Sam Reich | |
|---|---|
_2.jpg) Reich in 2024 | |
| Born | July 22, 1984 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupations | |
| Spouse | |
| Parent(s) | Robert Reich Clare Dalton |
| Website | samreich |
Samuel Dalton Reich[1] (/raɪʃ/ ⓘ; born July 22, 1984) is an American media executive, writer, producer, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his work with Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor), of which he is now majority owner and CEO, including hosting the series Game Changer and its spin-off Make Some Noise, as well as his work on TruTV's Adam Ruins Everything.
Early life
Reich was born on July 22, 1984, to Robert Reich, a lawyer who would later be appointed Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, and Clare Dalton, a law professor at Northeastern University.[2][3] He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[2] His brother, Adam Reich, is a sociology professor at Columbia University.[4][5]
Career
In 2000, Reich dropped out of Buckingham Browne & Nichols School as a result of clinical depression and in order to pursue acting.[6] Shortly thereafter, he moved to New York and founded the comedy group Dutch West, which focused on making comedy videos for the Internet.[7][8] After being discovered by CollegeHumor in 2006, he was hired as Director of Original Content.[9] He was then promoted to President of Original Content along with the premiere of The CollegeHumor Show on MTV in 2009.[10]
In 2014, Reich founded Big Breakfast, CollegeHumor's offshoot production company, and moved CollegeHumor's video team to Los Angeles.[11] The company has since produced Adam Ruins Everything on TruTV;[12] Middle of the Night Show on MTV;[13] Time Traveling Bong on Comedy Central;[14] The Britishes on DirecTV;[15] I Want My Phone Back on Comcast's Watchable;[16] Bad Internet[17] and Rhett and Link's Buddy System on YouTube Red.[8]
With CollegeHumor, he collaborated on music videos with "Weird Al" Yankovic[18] and United States First Lady Michelle Obama.[19]
On January 8, 2020, it was announced that Reich was acquiring CollegeHumor from IAC which was transformed to the entity of CHMedia. This included the streaming service Dropout.[20][21] At the time that IAC sold CollegeHumor, Reich asked fans to support the company by purchasing subscriptions to the streaming service.[22] In 2020, Kate Knibbs of Wired commented that "Reich is beloved within the CollegeHumor community—WIRED spoke with more than a dozen former employees, and the praise was unanimously effusive, rare for someone who just laid a bunch of people off".[23] Reich oversees the content created in Dropout and hosts some of the shows including Game Changer and Make Some Noise.
In 2023, Reich announced that the CollegeHumor brand name would be retired and rebranded to Dropout, to coincide with the streaming service.[24]
Personal life
Since 2010, Reich has been married to actress and writer Elaine Carroll,[25] whom he met during summer camp in 2000.[26] Together, they have collaborated on the web series Very Mary-Kate.[25] In 2024, Reich stated that he and Carroll "both identify as like, a little queer".[27]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–present | CollegeHumor Originals | Executive producer, Director, Writer, Actor | CollegeHumor | Digital series |
| 2006–2008 | Street Fighter: The Later Years | Executive producer, Director, Writer | Digital series, 9 episodes | |
| 2007–2015 | Jake and Amir | Executive producer, Director, Actor | Digital series | |
| 2006–2009 | Prank War | Executive producer | Digital series, 8 episodes | |
| 2009 | The CollegeHumor Show | Executive producer, Director, Writer, Actor | MTV | Television series, 6 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | Troopers | Executive producer, Director, Actor | CollegeHumor | Digital series, 13 episodes |
| 2010–2013 | Very Mary-Kate | Executive producer, Director, Writer | Digital series | |
| 2013 | Precious Plum | Digital series, 13 episodes | ||
| 2014 | The Britishes | DirecTV | Television series, 8 episodes | |
| 2015 | Middle of the Night Show | Executive producer | MTV | Television series, 9 episodes |
| 2016 | I Want My Phone Back | Watchable | Digital series, 10 episodes | |
| Time Traveling Bong | Comedy Central | Television series, 3 episodes | ||
| Bad Internet | YouTube Red | Digital series, 10 episodes | ||
| Rhett and Link's Buddy System | Digital series, 9 episodes | |||
| 2014–2019 | Adam Ruins Everything | Executive producer, Actor | TruTV | Television series, 27 episodes |
| 2018–present | Dimension 20 | Executive producer, Player | Dropout | Digital series |
| 2019–present | Game Changer | Executive producer, Director, Host, Player | Digital series, 60 episodes | |
| 2022–present | Make Some Noise | Digital series, 38 episodes | ||
| 2022 | Dirty Laundry | Himself | Season 1: "Who Shot a Softcore Porn?" | |
| 2024 | Thousandaires | Season 1: "Be Humble, Keep It Vague, and Repeat" | ||
| Adventuring Academy | Season 5: "Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck" | |||
| Gastronauts | Season 1: "I Find That Very A-Peeling" | |||
| 2025 | Um, Actually | Season 10: "The Baby Bracket Volume 2" | ||
| Puppet History | Actor | Watcher Entertainment | Digital series, 6 episodes | |
| 2026 | The Rookie | ABC | Season 8: "Fun and Games" |
Awards
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media Category.[28]
- Named a multi-channel network 40 Under 40.[29]
| Year | Award | Work |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Aspen Rooftop Comedy Award for Best Series | The Michael Showalter Showalter |
| ECNY for Best Short | "Minesweeper: The Movie" | |
| 2010 | People's Voice Webby for Best Series | Jake and Amir |
| Webby for Best Animation | "Pixar Intro Parody" | |
| People's Voice Webby for Best Short | "Web Site Story" | |
| 2011 | People's Voice Webby for Best Humor Website | CollegeHumor |
| 2012 | People's Voice Webby for Best Short | "Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Star Wars" |
| Webby for Best Short | "Siri Argument" | |
| 2013 | Telly Bronze Award | "Mitt Romney Style," "Dora the Explorer Trailer," "Save Greendale" |
| Telly Silver Award | "Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends" | |
| Webby for Best Short | ||
| 2014 | Telly Bronze Award | "GPS Prank," "HBO Should Show Dongs" |
| Webby for Best Remix | "Music Videos Without Music" | |
| Webby for Best Short | "Batman vs. the Penguin" | |
| 2015 | Ursa Major Award for Best Short | "Furry Force" |
| Telly Bronze Award | "Music Videos without Music" | |
| Telly Silver Award | "Why Engagement Rings Are a Scam," "If Google Was a Guy" | |
| People's Voice Webby for Best Writing | "If Google Was a Guy" | |
| People's Voice Webby for Best Short | ||
| Webby for Best Writing | ||
| Webby for Best Short | ||
| Telly Bronze Award | "FOIL" | |
| Streamy for Best Cover Music Video | ||
| Webby for Best Music Video | ||
| 2016 | Telly Silver Award | "Go to College Rap" |
References
- ^ "Deja Vu". Dropout. Event occurs at 27:57.
- ^ a b Sweeney, Emily (June 29, 2016). "Sam Reich is all about funny business". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. OCLC 66652431. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ @samreich (July 22, 2023). "39 😊" (Tweet). Retrieved July 12, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Lins (1995). Newsmakers: the people behind today's headlines : 1995 cumulation, includes ... – Louise Mooney Collins, Gale Research Inc – Google Books. Gale Research. ISBN 9780810357457. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
- ^ "Adam D. Reich | Department of Sociology". sociology.columbia.edu. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
- ^ Reich, Sam (February 12, 2016). "Career Advice From a High School Drop-out CEO". Fastco Create. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "Dutchwest TV". Webpage. Dutchwest TV. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ a b Cheong, Wayne (April 22, 2024). "ESQnA with Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout and Host of Game Changer". Esquire Singapore.
- ^ Friedman, Spike (June 3, 2016). "Sam Reich on the Business of Staying Funny Online". Forbes. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "The CollegeHumor Show". Webpage. ProductionBeast. Retrieved January 30, 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Evans, Bradford (January 27, 2014). "CollegeHumor Moves from NY to LA, Starts New Production Company". Article. SplitSider. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Petski, Denise (December 7, 2016). "TruTV Renews 'Adam Ruins Everything', 'The Carbonaro Effect'; Greenlights Two New Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Patel, Sahil (April 21, 2015). "MTV Orders Late-Night Comedy Show from CollegeHumor's Big Breakfast". VideoInk. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Runyan, Jenni (January 6, 2016). "Comedy Central Greenlights "Time Traveling Bong," A Three-Episode Limited Series from "Broad City's" Ilana Glazer, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs" (Press release). Comedy Central. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 23, 2014). "DirectTV Picks up 'Downton Abbey' Parody Series 'The Britishes' From Electus Digital". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "I Want My Phone Back". IMDB. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ Votta, Rae (May 26, 2016). "CollegeHumor's 'Bad Internet' is a Dark, Dystopian Look at the Future". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ CollegeHumor (July 16, 2014). "Exclusive "Weird Al" Yankovic Music video: FOIL (Parody of "Royals" by Lorde)". YouTube video description. YouTube. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ CollegeHumor (December 10, 2015). "Go To College Music Video (with FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA!)". YouTube Video Description. YouTube. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Flynn, Kerry (January 8, 2020). "CollegeHumor sold to longtime exec, lays off nearly all 100-plus staff". CNN. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
- ^ "IAC to Sell CollegeHumor, Which Will Cut Most of Its Workers". Bloomberg.com. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ Maas, Jennifer (October 31, 2025). "Dropout CEO on Launching Higher-Priced 'Superfan' Tier as Streamer Crosses 1 Million Subscribers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
- ^ Knibbs, Kate (January 28, 2020). "CollegeHumor Helped Shape Online Comedy. What Went Wrong?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Squires, Bethy (September 26, 2023). "Dropout's Playbook for Surviving an Unforgiving Internet". Vulture. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ a b Goldstein, Jessica (December 6, 2011). "'Very Mary-Kate' a hit on the Internet". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "Bio". Sam Reich's Blog. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017 – via Tumblr.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Landreth, Kendahl (September 30, 2024). Childhood Sweethearts with Sam Reich and Elaine Carroll | Happy Wife Happy Life. Retrieved May 2, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Sam Reich, President of Original Content, CollegeHumor, 27". Slideshow. Forbes. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Kent Gibbons (May 21, 2014). "'40 Under 40' class of 2014 Named". Article. Multichannel News. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
External links
- 1984 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American comedians
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American screenwriters
- Actual play performers
- American chief executives in the mass media industry
- American businesspeople in the entertainment industry
- American male comedians
- American male television actors
- American male television writers
- American queer male actors
- American television directors
- American television writers
- Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni
- People from Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Businesspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts
- CollegeHumor people
- Comedians from Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Dropout (media company)
- Jewish American comedians
- Jewish American screenwriters
- Jewish American television writers
- Jewish male comedians
- Queer comedians
- Screenwriters from Massachusetts
- Television producers from Massachusetts
