Hollywood made an Esports TV Show… and it's Amazing
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- čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
- UPDATE - PLAYERS HAS MOVED TO APPLETV - WATCH IT HERE: tv.apple.com/us/show/players/...
Players (2022), the league of legends mockumentary from the geniuses behind American Vandal, released on Paramount plus last year and it's one of the best pieces of Esports content (documentary, show, whatever) I've ever seen. Today we do a deep dive analysis on what makes it so good and everything I know from behind the scenes.
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
2:25 - Background
4:14 - Players
8:26 - Challenges
10:17 - TWIST
14:24 - Reception
16:00 - WATCH IT NOW IM NO LONGER ASKING
18:52 - Wait you said this was better than Arcane?
It's okay, I still think you're a good player. - Hry
Sadly it looks like Players was taken off Paramount+ for some reason :(
I sure hope they feel enough love to get the show a Season 2 at some point. It's really quality and I hope you guys enjoyed watching it if you saw. Thanks to Tony and Dan for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to work on it.
I mean, all the episodes are literally free on CZcams from Riot themselves.
I just watched episode 1-9 on youtube, but ep 10 I had to head over to amazon prime to see. I dunno?
I agree saying its better than Arcane is blasphemous lol I love both but Arcane just has too much going for it art wise and characters. Love the video man you kill it everytime!
Why was this not promoted under LCS is a huge mystery lol, this is so good
It was just not as much as it should have been. I was at the LCS Summer Finals in Chicago and they interviewed Ely Henry (Coach Kyle Braxton) and I thought that was really cool and Da'Jour Jones (Organizm) made an appearance as well
a lots of the personnel like casters coaches analysts did promote it on twitter and they talked about it on the dive. I thought they also promoted it during the LCS as well.
It was, they promoted it leading up to the release and there were short promotions in between games
they did promote it but, only about 2 people watched lcs last year and rest were bots. whats the point of promoting it when nobody is watching lcs? this year would have been better.
I am SUCH a massive fan of Players. I got to hang out with Creamcheese and Nightfall -- they are talented, genuine dudes and I hope their amazing show gets a Season 2!
GSA!!!
Thumbnail should've been the "Obama giving himself a medal" meme with gbay's face :)
I think you're entirely right why it hasn't had big numbers, cause I myself didn't watch it because of Paramount+. I watched the first episode that they released on CZcams and it was really entertaining (I even shared your little tweet cameo), but having to get yet another service, for just one show wasn't really an option. I do hope they get a season 2, seems like they really deserve it.
I also didn't watch it because I wasn't going to get Paramount+ just for that. Did get to watch it on CZcams though
What the fuck is Paramount+? It's literally the first time I'm hearing about this. It would be nice if it was bought by another streaming platform.
It's still free on CZcams on Funny or Die's channel, just unlisted in a playlist for some reason
Praying this show gets a season 2. It's sooooo good.
I think it was the little things that made it special; my favorite was in the “flashback” scenes they actually used the old jerseys of the teams that were what the teams were wearing at the time. I saw the old Liquid jerseys and I was excited because I have one of those! Seeing the Gravity uniforms was also a nostalgic throwback.
I had not seen that this series existed, I just watched the first episode and I already love it, thank you for the discovery !!!
So much memories unfold in the references
I think the reason players doesn't get that much hype is because of either or both of two reason.
1. Someone high up just doesn't care enough about the premise and don't see the potential.
2. The production team themself don't wanna hype the show up because of history of media about video games flop hard.
I saw this show after seeing you tweet out that it was free on CZcams recently. And this was fucking amazing. I haven't been into league since 2018 but this show was such an odd throwback. On top of that the show was genuinely amazing from writing to editing to casting. Top down, I hope if this show gets a season 2 more people get into it. It deserves it.
Thank you for shedding the light on such an underappreciated show!
Hey, I heard first 30 seconds of your video and went to binge watch it. It is amazing and I cant wait for seazon 2 thank you, I never knew it existed
It felt so real like I remembered about 10 times how you said its a fictional team but I still couldnt believe
@@Ak1ra0_o I did the EXACT same
@@Ak1ra0_o yeah my brother watched like an episode with me and he believed it was real. He didn't even believe me when I told him it was a mockumentary. It's such a good show
Players is truly exceptional. But saying Players > Arcane is indeed very much a blasphemy!
In any case thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity to watch such a great show.
(also I was sooo excited to see you star in it!)
After watching this video i binged the whole show in one sitting and loved it so much! thanks for the recommendation!
Hey look a Gbay99 video! *clicks*
"Before we get started, we should probably go all the way back to 2011..."
Yep! Good old Gbay!
Thanks for the recommendation. I watched the first three episodes today and as an oldhead it's hilarious to remember which parts of the mockumentary are basically things that really happened. The baylife theme of team fugitive, doublelifts trophycase for creamcheese, bigfatjijis namechange, axe bros for rush hour etc. Loved it so far!
@Calkimchi Well, the ones that I mentioned are up there. You should know that in the early days, League was an extremely personality-driven scene. Streaming just took off at the same time LoL came out. So some of the best players were on one hand building "competetive teams" that would try to win as many small, regional and online tournaments as possible to have a steady income, but also develop the streaming scene and their personal brands and later companies in the e-sports scene that would become juggernauts. Reginald - founder of TSM, HotshotGG - founder of CLG, xPeke - later founder of Team Origen and Ocelote - later founder of G2 were all pro players back then, basically discovering the unchartered territory of streaming and creating e-sports companies at the same time. Meanwhile, as LoL grew in size and popularity, more and bigger tournaments tried to get a foothold, leading to the first national and international tournaments, which would pit these personalities and their teams against each other.
It's really difficult to describe, but since the community was so much smaller and the competetive scene less professionalized, viewers and fans had much stronger parasocial relationships with streamers and pros, who in turned were much more involved in the scene's gossip. Pros would get into internet beefs with each other, fans would constantly debate who was the best player between larger tournaments but also which player was the coolest and correct in petty arguments, VODs of training sessions were a highly sought after commodity, HotshotGG once fell asleep on stream while building an Ikea cupboard which lead to him having the most watched stream at that time and teams would try to be more authentic to garner a larger share of the fandom. In the series that part is demonstrated by Creamcheese and how he grew up with Team Fugitive. This nerdy, somewhat unprofessional and impulsive frat-boy attitude that he has is... pretty accurate to how the guys were back then, to say the least. The way Creamcheese talks, argues and thinks is scarily spot on. Imagine a whole League, like two dozen dudes, just like Creamcheese. That was NA LoL E-sports in the first three years of LoL. TSM's catchphrase used to be "Baylife", because their first (?) team house was in the San Francisco Bay area. The catch phrase was synonymous with "yolo", but paired with the professional success of the team it made them look like they were the best in NA without even trying, which appealed to many fans. That doesn't change the fact that behind the scenes Reginald would grind out his business to make a powerful brand and company. So powerful and recognizable that despite any major international success, LoL fans all over the world cheer "TSM" in random games where TSM isn't even present, as a joke. That started back in the early days too.
Creamcheese in the series has a lot of parallels with the North American pro-player Doublelift. Like Creamcheese, Doublelift was kicked out of his parents house and taken in by another personality in the scene. In the series it was a fellow player and later the manager, while in Doublelifts case it was the E-Sports journalist Travis Gafford. Like Creamcheese in the series, Doublelift was often considered as one of the, if not the best player in NA, but for the longest time didn't win a single domestic or international title. There even was subreddit called "doubleliftstrophycase" which back then had zero posts and because of that would say "there seems to be nothing here". When DL won his first domestic title, the post in that subreddit became one of the most upvoted threads on reddit back then iirc. Like Creamcheese, Doublelfit was often considered a bit of a loose cannon, trash talker and at times unprofessional and immature. Doublelift also had great success when he played together with the support player Aphromoo and the duo were often referred to as "Rush Hour" in reference to the movie with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. This is emulated in the series by Creamcheese and that one guy on another team being called "Axe Bros". In the series it is shown that his first "choke" probably put him into a state of mental block, mainly because he messed up an Alistar combo. That is probably a nod at Doublelifts throw at Season 6 worlds, where after a won teamfight he dashed right into the enemy's fed Viktor played by SSGs Crown (one of the best players back then) and died.
In the show, Creamcheese had to change his previous name due to pressure by the League. That was true for multiple players back in the days. There was a player called BigFatJiji that was forced to change his name, half of the first iteration of the Cloud 9 team had inappropriate names. "Balls" was "Long Balls" initially iirc and Sneaky and Meteos used to have different, less professional account names too.
The whole import vs. homegrown talent theme in the show was also really important in the growth of the scene. While NA never had such an extreme homegrown talent like Organism in the show, EU often had these and those were exported to NA (Korea also exported a lot of players to CHina, NA and EU). Players like Bjergsen, Caps, Rekkless, Niels/Zven and a whole load of KR players like Huni, Impact, Bang, Crown, CoreJJ, Ssumday, Ryu, Reignover etc. shook up the established systems in EU and NA as players that quickly overtook their competition despite being much younger or less experienced.
There is probably a ton more, but I forgot a lot of the details in the show. So if you want to ask something in particular, I might be able to explain it. I enjoy reminiscing about Leagues history lol.
I am shocked that I did not know this existed but thank you, now I can go binge it! Your video is better than all their marketing already!
Just found it from your channel, and i was hooked with the first two clips you showed lmao
Thanks Gbay, never heard of it, but starting binging it now ;)
Tysm, Gbay! You don't know how much I appreciate this recommendation
I have to give this a watch and I love that your passion for the game/eSports spreads the love to other creators!
Thanks for the recommendation and the link. Just binged all 10 episodes. What an incredible show! Also, liked your cameo.
You got it boss, you convinced me to watch Players. I trust your words and hope I'll enjoy it as much as you
Really cool review!
Gonna watch it one day! ^^
I loved the trailer. I was going to watch the show but was disappointed to find out it's only on Paramount+ (and only US?).
I'm based in Saudi Arabia and I wanna thank you for sharing the CZcams version! Going to watch it ASAP ❤
Omg gbay your famous!! No seriously this is so fucking cool that you got to work so extensively on it, I cannot wait to watch and love every second of it.
i didnt know i could watch all episodes fro free now! even in EU thanks for bringing it to my attention
Heard of this show now, binged all of it in one day, absolutely fantastic!!
Thanks for making this video I will definitely watch this series
You can tell by his voice how gbay is so passionate about this and is very excited to promote players to us . And went to the extend to bet his youtube subscribers
Thank you for reminding me this this show existed lol. I remember watching the previews in twitch ads on lol esports channels last season, kinda forgot about it, watched all of it in the last 24 hours, and really liked it.
Glad to see more content from you
Hey gbay, convinced the two other people I live with to watch , we all loved it this show is amazing. They also both subscribed to your channel, keep up the good work!
As someone who made a LCS mockumentary pilot that never got picked up, I even wanted to hate this. But it was great and I loved it. So even if you think you're not going to like it, you should watch it. It will surprise you with how good it is!
Dude, i never even heard about it! And i HAVE paramount+. Dont think as weaponizing your audience, its a public service to us, recomending good shows to watch! Im glad you posted this video!
Well gotta binge this. I don't have Paramount plus, hence why i didnt even know about it. Thanks for this! Excited to watch
Love your passion, the show was incredible imo and I support any movement that gets us a season 2.
I just didn't know about. I've fallen mostly off lol content, and really haven't been playing, but my god is this the best show I've seen in a long time. Thank you so much for helping make it. The amount of cool references and the use of actual games that happened in the LCS made it feel; so real and deep.
If i didn't lovg gbay enough the mets merch in the background sells it also can confirm players was really really good.
I remember seeing an ad for this once but didnt know anything about it until I saw a caster talking about it.
7:42 This line makes me laugh, then makes me get mad that I laughed at such a simple line while still laughing. I need to watch this sometime.
Thank you for making this video. After watching your video I started the series and it was phenomenal. I’ve been telling everyone I know to watch it in the hopes we get a season 2 at some point. I really wish this got more marketing attention. My knowledge of esports is limited to the videos you’ve made, I would love if you made a video going over parallels between the show and real life events.
I had no idea about this, so excited to take a look
Dude I randomly came across this video today so thought I would give Players a shot. Watched all 10 episodes in 1 day. Loved it. Thank you for that. Hope they do a season 2
I loved it, really hope they get their second season.
Players is the real deal guys! It's honestly crazy that a show like this got made and it's this good. Check out American Vandal as well if you can too it's hilarious, and honestly one of the best representations of modern high school (in both the public and private space) ever.
First CZcams comment in like a decade, and it's because this show was incredible. I want season 2, and it deserves season 2.
Just watched the whole thing in one sitting. man i just finished watching lec finals and when silver scrapes starts playing in the background during that one scene hits diff
JUST BINGED THIS FROM YOUR RECOMMENDATION AND IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT, AN AMAZING PIECE OF ART THAT NEEDS A SEASON 2 RIGHT NOW. HOW DO WE MAKE IT HAPPEN????
Props on the game clips. I stopped to check everyone's items in each game and to my surprise most of the builds aren't too bad.
It was really interesting to me because Players was a much better introduction (even if parody) for members of my family as to what esports is and can be. It was fun, playful, and sometimes the drama could feel very real. I thought it was well done overall and I am hoping for multiple seasons.
Thanks for sharing the CZcams link! I can't watch it on any paid streaming services in the Netherlands
I can't believe you have a cameo as well
I dug the hell out of Players. Hopefully it gets another season.
Thanks for sharing the show for free!
I DEVOUR the LEC and LCS weekly and I had never heard of Players, definitely gonna binge watch it this afternoon!
YES, THANK YOU, happy people are talking about this amazing show
OK, so I found this video through reddit... watched partway through until you mentioned I could watch it for free, then binged the first five episodes. My initial thoughts are... how dare they make a show this good?! I love some goofy drama, but I freaking loved this shit! I have to binge the rest, but I had to leave this comment before I do. Watch this show!!
Haven't binge watch a show in a while, you just got me to do that, men players is amazing, show got me so thrilled I just couldn't stop until the end.
Is there still a way to watch this in Europe at the moment?
Players, while not the best show I've seen (no, it's not better than Arcane lol), was a grippingly sincere show about the League eSports scene that really cared about its characters and their journies. That sincerity is what sold the show to me.
Just watched the whole thing, it's quite good. As a long time support player, Hearing Creamcheese go, "I've been building this team since support was just boots and 30 wards." sold me on the show. You only write a line like that if you care about the subject.
Ok, I get it, you're hyped for a show about the thing you love the most and you actually helped making it, but come on, it's definitely not better than Arcane.
Arcane is great but Players is better
Arcane was made for 13-18 year olds, lets be real. It's a weeb series.
@@ubetydelig3065Ignorance is not something to be proud of
I've been watching every single one of your videos for years and have never heard you mention working on this show . You should self promote more , you won't be offending anyone! My wife mentioned this show and I blew it off, going to give it a watch now.
alright alright, you've convinced me
Took me looking through the credits of that show for your name to realise that, this whole time, I never actually knew it.
Added to watchlist the second Gbay mentioned it’s creators are connected to American Vandal
I need to know what the reference is in players to a real team he is making a doc about I can’t figure it out
You might have missed the news but it's the first Gbay upload I got notified for since the SCOUT DOCUMENTARY
Keep up the great work even though youtube hates you platbay
Man I missed the show. Can I watch it anywhere?
First season of American Vandal was great too
gonna go watch this now
Ayo gbay we both got into league and sun tzu around the same time. You for sure passed me in league but I've since taken my talents to TCGs and chess to great success have you thought of or do you play any games like that?
Never heard of Players. I thought the title was a joke. I certainly look forward to watching it now.
having now been on the other side of watching it, that show is **the** shit
It was such a good show and encapsulated league esports perfectly
Woah i neved really heard of this show. Gotta watch this
thx i will watch it
i was going to watch it when u said it was free on youtube. then i was like...wait i gotta finish my Gbay video lol
that Necrit shoutout XD
American vandal was hilarious. So happy gbay referenced it
It was nice ngl. Thanks for the advice :)
It made me itch for league after 8 years im playing with old friends now
The show is so fucking good. Just straight binged it
The issue is it was released on Paramount Plus. I binged it when it popped up on CZcams. I hadn't expected to, but there I was sitting for several hours.
You are a little bonkers saying it's better than Arcane in my opinion, but that's preference after all!
This video is probably the most publicity this series has gotten, thanks Gbay.
17:42 is a sweet spot.
Players was a great show and I loved it... But Arcane was a fucking masterpiece. Best animated show I have ever seen.
Difference between the censored and the uncensored version?
Watch it while you can: czcams.com/play/PLRcB4n4CGcy9KwO4-t0aJ8Qedwy5tsPsP.html
And thanks for watching my vids guys, new doc will be out next month :)
sooo paramount+ is US exclusive, any way to watch it uncensored in the EU?
I looked for Players on Paramount+ but it didn't show up.
What does the uncensored version have that's different from the one on youtube?
@@moezsmaoui6288 only bleeps instead of slurs and swear words. It's the same - don't worry :)
NVM I found it
4:28 Oh hi Gbay, didn't see you there :)
Wow, how have I just heard of this? I loved American Vandals, so I'm gonna go watch this right now.
Finished the first season. Holy shit, it's amazing. I actually teared up a little.
I got a Paramount+ subscription specifically to watch this show. (I no longer have this subscription.)
As a 10+ year league player/viewer I understand the thought that the first few episodes are a bit slow.
That said, anyone who hasn't watched it yet, please just watch it to completion. It is my #1 recommendation for last year.
Ok ok, I'm watching it Gbay!
Thank you. Had no idea you could watch it for free.
The ending felt like a season 2 was going to happen. I hope it comes back!
I'm going crazy i find litteraly no way to watch it its not even on paramount + which i subscribed just to watch it can someone help ?
New doc is about Echo fox??
How have I not heard about this show till now??
"Im from Toronto" Fcking killed me
Loved players so much I think the paramount launch hurt the viewership a lot. Hoping for a season 2