Recently I uploaded a post onto my main blog about the Youtube channel Watcher Entertainment. It's one of my two favourite Youtube channels and maybe my biggest guilty pleasure. It's run by three former Buzzfeed employees: Ryan Bergara, Shane Medej, and Steven Lim.
They recently made a baffling business decision that they even more recently backed away from, which is what I was discussing on the other blog. But since they've been on the top of my mind, I thought I'd take advantage of this mental momentum and do some reviews of the various series' on their channel.
This list is not exhaustive, it's a combination of their most promenent shows and the ones I feel like talking about.
Ghost Files
This is the spiritual successor of Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural, which is what Ryan and Shane were best known for over at Buzzfeed. In this series, the Ghoul Boys visit allegedly haunted locations and do their best to collect evidence of ghosts. I think this show is, as of this posting, the one that generates the most views.
It is distinguished from most ghost hunting shows due to the presence of Shane, a skeptic. Most series' of this nature heavily encourage belief in the supernatural and present over-the-top, obviously faked evidence. In Ghost Files, what they find tends to be subtle enough for the skeptics to dismiss, but compelling enough to occasionally wow the believers. In fact, there are many episodes where there isn't much more than a few bumps in the night.
To keep those episodes interesting, Shane and Ryan usually ham it up, "Substituting giggles for ghouls" as they once put it. The real show is the display of friendship between the two of them, which thrives despite their contrasting beliefs. When they do get something spooky, it makes it that much more exciting, because you're not primed to expect it.
The fandom is intentionally divided between the skeptic Shaniacs, and the believing Boogaras. People that don't want to take a side are invited to refer to themselves as "Shitfish". They've tried to reel that back a few times, but most fence sitters liked the phrase enough to proudly identify as such.
I am definitely a Boogara. That used to be more common, but since Shane is what distinguishes the series from others of its kind, it eventually became kind of the "Ghost show for skeptics". Regardless of what side you're on, the format works. Ryan builds the stakes while Shane balances it with scrutiny.
Let me clarify, I think most things that Ryan proposes are inaccurate. What most self-defining Shitfish seem to miss is that, the question isn't "Which Ghoul Boy is most often right?", it's "Are ghosts real?" So, if you believe Shane is right 99/100 times, you're still a Boogara. The definition of ghost is vague enough that if any spectral presence exists outside our current scientific understanding, it counts. Being a Boogara basically means believing in the presently unexplainable
One issue that this show faces is that while it's framed as an investigative effort, it relies on the opinions of the hosts never changing. A criticism people have is that Ryan doesn't seem as scared anymore, leading people to question if he even still believes in ghosts. This is a weird criticism since one of the show's main draws is transparency. It feels off to complain that Ryan isn't showing fear if he isn't feeling it.
It's speculation, but I don't think either of the Ghoul Boys quite believe the things they did on their first hunt. Even if Ryan does still believe in the supernatural, after spending hours on end of shoot after shoot, he's had enough exposure therapy for the adrenaline to wear off. He's probably realized that if ghosts are real, they aren't threatening. He's also on anti-anxiety meds now and in general seems more confident, which is going to impact the way he presents himself regardless of his beliefs.
As for Shane, I've seen him respond to people saying things like "On shoots where we don't get much activity". Maybe it's a reach, but it's weird for him to refer to what he perceives as explanable phenomenon as "activity". He might not believe in ghosts, but I think he's reconciled himself to the fact that not everything is within the realm of current human knowledge.
When talking about expenses, this show is often cited as being one of the most costly. I get it, most locations require a booking fee, they've got to travel to the site, and they use a bunch of different tools in their efforts to find ghosts. But as far as graphics and visual effects go, they could really cut back. In their initial series, it was just two guys with a camera poking around dusty basements and suchlike. Now it opens with animated grids of the place they'll be exploring.
When I first saw that, I was pumped. Not because it was such a spectacle in itself, but because it was the Ghoul Boys that were getting the fancy treatment. It was the conclusion of a rags-to-riches story. After the novelty wore off, it started to feel like a bit much.
To be honest, all of my favourite pieces of evidence were captured in their original series, Unsolved. I liked the one in Waverly Hills Sanatorium where Ryan tries to speak to a ghost child. He introduces himself, offers to pass over a ball and requests it be returned. He rolls it out and it keeps rolling. When they go find it, it's under a piece of graffiti that reads "Ryan".
I also liked his conversation over spirit box with the ghost girl that introduced herself as "Eliza". I was so mad when Ryan ran away while she was saying "Where are you going?" He shouted "You had your chance!" But dude... she was taking you up on it.
I didn't trust the teddy bear or whatever with the motion detector in the form of a light-up nose. We later learned it was given to them by the people who own the site. I don't think you can trust ghost detecting equipment from the people who make a business on the place being haunted.
I was also disappointed to learn that they set the mag lights to be halfway between on and off so they naturally flicker. In the Sally House, I thought it was just flash lights fully turning themselves on an off without explanation.
Of their new equipment, I don't like the Ovulus or whatever it's called. Bunch of random colourful lights that change vaguely based on the environment. Not a big fan of the Honey Tone, since it runs the chance of deleting sound that would otherwise come through the spirit box. I'm cool with it though, since I know that Shane hates the noise of the spirit box. I don't like they're dictionary mode either. It seems like it runs a similar risk of inaccuracy that auto-generated captions do on Youtube.
Mystery Files
Spiritual successor to Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime. In this show, Ryan and Shane hang out in a basement and go over generally spooky phenomenon. They branched away from true crime, I think because they developed marketability for being wholesome. For this reason, the exploitative nature of speaking on other people's horrible experiences was getting risky, especially if the topic was recent.
Another big shift away from their initial series was that, instead of Ryan exlusively presenting the topics, the two would take turns. The format of this show also included two segments: one where the mystery would be explained, the second where they would go over several potential solutions pinned to a corkboard. At the end, the presentee was asked to guess which explanation was correct, or decide that it remained a mystery.
Very tongue-in-cheek way of alluding to their Unsolved series. "You can decide if it's solved or... a mystery."
I like the shift away from true crime and taking turns in who presents. A good example of a show that can be successful without high production, since it's just two guys with a corkboard sitting in a basement and chatting.
Puppet History
Created by Shane and spiritual successor of his short-lived series Ruining History, the show is hosted by a fuzzy blue puppet known as The Professor. He runs a gameshow where Ryan and a special guest learn about some amusing historical saga punctuated with trivia that they have to answer. I like to play along and see how I score against the contestants.
Whoever gets the question right is given history points in the form of jelly beans. At the end, one of them is dubbed the title of History Master. This is never Ryan even when he gets more points because the metric for success is "not purely numeric". My headcanon is that whoever loses in the episode has to come back, and the only reason Ryan is the co-host is because he perpetually loses.
At the end of each episode, one of the featured puppets sings a song about that day's lesson. I really think this is where Shane's talent shines through the most. He's made some really catchy musical segments
I'm not as much a fan of the lore aspect of it. That storyline where Ryan kills The Professor and he gets sent to the past and adopted by dinosaurs, then returns with his dinosaur parents really didn't do it for me. Not too surprised. Shane used to have a segment called The Hotdaga during Unsolved debrief episodes which had a similarly rambling quality, and I never liked it. Just stick to the format, please.
Dish Granted
When the channel started, it was a balance between spooky content and food stuff, due to the nature of the legacy series' that got them to that point. Steven was the food guy, and he attempted a few shows that didn't work out. One was called Grocery Run, where a guest chose a recipe, they went grocery shopping and then cooked it. He also did a series called Homemade, where he he would go out to a restaurant and try a dish, then visit a guest and have their homemade version of it.
But the only series he did that got a little traction was Dish Granted. In this show, a guest would request a food item and Steven would then be tasked to make it as fancy as possible in 24 hours. I think this one was mostly successful because, unfortunately, Steven largely gave up on his stated ambition of representation. In his previous shows, he invited exclusively East Asian guests, whereas with Dish Granted, he made more cautious choices that were already established to be popular with fans. For example, his pilot run for the series included Shane, Ryan (who does count as representation), and his former Worth It co-host Andrew.
The element of making it as expensive as possible was, I think, inspired from Worth It. That show included three different price points, with the most expensive one often losing out to cheaper alternatives. However, the obsurdity of the expensive experience became iconic due to the fact that it was so far outside what the audience would ever experience. Eventually, when the Worth It spiritual successor Travel Season would be used as bait to bring people to their monetized platform, Steven would be lambasted for asking the audience to pay for his indulgences. It's more appealing to see a kid get sent off to have lavish experiences by a faceless organization than it is to see a CEO take money from his audience to feed himself.
For me, what was most exciting about Dish Granted, was that it finally got Steven in the kitchen. Despite establishing himself primarily with food content and learning to pinpoint the features that make dishes good, he himself could not cook. This show changed that.
And while it wasn't dedicated in its entirety to representation, it was no slouch for it either. I'm a big fan of Simu Liu for his roles in Kim's Convenience and Shang-Chi, and was surprised to learn that he and Steven are legitimately close friends. The one where Steven cooks for his parents was heartwarming.
It's controversial, because it's known as the episode that "broke Steven", but I really liked the episode with Ronny Cheng. Everyone had given Steven his gold star before then, and it's not like I want to see him fail, but losing the approval of a guest added some stakes to the show. Before, he would always be wracked with nerves before he presented his work, and it felt pointless since the guest always showered him with praise. Ronny Cheng grounded the series a little, which I appreciated.
Also, it humbled Steven a bit. Cheng told him beforehand that Malaysian streetfood (his request) was mastered over the course of years and he had no chance of nailing it in under 24 hours. I think that episode showed that superior ingredients are not a substitute for experience.
The episode with Uncle Roger was cringey, because they decided to have an employee who was also a fan spearhead that episode. she wanted to curb Roger's staunch dismissal of other cultural cuisines by presenting him with jolof rice. Problem here is that Uncle Roger is a character played by Nigel Ng, so no matter how impressive your product is, the actor is commited to the bit.
Now that Andrew's back on board, there's talks of making a new season of Dish Granted with his involvement. Despite initial lack of success, I think Homemade is more worthy of revival using the two former co-hosts. It's not burdened by the gimmick of overspending, could encourage home cooking, promote local small businesses, and could spread awareness of cultural cuisines. They could oscilate between Steven and Andrew choosing meals to compare and spread the content, which might make audiences feel a bit more engaged.
Top 5 Beatdown
In this show, Ryan, Shane, and a guest offer their top five favourites of a given topic that garners strong opinions despite being relatively inconsequential. They take turns explaining their picks, starting with their fifth choice and ascending to their top favourite. This series is kind of a sleeper hit, as it doesn't have much of a premise, but it allows avenues for Shane and Ryan to banter and bicker, which is really their biggest selling point.
Loved seeing Ryan lose it over Shane's choice of oatmeal as his favourite cereal. Ryan choosing all-purpose flour as one of his top food delivery choices since the staff didn't let him pick dumpling skin (which is weird) was hilarious. For some reason, I have a soft spot for the episode on dog breeds. I don't care much about that topic, but the expert was so knowledgable, engaged, and enthusiastic about everyone's choices. The episode with Rhett and Link was also a fun combination of two internet duos.
Are You Scared?
Ryan reads spooky stories submitted by fans in an effort to get the better of his stoic friend Shane.
Eventually they opted to only read fictional examples, which I felt was smart. Initially, they would exclaim and exagerate the absurdity of each story as a means of showmanship. But then if the story was revealed as true, it could be awkward. Despite always being presented as supernatural, they sometimes seemed explainable as a person having mental health issues.
For example, one story was from the perspective of a taxi driver about a woman in a state of disarray. She haled his cab and had it drive her into the middle of nowhere, where she promptly disappeared into the woods. Could easily be a woman escaping from domestic violence, but it was presented as her being some manner of spectre. Another one was from the perspective of a guy who came to stay at a friend's house that he used to play D&D with. The friend had mouldy food, clutter everywhere, and was minimally responsive. I think that was presented as a case of possession, but to me it just seemed like depression.
So it's good that they later commited to simple fiction. A highlight episode that I remember is the one where a woman is stuck in an elevator that seems to be moving but never reaches it's destination. She can't reach anyone by cell even though her phone appears to be working. At the end, she's found having starved to death in the elevator despite not enough time having elapsed for that to be possible. It's a cool conceptual idea of just a glitch in the fabric of reality.
Too Many Spirits
This show is basically Are You Scared, but they're also drunk. Ryan and Shane read fan-submitted spooky stories and then rate them on a scale of one to ten. In instances where they both give a perfect score, they shout "Too many spirits!"
The drinks are seasonal cocktails made by Steven as the resident food guy. The role of explaining the recipes got gradually expanded, eventually introducing a co-host for this segment in Ricky Wang.
A dynamic developed where Steven would be the unhinged, chaotic mixologist, seemingly intentionally botching the drinks while Ricky was the professional. Ryan and Shane would play a game of chance to try and get Ricky's obviously superior product over Steven's. This shift of Steven going from a wholesome food guy to an agent of chaos was a bit of a weird choice.
Each season of this show comprised four episodes covering one night of drinking. By the fourth segment, the boys are sufficiently hammered. This series is a good example of why their need for high production value is unwarranted. It's just two guys in a backyard, drinking while reading fan submissions.
Worth a Shot
One of, to my knowledge, only two series' not hosted by the original trio. Instead it features Ricky Wang, the master of mixed drinks. The show started off as basically Dish Granted, but with cocktails. He would take a request from a guest and try to turn it into a cocktail that they would enjoy. First one I can remember is a popcorn-inspired drink for Ryan.
I liked this show, but it had a few fundamental flaws. First off, it was co-hosted by Marie, Ryan's wife. This is because the two of them legitimately have a good dynamic. However, it wasn't until late into the first season that we learn that Marie doesn't like the taste of alcohol. That caused me to reflect on all the times she apologetically couldn't approve of Ricky's creations. It gave the impression that Ricky wasn't as good as his reputation made him out to be, but it was actually because of his co-host's bias against his craft entirely. This could have been fine if her inclusion was known as "trying to impress my friend who hates alcohol", but instead it wasn't mentioned until the tone had been long set.
It also struggled with its identity. Despite the original premise, it would veer off and try different things without explanation. For example, at one point it became a competition where he and Steven would compete to make the best cocktails, with a guest selecting the superior one in a blind taste test.
Eventually, in my opinion, it found its wings in its final iteration. Ricky took free rein and would just make whatever he felt like. It was here that I finally saw why they wanted to give him a show. Ryan and Marie had described Ricky as a "Mad scientist" of mixology, his house filled with crazy equipment and ingredients that he'd use sporadically as inspiration took him.
This image strongly contrasts how he was established in Too Many Spirits, where he played the straight man, exhasperated by Steven's chaos. Seeing Ricky's passion come through unrestrained was gratifying. If the series started that way, maybe it could have found its wings. Alas, by this point I fear the damage has been done and I don't anticipate a new season.
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