I don’t really have anything new to review this week in the realm of TV/games/books, so I figured I’d give a shout-out here to one of my favorite series on Collegehumor’s Dropout subscription service: Um, Actually. This is one of their game shows, and it’s always a really fun time.

The basic premise of the show is that there are three contestants that fight to out-nerd each other. The contestants are read a statement/fact about a nerdy franchise, and it’s up to them to point out what’s wrong with that statement. If someone correctly identifies what’s wrong with the statement and can correct it, they receive a point. And then, obviously, whoever has the most points at the end wins. It’s simple, but super effective.

The show is always fun, but I do find that my enjoyment ends up depending on the contestants and the questions. Mike Trapp is always the host, and he’s always very good, but there are different contestants each episode, and like with any game show like this, they can be hit or miss. I really enjoy some of them, but others have been annoying. This is also true of the questions. If it’s a question about a property that I have zero interest in, then I don’t enjoy it as much as the ones I do. This kind of thing shows you how entrenched you are in nerd culture too, so if you’re not into hardly any of the questions then this show might just not be for you.

Really, the show is just a good time. It’s a fun diversion, and not much more. There are about 30-40 episodes in the first season (I can’t remember exactly how many), and so there’s definitely a nice variety of contestants and questions. If you have any interest in this, you can watch some clips for free on Collegehumor’s YouTube channel, and then get Dropout if you want more. Give it a shot if you like game shows and nerd culture, it’s a good time.

4/5