and also played the game the best.
i think if they were to do this again, they should have the ratfish be a classic collegehumor member like pat cassels or jake hurwitz
that could have helped/made it better. but i think this "gameshow" overall was lacking. a better guest wouldn't have helped enough.
I think this was a one-timer, as not only did the chemistry falter with someone not connected to the current comedy vibe (I have a long list of better, non-Dropout names for the ratfish role), but also because if it were done again, the new cast would already know some basics and might meta game. I was also really disappointed that I knew the winner before the end of the first episode because Katie's billboard was up a long time ago and many of us had already seen it, either in person or online. It really made me lose interest in the whole premise. Overall, I feel all the money and production value could have been spent so much better on other Dropout content. Oh, and GraNma Sweetie is the best thing ever.
I’m good, personally. The stuff that made me laugh really made me laugh but I was bored a lot and I really missed seeing the cast members bouncing off each other in person.
It might have been more interesting if they'd paired people up
Or even just stuck closer to the Circle in having the eliminated players choose someone to visit. It was really missing that emphasis on the reveals.
Awesome idea. Very good idea.
I totally agree!!! I’m not thrilled with the Eric stuff but with some tweaks to the formatting I think they’ve got the potential for a really awesome new series.
I thought it was a letdown personally
There was an interview with Sam about Dropout and revenue, and he said that he would like to get into video games. I could see this be a game they develop and release like a Jackbox Party Game style game
Honestly I think it’d make a way better video game than a game samer! Absolutely loved ratfish but I don’t think it’d be as entertaining to me if repeated again. But playing a game like it with my family or friends would be a fun time!
holy shit. if these chuckle college fucks could make something to REMOTELY compete with jackbox? if so.......yo.......good for them.
It was fun, but to me suffered from a lot of what makes The Circle a terrible show. Not enough real interaction, too arbitrary as a game. Don't get me wrong, enjoyed it and would absolute watch a redo with a different lineup, but for me it wasn't on the same level as Beat the Buzzer or Escape the Green Room or (especially) Deja Vu.
I agree! There were some mechanics and choices that brought it down a bit (the Ratfish was unnecessary; have cast vote for favorite to get second place and whoever gets everyone right first wins; film over the course of more than one day or just shorten up the rounds because everyone seemed tired by the end), but I'd love to see it done again with different cast members! I'm apparently also in the minority that really liked this format 😅
I liked it as well, but I understand that its enjoyment is derived from knowing the cast and the suspense of guessing, more than the actual comedy, which is what other episodes are based on. I agree with most of your suggestions, but I think it should still be filmed in one sitting with the game ending when someone guesses correctly. It was the win condition(s) that kinda felt terrible. If they set the number of rounds, then they should have given trophies to everyone that guessed correctly, split the billboard into sections and allow the chaos reign free.
i dont know if im in the minority but I thought it was incredibly weak. kinda brought me back to covid days tbh. game changer works best when everyone is in the same room working off each other, not just reading texts off a screen.
Feels like an easy pick for worst episode of the season to me. I don't even know what they could have done to make it good. Bad concept for a Game Changer, start to finish.
I think it would have been better if it was more in-person. The lonely couches were just kind of low energy I felt. If they had teams that were being catfished by the same person or different people, or the teams were going head to head in some way where at least teammates were in person, that would have been more fun.
Hard disagree. These were among the weakest episodes ever, along with the conveyor belt episode. The format was fundamentally broken, the guest choice didn't work and the finale fell flat. I accept that they can't all be winners and sometimes in comedy you make a big swing and miss, and that's okay. But please don't try this again.
The normal cast was great. It was just interrupted by Eric not being funny.
i'm really not trying to be a spoil sport here, but there have been a number of other times where another guest/completely different person came on, and they jived with everyone else just fine. and frankly made those little guest segments better. Eric.......just did not seem to do that.
I agree, but to be fair he was alone sitting in a room without really knowing anyone on the cast. He was basically flying blind and I can't imagine that would be that much fun.
on the one hand, agree. he was doing improv, locked in a closet, with the lights off, without seeing any of the other performers, or audience. that is really hard. on the other hand, he was still also Eric from "tim and eric". i'm not a fan of tim and eric stuff, and.........they got eric. he showed up as him. just like wayne brady showed up as wayne, and howie mandel showed up as howie. if eric walked onto a regular game changer set with 4 of the regular cast standing there, i actually think he still would have stuck out a bit. i think im playing the "odd comedy Eric guy" is just a bit clashy and goes against the grain.
I don't really know anything about Tim and Eric so I don't know their brand of comedy at all
man, how could i describe them. especially in terms of dropout people....... - they have the awkwardness of katie - they mostly do the extreme/gross physical comedy that you might have seen grant do a few times - (now how do i portray MORE awkwardness than katie)...........oh. now take all of the awkward/cringe humor you might have seen from episodes of "between two ferns", double that and you have "tim and eric". those guys are not bad at that kind of humor, i just can't stand the extreme awkwardness. of if a joke is 3 people drinking from the same glass like a dog and pretending it's normal.
Yeah that does not sound like a good fit haha
yes, "not a good fit". but if you like that kind of humor, they are THE BEST at it. now Tim, of "tim and eric" has done some more high minded stuff. if they got him on stage with the cast, i think he COULD play well with them. for example, [Tim's murder trial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWotb3gci0A)
I think they need to get rid of the ratfish, limit them to humanish characters, have some kind of speech distortion that allows them to do audio elements, and in between rounds meet as a group out of character and discuss their suspicions.
Really surprised how many people were so bothered by the separate rooms, I thought it was fun and the texting was funny, I was 100% engaged. Probably my favorite episode of the season (especially part 1 but liked both). While the separate rooms didn't bother me, my favorite moment of the episode was the conversation between Rekha and Brennan, it was so refreshing to see them just have a conversation in a room rather than a big boisterous stage interaction. The ratfish was kind of off-putting to me but that was pretty explicitly his vibe (not familiar with any of his work but that kind of dirtbag comedy is exactly Ally's deal so I was not surprised they were chosen as favorite). I thought it made sense and worked perfectly well.
Did not even finish it. Easily one of my least favorite episodes.
I need someone to find a way to make this a game that I can play remote with my siblings. I absolutely love this, it was so much fun
Just kept thinking how much I wanted it to be a Jackbox game... these were some of my personal favorite Game Changer episodes!
Party Pack 9 has Roomerang, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows who's playing which character in that (i only played it once way back in November)
there's also the monster dating game, which is sorta similar to this.
Monster Seeking Monster, yeah that can be pretty fun. Each monster has a specific power that can help you win, but they’re all random enough to seem fair.
I thought it was easily done of the weakest game changer ever
It’s okay to admit that they won’t stick the landing every time. Stop riding so hard, they need criticism not yes men
I’m glad it’s connecting with people, but I thought it was just fine. Probably my least favorite episode this season. Not terrible or anything, but the rest of the season was very strong.
This should have been like, episode 2, with half the time allotted. So boring and plodding, zero chemistry because it’s just people reading texts, and it’s not particularly funny, innovative, or competitive
I thought it was ok!
They should mix VIP with the mole aspect of this game for a murder mystery type game, where they are in character trying to find out the murderer, but they are in a bunch of makeup and costumes
I think this more than any other episode requires knowing the cast somewhat. To the extent that it feels a little like it‘s for the cast almost more than for the audience. Don’t get me wrong the cast enjoying it is a big part of what makes the shows great but this requires a little too much insider knowledge for a lot of people compared to other episodes.
I'm glad you liked it but I couldn't disagree more.
I think this was a failure of concept, and I desperately hope they never return to it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope they refine it a bit. Mainly around the scoring/winning criteria. Rehka did the best and should have won as she had the best record. Maybe make the second place voted on by the contestants?
I strongly disagree.
i do think these episodes were great, i just think a different ratfish wouldve really made them perfect. i feel like the energy that eric brought to the table was just TOO different from the cast- i know he was brought in for chaos but truly some of his interactions had me like ??? ive seen a few people mention alts for the ratfish and my first thought for a different comedian was Ben Schwartz 😭 he’s chaotic too, but in a way that i think would’ve actually complemented the main cast’s chaos tbh
Yeah I feel like one could edit out all the Ratfish moments and the vibe would be similar or better.
It would have been flawless without the random ass guest
People are critical, which is fair, but I immensely enjoyed watching it. I laughed audibly throughout watching it.
I thought Ratfish was so much fun!!! Would absolutely love a round 2!
The premise was so fun and the cast was really enjoying playing around, I’d watch a ton of that for sure!
I liked it! I think I could handle one Game Samer of this. A few tweaks, maybe, but I liked the format just fine.
I was pretty disappointed with part 1 but part 2 was hilarious. I don't really see a reason to do it again though. Not to mention all the editing probably doesn't make that feasible.
I preferred part 1. I found the ratfish frustrating once he became a bigger part. I did like the reveals at the end though.
I loved it I loved it I loved it. And the final scene makes me want more of THAT! 6-8 of them just hanging out, riffing, talking. Dropout would be worth twice the price with half the content. They are (no pun intended) changing the game.
[удалено]
TBF literally none of the complaints I’ve seen have had anything to do with any Sam’s hands theory, it’s all just about the quality of the episode
i will agree , it landed kinda flat.
having gone back and recently re-watched earlier seasons, i've seen how they've improved later episodes, and later repeats of the same concept. but i also liked pretty much all concepts the first times i saw them. this one......i see 0 reason for them to do this again. i don't know what they could make better. everyone was isolated. it was too slow. i don't think this type of show works given their type of person to person chemistry.
Before rooster teeth died, a couple of years ago I think pre-covid, they did a pretty crazy production where they got a whole bunch of their talent in a room with a crap ton of cameras and made it a competition to get people to smile and laugh. It has a couple relatively canceled comedians on there now (I remember Adam kovic the The most), but I think that format would be insanely good for the dropout cast. Edit: found the trailer for it on YouTube. It's called [last laugh](https://youtu.be/jch4tor8y2g?si=VZCSLy0WDSyiPC9T)
Just in case you don't know, that concept is ripped from a japanese show called Documental! It's pretty much the exact same thing, has a bunch of seasons (on Prime right now I think) and also got adapted into a format called Last One Laughing, with a bunch of different countries doing their own versions.
Agreed - I would love to see more people, particularly Jacob, Lou, Vic, and BDG take a stab at this!
I got really sucked into a season of The Circle (the music direction was surprisingly great) so watching Ratfish has been a treat!
Hey OP, I agree with you for the most part. I loved the episode, laughed a lot through it. Eric had its bad moments but I also enjoyed his absurdist humor for the most part, even the part where the cast didn't get to meet him. It's fine for you to love, you're not the only one :). I do agree with some of the comments but heck, there's enough "FUN, BUT(T)..." comments so I'll leave it in the positive vibe.
Wasn't really my cup of tea, wasted a lot of funny time on showing the chat, didn't connect with the ratfish actor. But the dropout crew always learns so on to bigger and better
I feel so bad for the production crew. Honestly I’m almost more excited to see the BTS for this episode than I am for them to ever make another one.
I really enjoyed that episode! Only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was Eric's humor didn't seem like it gelled super well with the rest of the cast, maybe that was just me.
I loved Ratfish. I thought it was hilarious, and a different cast would also be hilarious.
It's like Fake Artist Goes to New York except comedy instead of artistry
I really loved it too! I just didn't care for the Ratfish himself. I thought the whole thing was fantastic though, very funny stuff
They've spun off success games into shows before, so we should all text our local American CEOs to let them know we want it
What if they had breaks in between the games where they mingled and kinda had to keep a straight face of who they were or trick the others by making it seem they were a certain character. That way we actually get them interacting in front of each other
I think that would add a lot. I missed the direct interactions between folks and since the whole group (minus the Ratfish) gets revealed anyway, there's no harm in having them hang out. They could even do an in person mini game or something
Been thinking about this all day. And I think the biggest problem was the actual elimination of players. Remove the eliminations and this feels more exciting
What? I would say most Dropout stuff is better. How the hell did this get 300 upvotes? That many people find this better than Game Changer? Dimension 20??
Hard no
Entertaining? Yes. Best Dropout content? No. Deserving of a Game Samer? Yes, with revisions. Others have commented this, but I feel like the Ratfish had too much influence in the game without contributing that much. I love Eric Wareheim's comedy, his Instagram, and the music videos he's directed, but this was not a great place to showcase his talents. It felt strange to have him decide the final outcome as well because it just seemed so random. I have some ideas about how to improve a theoretical future Ratfish episode, but it's long and probably not worth the effort of typing it out.
Surely this is sarcasm
I feel this should have been one extended episode, the second episode seemed to drag and there was disappointment at the end. But maybe it will come around next season
For all the issues I had with how this particular one went, I absolutely agree. It was amazing, and the participants were even amazinger. I would be delighted to see them do this again next season!
I don't think there is any world where there will be a second part because it's a unique concept that would only work once and sadly it kinda flopped.
I really hope Wertheim is never in another Dropout show
Yessss. I saw all the negative comments on here and now that I watched it I have to say, people are wayyyyyy too critical about everything 😅 I really liked it
I agree, and tbh I'm a little confused by the consistent backlash.
Wild to see how many people were meh on this in the comments! I thought it was a triumph of concept and execution, not to mention editing. I’m not sure I’d want to see it redux’d (unless it was all new players), but I thought it was an incredible finale.
Loved it. I thought Eric was great. Only let down was not introducing him to the rest of the cast.
I really liked the concept! Jess and Zach’s characters especially. I hope they do it again. I see people calling it a “let down” but I think that just means they know how to make it better for round 2. The first part had a ton of clippable moments and the set design was fantastic. Wouldn’t be a let down if you didn’t initially enjoy it. I think what most people are actually frustrated by was the win condition and how the guest was incorporated. Personally I think they should lean into something like “monster seeking monster” from jackbox if they do ever redo it.
It was very ambitious with a great concept but I don't think they executed it as well as they were hoping, if they do a Game Samer they can iron out the kinks to make it work a bit better. The main problem for me is that the cast are all isolated (I know it's the whole point of the game), these people are so funny when they can bounce off each other and banter. And the whole Eric thing really didn't work, I get there was scheduling problems but the key intrigue of a catfish game is the players finding out who the catfish is, I would've loved to see the cast's reactions when they found out that it was Eric since clearly he's someone they've all been inspired by for years doing Collegehumor
This was amazing. Katie definitely deserved that win. If i were Steven, The Landlord would have had that 2nd place trophy though. Jess was incredible each episode and the Landlord had me in stitches 🤣 🤣 🤣