Blue Mountain State

Last updated

Blue Mountain State
Blue Mountain State logo.png
Genre Sitcom
Created by
Starring
Opening theme"Hell Yeah" by Rev Theory
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerMadeleine Henrié
Production locations
Running time21–22 mins
Production companies
Original release
Network Spike
ReleaseJanuary 11, 2010 (2010-01-11) 
November 30, 2011 (2011-11-30)

Blue Mountain State is an American television sitcom that premiered on Spike (now Paramount Network) on January 11, 2010. The series was created by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, and produced by Lionsgate Television. The series is about a fictitious university, Blue Mountain State, and its football team, the "Mountain Goats". It portrays certain aspects of American university life, including college football, sex, binge drinking, drugs, wild partying, and hazing. Over the years, due in large part to being streamable on Netflix, the series has developed a cult following.

Contents

In February 2012, it was reported that Blue Mountain State would not be renewed for a fourth season. [1] On April 8, 2014, The BMS Movie was announced and a Kickstarter launched on April 15, 2014. The Kickstarter campaign reached its goal of $1.5 million on May 11, 2014, and the film was released in February 2016. In February 2024, Deadline reported that a revival of the series was in development, with stars Alan Ritchson, Darin Brooks and Chris Romano all expected to return. [2]

Cast

NamePortrayed byPositionSeasons
1 2 3
Main Cast
Alex Moran Darin Brooks Quarterback Second StringStarter; Acting Capt. (1–3)
Kevin "Thad" Devlin Castle Alan Ritchson Linebacker Starter; Capt.Starter; Capt. (4–13)
Craig Shilo Sam Jones III Running back Starter
Radon Randell Page Kennedy QuarterbackStarter
Sampson "Sammy" Cacciatore Chris Romano Team Mascot Billy the Mountain Goat
Mary Jo Cacciatore Frankie Shaw Cheerleader Cheerleader
Denise Roy Gabrielle Dennis Craig Shilo's girlfriendStudent
Debra Simon Denise Richards Daniels' Ex-wifeTeam supporter
Martin "Marty" Daniels Ed Marinaro Head Coach Head coach
Recurring Cast
Larry Summers Omari Newton Defensive back Starter
Jonathan "Jon Jon" Hendricks Kwasi Songui Assistant CoachAssistant coach
Donald "Donnie" Schrab Rob Ramsay Center Starter
Harmon Tedesco James Cade Placekicker Starting Kicker
Travis McKenna Stephen Amell Quarterback Starter
Kate Meghan Heffern CheerleaderCheerleader
Marcus Gilday Anthony Lemke Offensive coordinator Offensive Coordinator

Main

Recurring

Cameos

Seasons

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedDVD release date
Sneak preview Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2
1 13January 11, 2010March 30, 2010October 5, 2010August 22, 2011
2 13October 16, 2010October 20, 2010January 19, 2011September 13, 2011
3 13September 17, 2011September 21, 2011November 30, 2011February 4, 2013

Reception

Metacritic gave the series 38 out of 100, from the four reviews it collected. [3] Brian Lowry of Variety found that "Blue Mountain embraces that (crude comedy) aspect of Spike's mandate over all else – putting the bodily function/semi-nudity cart before the sitcom horse." [4] Lowry also stated: "[Spike] has simply made this too-blue "Mountain" into a comedic molehill." [4] Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald gave the series a favorable review saying, "Blue is also frequently funny in a raunchy American Pie way. It's a college comedy in which the guys want to get wasted and laid, in whatever order." Joe Walljasper of the Columbia Daily Tribune describes the series as appealing to those who viewed the film Porky's and "felt that the jokes were a little too high-brow.". [5]

In its first season, the show averaged 949,000 viewers in its first six episodes while improving on the time slot by 165% among men 18–24. [6] In its second season, its premiere drew a 1.34 rating in Men 18–34, up 34% compared to the first season average and was ranked No. 2 in its timeslot. Over the season it showed significant ratings growth compared to season 1, delivering a +33% increase in Men 18–34, +50% in Men 18–24, and +14% in Men 18–49. [7] Season 3 of Blue Mountain State started airing on September 21, 2011 on Spike. [8]

The show has gathered a cult following after it was released on Netflix. [9] [10] Fans of the show often start petitions and Facebook pages to make Spike bring the show back for a fourth season. Many members of the cast, especially Page Kennedy, hinted at a reunion project in the month leading up the announcement of the film. Kennedy made Vines and tweeted with show stars Darin Brooks, Alan Ritchson, Frankie Shaw, Chris Romano and Sam Jones III.

Filming locations

The Herzberg building on the John Abbott College campus, which doubles as Blue Mountain State University in the show. John Abbott College 016.jpg
The Herzberg building on the John Abbott College campus, which doubles as Blue Mountain State University in the show.

Broadcast

The series premiered on Spike on January 11, 2010 in the United States. [11] In Australia and New Zealand, the series airs on MTV Australia and MTV New Zealand, respectively, beginning April 22, 2010.[ citation needed ] The series began airing in the United Kingdom April 18, 2010 on MTV.[ citation needed ] MTV Germany and Viva (TV station) also broadcast the series with great success in Germany and The Netherlands. MTV Brasil began airing the series August 3, 2010. [12] The show also began airing on The Score in Canada in October 2011.

Season 3 began airing September 21, 2011 on Spike at 11 pm. [13]

Currently, as of January, 2024, BMS is available to stream on Prime Video, Tubi, The CW, and multiple other streaming platforms. [14]

Feature film

In March 2013, Ed Marinaro stated in an interview with Class Act Sports that he was working on a Blue Mountain State film. He continued to hint on Twitter at some 'behind-the-scenes' work being done on said movie. [15] In early March 2014, Page Kennedy started hinting at Blue Mountain State reunion project on Instagram, Vine and Twitter along with Darin Brooks, Kelly Kruger, Alan Ritchson, Sam Jones III, Frankie Shaw and Romanski.

On April 8, 2014, Blue Mountain State: The Movie was officially announced. To help make the announcement, Alan Ritchson, in character as Thad Castle, made a fake video featuring Jimmy Kimmel (the Kimmel footage was from a 2013 interview with Kanye West).

On April 15, the production launched a Kickstarter campaign, much like the hugely successful 2013 campaign by Veronica Mars to get the cancelled show made into a feature film. The project's goal was to raise $1.5 million by May 15 in order to fund the film. There were rewards for donating to campaign, such as personalized tweets from the cast (for donating $10), shot and pint glasses with the BMS logo ($20), and a speaking role in the film (for a $10,000 donation).

On May 11, 2014, the Kickstarter goal of $1.5 million was reached. On May 15, 2014 the Kickstarter campaign ended, with the final funds raised being $1,911,827 from 23,999 backers. [16]

In May 2014, it was announced Jay Chandrasekhar would be the director of the film. [17] However, on September 28, 2014, Lev L. Spiro was announced as the new director of BMS: The Movie. [17] The crew started filming in late 2014 on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. [18] [19] Filming was reportedly complete by December 14, 2014.

The film, titled Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland , was officially released on February 2, 2016. [20]

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References

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  5. Walljasper, Joe. "TAKE TWO: An alternative look at the day in sports". Columbia, Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  6. Umstead, Thomas (February 26, 2010). "Spike's 'Blue Mountain State' Scores Second Season Pickup – high school Football-Themed Series Averaging Nearly 8 Million Viewers". Multichannel News. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
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  9. "Guys, 'Blue Mountain State' Is Launching A KickStarter Campaign To Fund A Movie". The Huffington Post. April 9, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  10. "Afternoon Delight: 'Blue Mountain State'". Decider - Where To Stream Movies & Shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, HBO Go. September 4, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  11. "Spike TV Takes to the Field With New Original Scripted Comedy Series Blue Mountain State". TV by the Numbers. zap2it.com. December 9, 2009. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012.
  12. "MTV Brasil estreia a série Blue Mountain State". Portal MTV. March 10, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  13. FlaxDana (June 21, 2011). "Blue Mountain State Season Two Coming To DVD". SpikeTV. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011.
  14. "Watch Blue Mountain State | Prime Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  15. Satriano, David (October 19, 2012). "Ed Marinaro tells Class Act Sports exclusively that he is working on a 'Blue Mountain State' Movie". Class Act Sports. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
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  17. 1 2 Jay Chandrasekhar is directing BMS The Movie!. May 12, 2014. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2016 via YouTube.
  18. "Wilmington Film > Home". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  19. WECT Staff (October 28, 2014). "New movie to begin filming in Wilmington" . Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  20. Mancuso, Vinnie (February 1, 2016). "Alan Ritchson Talks 'Rise of Thadland,' Netflix, and Eating Goat Testicles". Observer. Retrieved May 29, 2017.