Um, Actually is a Panel Game Show, on the comedy streaming service Dropout (formerly College Humor), where in contestants have to identify the mistakes in statements on popular media (things like Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings etc), prefaced with the phrase "Um, Actually" in order to win points. Obviously in a game that involves nerdy trivia, answers can get very pedantic and involve obscure deep cuts, thankfully a fact checker is always on hand to ensure that any answer given is accurate.
The series began as a web-series on College Humor's YouTube channel, title Um, Actually: The Game Show Where Nerds Correct Nerds, and is the oldest currently ongoing program on Dropout. For most of the series run, the host has been former College Humor head writer Mike Trapp, until Season Nine, when he was replaced by long time guest Ify Nwadiwe. Starting in Season Four, Michael Saltzman took on the role of onscreen fact checker, but also stepped down in Season Nine to be replaced by Brian David Gilbert. Contestants are usually drawn from the usual suspects of College Humor alumni and Dropout regulars and the wider community of geeky comedians and celebrities.
The format of the show consists of ten questions interspersed with three so-called "shiny questions" that are different, but worth exactly the same as the regular questions. The final question is always about a real life skill or piece of trivia such as ranging from how best to clean your windows to the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior.
Um, Actually the show has the following tropes.
- Accidental Misnaming: Ify, in his episode as Guest Host, accidentally referred to contestant and usual host Mike Trapp as Matt. Haley Mancini buzzed in and was awarded a point for it.Ify: I accidentally called him Matt
Haley: Um Actually, his name is Mike! - Audience Participation: Via the Dropout Discord channel, fans are able to submit their own questions for the show, and in earlier seasons were invited to submit their own corrections to the show to the Discord or Twitter account; Brennan's habit of being denied points by Trapp on technicalities made the phrase "Get in the comments" his catchphrase on the show.
- Couch Gag: Each episode begins with the host saying "From X to Y, nerds are passionate about a lot of things...", with the X and Y being two similar-sounding elements from separate franchises. Examples include "From Aragorn to Aragog", "From Sarlacc to Snorlax", and "From Alucard to Jean-Luc Picard".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The web-series on College Humor's YouTube channel, and even the first season are very different from the current format:
- The web-series was filmed in a spare room in the College Humor offices at IAC rather than a studio set, there was no fact checker, the buzzers were just hotel-style call bells and Trapp sat in a couple of different spots depending on the episode, even with different chairs.
- In the first season, Trapp was now in his usual spot to the right of the contestants, but had a desk that was done away with as the series progressed, shiny questions involved contestants getting up from the couch to do a challenge unlike in later seasonsnote , and the fact checker didn't become an onscreen role until part way through Season Four, when it rotated between Michael Saltzman and Jessica Clemons, before Saltzman became the permanent fact checker until Season Nine.
- Exact Words: Answers must be given with the words "Um, Actually" otherwise they won't count, many a contestant has given long, complex, and detailed answers only for Trapp to completely undercut them, when he points out they didn't say the magic words. This rule is waived for shiny questions, though some contestants still use it so they don't forget it during the rest of the game.
- Informed Ability: Adam Conover is hyped up as a tough, competitive and knowledgable opponent, even being seen as a Worthy Opponent to Brennan. Despite this, Adam has zero wins in Um Actually.
- Last-Name Basis: Because the series was originally headed by two people named Michael, the host and fact checker were always addressed by their last names of Trapp and Saltzman respectively (though among College Humor/Dropout fans, Trapp had already been long known by their surname anyway).
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Memetic Mutation: "GET IN THE COMMENTS!" - Motor Mouth: At one point Brennan gives a partially correct answer, and Trapp says he gets the point if no one else can be more specific. Brennan immediately says "Icanbemorespecific" so fast it's barely comprehensible.
- Oh, Crap!: The devastation when a contestant realizes they didn't say "Um, Actually" and for another to swoop in and repeat what they just said is very real, but the Catharsis Factor when that answer is still wrong is just as satisfying.
- Punctuation Shaker: The trope is referenced in the Shiny round "Spe'ling Bi", which asks contestants to correctly spell an unusual fictional name, punctuation and all.
- Serious Business: It's a game show about correcting minor pedantic mistakes in statements about popular movies, books and video games, so discussion on whether or not an answer is correct can get very heated, especially if you're Brennan Lee Mulligan, whose catchphrase on the show is a direct to audience "GET IN THE COMMENTS!"
- Shout-Out: In keeping with the theme of the show, on the wall behind the host and the guests are an assortment of nerdy artifacts that are just slightly wrong:
- A stack of Poké Cubes instead of Poké Balls.
- A shattered lightsaber in the style of Narsil.
- Mjölnir but shaped like a modern claw hammer.
- A red telephone box instead of a blue police box.
- A Vulcan salute, but with the gap between the index and middle fingers instead of the middle and ring.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Trapp often takes an adversarial relationship with some contestants, especially when they argue that their answers are more correct than the one he's actually looking for, Brennan Lee Mulligan and Ify Nwadiwe are just some of his most common targets.
