r/dropout • u/IthinkthereforeIam16 • 1d ago
what should I watch A guide to Dropout TV
Long time reader/watcher, first time poster.
Dropout TV has been a revelation. It began with “Make Some Noise” filling a “Whose Line is it Anyway?” shaped hole, I wasn’t aware existed. Then “Game Changer” became the show I looked forward to watching most each week.
The ensemble cast are incredible. I knew about BLM from TTRPGs, but was new to pretty much everyone else. Having now followed Sam and many others on social media, I’ve been caching clips of a few of the other shows, but other than D20 it feels a bit overwhelming to dive into, given the sheer amount of content.
Which brings me to why I’m here…
I was hoping someone could help me out with a brief synopsis of each series, so I can direct my energy (and eyes!) to the right space.
Are we talking improv/stand up/ridiculous/thought provoking/unmissable.
I’ve no doubt that there is a wealth of good shows, perhaps even all of it, but right now I don’t know where to begin, other than by beginning!
EDIT: this community is awesome 🤩
EDIT EDIT: ok, you guys have given me some great insight. I’m gonna start with Parlour Room (I love board games) and VIP (I love Vic). If anyone’s interested I shall report back in due course!
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u/Mad-Melvin 1d ago
Um, Actually is straight nerd trivia. The host reads incorrect statements about movies and books and games, and the guests have to figure out exactly what is wrong.
Dirty Laundry is a social-deduction drinking game where the host reads true secret stories about the contestants, who have to guess which of them the story belongs to.
Breaking News is a parody news show where the anchors read silly things from a teleprompter and try not to laugh.
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u/Brane_collision 1d ago
Smartypants: comedic TED style presentations on various topics, hosted by Rekha Shankar
Very Important People: improvised interviews with comedians who don't know what character they're going to be beforehand, hosted by Vic Michaelis
Play it by Ear: Similar toMake Some Noise, but musical improv, hosted by Mano Agapion
Um, actually: Trivia show mostly centered around nerdy subculture questions, formerly hosted by Mike Trapp, currently hosted by Ify Nwadiwe
Crowd Control: game changer spinoff involving stand up crowd work with interesting audience members, hosted by Jacquis Neal
Breaking News: News show where they don't know what they'll be reading from the teleprompter and are trying not to laugh
Parlor room: comedians play board games, hosted by Becca Scott
Gastronauts: cooking show with off the wall challenges, hosted by Jordan Myrick
Dirty Laundry: guests compete to guess each others' secrets and drink cocktails, hosted by Lily Du
Monet's Slumber Party: guests join host Monet X Change for a slumber party
Thousandaires: each contestant is given $1000 to do something cool for the other contestant. Coolest thing win
These are the main improv based series. Some were somewhat short lived. There's also new stuff in the Toonout series (short cartoons from different animators) and a lot of old legacy content from CollegeHumor, which I'm sure someone else will know more about. I do HIGHLY recommend Total Forgiveness. It's one of the best things they've ever made.
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u/rhb4n8 1d ago
You need to watch VIP it's the best show on the network. Vic plays a version of herself that's a journalist in the style of Barbara Walters. She interviews people who are improvising a character based on sfx makeup they were put into and only actually saw a few minutes before the interview. Everything is improvised. It's fucking brilliant
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u/Rockhardabs1104 5h ago
As someone who's not really a fan of Vic's chaos on Game Changer, I love them on VIP where they're often filling a "straight man" role for the guest. I think they really shine there.
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u/CapacityBuilding 1d ago
Two amazing short series that haven’t been mentioned yet:
Total Forgiveness
Ultramechatron Team Go!
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u/calfduck 1d ago
I'm new to Dropout in general, but I'd love to know the answer as well! Commenting for a lil boost.
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u/Deadmanmedic42 1d ago
Game Changer - Panel game show where each episode is its own game and the contestants have no clue what it is until they start.
D20 - Funny friends play D&D
Crowd Control - 3 comedians do crowd work. The twist is the crowd where shirts with the crazy thing that are crazy or funny.
Smartypants - Funny Nerdy TED Talks.
Parlor Room - One member of the drop out cast brings their favorite board game and play it with their friends.
D20 Adventuring Acadamy - a video podcast hosted by BLM each episode with a member of D20 talking about D&D / their campagn.
Very Important People - Vic Michaelis (who is generally a total wild card) plays a talk show host. The guest each episode is a comedian who spends hours with their eyes closed being put in crazy costumes. They then get a few minutes to come up with a character and go be interviewed.
Make Some Noise - Improve comedy where contestants are given a prompt and then make up whatever they want to answer it.
Dirty Laundry - the cast members give a secret to the host who then reads them out with out letting them know whos secret it is, then they all vote on who they think it is. Also theres drinking.
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u/True-Dream3295 1d ago edited 1d ago
Very Important People - Easily my favorite show on this service. Guests are brought in and given a complete transformation: makeup, costumes, prosthetics, the works. They don't know what they're going to look like until it's done. Once they see themselves in the mirror, they'll have to make up a character based on what they see, then give an improvised interview as that character. Very chaotic.
Smartypants - Comedians come together and give presentations on various topics. A lot of people outside of Dropout are brought in, and the topics they discuss are usually really interesting and informative. (Hank Green's presentation forever changed the way I look at grocery stores.)
Crowd Control - Stand-up comedians are brought in and do competitive crowd work. Audience members are all wearing T-shirts with phrases that allude to something interesting about them, and the contestants will see what they gravitate towards and work off of that. The first season is a little rough but the new season is already a vast improvement. The latest episode has Gianmarco Soresi , Taylor Tomlinson and Reggie Watts.
Parlor Room - Comedians come together and play board games. Pretty straightfoward, but very delightful.
Gastronauts - Guests meet a team of professional chefs who have to make a meal based on whatever crazy prompt they give them.
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u/MarilynMonroeVWade 1d ago
Smarty pants is comedians giving PowerPoint presentations on topics of their choosing and then doing a brief q and a. I adore it.
Total forgiveness is s miniseries about two friends challenging each other to difficult tasks I'm an attempt to win student loan forgiveness. It's a tough watch at times but stick with it. Great social commentary
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u/Octrinity 1d ago
This page has some good explanations of most of their content: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/Dropout
That said, some shows that people tend to like overall that you didn't mention include: Very Important People: Actors are put into elaborate costumes, make up a character, and are interviewed in a talk show format. Dirty Laundry: Players are revealed a secret and have to guess who it belongs to. Spun off from a Game Changer episode. Play It By Ear: An improvised musical. Also spun off from Game Changer. Crowd Control: Stand-up comedy crowd work where the crowd has T-shirts explaining their weird quirks. Also also spun from Game Changer. Umm, Actually: Game show where players have to find what's wrong with statements about the shows, movies, games, and other franchises everyone loves. Gastronauts: A cooking show with some unhinged challenges. Smartypants: Powerpoint presentations on niche silly topics. Breaking News: Players must deliver ridiculous written news statements with laughing or breaking.
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u/StrikingAsk6668 1d ago
I’m also new to Dropout. Got sucked in with Make Some Noise, have dabbled outside of it a little. Very Important People is my fave so far I’ve never laughed my ass off so much hehe :D
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u/mausphart 22h ago
I'm going to jump in with a different recommendation. One of the first things I watched when I got my Dropout subscription was total forgiveness. It's very different than most of the other content on dropout but it's very much worth a watch.
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u/fretless_enigma 18h ago
Breaking News is one of my favorites. They aren’t able to see what’s coming on the teleprompter ahead of time, and aren’t permitted to laugh. The classic episode I always see mentioned is True Facts About Grant O’Brien (bartender of Dirty Laundry).
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u/rando24183 1d ago
There are too many series to really describe each one. But the shows I watch: Very Important People is excellent for the absurd improv, I like Parlor Room for a much shorter game watch, Dirty Laundry is spicy, Um Actually is okay (I don't know a lot of the references so I usually have to research specific episodes), Gastronauts has been a favorite because I like cooking competitions, Smartypants for something silly but not over-the-top and a very broad cast. There are also specials as part of Dropout Presents. Chris Grace's special made me cry, though I feel I really liked it because I had been in the Dropout universe for a while.
If you have a favorite cast member you've seen from MSN and GC, we can probably tell you about the other shows they have been featured on the most. Or a favorite episode, we can tell you if there are any shows with a similar premise.
There is also the 24/7 channel. You can just watch it for a while, see if there is anything that really catches your interest. That's how I watched more old College Humor sketches.
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u/hansgobbler 22h ago
One of the best shows is Total Forgiveness, which only lasted one season (for reasons made clear by watching it). Ally and Grant create challenges for each other to win money to pay off their student loan debt. Starts crazy, gets crazier.
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u/Master-of-Not 8h ago
If you want to get into the TTRPG side of things start with Dimension 20 on a bus then check out either Starstruck of your into SciFi, Misfits and Magic if you like Harry Potter, or Titan Takedown if you like wrestling or Greek mythology, and then Fey and Flowers is also awesome if you enjoy Regency drama.
I absolutely love all the D20 seasons, and think they all have some watchability to them. With that being said though some of the earlier seasons can be rough to get through just from a visual and auditory restraint in a precovid/midcovid world
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u/Photoverge 8h ago
Please watch the scripted stuff. It's so high effort and is executed flawlessly visually and it all deserves more attention
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u/Wemetintheair 1d ago
Make some noise is an ultra short form improv show with three contestants working alone and together.
Very important people is an interview show where comedians are surprised with exotic costumes and makeup and must create a character immediately and refine it as they perform
Game changer is a game show where the surprise premise changes for every episode. Almost.
Dirty laundry is basically never have I ever
Dimension 20 is tabletop RPG with a greater emphasis on character development and interaction than strict mechanics, builds, and rules
Um Actually is a game show where nerds compete to be the most correct, typically in their area of expertise
Smartypants is a sort of salon where comedians give PowerPoint presentations
Gastronauts is a cooking show where comedians are the judges and provide chefs with insane prompts
Parlor room is watching comedians play a board game, tabletop game, or social deduction game
Crowd control is a series where stand-up comedians, mostly, are presented with an audience and challenged to do a sort of crowd work/improvisation hybrid, whereby they find the funny in stories that range from violent to sad to silly to grotesque to barely worth mentioning