News

The second season of indie streamer Dropout’s Rekha Shankar-hosted “Smartypants” is set to debut in the first quarter of 2025 with numerous guest stars lined up for the new batch of episodes, including Hank Green.

Per the second season description, “Join more secret gatherings of the Smartypants Society! Host Rekha Shankar welcomes new and returning members to share their bold ideas, controversial takes, and unhinged theories in a series of presentations that will change everything you thought you knew about the world.”

Along with Green, notable cast members featured across the 15 episodes in “Smartypants” Season 2, which wrapped production last week, include Alexis Nikole Nelson, Alyssa Limperis, Cameron Esposito, Courtney Miller, Demi Adejuyigbe, Max Burkholder and Vinny Thomas.

The first season of “Smartypants” debuted on Dropout in April and ran through August. It consisted of nine episodes.

The full list of “Smartypants” Season 2 new and returning guest stars also includes Anna Garcia,...

Taylor Tomlinson’s late-night playground of internet absurdity returns, dissecting the daily dose of viral oddities and online mayhem. With a rotating panel of comedians and entertainers, After Midnight sifts through the digital detritus to find the comedic nuggets—or at least point and laugh at the wreckage. Monday, November 4 Comics Rhys Nicholson, Rekha Shankar, and […]

After Midnight: Rhys Nicholson, Laura Peek & More (November 4-8)...

Dropout’s “Dimension 20” is known for its genre mash-ups. Its “Fantasy High” and “The Unsleeping City” seasons transpose the concerns and archetypes of high fantasy into a John Hughes-esque high school movie and the urban legend that is New York City. “Mentopolis” takes the tropes of a film noir and crams it inside a single mind, a la “Inside Out,” while “A Crown of Candy” forces a “Game of Thrones” world of magical realpolitik to wield the weapons of “Candyland” in order to slake its sugar/bloodlust.

So there’s something comforting — and deceptively simple — about the series’ latest season, “Never Stop Blowing Up.” In the main, it is an ode to the absurdity of action movies, from renegade cops and powerful mobsters to master assassins and omnipotent hackers to James Bond-esque agents and racing drivers who solve worldwide conspiracies with the power of… cars. The mash-up comes...

Get ready to crank up the volume because Val Verde’s favorite (and now officially #1) classic rock station, 108.9 The Hawk, is back for Season 5! Join hosts Geoff “The Angry Man” Garlock (the seminal hardcore band Orchid) and Jason Gore as they navigate the turbulent waters of radio broadcasting with their signature blend of improvised comedy, classic rock, and absurd characters.

This season, 108.9 The Hawk is turning up the heat with a lineup of amazing special guests, starting off with a bang with guest Dave Holmes (Who Killed the Video Star?; Waiting For Impact; MTV). Tune in on Monday, August 19th as Dave takes on the role of Val Verde’s beloved weatherman Greg Fresca, as they celebrate Extreme Heat Days, Val Verde's favorite outdoor festival that takes place in a mall parking lot. The following week they will be joined by Will Hines (Comedy Bang Bang; The World’s Greatest...

Lots of people started watching “The Circle” during the Covid lockdown. But only Sam Reich and the team at Dropout have been able to fully create their own parody version, one that is even a little bit truer to the spirit of the idea. For the “Game Changer” Season 6 two-part finale, “The Ratfish,” the team rented out a hotel floor’s worth of rooms and tricked them out to reflect the vibes of seven Dropout cast members playing a guessing game of sorts.

Each came up with a fake persona and, in order to win a billboard for whatever they wanted to promote on Hollywood Boulevard, were given a goal: Interact with each other via chat to correctly guess which persona is being played by which cast member without being ID’d themselves — but of course they were not told that the eighth player Among Us (or them) wasn’t...

The two-part season finale of Dropout’s hit game series “Game Changer,” originally scheduled to premiere on May 20, has been delayed “to allow for more time in the edit.”

On Monday, Sam Reich, host and Dropout CEO, announced on social media: “Scheduling Update: we’re pushing the 2-part Game Changer season finale to allow for more time in the edit. It’s one of the most complicated episodes we’ve ever done (you’ll see why). Part 1 will now launch on Dropout on June 3rd, and Part 2 on June 17th.”

Despite the delay, the sixth season, which featured seven episodes, surpasses the six-episode minimum requirement for submission for the outstanding game show category. According to current Emmy rules, the two-part finale will compete as part of the upcoming seventh season when it airs during the next eligibility window. This is consistent with other competition and game shows with multiple seasons competing as one,...

A new CBS sitcom from uber-producer Chuck Lorre is sparking controversy online well before it even hits air.

The Big Bang Theory producer’s midseason comedy United States of Al has raised red flags for its casting of a non-Afghan actor in the titular role of Al, and for the character’s general depiction. The series (which is currently set to premiere Thursday, April 1 at 9:30/8:30c) follows the relationship between a Marine combat veteran (Suburgatory‘s Parker Young) who returns to civilian life in Ohio along with his Afghan interpreter, Awalmir (Rules of Engagement‘s Adhir Kalyan), who...

A new mockumentary culinary series titled Gods of Food is set to premiere on subscription-based streaming service Dropout by CollegeHumor next month, the streamer announced today.

The six-episode season will skewer a range of fine dining tropes, that are all too familiar to fans of cooking shows.

The series was created and written by CollegeHumor cast member and head writer Rekha Shankar, who also serves as an executive producer.

“Cooking shows are one of my favorite things to watch,” said Shankar. “But while the most gorgeous food shows are full of love and passion, they can also be full of dysfunctional personalities and bizarre ideas. I hope Gods of Food resonates with foodies like me in that it’s full of beautiful food, but also pokes fun at some of the tendencies of culinary shows.”

The show stars Don Fanelli (Nightcap) as Anthony D’Anthony, Krizia Bajos (The Casagrandes) as Julia Splenderpoot,...

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress, as presented by the creators themselves. At the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

Hustle

Logline: “Hustle” is a series about two Woc best friends chasing their creative goals while battling the supervillains of racism and unequal opportunity. It’s like Scott Pilgrim meets freelance.

Elevator Pitch:

2 Woc, 1 bad system. These women are trying to level up in a world that’s unfair by design, so they think in terms of levels/achievements (shown via surreal video game sequences/sound effects). For example, if one character wants the last chair in a cafe, it’s not just a race for that chair – it’s a Mortal Kombat fight-to-the-death where...

The New York Television Festival today announced the Official Selections for its inaugural Nytvf Scripts Competition. In its first year, the festival accepted half-hour comedy scripts from writers worldwide. Out of 995 submissions, 21 television and digital comedy pilot scripts were selected and will be showcased to industry executives at the 12th Annual New York Television Festival, which takes places from October 24 through 29th in Manhattan.

Read More: New York TV Festival Selects Record 63 Independent Pilots For Its 12th Annual Event

This year’s Nytvf Scripts Official Selections will join the 63 Officially-Selected pilots and series competing in the Festival’s flagship Independent Pilot Competition. All of the competing writers and creators will enjoy designation as Official Artists, which qualifies them for a chance to receive a development deal from one of the Nytvf’s Development Partners – networks and studios which have guaranteed they will offer at least one deal to independent artists this year.