SPIKE TV Was The DUMBEST Channel Ever

[@billiam]

Use code BILLIAM50 to get 50% OFF First Box and free wellness shots for life with any active subscription at bit.ly/3mRGw4N

[@Brianna-eo8nu]

Menswers looks and sounds like it’s supposed to be a parody of Spike TV’s programs you’d see as a family guy cut away gag or a KZbin comedy skit.

[@tinmen5943]

Please grow back the long hair

[@Jamessmith-xk3fh]

I remember the bouncing a quarter off a strippers ass episode of Manswers. Yes I was a dumb young 20 something guy when Spike tv came out lol

[@pedrovallefin8406]

@@Brianna-eo8nu I would like to believe there was some element of self-parody in it, it would all be too dumb otherwise.

[@AerynKDesigns]

Honestly Matt's story of being such an average and genuinely good guy that he ruined an entire TV show meant to trap him and turn him into a degenerate is the hero origin we need right now.

[@masterxehanort3]

I mean, he ruined their intentions, but I do not think he ruined the show.

[@thekey0123]

Yeah, in all honesty, he kind of saved the show. I mean, if it was basically him being a degenerate the whole time, then it would have just ended up being the same as Manswers, except with a single none actor.

[@seancdaug]

Quite honestly, I don't think it could have gone any other way. If he'd been the boor the network was apparently expecting him to be, it would have made the whole thing insufferable. By genuinely being a better person than anyone figured, he forced the rest of the cast and the writers to pivot away from the original "bully the loser" idea into something that humanized *them*. Without that, it's hard to imagine there being enough material to mine more than an episode or two out of for even the most dedicated assholes in the audience.

[@itshel2677]

Matt is my hero. Showing us that humanity has still a chance. also very funny how spiketv created an unironically heart warming story by trying to force a guy into being a dirtbag and him just not doing that.

[@MyT1m3]

Matt got straight up used in a modern day "Truman Show" and is still going strong. I can respect that.

[@Alan_The_Jaguar]

I think it's crminal how he never made that comparason

[@SsnakeBite]

If he's an average Joe Schmoe, that's a credit to the average Joe Schmoe.

[@m1k3y48]

It’s like “Jury Duty” from Amazon Prime, but 20 years ago and way crasser

[@Huntracony]

I do love the idea of the creator watching the Truman Show and coming away with the conclusion, "yes, that would be great TV."

[@StudioInkblot]

​@@m1k3y48Jury Duty is Joe Schmo with the heart built in

[@birchwwolf]

27:10 Matt's heart broke when Brian told him, "yes i'm an actor too, but our friendship is real." He was visibly shaken and that reveal hit just as hard as when "Earl" was booted.

[@scrambled5948]

The fact that spike TV didn’t know what to do when their prank target wasn’t a deplorable piece of shit is simultaneously hilarious and depressing

[@pedrovallefin8406]

Specially consdering that, seeing as their "manifesto" presents their shows as mean for men in general, one would be lead to believe they thought all men were by nature deplorable pieces of shit.

[@noireisbest6786]

Is it me or does Manswers feel like something that would've been a hilarious gag in a GTA? It has so much GTA energy.

[@johnny2.011]

😂😂😂 facts

[@OctEddie]

I think it’s the moment where the alternate universe that has GTA as a real world has bled into ours,

[@ArbitraryOutcome]

Yeah, it seems so stupid I would have assumed it was from GTA without context LOL.

[@pedrovallefin8406]

@@ArbitraryOutcome Even with context, its still hard to believe its real. I never knew just how dumb could trash tv get until now. It trully defies any explanation (unless theres some level of self-awareness im not seeing).

[@Fencer_Nowa]

Nice pfp :3

[@snazzydrew]

The Joe Schmo dramatic twist at the end was kinda touching honestly lmao. They may not have intended it but damn that's wholesome. Matt is awesome.

[@paullopez2021]

Matt's season of Joe has become comfort food TV for me. bro is so wholesome that they changed the setup of the show to be more of a celebration of Matt. that's unheard of, both then and now.

[@robynsheesh7726]

I understand feeling embarrassed about it but he absolutely came out looking like a great guy for the time.

[@10007638]

"It's not the bee costume that will define your career but how you wear the bee costume that will define your career"

[@kronemerj]

Honestly that quote was way better than it had any right to be

[@DavidRYates-tk2tq]

That line goes hard.

[@paullopez2021]

a very Michael Scott-ish thing for Matt to say. I love it.

[@twall91]

It’s not who I am under the bee costume, but what I BEE that defines me!

[@MrSkerpentine]

I refuse to believe that Manswers wasn’t just a secret dumping ground for all of the fake commercials that didn’t make it onto Tim & Eric Awesome Show

[@aarondavis8943]

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🥤🥤

[@benmalsky9834]

Manswers feels exactly like the kind of thing you’d see in something like Family Guy to highlight just how much utterly stupid material is shown on television, only it’s REAL!

[@pedrovallefin8406]

@@benmalsky9834 But like, they must have been knowingly stupid when they made this, right? They probably went out of their way to make it as dumb as possible, in some form of satire, right?? Their extreme level of mysoginism must have been mainly a comical exageration, right??? Surely the people behind this couldnt really be so unintentionally stupid, RIGHT???! If the answer to all this questions is no, do please let me pretend otherwise.

[@yannickgrignon2473]

"Before you call me a sexist A-hole, I have a girlfriend with A-cup breasts" absolutely killed me. I had to pause the video I was laughing so hard.

[@roxassora2706]

Like wtf? How does that make anyone less sexist.

[@glidershower]

Some "Tails Gets Trolled" energy there. "I'm going to have s3x with my GF so I won't be so mad when I return" ~Sonic

[@kittystetson6737]

“You’re dead to us” throws plate in to fireplace. Even with context it’s still wild lmao

[@robinhart5586]

I can't confirm this for everyone, but my husband personally knows a guy who wrote for Manswers back in the day. He said he made it his goal to pitch the most ridiculous ideas he could and see what he was able to get in the finished product. So there was at least one person playing 4D chess behind the scenes lmao

[@michaelhenderson6786]

This makes me happy 😂 I’m going to sleep so good tonight lol

[@andrewmeyer3599]

Pretty sure that's the case for most writers for TV

[@smilesfoutch6996]

​@@michaelhenderson6786wild you couldn't before

[@michaelhenderson6786]

@@smilesfoutch6996 nah, I should probably just talk to my doctor about it, cause as it turns out, the comment didn’t help at all lmao

[@SlayerPDX]

I'll take things that never happened for 1000 alex

[@rhiisabean8144]

When I was 8 I secretly stayed up late and spike was on basic cable. I click it on and it’s the episode of 1000 ways to die where a guy goes to a sex dungeon and gets put in a latex gimp suit but he’s allergic to latex and swells up to death while getting tortured by a dominatrix. I’ll never forget that.

[@whyishoudini]

i have never had an original thought

[@twistedyogert]

That's actually pretty horrible.

[@Crabgar]

I was a bit older but the one for me was where a guy trips, hits his head on a table and lands face first in cat food and drowns. I always assumed the show was made up with some of the more ridiculous deaths, but this one...

[@coreythepeanut]

⁠mine was the one where a girl catches a fish, but she has her mouth gaping open, letting it slide right down her throat. She tries pulling it out, but the scales cut the inside of her mouth and throat, and she chokes.

[@rudoartista1493]

Mine was the bit where a group of idiots hop a fence to a house thats under construction and use a tarp that's laid down as a slip n slide but theres a nail sticking out and a dude slides over it and it cuts his stomach open and leaves behind a trail of blood and intestines

[@mrd5024]

The only friend I had who liked Spike used to punch holes in his walls, and he used to call his mom buy her first name.

[@darko1295]

sounds very on brand

[@edwardhim2276]

the dude i knew dirt biked a lot, wore fox brand clothing and drank a lot of monster

[@mrd5024]

yes! @@edwardhim2276

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

100th like

[@heywoodjablome5380]

Was his name Kyle?

[@fathomtuns7127]

As a bisexual woman, as a tween I tried to convince my friends I watched Manswers for the "science".

[@roxassora2706]

I probably would have as well.

[@BinglesP]

I am also a bisexual woman and even if I like science, I agree, the science is just the excuse here

[@humanpuppet6597]

As a gay frog, I agree

[@dmo848]

Weird flex but ok😊

[@moj3stic]

"as a bisexual woman" y we needed to know that exactly...

[@MayaMad33]

Interesting how Joe Schmoe is very similar to jury duty where they prank this man in a weird cruel way but the man himself show that the average person is kind

[@ZeallustImmortal]

Theres been a few shows like this, and ive loved all of them.

[@heywoodjablome5380]

I feel like Jury Duty worked a little bit better. Perhaps because of SPIKE's whole thing being exhausting

[@dromie5059]

​@@ZeallustImmortal Do you know of any others?

[@ZeallustImmortal]

@@dromie5059 Jury Duty and The Rehearsal are the ones that come to mind first, if you google "shows similar to" and those, you'll probably find some other examples.

[@jamespocelinko104]

Deadliest Warrior will always have a special place in my heart. It was peak "frat boys getting real nerdy about their keg arguments".

[@DaDualityofMan]

Deadliest Warrior walked so Death Battle could run

[@XamiNaxamis]

It also helped it wasn't just "BOOBS" all the time, it's just armies fighting each other without objectifying woman or weird fratbro shit

[@comfycat9]

‘It’s not the bee costume that defines your career. It’s how you wear the bee costume that defines your career.’ - Matt, 2003

[@robertschnobert9090]

🐝

[@VoidPlugger]

Matt is the MVP of “Reality” TV His use of “Ally” so early is one of the sweetest things I’ve seen in a while

[@MysticMorigan1998]

"Hey Kip! Don't even respond, you've got the Matt man, I'm the sickest dude here!" Like that is such a fucking great line. Matt is a real one, freaking god bless

[@darkdeifan]

Breaking a plate with the person's face to a "you are dead to us" is so extra, I love it. I've heard about that show before and sounds fun. Wish Matt well.

[@Creepymusic782]

Matt is adorable. Kind of happened with The Jury too , the guy didn’t make fun of anyone and straight up embraced the side that was meant to be super weird.

[@jamesbenson1208]

HOnestly Matt reminds me of myself, Unapologetically being our awkward selves

[@celinepersonman6448]

This era of Spike gives the exact same energy as the later versions of the PlayStation Magazine with things like "rate your girlfriend" and all the sex chat hotlines

[@jess648]

it’s funny how much people in the 2000’s were obsessed with proving to nonexistent detractors that video games were manly men made of 103% testosterone

[@cryforhelp7270]

​@@jess648 Well, I guess they succeeded? Gamers are quite... Something.

[@roxassora2706]

Imagine how many guys would hate it if women had a version of Spike TV.

[@DaDualityofMan]

@@roxassora2706 It's called Lifetime.

[@UnclePhil73]

I remember they tried doing a Joe Schmo 2 with a woman being the target but she saw through the BS so quickly that they had to come clean with her and ended up bringing in a dude to finish out the season.

[@jess648]

lmao

[@rewarddrawer]

I remember that. I love the Joe Schmo Show so much I started watching 2 but then lost track of it. Always wanted to watch it from front to back and see how terrible it ended up being. If I'm remembering correctly, they started out with two Schmos. One man one woman. But yeah the woman after a short period said straight up no way any of this happening is real. I think they even were going to bring a new woman schmo, but that is where I lost track of the show, in the days before DVR.

[@SentryDoesRetro]

yeah, schmo 2 was semi-on par with season 1 but definitely felt a little tamer to me. They ran a third season where they pretended to be a bounty hunter show, but it wasn't that great. TBS has rebooted it as effectively a Big Brother clone and left Ralph Garman out of it, really feels like a stab to anyone who enjoyed the original (Especially Garman who TBS asked to cameo for an episode, something he described as "adding insult to injury" to his snub from what was effectively HIS show)

[@johnedwarddowney]

IIRC, one of the giveaways was a cast member starting a conversation, pausing when a cameraman needed to fix his equipment, then resuming like she was executing a line read. The target didn't process anything that was said; all she remembered was the odd behavior.

[@ThunderTHR]

They had two contestants for that series, the male contestant was there from the start alongside the female who found out that the show she was in being a fake. She stayed on the show throughout its run, turning into another one of the actors, whilst bringing on a new female contestant to take her place, alongside the male who didn't find out that the show was a fake until the reveal at the finale. All three of them ended up getting the 'prize' at the end.

[@davidkimber4896]

One of the craziest things about Spike is that there were the only network that was willing to give the UFC a platform to broadcast on during a time when senators, such as John McCain were referring to mixed martial arts as human cockfighting. If it weren't for Spike TV, and UFC wouldn't even exist today and that's crazy

[@Donathon-qx8kq]

Agree

[@DaDualityofMan]

UFC(and TNA) was the only thing that could cure my WWE addiction lol, now UFC is bigger than WWE

[@Donathon-qx8kq]

@@DaDualityofMan strange thing...both owned by the same company.., with what is happening now... honestly.. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to fall....many changes ahead for both companies I'm afraid

[@DaDualityofMan]

@@Donathon-qx8kqsurprised it took so long tbh

[@MaximumSpider19]

@@DaDualityofMan It's funny you say that, because I remember Spike TV used to air Monday Night Raw. lol

[@RealToWonder]

i remember being like 13 and my 15 yr old brother had a few friends over and they were watching tv. they watched Manswers for maybe 10 minutes then they all said , "this is fucking stupid" and switched to watch spongebob

[@pedrovallefin8406]

I would like to believe that was the reaction most 15 years old had when stumbling into this. You would have to be a particulary horny teen or a specially stupid young adult to enjoy something this dumb unironically.

[@safebox36]

"Why are women on it then?" Money, it's usually money. Hell, I remember when they wanted to get rid of Page 3 in the UK and a bunch of the women that appeared on it said it made them feel empowered cause they set the terms of what they were willing to do and it was well-paying. I imagine it's similar in this case where it's not the most illustrious career option but it pays decently and they can say no to anything that's too far.

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Survival trumps shame. It honestly takes a strong will to not let the means effect your outlook and take advantage of situations, at least on a purely interpersonal basis

[@Jane-oz7pp]

​@@air-headedaviator1805 kinda weird to put shame on it to begin with. Regardless of my needs, if I wanna be objectified, that's my choice and the only one feeling ashamed about it is the audience.

[@12oz-MAN]

SPIKE TV is like a GTA V TV channel in real life

[@deadaccount03791]

LMAO TRUE you literally couldn't describe it any better

[@RadikAlice]

Someone else said it, but MANswers would fit right in as a fictional show in GTA

[@TenshinSound]

"It's not the bee costume that will define you're career, it's how you wear the bee costume that will." -Matt Truly inspirational words.

[@TenshinSound]

I got a heart from Billiam but I noticed a typo that I really want to fix but if I edit the comment the heart will go away and now I have a big case of THE MADS

[@UltravioletNomad]

Theres a haunting realization to be made here, that Manswers pioneered Tuber voice and editing, and its still also being used to market provacative content for young boys to stumble on.

[@argon7624]

It could be a kind of convergent evolution

[@UltravioletNomad]

@@argon7624 Yeah that's a better description of what's happening, no content creators are specifically copying Manswers, it's just the purpose and results that are similar.

[@RadikAlice]

It's not really provocative, but every time JayzTwoCents does an Ifixit ad it's like that

[@LeanneLukacs]

As a teen girl, I always mockingly called Spike TV "the Man Channel," but at the same time 1000 Ways to Die was my guilty pleasure. I had such a morbid fascination with it and it always seemed to be my go-to to put on (somehow reruns of it always happened to be on at just the right time lol) whenever there was nothing else good to watch after school or while I was doing chores on the weekends. That, plus their frequent Star Wars marathons were probably responsible for actually getting me really into Star Wars. I don't think I ever watched Manswers, though, so I had no idea just how outrageous it was, but oh boy, you weren't kidding when you said they ripped off Powerthirst, which was another weird staple of my teen years. But yeah, for as jaw-dropping all the misogyny in Manswers was, sadly that really seems to be about par for the course for 2007-ish era culture... not that things are necessarily that much BETTER now in certain ways, but it's wild how much of a time capsule this channel is for the mid 2000s-early 2010s.

[@jdrvargo287]

As a teen, I always hated the fact that they branded themselves "television for men." Especially in regards to "manswers," because it was so low brow and stupid and I always thought "Hey, I am a man, and the fact that you think I'm barely a step up from a cranked-out-ape-frat-bro hybrid is so condescending."

[@brandonconforto315]

In a weird way could you argue that it was a little better back then? Lol. I think this era of IG models, onlyfans and pornhub has given young men an unrealistic and problematic expectation of what and how women should be. Back then guys were somewhat more realistic

[@DaDualityofMan]

@@brandonconforto315 You make a good point actually, even as a 11 year old who loved Manswers I understood men don't really act like this, it was just a funny entertaining show, but meanwhile social media like IG blur the lines between fiction and reality, a girl showed me once one of her edited pics vs unedited ones, shit is wild

[@chexfan2000]

1000 ways to die is literally just validation for teen anxieties. “this IDIOT got so HORNY that they DIED and they THOUGHT they looked COOL but they actually looked STUPID and everyone LAUGHED at their SHAMEFUL CORPSE!!!!” (someone in a lab coat moonwalks in) “Yea I’m professor doctor and in my academedical expertise, they certainly would have realized that they looked a fool moments before their stupid genitals and terrible brain exploded” That’s the teen experience right there, that’s how it feels and what we all fear, and adults usually tell us at that age we’re being over dramatic, regardless of gender. 1000 ways to die was utterly moronic but it was one of the few pieces of media that was on that particular level of nonsensical horny childish anxieties.

[@teal_m_101]

@@brandonconforto315 I don't think so, to be honest. The only thing that's really changed is that there's a more parasocial aspect to how some men react to sexy women who don't know they exist, especially when guys can donate to get their name read out or something. But at the same time, the unrealistic beauty expectations and objectification of women is still prevalent. On the other hand, there's more social awareness about objectification nowadays, and further understanding of mental health and wellbeing can help men with their relationships.

[@colin-halter]

Fun fact: David Hornsby is a recurring character and writer on Always Sunny and was involved with the show as early as the pilot. He was originally going to play Mac in the pilot but couldn't for a reason I'm not remembering.

[@tivaspotato]

yeah he ended up being cricket lol

[@okeus]

I THOUGHT HE LOOKED FAMILIAR

[@XJLuna]

He was also the voice of Fanboy on Fanboy and Chum Chum

[@colin-halter]

​@@XJLuna Learning this information has completely derailed my afternoon. How am I supposed to just keep working after hearing this?

[@ShanePHallam]

Appears Lance Krall who played Kip also was a writer on Always Sunny

[@Psyched_Crow]

"My name's not the Hutch. My name is David Hornsby" How in the goddamn did I not recognize Rickety Cricket.

[@Saschiha456]

ikr I got like jumpscared by his voice and name absolutely love that guy

[@TheFormidibleDan]

I KNEW I recognized that face!

[@unknownsecret1000]

Couldn't tell it was him till was well dressed, and even then it was only when he spoke that I went "Wait, Sunny! Holy crap dude!"

[@ratchetxtreme6591]

He’s also Fanboy from fanboy and chum chum

[@razoreater6]

RIGHT SHIT I JUST MADE THAT JOKE

[@thevideogamemafia568]

I never knew the name of Manswers, but I vividly remember “Can Boobs stop a tiger attack?”

[@Luminousreign]

...could they?

[@maxtheleopard]

​@@Luminousreign Depends if the tiger is lactose intolerant or not

[@Joe90h]

@@Luminousreign I mean, enough of anything can stop a tiger attack. Two boobs, probably not. two thousand boobs, though...

[@kylespevak6781]

Their topics are just boobs + something 😂

[@Robthechump]

Everytime I see Matt as Joeschmoe it genuinely gives me hope that we would help each other instead of kill each other in the event of civilization collapsing

[@JanusKastin]

I knew SpikeTV as the channel WWE Raw was on, so every Monday, all the guys were over, Spike TV on one television set and Tekken on PS2 going on the other set. You just uncoverd a bunch of memories I had hidden behind the drywall of my brain. The Joe Schmoe commercial bumper where he says "I can't! I want to, but I can't!" must have play ten thousand times while we wathed Raw, it tunred into a proto-meme in our group.

[@DaDualityofMan]

I always forget RAW was on Spike, I just remember watching the secondary shows on it like Heat and Velocity, and then TNA

[@Dante...]

Manswers goes from being funny when you were a kid, to being cringe as you get older, and then it eventually wraps back around to being ironically funny as an adult.

[@edwardhim2276]

you know whenever i want to be critical of modern culture, i look at this and remember "this was a lot worse"

[@seancdaug]

The problem with Manswers, IMO, is that it can be ironically funny when it's presented like Billiam does here, as short, heavily edited clips. But as an actual, real long-ish form TV show, it's too aggressively abrasive to even appreciate ironically. It's just... headache-inducing.

[@YaBoiJonesy]

The shittiest version of Myth Busters imaginable, yet they were so memeable with "CAN YOU FART SO HARD YOUR BALLS EXPLODE!?!"

[@teal_m_101]

@@YaBoiJonesyThey could do the "man urinates on fellow passenger for not being allowed to smoke" segment in that one top 10 video and make it equally memeable.

[@Ndizzyinthehizzy]

Anything looks horrible fifteen years after the fact. In 2008 Barack Obama on the campaign trail was against Gay Marriage, but I don't see anyone giving him shit for that. Spike TV was a product of its era. It's easy to pick apart with hindsight.

[@treetheoak8313]

I remember thinking Joe Shmo was both morbidly curious and needlessly cruel to him, but yeah I remember thinking this was just the Truman show IRL.

[@kronemerj]

I always assumed that Matt was in on it as well. when the premise of the show revolves around gaslighting and deception it's hard to tell. But the fact that doesn't seem to be the case really puts into perspective how messed up it was

[@jay-white]

​@InevitableOption-ic2vx Explain, I'm morbidly curious

[@kronemerj]

@InevitableOption-ic2vx ok yeah that's way more messed up

[@MABfan11]

@InevitableOption-ic2vx i thought it was gonna be about the Kokoro Connect prank that killed any chance of that anime getting a second season

[@TheAlexSchmidt]

There was a new show Jury Duty that has the same premise of everyone being an actor except for one person, although it wasn't a competition-type thing so it probably worked a bit better?

[@phoenixwakeham509]

1000 ways to die as a kid made me genuinely terrified that I would spontaneously combust or get cut open on a slip and slide

[@nore5888]

i remember the one where the dude was downloading “corn” and he kept jumping in his chair until the tube shot through him from the pressure

[@kosmokat111]

that fucking slip and slide one haunts me

[@kyletanking]

You can’t forget TNA wrestling had its home on spike tv for almost a decade between 2005-2014

[@theprowrestlingguy6851]

And WWE Monday Night Raw on Spike TV since 2003-2005!

[@MYSTERIOMUSIK]

Ok.... but I'm going to flip this on its head by saying as a gay kid, i loved Spike TV. The amount of shirtless men this channel showed off was literally something that fueled my gay awakening. Like yes there was a lot of boobs, but honestly, the attractive men showcased so nonchalantly on this channel did something to me.

[@smol-one]

Saw a bisexual woman leave a comment that is pretty much this, but girls.

[@Jane-oz7pp]

People don't talk about the homoeroticism inherent in machismo and it shows

[@sneepsnorp1404]

You dont understand how patiently I was waiting for "CAN YOU FART SO HARD YOUR BALLS EXPLODE?!" The satisfaction was unmatched.

[@birthdaybatter815]

MXC and Ultimate Warrior were after school staples for us when we were teenagers. I’ll always remember SPIKE fondly.

[@dgenaraition]

MXC was so good

[@TheAntiSanta]

Takeshi's Castle was just better.

[@mesousagaby740]

RIGHT YOU ARE, KEN.

[@mattdekker5693]

me and my buddy would sit on the phone laughing at MXC, i never felt more like a teenaged girl in the early 2000s

[@Retro__Glitch2313]

Don't forget girls gone wild at 2 AM

[@SparkzEnt]

Spike did shed that "action packed AND manly" image in 2015 when they rebranded and three years later, in the lead up to Spike being relaunched as Paramount Network, they went on a tangent about their past shows and also live streamed on Facebook a video of their logo being destroyed via requests from viewers..... Spike was an emotional rollercoaster lol (the brand does currently exist as the legal name for Paramount Network as well as two dedicated FAST channels on Pluto TV)

[@toyotatacoma1616]

Oh my god, that’s where the Paramount network spawned from? Remember when they did that really awful remake of Heathers? I won’t forget.

[@BigBoss-ou5ij]

And The WB and UPN merged into the CW.

[@IronBeagle2003]

Bar Rescue was Spike TV’s best show because it’s actual quality and introduced us to the world of the man the myth the angry blood vein on the side of your head, Jon Taffer.

[@BlackGothGirl1]

I’m not a huge fan of bars, but I sometimes binge watch that show.

[@Nakia11798]

And now you can no longer watch it for free.

[@inny74]

@@Nakia11798 You can on Pluto TV, unless something changed since the last time I was on there.

[@ThunderTHR]

Spike honestly feels like such a massive fever dream looking back at it in retrospective. It truly was in many ways a bunch of nonsensical television that could've only existed in the period that it did, but to say it wasn't memorable would simply be incorrect. Matt is a true one though, he's the reason that the first season of The Jo Schmo Show worked as well as it did, and was that lightning in a bottle that they could never re-create despite their attempts to. Also, I hope I speak for those out there in that you absolutely NEED to talk about *MXC* (Most Xtreme Elimination Challenge) at somepoint during this look back at Spike TV. It was such an integral part of my younger years, despite being a complete comedical overdubbing of the Japanese game show "Takeshi's Castle". There's still quite a few lines from that show I quote to this day with my friends.

[@benjaminruckman6352]

Up next is Baba Ganoush! 😂

[@Alex_Barbosa]

It doesnt happen often but when we do get a series about 1 person in a show where everyone else is an actor and they dont know it, it always shows the raw humanity of people. How good and wholesome we really want to be. How much we want to help eachother, build connections, and see eachother improve. Love it.

[@chazjohannsen]

Please don’t forget the SPIKE TV classic, “A 1000 Ways to Die.”

[@ronswanson7371]

The best show ever

[@SomeplaceScary]

I always hated they way they'd spin the stories to make it seem like the person who died had it coming to them in some way, when most of the time they were actually just tragic accidents.

[@ericosb4503]

Forget? It’s mentioned in the intro.

[@twistedyogert]

​@SomeplaceScary Like that one with the flight attendant. The accident in question actually happened, but the unfortunate stewardess in real life was actually a good person.

[@melodydiagames]

0:43

[@Gamingturtle090]

It took me till the end of the Joe Schmo Show to look at the actors fully and I immediately went "Is that Cricket?!?" then David Hornsby reveals himself and I'm like "OMG it is cricket". Always nice to see actors early career and them outside of what you know them for :)

[@stewydoo]

Rickety Cricket! I had exactly the same realisation!

[@devilsorchard1449]

Interviewer: "It says here you were a television announcer?" Manswers Narrator: 😏

[@mclovininja45]

I can’t wait for you to explore MXC, Pros vs Joes, the short lived 1,000 ways to Lie, Spike Guys’ Choice Awards, Blade: The Series, Surviving Disaster, Super Dave’s Spike Tacular, and the god awful The Playbook

[@zacharymccoy7091]

Who can forget the classic adult spinoff of the Ren and Stimpy show. Such quality programming from a creator who's never done anything wrong.

[@_Jay_Maker_]

Good God, that show was so fucking awful and terrible. It almost retroactively destroyed how good the original series was.

[@Milla4life2]

Spike TV was wild. A friend and I were about 13 I think we were watching Manswers and they had something about a pressure point on the side of your temple if you hit it in a specific way ‘you die in three days’ and I thought it’d be so funny so do the friend, three days later he wasn’t responding to texts and I started freaking out but turned out he was grounded lmao

[@jess648]

LOL

[@noahkarpinski1824]

NO WAY. My neighbor told me that word for word and I always wondered where he got that from

[@zanpakutoman4225]

Manswers! - Giving teenage boys bad ideas through the Mid 2000s.

[@christopherlundgren1700]

Finding the pressure point on the side of your temple that makes your friend get grounded still seems pretty powerful.

[@Loch1210]

@@christopherlundgren1700lol

[@hayterfan]

Nice to see one of my comments I made about manswers so many years ago as an edgy teenager has somehow survived all these years.

[@jakethedragonymaster1235]

Your legacy has been immortalized

[@TwoPairSA]

I'm stunned I haven't seen more Manswers clips in compilation videos or stuff like KZbin Poops. I had forgotten how ridiculous they were but all these little clips along with the guy's yelling is comedy gold.

[@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj]

In the back of the 11th grade english teachers room had a space for seniors to play Mario Kart and a TV that was set to Spike. Most Extreme Elimination or those recorded accidents with c-list celebrities commentating was usually on.

[@wariodedede]

The manic editing and bat shit crazy acting on Manswers is the adult equivalent of those elsagate videos

[@jess648]

it’s more like mrbeast lmao

[@TacticusPrime]

Oh fuck, you're right. Elsa and Spider-Man are the boobs and farts. Oh no.

[@ratchetxtreme6591]

Absolutely wild to think this is where the game awards started.😂

[@MrHeroicDemon]

Atleast NA yeah lmao. Besides garages in self made events. GDQ

[@Joe90h]

Mega64 won't ever let me forget, with their annual Todd & Aaron's Game Awards.

[@Silvermoon424]

Shoutout to 1000 Ways to Die for permanently altering my brain chemistry when I used to obsessively watch it at age 13, lol.

[@IsaacPrinTheNerd]

Same here. From watching marathons of it to being scared shitless of it in just one weekend.

[@AetherTiger8]

childhood insomnia did a number on us all

[@pedrovallefin8406]

Weird how this show was the only one of this bizarre channel that reach my country, probably because it was arguably the less problematic of them all. There was certainly something hypnotic to it, which was helped by the episodes being aired on the afternoon instead of after midnight. It was equal parts facinating and stupid, suposse one could say the same of all this shows, but Thousand Ways to Die was in another level.

[@dinosaysrawr]

I liked Gary the Rat. He was my pubescent furry awakening, as well as the awakening of that "I can change him!" impulse that ultimately leads down a dark road in real life.

[@letsbehonest6322]

seeing the manswers logo brought back a memory for me: I was visiting my dad and step-family when I was ~14, I was a night owl so I was up at 2 am watching TV when my step brother who was 13 came out and said he wanted to watch the TV too. He flipped through the channels and stopped at a hot blonde in skimpy clothes. We watched like 15 minutes before I thought "wow. this is trash" and changed the channel. that was my brush with late night spike TV.

[@kainhighwind2]

Deadliest Warrior fun fact: on the episode with Alexander the Great, he's played by Jason Faunt, who was the red ranger in Power Rangers Time Force, and is also the motion capture actor for Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil.

[@alphahunterd]

that's awesome

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@alphahunterd same! That red ranger is a ballsy dude!

[@TheIcemancometh13]

Sometimes I think about Matthew kennedy Gould. The dude seemed really down to earth and cool. I hope he's doing well

[@clonecommando-cn6bo]

I can only thank them for showing Star Trek the next generation when I was at home taking a break from the death camp we call public school

[@Dragoncurse4]

The show I deeply hope you talk about is MXC - Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. I would always tune into Spike TV primarily for that show.

[@e_eyster]

The "Earl" vote out is honestly one of the best reality TV moments of all time over all shows. While the "what is going on" might be more iconic, that vote just hits differently. In this entirely fake reality show, it manages to get the "victim" to fully break emotionally, which manages to break most of the actors because of how genuine the reaction is, but break in such a unique way that really stands out. Its almost to the level where the whole thing seems scripted because of how it plays out.

[@Zenlore6499]

Spike was awful if you just wanted to watch Star Wars as a kid who was weirded out by adult stuff. Commercial breaks were just so uncomfortable.

[@benmalsky9834]

I know right?! Nothing gives you such a slap in the face than going from such amazing movies like Star Wars, to Manswers, a show so stupid it feels like a parody of television.

[@kosmokat111]

@@benmalsky9834 IF YOU FARTED ON SOME BOOBS COULD YOU MAKE BEER

[@timthememer2785]

Literally every Manswers question feels like it should have 'I don't know, but it's a bloody good question' after them. They're not even good questions but they fit that meme.

[@PolybiusArcadia]

I remember when G4 turned into Spike TV

[@ThisisCitrus]

The start of the apolocypse.

[@BlackLotusVisualArchive]

Wait, G4 turned into Spike? I just thought they quit

[@homiga1]

​@@BlackLotusVisualArchive I believe it was financial issues into a sell off that created Spike

[@sethkeown5965]

​@@BlackLotusVisualArchivein like 2005 xplay and the e-sports shoes got cancled and they just ran coos reruns

[@youtubedj9298]

When Olivia Munn got hired?

[@AaronKyle1996]

As someone who was a tween at the height of Spike's popularity I primarily watched it for TNA iMPACT Wrestling and MXC. I also vividly remember Spike and Comedy Central being the two channels that would air the Girls Gone Wild infomercials (which in hindsight has also aged poorly if you know the GGW story). Looking back at it, it totally blows my mind that Manswers was ever made. I hope Pros vs Joes is also covered during this retrospective. Looking forward to the rest!

[@brandonpage7087]

@AaronKyle1996, hellz yeah, me too!! I only watched Spike TV, for TNA IMPACT, & 1000 Ways to Die!! Yeah, Girls Gone Wild, Manswers, & most everything else on Spike, has NOT aged well, at all.

[@thekydragon]

Outside of Pro Wrestling (Raw from 2000-2005 and TNA iMPACT from 2005-2014), mXc and 1,000 Ways to Die are the only two shows I remember airing on Spike at the time and I'd probably have a great time rewatching the last two if they were available.

[@Unquestionable]

I remember loving how wholesome Matt was on the Joe Schmo Show, the description of it being both the most incredible but awful thing on television rings very true. Actually rewatched it a few months ago when I picked up the DVDs for like $3, aside from the obnoxious editing still holds up well. Also find it awesome Matt is from my local area and actually have been to the basketball court he was discovered at. Looked him up and apparently he's go the happy regular life he wanted so it definitely inspires me to some degree.

[@navibc31]

Does he have his house, dog, and girl? I certainly hope so

[@Justdeidra2000]

David horsby is actually a famous actor now too he does a lot of side roles, he plays Rickety Cricket on always sunny in Philadelphia and directed a few episodes.

[@miaou6747]

Unironically comparing Manswers to the Bible is absolutely insane

[@thekydragon]

I'd probably argue that the quote saying that Manswers "at least has a warning label on it" is more accurate and less ridiculous that Billiam gives it credit for. Some of the stuff in the bible is absolutely insane and shouldn't be read by children.

[@heywoodjablome5380]

​@@thekydragon Right? Like read Judges and explain to me why this us considered a good wholesome book for the whole family

[@connorhart7597]

That season of Joe Shmo is unironically my all time favorite reality house show thats ever been made. I normally cant stand that shit, but that was honestly great. They literally could not have found a better guy to be the joe shmo.

[@KitaniRairakku]

Manswers feels like if someone made a whole TV show based on that old Powerthirst energy drink viral video.

[@dogpound8662]

Spike TV was the youtube content farm of the 2000's.

[@space-case]

jeez I always tear up at the Joe shmoe show, he was such a genuine cool guy it feels so sadistic to have him go thru that.

[@patrickkanas3874]

I would've been pissed off and started breaking shit

[@laurenschmidt4880]

I watched reruns of MXC on Spike on DVD as a kid, and it still holds a special place in my heart despite being very poorly aged

[@Manfromthenorth0551]

The only thing i watched on Spike was MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge I watched that ever chance i could back then. Im glad that many episodes are free online either on KZbin or Tubi so i can revisit them when i want.

[@rhondawest6838]

Indeed, Ken

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

Early 2000s cable reality tv was a cancer on the earth thk god I was just a kid during this period so I couldn’t fully comprehend the this trash and degrade my intelligence

[@davidplank1222]

Never forget the late night Girls Gone Wild commercials that ran on half hour blocks at like 4am in the morning...

[@aiwash2766]

I once stumbled into spike tv because I was watching Star Wars the clone wars and then once it’s over 1000 ways to die started airing………… I was 7

[@Flip-a-dip-dip]

Yeah this channel aged like spoiled milk. But as an angsty teenage boy, this was the best channel ever. If there's one program from this channel that actually aged well it's probably Afro samurai.

[@mcd08]

I watched this channel as a 14 year old girl because I couldn't stand the Kardashians and whatever reality TV was on at the time. Looking back at it It's just as awful but a lot of these shows was just a bunch of idiots being idiota on screen 😂

[@megamegaO]

Meh, it's pretty good. Most of it's shows took themselves ironically. They KNEW their content was trash edge bait, so they made it as crazy as they could on purpose. Also MXC was TOP TIER!

[@milliondollarmistake]

Afro Samurai is fucking awesome

[@emeraldhillzone1992]

Thank you, Dippy Fresh.

[@Queen_Nyxie]

I loved Spike and G4 as a teen. As a female, I wasn't their target audience, but they spoke to me on levels no other channel could at that time. From AotS and Code Monkeys to MXC and Stripperella, they were the core of my personality back then.

[@TheBrotherGrim]

Oh I loved Code Monkeys on G4 so much. It was suuuuper dumb in just the best way, and that song is such an ear worm

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@TheBrotherGrim my brother loves mxc! It was helluva frigging goofy!

[@DaDualityofMan]

DON’T. GET. ELIMINATED!

[@DaDualityofMan]

XPlay was judge, jury, executioner for me on video games, and I had a hatred for the show Cops because G4 ran it constantly after a while 😂

[@TheBrotherGrim]

@DaDualityofMan Oh yeah, I got sooooo friggin sick of COPS 🤣

[@gmjjjones]

Im hyped for you to get into Deadliest warrior as a career martial artist who loved the show, fully recognizing it's completely terrible and not even close to proper simulation or testing. Afro samurai though, legitimately one of the coolest animated works I've seen. Didnt know it was a spike tv production until just now

[@robertschnobert9090]

Spike TV is basically a TV channel designed for Beavis & Butthead 🌈

[@heywoodjablome5380]

TBH, most of their shows could be improved by those two giving running commentary in the background

[@NabrinaBlue]

I'm pretty sure I only even knew Spike existed because they aired Star Wars regularly. The commercials for everything else were pretty insulting and made it exceptionally clear I was not the target audience. Even then, I (fortunately) didn't realize just how bad it was. This is all just... wow... Matt proving that the average dude isn't nearly as awful as Spike wanted them to be is pretty wholesome though.

[@stuffystuffsityas6302]

The 00s had such a wild push for what masculinity and sexuality should be there was literally no chill for men or women lmao

[@scaper8]

I still maintain that the two original seasons of _The Joe Shmoe Show_ were some of the best television ever made. (There is a thrid seasom made many years later, but I've not seen it myself.) The second doesn't live up to the first in the "how the hell is this guy this legitimately wholesome" department, but it amazing in a million other ways of its own. EDIT TO ADD: Long story short, I hope you cover season two as well!

[@paullopez2021]

Season 1 was S tier thanks to Matt. Season 2 was A tier, but I think of it like The Office after Michael left or The Conners after Roseanne "died."

[@RigidRat]

Manswers sounds like all of Tiktok condensed into one show.

[@ericortiz7443]

I can’t wait for you to cover MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge). That show is a legit classic.

[@CFronTV]

1000 ways to die was the source of many anxious nights at my cousins house over the summer and i never knew it til i was old enough to comprehend anxiety😭 i was miserable those nights

[@TheAntiSanta]

Manswers is a show that made me question if I'm even attracted to women. I mean, the answer is yes, I loved women (just check my browser history), the show just presented women in a way that sucked all the allure out of it.

[@eminempreg]

that is a wild way to put it but i get it. i didnt regularly watch Manswers. but the one night I did, i just remember falling asleep feeling kinda grossed out and confused.

[@chase5298]

bro just bragged about being addicted to porn

[@byulharangforlife]

​@@chase5298 it's kinda the opposite but ok

[@danidarkoxo]

Funny, Manswers and other Spike content is what kinda kick-started my conscious sexual attraction towards women (and huge bouncing electricity generating boobs lol). Think I was like 11-12

[@a_8764]

"I loved women (just check my browser history)"

[@KiomonDuck]

I was raised by Manswers and Deadlist Warrior and i am not ok.

[@lovesplus3879]

Oh I do love deadliest warrior bring that back.

[@darkbats20]

I haven't watched an episode of Manswers in well over fifteen years but that announcer's voice is burned into my mind.

[@thelinedrive]

Most Extreme Elimination Challenge or MXC is an absolute must for you to talk about.

[@penguinlordalan]

I watched Manswers when I was a kid and even then I realized it was hella stupid but i do remember one question that i still follow the answer to this day. "Whats the cleanest public restroom stall". The answer was the middle. I dont know if its true but man if it is im ahead of the game

[@winkleperiwinkle808]

this channel came to Italian tv around 13 years ago and disappeared very quickly. i used to stay up at night to watch all those wacky programs (yes they were dubbed) when i had school in the morning. it was totally weird but interesting, it was like watching youtube for me, despite me being the opposite of their intended demographic. i miss it, somehow. my dad was sad when the channel was gone

[@msjkramey]

It's so weird to think of a father watching that kind of thing lol

[@winkleperiwinkle808]

@@msjkrameyi think he liked some programs like 1000 Ways To Die 😂

[@g1xrider13]

That one show is clearly the closest real life version of the Trueman Show.

[@kronemerj]

Another example of a piece of Media that was made as a satirical cautionary tale before a group of entertainment execs just missing the satire part and just doing it anyway

[@njdotson]

It reminds me a lot of jury dudy too where the guy who's not an actor is eventually liked by everyone for being cool

[@betterretromess]

Man, the throwback to Powerthirst got me. Spike was such a fever trip and for anyone who didn't live during that time (or just wasn't aware of its existence) it seems too much like parody to be a real thing.

[@ClaireZhasa]

I was 14 when Manswers started, I could tell that it was totally and completely insane but that's exactly why I loved watching it. Because of the insanity that it was, I generally try to not act that things like skibidi toilet are really that weird, like it is but I can't talk since I watched the shit outta spiketv Also, BMS is so underrated and I quote it endlessly to this day