''Bad Internet'' is an American series that premiered on May 25, 2016, on

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

(then known as YouTube Red). It is produced by CollegeHumor's

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

-based production studio Big Breakfast. The first season contains ten episodes, with only the first—"Which of the 'Friends' are You?"—available to view on YouTube without a YouTube Premium subscription. As of November 2021, it has also been released on

Dropout Dropout or drop out may refer to: * Dropping out, prematurely leaving school, college or university Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dropout'' (film), a 1970 Italian drama * "The Dropout", a 1970 episode of ''The Brady Bunch'' ...

, CollegeHumor's streaming platform. The series was inspired by

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

's technology-centered anthology TV show ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative ficti ...

''. Sam Reich, CollegeHumor's head of video, said that in creating the series, he wanted to do a project that was both ambitious and true to CollegeHumor's slacker humor heritage. Reich also told ''

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were ...

'' that ''Bad Internet'' was "a series built for the Internet."

Cast

The cast on the show included Los Angeles based sketch comedians like Zac Oyama,

Siobhan Thompson Siobhan Thompson (born 29 July, 1984) is a British sketch comedian and comedy writer. She is known for her work on the CollegeHumor Originals web series and has appeared in other programs such as '' Adam Ruins Everything'' and '' Broad City''. ...

, Mike Trapp,

Emily Axford Emily Axford is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her various roles in CollegeHumor videos, her role as Emily on the truTV comedy ''Adam Ruins Everything,'' and for her role on the Pop original '' Hot Date'' co-sta ...

, and Colton Dunn who are regulars in CollegeHumor content, alongside YouTube celebrities, including Justine Ezarik,

Rosanna Pansino Rosanna Pansino is an American YouTuber, actress, author and singer. Pansino is one of the highest-paid content-creators on YouTube, and was listed first on '' Forbes'' ''Top Influencers: Food'' list in 2017. Pansino has hosted the internet ...

, Jordan Maron, Ian Hecox, and Anthony Padilla, and mainstream comedians and character actors like

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in ''30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was ...

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular chara ...

Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart wa ...

, Cheri Oteri, Maribeth Monroe,

Oscar Nunez Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's ''The Office''. He was a member of The Groundlings and l ...

, Matt McCarthy, John Milhiser,

Larry Hankin Larry Hankin (born ) is an American character actor, performer, director, comedian and producer. He is known for his major film roles as Charley Butts in '' Escape from Alcatraz'' (1979), Ace in '' Running Scared'' (1986), and Carl Alphonse in ...

Mary Holland Mary Holland (born June 24, 1985) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Early life and education Holland was born and raised in Galax, Virginia. She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Norther ...

Stephen Tobolowsky Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television characters a ...

Mindy Sterling Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the '' Austin Powers'' film series and starred in the web series ''Con Man'', the latter of which earned her a Primetime ...

Ed Begley Jr. Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series ''St. E ...

, and

George Wyner George Wyner (born October 20, 1945) is an American film and television actor. Wyner graduated from Syracuse University in 1968 as a drama major and was an in-demand character actor by the early 1970s. Wyner has made guest appearances in over 10 ...

Episodes

Reception

Marissa Martinelli of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' described the series as "very funny stuff", noting the clear parallels it contained to ''Black Mirror'' and '' Divergent''.

Nominations and awards

References

{{YouTube Premium 2016 web series debuts CollegeHumor YouTube Premium original series 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings Mass media about Internet culture