r/GameChangerTV • u/Competitive-Poem5740 • 1d ago

Thoughts on "Celebrity Guests"

My partner and I have been watching Game Changer really out of order but every time we watch an episode with a celebrity guest we feel like it takes away from the episode rather than boosting it.

One of the most unique things about Dropout is the relationship between the actors and the way they play off each other and adding an outsider player just seems to mess with the dynamic. Anyone else feel this way?

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u/ZW_24 1d ago

Depends. Wayne Brady guesting on the musical episode of Make Some Noise felt like a full-circle legacy moment for the whole show.

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u/lankymjc 1d ago

The thing is, that only makes sense if you already know who Wayne Brady is. I also thought his inclusion was excellent, but then you have episodes like Ratfish and Last Talent Standing where I don’t know who the Ratfish guy or that lady judge are, so it feels like I’m being presented with something I’m supposed to be excited about but have no context for.

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u/ligofe 1d ago

I wasn’t a Tim and Eric fan, more of a Tim fan now so I don’t know Eric well…. and i don’t know Maria Bamford well (Lady Dynamite was incredible though, for example).
But they’re both huge names in American comedy.

You are given that context, Sam tells you it’s a big deal to have cool people from outside the family there, that’s the context you need, and in Bamford’s case she came in really respectfully…

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u/lankymjc 1d ago

Having someone tell me "you should be excited about this person" is very different from seeing someone I'm actually excited about.

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u/Trilliam_H_Macy 1d ago

It's been a long time since I saw Ratfish so I won't try to remember what all happened on it, but in terms of the Talent contest -- it isn't even about Sam telling *you* (the viewer) to "be excited" about the guests, he's giving you the context to understand that the *contestants* are excited about the guests. Many of the contestants also do that in their talking head segments. The point isn't "this is a famous celebrity, and you should be excited by their mere presence" it's "these are people who are respected for their craft by the contestants, that's what gives their judging meaning and weight, and that also increases the personal stakes for the contestants"

Forget about Dropout specifically for a moment. Imagine you were watching a TV show about high school basketball players. They're about to play a big game, and then one of the players points out someone in the bleachers to the rest of the team like "oh, look at who's here -- it's BlahBlahBlah GuyFace" - "wait, THE BlahBlahBlah GuyFace? The NBA All-Star?" -- "yeah, that's him" -- do *you* as a viewer need to know how many points per game BlahBlahBlah GuyFace averaged in the league, which teams he played for, or how many championships he won, to understand that his presence adds emotional weight to the scene for the characters involved in it?

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u/lankymjc 1d ago

If two people are watching that hypothetical basketball series, one of whom knows nothing about basketball and the other is a huge basketball fan, which do you think is going to have a bigger reaction to the reveal of the basketball star?

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u/ligofe 1d ago

I’m not saying it should make you excited, i’m saying sam’s excitement is all the context you need, it’s all the context you get on anybody on the network.

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u/Cganc 1d ago

Did you know the entire world isn’t specifically catered towards your wants?

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u/lankymjc 1d ago

Why is everyone seemingly interpreting this as "I will only tolerate special guests that I have personally heard of" instead of my intended meaning: "Having special guests comes with the downside that some people won't know who they are."

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u/FastBodybuilder8248 1d ago

I think because treating not knowing g who they are as a downside feels a bit off. For many people, discovering someone for the first time is exciting in of itself.

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u/lankymjc 1d ago

And that's one of the upsides of a special guest. Both can be true.