Inside Dropout's Surprise 'Game Changer' Finale: How Sam Reich Was Tricked, Attempted to Hide 'Samalamadingdong' Episode (EXCLUSIVE) Jennifer MaasAugust 26, 2025 at 3:41 AM Last fall, Dropout CEO and "Game Changer" host Sam Reich got changegamered when he was thrown into a surprise episode of his ow...
- - Inside Dropout's Surprise 'Game Changer' Finale: How Sam Reich Was Tricked, Attempted to Hide 'Samalamadingdong' Episode (EXCLUSIVE)
Jennifer MaasAugust 26, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Last fall, Dropout CEO and "Game Changer" host Sam Reich got change-gamered when he was thrown into a surprise episode of his own game show. Today, that episode launched on Dropout as the surprise Season 7 finale, following the official end of the most recent "Game Changer" season Aug. 11.
Titled "Samalamadingdong" (more on that later), the surprise Episode 11 was the work of longtime "Game Changer" loser Brennan Lee Mulligan and a slew of other Dropout characters, Reich's close friends and family, and even this Variety reporter herself, who all came together to give Reich a taste of his own mystery game medicine.
More from Variety
Critical Role Sets Brennan Lee Mulligan as Game Master for Next Core Campaign as He Signs New Three-Year Deal With Dropout (EXCLUSIVE)
'Game Changer' ('Crowd Control') Episode Recap: Stand-Up Comics Gianmarco Soresi, Josh Johnson and Jeff Arcuri Tackle White Shirts and Red Flags
'Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho!' Trailer: Intrepid Heroes Take to the Skies in Actual Play Show's New Season
The stunt was shot Nov. 5 (the day of the 2024 U.S. presidential election) at a castle-style mansion in the Hollywood Hills (complete with drawbridge) and required one key component to work: Reich's ego.
The Dropout team set up a fake interview with Variety after Season 7 of "Game Changer" had completed production, and Reich suited up and came to the Dropout set for it.
"From the get-go, we needed to figure out a way to get Sam Reich out of the house, and we needed to get him pinned down somewhere that we could spring the trap on him," Mulligan said earlier this month in a legitimate interview with Variety alongside Reich. "And the degree of instant unanimity in the council of people working on this show that went, 'If there's something related to Variety or an interview about "Game Changer," Sam will be there for as long as he is asked.' What is the thing that we can do that he will show up, get him into the "Game Changer" suit, get into the microphone? It was a short list."
Reich added: "Totally taking advantage of me as a press hog and the fact I didn't see this coming when my calendar had nothing on it."
Mulligan says many ideas were tossed around for what the episode would be, but the premise the team ultimately landed on was a concept that combined Reich's love of the Michael Douglas movie "The Game" with Mulligan's passion for live-action roleplaying (LARP). It turned out to involve Reich's kidnapping, a castle set, Mulligan in a role that was a mix between "Saw's" Jigsaw and the mythical Minotaur, and many intricate puzzles Reich needed to solve, all of which involved past seasons of "Game Changer" and included many previous contestants.
Soon after the episode was shot, Reich had to begin figuring out when and how it was going to release, as the entirety of Season 7 had already been plotted out and produced. After fans thought there was an alternate reality game tied to "Game Changer" Season 6 and were wrong, Reich and the Dropout thought it would be "very funny" to do an ARG (and deny it) this season. Reich worked with the company Pillowfight to design and implement the ARG, which included web games released throughout the season, as well as Jacob Wysocki's CD phone number from the episode "One Year Later."
According to Dropout, while fans didn't discover the ARG until the end of the season, it only took them 48 hours to solve it.
As recently as Monday at 1 p.m. ET, Reich was still insisting the episode didn't exist. He went on a pre-planned Instagram Live, drawing a crowd of approximately 15,000 viewers, to continue the bit before finally revealing the truth and announcing the episode was real and would be released at 1:30 p.m.
Now that he has had to admit the episode exists and its title, "Samalamadingdong," does have meaning, does he regret choosing that as the title in the middle of filming?
"I mean yes, every regret about that. But again, the spirit of this episode is that like I've been gotten, so I have to be very wary of my usual perfectionism, and instead let the improv land wherever it lands," Reich said. "I'm always working overtime to justify the decisions of my improvisers on stage, even if that means, like, taking a bullshit visual effect that came up in the moment and spending thousands and thousands of dollars on buttholes — so if I'm giving myself that same treatment, then I'm taking 'Samalamadingdong' very seriously. And horrible as that is, me dropping the sword in front of Brennan and it just going, 'Samalamadingdong,' justifies it for me."
Don't worry, Reich did actually get an interview with Variety when all was said and done that day (and again, several months later for this story). You can read the Nov. 5 conversation that took place immediately after production wrapped on the episode below.
How you doing?
I do think this has given me new empathy for what "Game Changer" contestants go through. It's scary and delightful. It feels like skydiving, like a release of control.
Do I, a journalist, play a convincing journalist?
If you tell me your entire relationship with Variety is a bit then, honestly, at this point, I would believe it, but I would be upset.
Do you forgive me personally?
Absolutely.
Do you still trust me as a journalist and Variety as a reputable media source?
I do.
OK, these are all on the record now.
At the end of the day, this is my love language, and it's the way that I express love for my cast. And so people doing it to me, how could I interpret it any other way? But that is love, for me.
How many of those $50,000 in FYC Emmys funds that you revealed during the lie-detector test in the episode did you give to Variety?
That's a really good question. I feel like a few. I think it was ballpark that number.
Did you have any suspicions at all before today that something weird was happening?
No, I mean, there came a moment when Brennan was first revealed to me, I thought, "Oh, this is a really fun bit for Variety." Then when Grant and Rekha appeared, I thought, "Oh, wait a second." And when I was led into the van, I thought, "Oh no." And that's when the math started to happen, and I went, "Elaine didn't have a walk this morning? And Elaine gave me a big thing of turmeric tea — why for a little press thing? No." Pieces have come together since then. It's kind of like a "Memento" moment.
How much information have you already been given about how long this took to put together?
I've been told that Brennan has been wanting to do this for a few seasons now, and that Elaine (Carroll, Reich's wife) knew about it from August on.
I was told six months was the length of practical planning. So do you trust your wife?
Yes, I trust my wife to always do what's best for the bit, which sometimes means deceiving me.
Brennan said he's enjoying the fact you will have to edit all of this into an episode.
That's the real prank. The real prank is that all of this footage is gonna end up on my lap.
How much do you think this cost?
This looked expensive. I did, apparently, smash a $6,000 vase, which is not true. I'm gonna guess between $100,000 and $200,000?
So someone signed off on that, and it wasn't you. Books have been cooked. There were different codes being used.
I just do want to emphasize my company, my show, no permission.
So how will you retaliate? Are you already forming plans?
There were things that I decided not to do this season because I felt like they were too unconscionable, which now I floated right to the top of my list for Season 8.
You give the cast a one to four chili pepper scale for how far they want to go with what they feel comfortable doing on a "Game Changer" episode. What would you call this for yourself?
I would say two and a half chili peppers, and I'm only deducting a half a chili pepper because it was so much fun. And because Brennan let me win.
What was the hardest puzzle throughout the day for you?
By far the vases. That was brutal. And the moment I failed, and they were like, "Good, we can move on in the story," I was like, "Oh, tell me that I'm going to fail a beat or two earlier and I would have done this more efficiently." I can fail efficiently, if that's the goal.
What was the best bit from the day?
I thought the three-headed Cerberus, from a sheer humor perspective, I thought that was brilliant. I think my favorite game design or puzzle design of the whole day was the P keyboard? The P keyboard was really well designed.
Did you know if you hadn't gotten the name of Nico's band correct, you would have been put in the stocks and pied in the face?
Yeah, Elaine did tell me that. She also told me that people didn't think I knew the name of Nico's band, which is wild, because I follow Nico's band and I'm a big fan. When it comes to my love for Nico and Ash, you cannot underestimate me.
When and why did you write a rap about "Beowulf"?
Yes, that was fifth grade. We were studying "Beowulf in class, and I think we had some sort of assignment where we had to recap the story of "Beowulf" in our own way. And so I opened up the rhyming dictionary and went to town.
And you remember all of this from fifth grade?
I do. So my teacher really liked the rap and then had us perform it for the class, it was like me and a group of friends. And then she liked it so much that she had us perform it in front of the entire school in Washington, D.C., so I had some practice, and then over the years, I've busted it out.
Will you be mad if this ends up being the "Game Changer" episode that wins an Emmy and you did not plan any of it?
If Brennan gets an Emmy for "Game Changer," and I don't, that sword's gonna be real.
How do you top this? What do you do when you have control again of "Game Changer" for Season 8?
I keep saying this, but like every season, we say, how are we going to top this next season? And every season we say, that's next season's problem. And so far, that strategy has not failed us. As we sit in a castle, I know you might ask, are we at risk of flying too close to the side at a certain point? I don't think the wax wings have melted yet.
I feel so much more inspiration than anxiety. It's funny to work amidst other hyper-creative people, there is this space race between us, where I feel impressed by their creativity, sometimes intimidated by it, but it only pushes me farther — even if by that I mean revenge.
Last one for you: was this a fun way to spend Election Day?
It really was. I'm glad to have already voted, it would have been a horribly anxiety ridden day otherwise. I'm glad to say it was only horribly anxiety ridden in a completely different way.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Best of Variety
Oscar Predictions 2026: Venice and Telluride Will Spark the Start of Awards Season
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Astro Blog
Read More >> Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities