College Humor creating Dropout has led to one of my all-time favorite shows - Dimension 20. A D&D playthrough show cases some of the best story-telling I have seen.
My addiction to this show which is really a series of various shows can not be explained other than the talent on display is amazing. I have been become so jaded by TV these days being so formulaic that I can predict what is going to happen so early that it isn’t fun to watch really.
It is almost better to watch the clips with the jokes on YouTube so at least I can get what might be original in the show. Nothing feels authentic anymore. But here, this does.
Don’t get me wrong predictable can still be done incredibly well. Historical retelling done well can still be well worth the watch but odds are it rarely is because they never trust the audience enough to do the work or they are trying to hard to draw conclusions that aren’t real or worse mythologize people who were simply human.
But in this show, you get to see people show real emotions in humor that touch on dark, weird and strange themes. That have characters that are larger than life yet feel ordinary and everyday. And stories that are so well worn that we all know them by heart feel so new that we don’t know what is going to happen next. And that kind of creativity I adore. There is no fake “a feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty” where you read it and yet somehow she is now an annoying boss babe who seems to have even less agency. No, this is a woman who learns and grows and feminist but in a way that is more true to life than a bumper sticker approach.
The amount of horrors in this show is insane and yet I laughed so much it was ridiculous and it was because of the cricket saying don’t drink water. It was because of how amazing that the cast was of weaving a tale that was so dark and yet keeping it light enough that it never fully consumed you.
Which is why I love Dimension 20. They are my one go to. My one consistent show I watch. And it’s because I trust them completely to help me unwind. To turn off from the world. When it is dark and dreary. They are an escape I can count on. And I love them for it.