Game Changer (game show)

Game Changer
Genre	Game show comedy
Created by	Sam Reich
Written by	Sam Reich Paul Robalino Chloe Badner Ryan Creamer
Directed by	Sam Reich Kyle Rohrbach Sam Geer
Presented by	Sam Reich
Theme music composer	Harper Rey
Opening theme	"Sem Você"
Ending theme	"You" (Instrumental)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	59
Production
Executive producers	Sam Reich David Kerns Adam Frucci Kyle Rohrbach Chloe Badner Paul Robalino Brennan Lee Mulligan Sam Geer
Producers	Kyle Rohrbach Justin Cyrul
Editors	Noah Wagner Sam Geer Eve Hinz
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Production company	Dropout
Original release
Network	Dropout
Release	September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20) – present (present)
Related
Make Some Noise

Game Changer is an American comedy panel game show on Dropout created and hosted by Sam Reich. The show follows players, typically three comedians, who participate in a new game every episode, with the players usually kept unaware of the premise and rules of the game beforehand. According to Polygon, the show "combines improv comedy, puzzle solving, fierce competition, and a prankster ethos." Game Changer episodes have led to three spinoff shows on Dropout: Dirty Laundry, Make Some Noise, and Play It By Ear. The show has been renewed for a seventh season.

Premise

The show is based on one central theme: the players start the game knowing nothing. While some episodes may deviate from this theme, most episodes follow this format. Most episodes follow three contestants playing against each other by following prompts and tasks put out by the host of the show, Sam Reich. It also sometimes parodies other shows like Survivor and The Bachelor.

Occasionally, special guests will participate in the game. The very first episode featured the participants' significant others, and the inclusion of guests outside of the Dropout/CollegeHumor community began with the virtually filmed third season, which featured guests such as Tony Hawk, Michael Winslow, and Giancarlo Esposito. Other guests have included Jewel, Ty Mitchell, Bob the Drag Queen, Howie Mandel, Victor Yerrid, Sarah Natochenny and Eric Wareheim.

Production

Game Changer was created as an original show for the streaming service Dropout, in response to internal pressure to create more inexpensive, unscripted content compared to CollegeHumor's previous output. Early in development, the show was titled What the What and based loosely on the party game "Scissors". The show was announced on August 29, 2019 and released on September 20, 2019.

After CollegeHumor was sold by IAC and restructured in 2020, the company temporarily halted production of all shows. Game Changer, which was affected by this, released their already-completed second season in January. The third season of the show was recorded via video conference to comply with lockdown restrictions in California during the COVID-19 pandemic; the show returned to being recorded in the studio for its fourth season. In 2022, Dropout produced three spin-offs based on previous episodes: Dirty Laundry, which is based on the season 3 episode "Never Have I Ever"; Make Some Noise, based on the recurring episodes of the same name; and Play it by Ear, based on the season 4 episode, "The Official Cast Recording". Originally, nine episodes were announced as being a part of the fifth season ahead of the season premiere in November 2022, with a 10th episode being a cut-for-time special. However, in March 2023, a special 4-part season finale titled Game Changer: Battle Royale was announced, with the mini-series being a sequel to Season 4's Survivor season finale. Beginning with the fifth season, behind-the-scenes videos were uploaded for each episode the week after their release.

During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, production on the sixth season of Game Changer as well as most Dropout programming shut down, as the show fell "under SAG's Electronic Media contract". In July 2023, Sam Reich stated that as Dropout is not "associated with the AMPTP, it's possible we may be able to reach an interim agreement with SAG that allows us to continue to produce content during the strike. But we'll only do that, obviously, if we get the blessing of the union and the buy-in of our performers. If not, we have enough content in the can to last us a little past the end of the year". In August 2023, Reich announced that all Dropout shows had resumed production, as it was determined that their "New Media Agreement for Non-Dramatic Programming" was actually a non-struck SAG-AFTRA contract.

Game Changer editor Sam Geer, who also directed season 6's episodes, was promoted to executive producer in 2024.

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	5		September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)	October 18, 2019 (2019-10-18)
2	6		February 25, 2020 (2020-02-25)	May 8, 2020 (2020-05-08)
3	15		September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15)	April 16, 2021 (2021-04-16)
4	11		November 1, 2021 (2021-11-01)	April 4, 2022 (2022-04-04)
5	14		November 14, 2022 (2022-11-14)	May 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)
6	9		February 12, 2024 (2024-02-12)	June 17, 2024 (2024-06-17)

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
1	1	"Lie Detector"	Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jessica Ross, Tao Yang	September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)
The players must answer intimate questions while a lie detector, secretly controlled by their significant others, verifies their answers.
2	2	"Make Some Noise"	Josh Ruben, Zac Oyama, Brennan Lee Mulligan	September 27, 2019 (2019-09-27)
The players are given a series of impressions and improv prompts they must perform. (Spun off into the show Make Some Noise in 2022.)
3	3	"Game of Prizes"	Jessica Ross, Lily Du, Raphael Chestang	October 4, 2019 (2019-10-04)
The players must wager points to guess whether several prizes being offered are actually real and potentially win them.
4	4	"Whodunnit"	Josh Ruben, Rekha Shankar, Grant O'Brien	October 11, 2019 (2019-10-11)
When one of the players is "murdered," the other two must interrogate members of the show's crew in order to determine the killer's identity.
5	5	"Nom Nom Nom"	Mike Trapp, Tao Yang, Lily Du	October 18, 2019 (2019-10-18)
To appease a giant mouth, players must feed it the correct food based on the clues provided.

Season 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
6	1	"Round 4"	Josh Ruben, Zac Oyama, Brennan Lee Mulligan	February 25, 2020 (2020-02-25)
A sequel to the episode "Make Some Noise", with the same players picking up where the previous game left off.
7	2	"Do I Hear $1?"	Ally Beardsley, Grant O'Brien, Raphael Chestang	March 6, 2020 (2020-03-06)
The players attempt to outbid each other with increasingly low amounts of points to take part in unpleasant experiences and win that amount of money.
8	3	"Sleeper Agents"	Lily Du, Katie Marovitch, Tao Yang	March 27, 2020 (2020-03-27)
The players are given a list of awkward and embarrassing phrases they must say to individuals on the street to potentially "activate" them as sleeper agents.
9	4	"A Sponsored Episode"	Mike Trapp, Rekha Shankar, Grant O'Brien	April 10, 2020 (2020-04-10)
The players must make successful marketing pitches for unusual items.
10	5	"The Everything Factory"	Jessica Ross, Jess Clemons, Katie Marovitch	April 24, 2020 (2020-04-24)
The players attempt to fulfill specific orders within a time limit as a series of items come down a conveyor belt.
11	6	"Yes or No"	Ally Beardsley, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Zac Oyama	May 8, 2020 (2020-05-08)
A take on the party game Scissors, with the players repeatedly answering the same question, "yes or no", to determine how the game is being scored.

Season 3 (2020–2021)

Season 3 was filmed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
12	1	"Tell Us About Yourself"	Jessica Ross, Christine Medrano, Alfred Aquino	September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15)
The players must identify a mystery individual (Tony Hawk) by guessing facts about them.
13	2	"Sell Outs"	Mike Trapp, Grant O'Brien, Rekha Shankar	October 5, 2020 (2020-10-05)
A sequel to the episode "A Sponsored Episode", with the players once again making sales pitches for strange items.
14	3	"ChangerCon"	Carolyn Page, Lily Du, Tao Yang	October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16)
The players must assemble cosplay based on specific prompts using whatever they have at their disposal.
15	4	"Is This Thing On?"	Rekha Shankar, Jessica Ross, Raphael Chestang	October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30)
Sam's audio is muted, and the players attempt to read his lips to win prizes.
16	5	"Ham It Up"	Lou Wilson, Grant O'Brien, Christine Medrano	November 13, 2020 (2020-11-13)
The players must act out ridiculous prompts following Sam's direction, opposite actor Giancarlo Esposito.
17	6	"Never Have I Ever"	Lily Du, Mike Trapp, Ryan Creamer, Jess Clemons	November 27, 2020 (2020-11-27)
The players play a game of "never have I ever" and try to guess which of them performed each action in the past. (Spun off into Dirty Laundry in 2022.)
18	7	"Jeopardy!"	Brennan Lee Mulligan, Ify Nwadiwe, Ally Beardsley	December 12, 2020 (2020-12-12)
The players play a game of Jeopardy! that is soon revealed to be a pirate-themed roleplaying game.
19	8	"Secret Samta"	Grant O'Brien, Ally Beardsley, Lily Du	December 26, 2020 (2020-12-26)
The players open up a series of gifts, and try to trick each other into stealing the bad ones while keeping the good ones for themselves.
20	9	"20/20 Vision"	Grant O'Brien, Katie Marovitch, Lily Du	January 8, 2021 (2021-01-08)
The players must attempt to recall whether certain major events took place in the year 2020.
21	10	"The Substitute"	Josh Ruben, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Michael Winslow	January 22, 2021 (2021-01-22)
The third "Make Some Noise" episode, with actor Michael Winslow now attempting to earn points for the absent Zac.
22	11	"Three For the Price of One"	Mike Trapp, Grant O'Brien, Rekha Shankar	February 20, 2021 (2021-02-20)
The third "A Sponsored Episode" entry, with the players once again attempting to sell whatever is asked of them.
23	12	"Next Slide Please"	Mike Trapp, Rekha Shankar, Ryan Creamer	March 5, 2021 (2021-03-05)
The players must give a presentation based on an accompanying slideshow they haven't seen before.
24	13	"Make It Fashion"	Carolyn Page, Lily Du, Katie Marovitch	March 9, 2021 (2021-03-09)
A sequel to the episode "ChangerCon", with the players attempting to create specific fashion styles with whatever they can find.
25	14	"Tome of Terror"	Katie Marovitch, Jessica Ross, Raphael Chestang	April 3, 2021 (2021-04-03)
The players must tell scary stories that incorporate prompts given by Sam.
26	15	"Secret Samta 2: The Samta Clause"	Lily Du, Katie Marovitch, Raphael Chestang	April 16, 2021 (2021-04-16)
A sequel to the episode "Secret Samta", with the players again attempting to manipulate each other into taking unwanted gifts.

Season 4 (2021–2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
27	1	"Sam Says"	Brennan Lee Mulligan, Isabella Roland, Lou Wilson	November 1, 2021 (2021-11-01)
Players play a game of "Simon Says" that features increasingly tricky prompts.
28	2	"Like My Coffee"	Mike Trapp, Grant O'Brien, Jessica Ross	November 15, 2021 (2021-11-15)
The players must come up with punchlines for innuendo-based jokes.
29	3	"Noise Boys"	Josh Ruben, Zac Oyama, Brennan Lee Mulligan	November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20)
The fourth and final "Make Some Noise" episode, in which an overall winner is finally declared. Make Some Noise would subsequently be spun off into its own series the following year.
30	4	"Secret Samta 3"	Raphael Chestang, Tao Yang, Carolyn Page	December 13, 2021 (2021-12-13)
The third "Secret Samta" episode, with the players attempting to claim good presents and get rid of the bad ones.
31	5	"The Official Cast Recording"	Zeke Nicholson, Zach Reino, Jess McKenna	December 27, 2021 (2021-12-27)
The players must improvise a stage musical, "Welcome to Mountport", based on prompts given by Sam and accompaniment by keyboardist Scott Passarella. This episode was spun off into Play It By Ear in 2022.
32	6	"Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience"	Becca Scott, Isabella Roland, Erika Ishii	January 10, 2022 (2022-01-10)
The players must determine what actions they are meant to perform based on the sound of an audience reacting.
33	7	"Don't Cry"	Luke Field, Jessica Ross, Rekha Shankar	January 24, 2022 (2022-01-24)
The players attempt to avoid crying in response to specific prompts, which is slowly revealed to be a surprise celebration of Jess Ross due to her struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
34	8	"Race to the Bottom"	Ally Beardsley, Grant O'Brien, Lily Du	February 7, 2022 (2022-02-07)
A sequel to the episode "Do I Hear $1?", with the addition of a scab, Katie Marovitch, to prevent the players from uniting against Sam.
35	9	"Survivor: Part 1"	Ally Beardsley, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, Erika Ishii, Grant O'Brien, Katie Marovitch, Raphael Chestang	February 21, 2022 (2022-02-21)
Inspired by Survivor, the players are split into two teams and compete to make each other laugh to gain immunity from being eliminated.
36	10	"Survivor: Part 2"	Ally Beardsley, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, Erika Ishii, Grant O'Brien, Katie Marovitch, Raphael Chestang	March 7, 2022 (2022-03-07)
The two teams are merged, and the remaining players must compete individually to be the last one standing.
37	11	"Game Changer Season 4: Cut For Time"	N/A	April 4, 2022 (2022-04-04)
A compilation of jokes and segments which were edited out of other Season 4 episodes.

Season 5 (2022–2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
38	1	"Sam Says 2"	Zac Oyama, Jacob Wysocki, Ally Beardsley	November 14, 2022 (2022-11-14)
A sequel to the episode "Sam Says", with the players competing in "Simon Says" using increasingly bizarre prompts.
39	2	"Karaoke Night"	Zach Reino, Ross Bryant, Rashawn Scott	November 28, 2022 (2022-11-28)
The players must improvise songs based on provided titles and musical artists, with help from pianist Aaron Wilson. This episode's format was revisited in Season 2 of Make Some Noise.
40	3	"Like My Coffee 2"	Rekha Shankar, Grant O'Brien, Jessica Ross	December 12, 2022 (2022-12-12)
A sequel to the episode "Like My Coffee", with the players once again creating responses to innuendo setups.
41	4	"Name a Number"	Becca Scott, Isabella Roland, Erika Ishii	December 26, 2022 (2022-12-26)
The players estimate the number of times they can perform a specific task, and must then do so in order to earn points.
42	5	"A Game Most Changed"	Joey Bland, Ross Bryant, Blaine Swen	January 9, 2023 (2023-01-09)
The players must improvise a Shakespearean play, earning points each time they incorporate specific prompts given by Sam.
43	6	"As a Cucumber"	Katie Marovitch, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Carolyn Page	January 23, 2023 (2023-01-23)
The players must complete a series of prompts and challenges without allowing their heart rate to increase above a certain threshold.
44	7	"The Bachelor: Part 1"	Grant O'Brien	February 6, 2023 (2023-02-06)
Grant O'Brien is placed in a The Bachelor inspired scenario in which he must choose between ten potential suitors, eliminating them one at a time, with Ally Beardsley and Jessica Ross acting as his counsel.
45	8	"The Bachelor: Part 2"	Grant O'Brien	February 20, 2023 (2023-02-20)
With half of the potential choices eliminated, Grant must make a final decision as to which suitor to select.
46	9	"Escape the Greenroom"	Brennan Lee Mulligan, Siobhan Thompson, Lou Wilson	March 6, 2023 (2023-03-06)
The players are trapped in the green room, which has been converted into an escape room, and must escape before time runs out.
47	10	"Game Changer: Battle Royale Pt. 1"	Ally Beardsley, Tao Yang, Rekha Shankar, Lily Du, Adam Conover, Ify Nwadiwe, Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, Anna Garcia, Isabella Roland	April 3, 2023 (2023-04-03)
A sequel to the episodes "Survivor Part 1 and 2". The players, split into teams, attempt to wear as many hats as possible for Survivor: Edge of Extinction contestant Rick Devens and search for cakes made by Is It Cake? artist Andrew Fuller disguised as everyday objects.
48	11	"Game Changer: Battle Royale Pt. 2"	Ally Beardsley, Tao Yang, Rekha Shankar, Lily Du, Adam Conover, Ify Nwadiwe, Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, Anna Garcia, Isabella Roland	April 17, 2023 (2023-04-17)
The teams merge and the eight remaining players create sandwiches for Masterchef's Claudia Sandoval and attempt to locate an immunity necklace hidden in one of several gift boxes.
49	12	"Game Changer: Battle Royale Pt. 3"	Ally Beardsley, Tao Yang, Rekha Shankar, Lily Du, Adam Conover, Ify Nwadiwe, Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, Anna Garcia, Isabella Roland	May 1, 2023 (2023-05-01)
The six remaining players attempt to perform the quietest ASMR possible, while the eliminated players compete in a talent show judged by Howie Mandel to rejoin the game.
50	13	"Game Changer: Battle Royale Pt. 4"	Ally Beardsley, Tao Yang, Rekha Shankar, Lily Du, Adam Conover, Ify Nwadiwe, Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, Anna Garcia, Isabella Roland	May 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)
The remaining players create erotic pottery for Laganja Estranja and attempt to charm Sam's mother to become a finalist before the jury votes for a winner.
51	14	"Game Changer Season 5: Cut For Time"	N/A	May 29, 2023 (2023-05-29)
A compilation of jokes and segments which were edited out of other Season 5 episodes.

Season 6 (2024)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Contestants	Original air date
52	1	"Second Place"	Ally Beardsley, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Oscar Montoya	February 12, 2024 (2024-02-12)
The players compete in several different challenges, but only the player who comes in second place receives points.
53	2	"The Newlyweb Game"	Ify Nwadiwe and Emily Louise; Tao Yang and Alexis Rhiannon; Raphael Chestang and Haley Herkert	February 26, 2024 (2024-02-26)
In a parody of The Newlywed Game, three couples must answer questions about information obtained from their partners' cell phones.
54	3	"Sam Says 3"	Vic Michaelis, Jacob Wysocki, Lou Wilson	March 11, 2024 (2024-03-11)
The third "Sam Says" episode, in which the players must also contend with the addition of ongoing prompts such as a swear jar.
55	4	"Pencils Down"	Caldwell Tanner, Kiana Mai, Nathan Yaffe	March 25, 2024 (2024-03-25)
The players must create different art within a three-minute time limit based on prompts provided by Sam and other guests, such as drawings, sculptures, and temporary tattoos.
56	5	"Bingo"	Katie Marovitch, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Raphael Chestang (main stage) Lily Du, Mike Trapp, Rekha Shankar (green room) Tao Yang, Carolyn Page, Jessica Ross (backstage)	April 8, 2024 (2024-04-08)
The players on the main stage play a game of bingo, but must perform prompts to earn each numbered ball. Unbeknownst to them, a second set of players in the Green Room secretly provide the prompts to make the players on the stage perform actions listed on their own bingo cards, while a third set of players backstage give production assistant Kaylin Mahoney directions to make the Green Room players perform actions on their own cards.
57	6	"Deja Vu"	Mike Trapp, Ify Nwadiwe, Siobhan Thompson	April 22, 2024 (2024-04-22)
The players earn points by answering questions and competing in minigames, but the show continually loops back to the beginning, and the players must adapt based on what they learn during each loop.
58	7	"Beat the Buzzer"	Rekha Shankar, Becca Scott, Erika Ishii	May 6, 2024 (2024-05-06)
Sam asks the players trivia questions, but as their buzzers are malfunctioning, they must repeatedly search for working buzzers in order to answer.
59	8	"Ratfish (Part 1)"	Rekha Shankar, Ally Beardsley, Zac Oyama, Grant O'Brien, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Katie Marovitch, Jessica Ross	June 3, 2024 (2024-06-03)
In a game inspired by The Circle, the players are isolated in different hotel rooms and create false personas with which to interact with one another over text, with the least successful at identifying the others' true identities being progressively eliminated.
60	9	"Ratfish (Part 2)"	Rekha Shankar, Ally Beardsley, Zac Oyama, Grant O'Brien, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Katie Marovitch, Jessica Ross	June 17, 2024 (2024-06-17)
The game continues with the players now aware of the existence of "The Ratfish", an additional player (Eric Wareheim) who can influence the game and grant other players advantages.

Reception

Margaret Lyons, for The New York Times, wrote, "if you've watched a lot of arena comedy specials recently, and you want something at the far other end of the spectrum, or if you've had more than one discussion about whether long-form improv could ever be effective on television, watch this". Polygon's Susana Polo called the show "one of the funniest, nicest, cleverest pieces of TV you can put your eyeballs on right now".

Emmanuel Ronquillo of Collider opined that Game Changer is a blend of "all the fun of a game show, all the humor of a comedy show, and all the excitement of live improvisation" where "each new premise and set of rules are satisfyingly executed". He commented that the show pushes "beyond the traditional limitations of a game show" due to the "flexibility" of its design. He also viewed the show's contestants as "some of the most improv savvy, comically talented, and endearingly competitive players you'll see on any contest show".

External links

• Official website
• Game Changer on IMDb
• Game Changer on TheTVDB