Emmy spotlight: ‘Game Changer’ deserves nominations for its mischievous reinvention of the game show format

Daniel Montgomery
·3 min read
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Imagine “Who’s Line is it Anyway” crossed with a quiz show. That’s more or less the gist of “Game Changer” on Dropout.tv. It’s one of the best game shows on TV or the web, and it’s on the Emmy ballot for Best Game Show and Best Game Show Host. It deserves both nominations.

“Game Changer” is true to its title. It assembles a group of improv comedians — formerly of College Humor — to play a game in every episode. What game is it? They won’t know until they play it. In one episode they might be trying to get out of a surprise escape room. In another they might try to keep their heart rates down as they’re put in stressful situations. Sometimes they’re trying to pull the wool over the eyes of one contestant in particular. And then there are the loving parodies of “The Bachelor” and “Survivor.” The participants are game, but the points do matter.

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The lifeblood of the show is the interplay between contestants and host. As on “Whose Line,” these are comic performers who know each other and have worked together, giving each episode an immediate sense of camaraderie. And presenter Sam Reich pulls the strings and tortures his contestants with a mischievous glee that never veers into mean-spiritedness.

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Dropout.tv was born of College Humor, a comedy website that abruptly shut down in 2020 after parent company IAC/InterActiveCorp, well, dropped out. Reich took over and shaped Dropout into what may actually be the best game show network in media — sorry, GSN. In addition to “Game Changer,” the digital network boasts “Breaking News,” in which participants must read a comedic news script without laughing, “Um, Actually,” in which contestants must correct inaccurate statements about various nerdy pop culture, and “Dirty Laundry,” in which panelists try to suss out each other’s secrets.

Then there’s “Dimension 20,” in which comedians (and sometimes drag queens) play “Dungeons and Dragons.” I wouldn’t call that a game show, per se, but Brennan Lee Mulligan deserves some kind of honorary Emmy as Best Dungeon Master. Hell, you could slot him into Best Comedy Actor and Best Comedy Writing for the work that goes into running a campaign, and either would be richly deserved.

So now that Dropout is in the Emmy conversation with “Game Changer,” the television academy should take notice. They’ve been here the whole time (since 2018).

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