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Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace

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Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace
GenreSketch comedy
Created byMillion Dollar Extreme
Written by
  • Sam Hyde
  • Nick Rochefort
  • Charls Carroll
  • Andrew Ruse
Directed byAndrew Ruse
Starring
  • Sam Hyde
  • Nick Rochefort
  • Charls Carroll
ComposerBrian Ellis
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
ProducerCameron Boling
Production locationAtlanta, Georgia
Running time11 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkAdult Swim
ReleaseAugust 5 (2016-08-05) –
September 16, 2016 (2016-09-16)

Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace, titled on-air as simply World Peace, is an American post-ironic comedy television series starring sketch comedy group Million Dollar Extreme, which premiered on Adult Swim on August 5, 2016.[1] On December 5, 2016, the show was canceled, and on June 12, 2020, all episodes of the show were removed from Adult Swim's website altogether.

Premise

Each episode of Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace was eleven minutes long, and starred Million Dollar Extreme troupe leader Sam Hyde and frequent collaborators Nick Rochefort and Charls Carroll. Erick Hayden, another MDE sketch collaborator, also appeared in four episodes in an "also starring" role. Andrew Ruse, who worked with the troupe in the past, directed the series in addition to serving as writer and executive producer alongside Sam, Nick and Charls.

The show claimed to be set in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world that satirizes the current political climate.[1] Each episode was made up of multiple sketches, connected by hyper stylized transitional graphics. The end of each episode featured a musical guest, albeit due to time constraints, the entire song was never performed.

History

Production

On May 7, 2015, it was announced that Adult Swim had ordered an untitled pilot by Million Dollar Extreme described as a "sketch show ... set in an almost present-day post-apocalyptic nightmare world".[2] Based on that pilot, it was announced on March 3, 2016, that it would go to series with the group presenting it under the additional subtitle World Peace, and the first season consisting of six episodes under the network's traditional eleven-minute episode structure.[1] The show was produced in-house by Rent Now Productions, Inc., and shot in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] The show additionally benefitted from the Georgia production tax credit.[4]

As the show was being produced, internal conflicts arose at the show's production executive and marketing departments. According to an interview with Sam Hyde, conducted by YouTube documentarian Porsalin, the network's marketing department produced billboard proofs with over-the-top tag lines such as "World Peace is Racist, Hateful, and Takes No Prisoners."[5] Hyde perceived this as an attempt to sabotage the marketing, forcing himself to reject the marketing team's ideas and resulting in no billboards for the series. Hyde also points out in the interview that network executives including Keith Crofford, Walter Newman, and Mark Costa were proud of the show, but Williams Street production staffer Valentina Tapia[6] was fired from her position after a failed attempt to break into the show's editing suite to delete the show's footage.[7] Hyde also claimed that he and his Million Dollar Extreme co-collaborators were confronted at an Adult Swim company party by an unidentified woman saying she was going to get them fired.[3] Despite these staff issues, the show was set to premiere on August 5, 2016 at 12:15 AM.

Censorship

File:MDEVanityCard.png
The vanity card for Million Dollar Extreme which was censored for broadcast.

In the week leading up to the series' premiere, the network began running promos for the show featuring select clips and sketches.[8] The promo featured a red banner with the words "WORLD PEACE" on it, with a noticeable gap in the middle. This banner was created to censor the show's original logo, which contained a re-creation of the symbol drawn by mass shooter James Holmes in his notebooks. In the series itself, the symbol would be replaced with an overlay of the common peace symbol. The show used short transitional videos to shift from sketch-to-sketch, featuring hyper stylized graphics and large blocks of text, produced by Brooklyn based VFX company, Pomp&Clout.[9] The show's on-air presentation actively and haphazardly censored these blocks of text in their entirety, with no discernible regard to the text itself. The text ranged from more controversial statements like "Build The Wall" to nonsensical descriptions like "Surefire BubbleButt." No reason was ever given by anyone at Adult Swim or Turner Broadcasting regarding the last minute censorship.

Fans took immediate notice of the censored content and took to the World Peace thread on imageboard 4chan to vent their frustrations.[10] Afterwards, a man claiming to be Sam Hyde made a post to offer a defense and plea for fans to continue watching the show,[11] but it was later confirmed by the real Sam Hyde that the 4chan poster was an imposter. At the same time, Hyde claimed that what the imposter wrote was more or less correct, and described them as a "weirdo stalker."[12]

Controversy

File:MDEWorldPeaceLogos.png
The censored show logo for World Peace (top), coupled with the uncensored logo (bottom) featuring the "ultraception" conceived of by mass shooter James Holmes.

BuzzFeed News writer Joseph Bernstein was active in criticizing the show after a heated interview with its creator, Sam Hyde. He wrote that a source told him the network's standards departments repeatedly discovered and removed coded racist messages, including hidden swastikas.[13] Sam denied these allegations in a YouTube response.[14] In the same article, Adult Swim series creator Brett Gelman claimed that the show is "an instrument of hate." Gelman would later cut ties with the network over Mike Lazzo's comments regarding women in the workplace, while also citing the network's greenlighting of World Peace as playing a significant part in the decision.[15] Gelman's business collaborator, Tim Heidecker, also voiced his support for Gelman's decision to leave the network on Facebook.[16] Adult Swim alumni Zandy Hartig and Vic Berger IV also voiced their sentiments against World Peace and Million Dollar Extreme on Twitter.[17][18]

Cancellation

Adult Swim announced on December 5, 2016, that the show would not be renewed for a second season. The network faced internal opposition to its continuation, mainly regarding accusations of MDE's documented connections to the alt-right.[19] According to Hyde, despite Adult Swim executives' apparent interest to pick up the show for a second season, Turner ultimately decided to cancel the show.[20] Hyde also accused fellow Adult Swim comedian Tim Heidecker of being a critic of the show, and therefore being instrumental in its cancellation for a second season.[3]

Following the cancellation, musicians whose work was featured on the show, including Molly Nilsson, Chastity Belt, Ovlov and 3 Teeth, disavowed the show.[21] All four acts made the common claim that they were unaware of Million Dollar Extreme's beliefs or political views prior to meeting them or viewing their work. John Maus would remain silent until a year later, where he told Pitchfork “I don’t want to make any apology, but I also didn’t want to.... The guys I met were nice. They weren’t burning crosses or doing anything like that.”[22] Danny L Harle was the only act to never publicly comment on the canceled sketch series.

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code		US viewers
(millions)
1"Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe"August 5, 2016 (2016-08-05)1051.033[23]
2"Illegal Broadcast: John Hell Emergency"August 12, 2016 (2016-08-12)1020.843[24]
3"3 Down 47 to Go Countdown to Mass Funeral"August 19, 2016 (2016-08-19)1030.874[25]
4"Mad at Dad? GOMAD for Chad MGTOW"August 26, 2016 (2016-08-26)1040.814[26]
5"Not Everyone Thinks You're a Hero"September 9, 2016 (2016-09-09)1010.763[27]
6"You Hate This Show Because You Hate Yourself"September 16, 2016 (2016-09-16)1061.053[28]

References

  1. ^ a b c Lincoln, Ross A. (March 3, 2016). "Million Dollar Extreme Gets Comedy Gets Series Order From Adult Swim". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Stanhope, Kate (May 7, 2015). "Adult Swim Upfront Slate Includes 12 Pilots, Two From 'Robot Chicken's' Seth Green". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Abramovitch, Seth (December 8, 2016). "Sam Hyde Speaks: Meet the Man Behind Adult Swim's Canceled "Alt-Right" Comedy Show (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  4. ^ "3 Down 47 to Go Countdown to Mass Funeral". Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace. Season One. Episode 103. August 19, 2016. Event occurs at 11:08. Adult Swim. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Interviewee: Sam Hyde (October 31, 2018). Sam Hyde Interview - Blacklisted. Porsalin. Event occurs at 40:55. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "Valentina Tapia - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Interviewee: Sam Hyde (October 31, 2018). Sam Hyde Interview - Blacklisted. Porsalin. Event occurs at 42:30. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace :30 Spot. AdultSwim.com. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Levy, Amun. World Peace Montage. Vimeo. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ Blacklisted: A Million Dollar Extreme Documentary. Porsalin. October 29, 2018. Event occurs at 14:50. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  13. ^ Bernstein, Joseph (November 16, 2016). "Adult Swim Talent Want The Network To Cancel Its Alt-Right Comedy Show". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  14. ^ Blacklisted: A Million Dollar Extreme Documentary. Porsalin. October 29, 2018. Event occurs at 37:50. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  15. ^ Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari (November 14, 2016). "Brett Gelman leaves Adult Swim, citing "the misogyny of their policies"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Facebook. Tim Heidecker - Posts
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2016-11-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ [3]
  19. ^ Lange, Ariane (December 6, 2016). "Adult Swim Cancels Controversial Show 'Million Dollar Extreme". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  20. ^ Malice, Michael (December 12, 2016). "Trump Supporter Sam Hyde on Why Political Correctness Canceled His Adult Swim Show". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  21. ^ Minsker, Evan; Phillips, Amy (December 8, 2016). "Bands Featured on Adult Swim's Cancelled "Million Dollar Extreme" Disavow Show". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  22. ^ Strauss, Matthew (October 12, 2017). "John Maus Speaks on Involvement With Canceled Alt-Right Adult Swim Show". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  23. ^ Welch, Alex (August 8, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: 'Bring It!' and 'Rap Game' hold steady". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  24. ^ Welch, Alex (August 15, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: 'Bring It!' ticks up". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  25. ^ Welch, Alex (August 22, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: 'The Eric Andre Show' holds steady". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  26. ^ Welch, Alex (August 29, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: 'Bring It!' ticks up, while 'The Eric Andre Show' stays steady". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  27. ^ Welch, Alex (September 12, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: College football wins the night". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  28. ^ Welch, Alex (September 19, 2016). "Friday cable ratings: 'The Eric Andre Show' ticks back up". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.

Notes

  1. ^ episodes 4 and 6 only
  2. ^ a b executive producer for Williams Street

External links

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