The CollegeHumor Show

Last updated
The CollegeHumor Show
The Collegehumor Show.png
Created by Ricky Van Veen
Sam Reich
Scott Tomlinson
Starring Amir Blumenfeld
Patrick Cassels
Dan Gurewitch
Jake Hurwitz
Sam Reich
Jeff Rubin
Sarah Schneider
Streeter Seidell
Ricky Van Veen
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers Ricky Van Veen
Sam Reich
Scott Tomlinson
Josh Abramson
Camera setupFilm, Single camera
Running timeapprox. 21 minutes
Original release
Network MTV (2009)
ReleaseFebruary 8 (2009-02-08) 
March 15, 2009 (2009-03-15)
Related
Pranked

The CollegeHumor Show is an American sitcom that premiered on MTV on February 8, 2009 and also aired on MuchMusic. [1] The show was a scripted sitcom with sketch comedy elements written by, and starring, nine CollegeHumor editorial staff members, who play fictionalized versions of themselves. The show was an adaptation of the style of the long-running Hardly Working short film series created for the CollegeHumor site, made more suitable for the longer, televised format. [2]

Contents

After the conclusion of the six episode season, the series was cancelled.

The series also spawned the spin-off show Pranked , hosted by Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld and airing on MTV. [3]

Cast

Main characters

In the show, the actual CollegeHumor (and CollegeHumor Show) writers play fictionalized versions of themselves. There is no single "star" of the show; rather, the nine main characters function as an ensemble. For the most part, the characters are self-centered, operating according to their immediate desires rather than making rational or sensitive decisions.

Supporting cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Rival Site" Sam Reich Amir Blumenfeld, Dan Gurewitch, Sam Reich February 8, 2009 (2009-02-08)
Ricky loses Patrick to a rival site of CollegeHumor, and the gang gets him back in a beer pong competition. [4]
2"Interns" Sam Reich Amir Blumenfeld, Patrick Cassels February 15, 2009 (2009-02-15)
The strategy of hiring only hot girl interns backfires on the gang. [5]
3"The Morning After" Sam Reich Amir Blumenfeld, Dan Gurewitch February 22, 2009 (2009-02-22)
Patrick and Streeter are accused of murder the day after the America's Hottest College Girl party. [6]
4"Sarah's New Boyfriend" Sam Reich Dan Gurewitch, Sarah Schneider March 1, 2009 (2009-03-01)
Sam, Dan, Jeff and Patrick find a perfect boyfriend for Sarah in Trip, an insensitive jerk. [7]
5"Hot Girl" Sam Reich Jake Hurwitz, Sam Reich, Streeter Seidell March 8, 2009 (2009-03-08)
The gang, save for Sarah, is entranced by Jessica, a hot girl from accounting, and makes foolish mistakes. [8]
6"Armageddon" Sam Reich Amir Blumenfeld, Dan Gurewitch March 15, 2009 (2009-03-15)
The gang mistakenly believes that CollegeHumor is ending at 6pm that day, and (over)reacts in different ways.

Production

The CollegeHumor Show was filmed inside the actual offices of Connected Ventures, which owned CollegeHumor at the time. The production crew was the same team responsible for the original comedy videos that CollegeHumor produced.

Main crew

The nine main actors on the show also comprised the show's writing staff.

Reception

The show has seen mixed responses from critics. Time Magazine's TV critic James Poniewozik hailed the show as "really funny," noting that CollegeHumor is "doing comedy that specifically works on television, as opposed to simply porting over viral videos to a slightly bigger screen." [9] Conversely, Liz Shannon Miller of GigaOM described it as "deeply disappointing, given how many of CollegeHumor's web shorts rank as fantastic examples of fresh and creative online content". [10] The show was renewed for a second season, however CollegeHumor declined due to contract disagreements. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CollegeHumor</span> American Internet comedy company

CH Media, doing business as Dropout, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles which produces content for release on its streaming service, Dropout, and on YouTube. It was originally founded as the CollegeHumor website, created by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen in 1999, and was owned by InterActiveCorp (IAC) from 2006 until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the website shut down. The current CEO of CH Media is Sam Reich, a veteran performer and former Chief Creative Officer of CollegeHumor, who purchased the company in 2020 from IAC. In September 2023, the company formally dropped the CollegeHumor branding in favor of its Dropout branding, which originated with its streaming service.

Benjamin Jacob Fogelnest, known professionally as Jake Fogelnest, is an Emmy and WGA Award nominated writer, comedian, former radio personality, and satirist.

Jake and Amir is an American comedy duo made up of podcasters and former CollegeHumor writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. The duo came into prominence in 2007 when they began writing and starring in the web series Jake and Amir. The program would later be picked up and produced by CollegeHumor. It portrays humorous versions of Jake and Amir, where Jake is usually depicted as a sensible "regular guy" and Amir as his annoying co-worker who engages in bizarre and sometimes surreal hijinks which involuntarily involve Jake, much to his chagrin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Van Veen</span> American entrepreneur

Richard Raphael Van Veen is an American entrepreneur and the Head of Global Creative Strategy at Facebook. Van Veen co-founded the comedy brand and humor website CollegeHumor and the video sharing website Vimeo. He was also CEO of Notional, a television production company spun out of CollegeHumor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Schneider</span> American writer, actress, and comedian

Sarah Schneider is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She got her start in entertainment as a writer and actress for the comedy website CollegeHumor before becoming a writer for the television sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where she worked from 2011 to 2017, including a season as co-head writer alongside writing partner Chris Kelly. She has received eight Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for her work on SNL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Hurwitz</span> American comedian

Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz is an American comedian, writer, actor, and member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir. He was hired by the comedy website CollegeHumor after becoming an intern there in 2006, and has written and appeared in original videos for the website, as well as contributing articles which have been published both online and in print. He also starred in The CollegeHumor Show, an MTV sitcom that ran for one season in 2009. Outside of CollegeHumor, Hurwitz has hosted Myspace's BFF series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streeter Seidell</span> American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host

Streeter John Seidell is an American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host. Seidell was part of the cast of CollegeHumor's online sketches. His video series Prank Wars was viewed tens of millions of times, which eventually led to a TV-series called Pranked on MTV with fellow CollegeHumor editor, Amir Blumenfeld.

Very Mary-Kate is a web series written/created by Elaine Carroll and directed by Sam Reich. The series consists of 71 episodes, as of January 17, 2013. Each episode runs for approximately 1–4 minutes, featuring comedian Elaine Carroll as Mary-Kate Olsen. The series was originally produced out-of-pocket, but was picked up for its second season by CollegeHumor, allowing Carroll to "pay for lunch for people."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amir Blumenfeld</span> Israeli American comedian

Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld is an Israeli-American comedian, actor, writer, television host, and member of the American comedy duo, Jake and Amir. Born in Israel, he moved to Los Angeles when he was two, and was hired by the New York City-based CollegeHumor in 2005. As well as contributing to its books and articles, he has written and starred in original videos for the comedy website—appearing in series such as Hardly Working and Very Mary-Kate—and was a cast member on its short-lived MTV program The CollegeHumor Show.

The Old Man and the Seymour is a 2009 American comedy short film starring Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld. It was written and directed by Giancarlo Fiorentini and Jonathan Grimm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Williams</span> American actress (born 1988)

Allison Howell Williams is an American actress. For her work in horror films, she has been deemed a scream queen by some in the media. She first became known for starring as Marnie Michaels in the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2012–2017), which earned her a Critics' Choice Award nomination. Her breakthrough came with the role of Rose Armitage in the horror film Get Out (2017), which earned her nominations from the MTV Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards among other accolades. She went on to star in the horror films The Perfection (2018) and M3GAN (2022), the latter of which she also executive produced. Her latest on-screen appearance was for the role of Lucy Smith in Showtime's Peabody Award-winning miniseries Fellow Travelers (2023).

<i>Pranked</i> American comedy television series

Pranked is an American comedy television series on MTV. The series debuted on August 27, 2009, and is hosted by CollegeHumor's Amir Blumenfeld and Streeter Seidell.

<i>If I Were You</i> (podcast) Advice podcast

If I Were You is a comedy advice podcast created and hosted by American comedy duo Jake and Amir, known for their involvement with CollegeHumor and their web series also called Jake and Amir. First released on May 13, 2013, new episodes are posted every Monday, featuring the duo's comedic advice for listeners who have submitted questions by email. The show ended after 589 episodes on April 24, 2023.

Daniel Gurewitch is an American comedian, writer, and actor. He has worked as a senior writer for American comedy website CollegeHumor, and as a writer for the late-night talk and news satire show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headgum</span> American podcast network

Headgum is an American podcasting network founded in 2015 by Marty Michael, Amir Blumenfeld, and Jake Hurwitz. The latter two – known collectively as comedy duo Jake and Amir – built upon the success of their podcast If I Were You to launch the network, with the show serving as its flagship program. Before founding Headgum, Michael sold advertising space and branded content for CollegeHumor. Headgum has studios in Los Angeles and New York and, as of March 2019, hosts 57 shows, 34 of which are ongoing. Headgum also features an active YouTube channel and presents Headgum Live!, a series of live shows featuring podcast hosts from the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Gabrus</span> American actor and comedian (born 1982)

Jon Gabrus is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work on Guy Code, the podcast Comedy Bang! Bang!, and TVLand's Younger. He was a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and hosts the High and Mighty podcast, as well as co-hosting the Raised By TV and Action Boyz podcasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Reich</span> American media executive and comedian (born 1984)

Samuel Dalton Reich is an American media executive, writer, producer, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his work with Dropout, of which he is now the CEO, including hosting the series Game Changer and its spin-off Make Some Noise, as well as his work on TruTV's Adam Ruins Everything.

Dropout is an American subscription streaming service run by the production company of the same name, founded in September 2018. Dropout streams original programming, and does not run advertisements. Its content is mainly composed of live play, such as Dimension 20 hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan, and improv comedy and panel shows like Game Changer and Make Some Noise, both hosted by Dropout owner Sam Reich. Dropout's series often feature a rotating cast of regular comedians and performers.

<i>Jake and Amir</i> (web series) Comedy web series by CollegeHumor

Jake and Amir is a web series set in CollegeHumor's office in New York City and later Los Angeles where Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld play humorous versions of themselves: Jake is usually depicted as a sensible "straight man" and Amir as his annoying, obsessive, and odd co-worker. Running for over eight years, Jake and Amir was CollegeHumor's longest-running series and has amassed approximately one billion views as of April 2017. The series served as the debut of the titular comedy duo Jake and Amir, who would go on collaborate on other comedy projects.

<i>Game Changer</i> (game show) Comedy game show on the streaming service Dropout

Game Changer is an American comedy panel game show on Dropout created and hosted by Sam Reich which started in 2019. 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.

References

  1. "Promotional video from MTV". MTV . Archived from the original on January 23, 2009.
  2. Danan, Shira (March 23, 2009). "Just One of The Guys". Gelf Magazine. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  3. "MTV Pranked". MTV Canada.
  4. "The CollegeHumor Show". MTV . Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  5. "The CollegeHumor Show". MTV . Retrieved 5 October 2015.[ dead link ]
  6. "The CollegeHumor Show". MTV . Retrieved 5 October 2015.[ dead link ]
  7. "The CollegeHumor Show". MTV . Retrieved 5 October 2015.[ dead link ]
  8. "The CollegeHumor Show". MTV . Retrieved 5 October 2015.[ dead link ]
  9. "CollegeHumor Graduates (Time Magazine)". February 9, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  10. Miller, Liz (February 9, 2009). "MTV's CollegeHumor Show Stumbles With Sitcom Cliches". GigaOM . GigaOmniMedia. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  11. Reich, Sam. "The Ongoing History of College Humor / Dropout".