I don’t think Smosh is gonna shut down or disband, and here’s why: fear.
After the Defy shutdown, Smosh as a whole seemed like it was no more. Our beloved casts were going into separate ventures, focusing on other career paths, or escaping the gaze of social media almost entirely. When Smosh came back, it was salvation for some and poison to others.
The full-time returners (Damien, Shayne, Ian, Courtney, Sarah, M*tt, Tim, Monica, and Tommy) ran back in a moments notice to rebuild what they thought they could never have back. The part-timers (Olivia, Keith, Noah, Mari, and Lasercorn) had two separate energies. Some were anxious about the new styles (Olivia and Keith), and some tried to settle in and couldn’t seem to find their footing (Noah, Mari, and Laser). Others ran for the hills (Flitz [even though he was already long gone from Defy Smosh], Boze, Wes, Sohinki and Joven) and hoped to take part in other ventures.
For lack of a better term, I think Smosh is drowning. Specifically Smosh main and Smosh Games. I think that Smosh Pit and the Smoshcast make the best content right now. A big part of that is likely M*tt’s leadership choices that seems to slowly chop off members. With several of the favorites leaving Smosh, especially to work on other content on the same platforms, Smosh is dazed and confused. They never seemed to get their footing after being saved by Mythical! Instead, the began picking up the pieces, having some successful series, putting together a tour, and then quarantine has happened which limits content and quality.
I could go into a whole thing about how Smosh Games was doomed from the restart and how they would never fully recover with so many of the popular faces gone and the desire for certain series to come back, along with his YouTube in general stifles gaming content, but this post is already long enough.
Smosh has been trying to introduce new and lovable faces who will bring in a new surge of audience appreciation (Kimmy and Jackie), and while I think that’s working somewhat, it’s not picking up the way they want it to.
Smosh has no idea where to go at this point. The answer seems simple to me: Fire that piece of shit creative director/VP (?) M*tt, put Sarah/Tommy/Monica in that position, revive the old shows that can easily be revived (Board AF, or something similar under another name to avoid further stealing from Joven), fine tune the existing new shows that are still fun (Family Style, Meme Review, What’re Those?), and let the channels feel more focused on fun than money.
I’m not a YouTuber, so I don’t know what it’s like on the inside, but I do know what it’s like to consume YouTube content. And this content has felt very forced at times...
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