‘Smosh’ to Launch Multiple Original Comedy Shows through Defy Media

Smosh, the comedy team will be launching eleven new shows this fall, Variety Reports. The Smosh YouTube channel has over 22 million subscribers on YouTube and was started by comedians Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. Their upcoming shows are part of Defy Media’s largest programming expansion to date with 17 original series. The new Smosh shows (summed up as Smoshtober) will be premiering later this month. The lineup includes members from Every [Blank] Ever, a Saturday Night Live style ensemble cast which was first introduced last year.

Every [Blank] Ever became Smosh’s most-watched show and averaged about 6 million views per episode. Defy’s latest programming push comes after the digital studio banked $70 million in second-round financing this summer. Barry Blumberg, the chief content officer of Defy Media stated “We want to put that money to work as quickly and as efficiently as possible.” Currently, Defy produces 75 original weekly series with an audience of more than 70 million YouTube subscribers and 100 million social followers.

Defy Media regularly cancels and/or reformats shows so that they fit a certain concept. Blumberg indicated that the programming decisions are “not just driven by advertising revenue, but also whether the (intellectual property) has legs to travel to television.”

Smosh’s new shows include The Big What If, which is a sketch comedy show that will explore infinite hypothetical possibilities such as” What if Star Wars was shot entirely on Snapchat and what if Donald Trump was your GPS? Then there’s Smosh Animated which will feature classic Smosh routines and soundbites will be brought to life through animation. Actor Chris Pratt will be featured in the premiere episode.

Smosh Lab will star Shayne Topp who will be paired with a real-life scientist as they test cool science experiments. MariCraft Outlaster is a reality-style show that will utilize the popularity of MariCraft with confessional interviews and challenges every week. And lastly, Reality Shift is a show about a virtual-reality spin on gameplay videos in which Smosh Games talent are in a VR game in real-life. Viewers will be able to comment on the live action. All these shows will be shown distributed on Youtube and across more than 20 video platforms including Comcast Watchable, Sky TV, Verizon’s Go90, Amazon Prime, PlutoTV and Spotify.

What upcoming Smosh shows are you excited for? Let us know below!

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