News

It’s not often that “Game Changer” host Sam Reich is the person on the show’s colorful set made to look anxious. But the latest episode of the Dropout series begins with not just a push-in but some vignetting on Reich as he stares down the barrel of the endless wheel of content creation, coming up with “Game Changer” ideas one after the other, “backing myself further and further into a corner where it’s harder and harder to be original.” It’s real Season 7 problems.

Enter players Mike Trapp, Rekha Shankar, and Jordan Myrick, whom Reich deputized to produce the latest episode of “Game Changer” — or really, to produce the things that keep “Game Changer” inside of a virtuous cycle for online comedy series. The show’s segments get broken out into social clips, and those that perform well drive viewers who discover “Game Changer,” “Make Some Noise,...

The premiere date for “School Spirits” Season 2 is set for Thursday, Jan. 30, with the first three episodes releasing on Paramount+.

The new season of “School Spirits” kicks off after the first season’s cliffhanger, following Maddie Nears (Peyton List), who is still stuck in the afterlife, as she tries to win over Simon (Kristian Ventura) to help search for her missing body. The cast also includes Spencer MacPherson, Kiara Pichardo, Sarah Yarkin, Nick Pugliese, Rainbow Wedell, Josh Zuckerman and Milo Manheim.

New episodes of the eight-episode season will drop weekly on Thursdays. Awesomeness TV produces with creators Nate Trinrud and Megan Trinrud as executive producers.

Watch the trailer below.

Also in this week’s TV News Roundup:

First Looks/Trailers

The spirited judges are back in the official trailer for “Tribunal Justice” Season 2.

“Tribunal Justice” follows three judges as they take on real cases and debate the outcome. They don’t always see eye-to-eye,...

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,...

Spoiler Alert for “Ratfish (Part 1)”: Coming out in 2019 after the success of unscripted content for Dropout, Game Changer was an instant hit on the platform. Now, six seasons later, host Sam Reich is still working to bring “consistently original” ideas to the show with no signs of stopping. “Every season, I feel like I fly a little closer to the sun,” says Reich. “And every season, the response I get from the audience is like, ‘This was the best yet,’ which is a very dangerous thing to tell me as I push it more and more, further and further.”

Hosted by Reich, Dropout’s Game Changer is a game show where the premise changes every episode and the contestants must learn the rules as they play. Among the assortment of games, season 6 has seen contestants search for buzzers in a simple trivia game-turned-scavenger hunt for “Beat the Buzzer”, trapped...

Dimension 20's Mentopolis brings together both returning and new players for a gritty, hard-boiled mystery in the city within Elias Hodge's mind. The characters in this noir setting embody beloved tropes of the genre and serve specific functions within Elias Hodge's mind, giving fans insight into their roles. The season explores the intersection of psychology and philosophy, delving into the concept of the conscious mind as a smaller fragment of the larger workings of the mind.

Dimension 20's latest side quest, Mentopolis, takes players and viewers into the cityscape that exists within the mind of scientist Elias Hodge. This season brings Dimension 20 alumni and first-timers in the dome to the table for a hard-boiled mystery in the gritty city of Mentopolis. Players include Siobhan Thompson, Mike Trapp, Danielle Redford, Alex Song-Xia, Freddie Wong, and Hank Green, with Brennan Lee Mulligan serving as Game Master. Each character...

In today’s TV news roundup, Hulu drops the trailer for Season 2 of “Light as a Feather” and Netflix reveals an animated series based on the video game “Cuphead” is in the works.

First Looks

HBO and Rai Fiction have released the first image from Season 2 of “My Brilliant Friend – The Story of a New Name,” featuring Margherita Mazzucco as Elena and Gaia Girace as Lila. Based on the second book in Elena Ferrante’s four-part series, the show follows childhood friends Elena and Gaia as they grow old together in their poor neighborhood. Saverio Costanzo will return to direct Season 2.

Netflix has released the first look at the fourth season of its original series “Last Chance U,” premiering July 19. The Emmy-nominated series follows a junior college football program, shedding light on the ugliness that often hides behind the glamour of sports.

Hulu has posted the official trailer for the...

CollegeHumor, Big Breakfast and Adaptive Studios have teamed on Downbeat, a six-episode mid-form mockumentary digital series that will premiere on CollegeHumor YouTube channels beginning March 24. A new episode will launch each Sunday.

Conceived and created by Graham Wallace & Luke Kelly-Clyne, the series is described as an experiment in the world of character studies — a series where each episode follows the life of one compelling, down on their luck musician. Each episode will capture a slice of life for a different well-intentioned, yet misguided, individual – or group of individuals – hoping to find success and respect in the music business. From a thirty-five-year-old cruise ship diva who hoped for something more, to a tech whiz who’s created a truly awful personalized music app, to a pretentious children’s singer-songwriter frustrated that audiences “miss” the depth behind her seemingly simple lyrics,...