Smosh is better than ever
A giant of the early YouTube scene, the company Smosh—originally a sketch comedy channel started in 2005 by childhood friends Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla—was a pillar for many children in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. The channel even reached the milestone of being the most subscribed to Youtube channel three separate times during the peak of their popularity in April 2006, April 2007, and January 2013 being the final time in which they have held that spot to the present day.
Since its humble beginnings, Smosh has become a true production company—notably being the first Youtube channel to ever be absorbed into a larger media conglomerate—that at this time operates five separate channels under the Smosh name. These include: Smosh (sketch/scripted comedy), Smosh Pit (unscripted comedy shows/stand-alone videos), Smosh Games (unscripted video and tabletop gaming), Smosh Cast (unscripted podcasts and other longer-form content), and El Smosh (Spanish-language alternative to the main Smosh channel).
One of the other notable changes is an expansion of an ensemble cast that expands beyond the core duo of Ian and Anthony. This movement to ensemble was started in 2012 with the Smosh Games original cast and has bled into the other channels and become a core part of the Smosh channels dynamic. The change was made in order to meet the needs of the expanding conglomerate and the stress it placed on the duo. This ensemble cast then moved to the forefront of the Smosh channel—particularly the Smosh Pit cast that was hired shortly after the Smosh Games 2012 cast. This movement seemed to be largely due to Anthony Padilla’s announcement of his decision to depart from Smosh due to creative conflicts with their former parent company in June 2017.
From there, Smosh went down a tumultuous road of having their parent company become defunct in 2018, continuing to make content while Hecox pitched Smosh to other production/media companies, and then being purchased by fellow Youtube production company Mythical Entertainment in 2019. This then leads us to the state Smosh had maintained in the public eye up until June 20, 2023. Approximately four months ago, a video titled “We Bought Smosh” was uploaded onto the main Smosh channel. This video featured the first time that Ian and Anthony appeared on the Smosh channel together in six years in order to tell the audience that they had bought back the rights to Smosh—making them the primary stakeholders of the media company for the first time since 2011.
Since this renaissance of “classic Smosh” and the duo's sketch comedy chemistry returning to the main channel, viewers have noted a shift in the attitude of not only Ian Hecox, but in the ensemble cast as well with their continued appearance on Smosh Pit and Games. As someone who has watched Smosh on a regular basis across the three main channels for around five years, I would second this observation. The sketch channel feels as though it has a solidified identity, which had been absent since Padilla’s departure with a variety of series, formats, and cast/crew members being experimented with all throughout his leave that fans also noted. The other channels have also had their current running series re-examined, and some moved around to belong to the channel that it felt more appropriate for their respective series. Series could be moved to either Smosh Pit or Smosh Games, which has created this greater sense of unity and collective identity in each channel, as well as for Smosh as a production company as a whole.
Smosh has certainly had a long and entropic existence in their little corner of the internet throughout its 18 years, and has seemingly—quite literally—come of age. With the copious structures and levels of cast, crew, and duo integration, as well as experimentation with different types of show formats throughout the years, Smosh as a whole seems more confident and steady than ever with little perceived separation between cast and crew. Many long-time crew members frequently appear in videos, along with other crew members in smaller doses while long-time cast members can be seen accredited in video descriptions, serving as producers, directors, writers, etc. for a myriad of different videos or series.
I know some people might see Youtube as a whole, or Smosh in particular, as juvenile, but I would argue that the content has aged right alongside those long-time members of the cast and crew. I think that most adults could find a series or channel connected to the Smosh name that they appreciate not only the humor of, but the vibrant synergy and perceived familiarity of people within the company. Since this re-acquisition of Smosh by its original visionaries, the fans of the company have noticed an upturn in morale, trajectory, and overall quality of creation that I feel in my bones is only the start.
Thumbnail Photo via WikiMedia Commons