{{Short description|American alt-right comedy group}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox comedian <!-- for groups - see Template:Infobox comedian for usage --> | name = Million Dollar Extreme | image = File:mde.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | medium = Internet and television | alma_mater = <!-- If the same for all members --> | active = 2009–present | genre = Post-irony<br>Sketch comedy<br>Surreal humor | notable_work = ''Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace'' | memorials = | current_members = {{plain list| * Sam Hyde * Nick Rochefort * {{not a typo|Charls}} Carroll * Erick Hayden }} | past_members = | website = {{URL|mde.tv}} | footnotes = | module = }}
'''Million Dollar Extreme''' ('''MDE''') is an American sketch comedy troupe, founded by comedians Sam Hyde, Nick Rochefort, and Charls Carroll in 2009.
The group had an eleven-minute sketch show on the Adult Swim network named ''Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace'', which was cancelled after one season following controversy surrounding Hyde's connections to the alt-right. The group's YouTube channel was permanently banned in 2018 for violating the website's community guidelines. A ban on the group's subreddit on Reddit followed a few months later, as the subreddit was a major outlet for users sharing white supremacist and white nationalist content.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Daro |first1=Ishmael N. |title=Reddit Banned A Page That Trafficked In White Supremacist Content, But The Problem Is Much Bigger |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ishmaeldaro/reddit-sam-hyde-million-dollar-extreme-ban |website=BuzzFeed News |access-date=22 September 2024 |language=en |date=11 September 2018}}</ref>
==YouTube channel== Million Dollar Extreme started out making sketch comedy videos on their YouTube channel, which David Weigel described as "absurdist" and "transgressive", often centering around themes mocking political correctness.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weigel |first1=David |title=The story behind the sudden cancellation of Adult Swim's Trump-loving comedy show |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/the-story-behind-the-sudden-cancellation-of-adult-swims-trump-loving-comedy-show/2016/12/23/ed9e2e3a-c3c8-11e6-8422-eac61c0ef74d_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=24 July 2021 |date=23 December 2016}}</ref> Sam Hyde's monologues, recorded on his iPhone, were also a staple for video content on the channel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Take in the work of the comedy provocateurs in Million Dollar Extreme |website=The A.V. Club |date=April 23, 2013 |url=https://www.avclub.com/take-in-the-work-of-the-comedy-provocateurs-in-million-1798237780 |access-date=May 8, 2020 |archive-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512171941/https://news.avclub.com/take-in-the-work-of-the-comedy-provocateurs-in-million-1798237780 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Hyde also performed numerous public pranks that he uploaded to the MDE YouTube channel. In 2013, Hyde delivered a fake TEDx talk titled "2070 Paradigm Shift" at Drexel University.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/comedian-sam-hydes-prank-ted-talk-2013-10|title=Comedian Gives Ridiculous Prank TED Talk|website=Business Insider|access-date=May 8, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127020405/https://www.businessinsider.com/comedian-sam-hydes-prank-ted-talk-2013-10|url-status=live}}</ref>
The troupe had various issues with online terms of service violations due to their content and fanbase. Their first ban from YouTube was in 2013, although the group continued to post online videos on several related YouTube channels after the initial ban.<ref name="AVClub2013" /> On May 4, 2018, their channel was permanently removed from YouTube for a violation of the site's community guidelines.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/12/17847186/reddit-qanon-milliondollarextreme-ban-sam-hyde|title=Reddit has banned QAnon|last=Stephen|first=Bijan|date=12 September 2018|work=The Verge|accessdate=13 September 2018|archive-date=September 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912234903/https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/12/17847186/reddit-qanon-milliondollarextreme-ban-sam-hyde|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 10, 2018, the group's subreddit on Reddit was permanently removed for violations of their policy regarding violent content.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://buzzfeednews.com/article/ishmaeldaro/reddit-sam-hyde-million-dollar-extreme-ban|title=Reddit Banned A Page That Trafficked In White Supremacist Content, But The Problem Is Much Bigger|last=Daro|first=Ishmael|date=11 September 2018|work=BuzzFeed News|accessdate=13 September 2018|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913105133/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ishmaeldaro/reddit-sam-hyde-million-dollar-extreme-ban|url-status=live}}</ref>
==''World Peace''== {{Main|Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace}} In 2015, MDE were slated to have their own live action 15-minute sketch show on the cable network Adult Swim.<ref name=Stanhope2015>{{cite web|last1=Stanhope|first1=Kate|title=Adult Swim Upfront Slate Includes 12 Pilots, Two From 'Robot Chicken's' Seth Green|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/adult-swim-upfronts-slate-2015-793960|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=May 7, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=May 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511203851/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/adult-swim-upfronts-slate-2015-793960|url-status=live}}</ref> It was to be set in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world that satirizes the current political climate.<ref name="deadline">{{cite web|last1=Lincoln|first1=Ross|title=Adult Swim Comedy From Sketch Troupe Million Dollar Extreme Gets Series Order, Official Title|url=https://deadline.com/2016/03/sketch-troup-million-dollar-extreme-adult-swim-series-order-official-title-1201713596/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=March 3, 2016|access-date=March 5, 2016|archive-date=August 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811042928/http://deadline.com/2016/03/sketch-troup-million-dollar-extreme-adult-swim-series-order-official-title-1201713596/|url-status=live}}</ref> Titled ''Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace'', the series premiered on August 5, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adultswim.com/videos/million-dollar-extreme-presents-world-peace/|title=Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace|accessdate=December 11, 2016|archive-date=November 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119012200/http://www.adultswim.com/videos/million-dollar-extreme-presents-world-peace|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The series consisted of six eleven-minute episodes that contained a series of anti-sketches, deliberately cheap performances, amateur acting and video segments including pranks. Sketches were deliberately provocative, with characters suffering violent abuses such as crashing through walls, and tables, and subjected to misogynistic and racists discourse. Hyde emphasized the show's ironic nihilism, but journalists such as Buzzfeed's Joseph Bernstein drew attention to the show's popularity with the alt-right, and raised concerns that the ironic nihilism could be, and was being interpreted as racist, sexist and antisemitic.{{Sfn|Sienkiewicz|Marx|2021|pp=101-102}}
''World Peace'' was subject to internal controversy at Adult Swim due to concerns about dogwhistling in the show and accusations of harassment by Sam Hyde and his fans.<ref name="Bernstein-2016a">{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=17 November 2016 |title=Adult Swim Talent Want The Network To Cancel Its Alt-Right Comedy Show |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/adult-swim-talent-trying-to-cancel-million-dollar-extreme |access-date=15 August 2018 |work=BuzzFeed News |language=en |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809122351/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/adult-swim-talent-trying-to-cancel-million-dollar-extreme |url-status=live }}</ref> Hyde's connection to the alt-right was reported in numerous outlets.<ref name="Bernstein-2016b">{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=14 September 2016 |title=The Underground Neo-Nazi Promo Campaign Behind Adult Swim's Alt-Right Comedy Show |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/neo-nazi-promo-adult-swim-million-dollar-extreme#.pbwxy9Keb |access-date=15 August 2018 |work=BuzzFeed News |language=en |archive-date=September 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922092242/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/neo-nazi-promo-adult-swim-million-dollar-extreme#.pbwxy9Keb |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sims |first1=David |title=The Battle Raging Over Adult Swim's Alt-Right TV Show |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-raging-battle-over-adult-swims-alt-right-tv-show/508016/ |website=The Atlantic |language=en |date=17 November 2016 |access-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117200235/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-raging-battle-over-adult-swims-alt-right-tv-show/508016/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2016, it was announced that the show would not be renewed for a second season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/adult-swim-cancels-controversial-million-dollar-extreme-w454098|title=Adult Swim Cancels Controversial Show 'Million Dollar Extreme'|last=Blistine|first=Joe|date=December 5, 2016|publisher=Rolling Stone|access-date=December 5, 2017|archive-date=August 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814215121/http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/adult-swim-cancels-controversial-million-dollar-extreme-w454098|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Abramovitch-2016">{{Cite news |last=Abramovitch |first=Seth |date=8 December 2016 |title=Sam Hyde Speaks: Meet the Man Behind Adult Swim's Canceled "Alt-Right" Comedy Show (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sam-hyde-speaks-meet-man-behind-adult-swims-canceled-alt-right-comedy-show-954487 |access-date=15 August 2018 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en |archive-date=June 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608155315/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sam-hyde-speaks-meet-man-behind-adult-swims-canceled-alt-right-comedy-show-954487 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Reception== Christian Williams of ''The A.V. Club'' described them: "Some videos borrow ''Wonder Showzen''{{'}}s toolkit, wielding subliminal blips and eye-straining text in service of subversive ends. Some make use of the ''Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' aesthetic, and some are surprisingly slick, with excellent, eardrum-shredding music courtesy of talented mystery-men like Orangy and Vaervaf."<ref name=AVClub2013>{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Christian|title=Take in the work of the comedy provocateurs in Million Dollar Extreme|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/take-in-the-work-of-the-comedy-provocateurs-in-mil-96712|website=The A.V. Club|date=April 23, 2013|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813111820/http://www.avclub.com/article/take-in-the-work-of-the-comedy-provocateurs-in-mil-96712|url-status=live}}</ref> In the view of ''Philadelphia''{{'}}s Andrew Thompson: "The mission of Million Dollar Extreme has always seemed a spin on afflicting the comfortable, except its targets usually aren't the comfortably powerful. To the extent that satire exists in MDE's comedy, it feels like more of rationalization than a reason for the shock itself."<ref name=PhillyMag>{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Andrew|title=WATCH: TEDx Drexel Got Pranked This Weekend|url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/10/06/tedx-prank-philadelphia-drexel-sam-hyde/|publisher=Philly Mag|date=October 6, 2013|access-date=January 4, 2016|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829192634/https://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/10/06/tedx-prank-philadelphia-drexel-sam-hyde/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also== * Fishtank (web series)
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite journal |last1=Aspray |first1=Benjamin |title=On Trolling as Comedic Method |journal=Journal of Cinema and Media Studies |date=2019 |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=154–160 |jstor=26742027 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26742027?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiI4NGFhMDk3Zi05MjBjLTRmZDItODM3NS1iN2M4Y2E0ZTdhNWMiLCJpbnN0aXR1dGlvbklkcyI6WyJkMTljZGExOC02NWJmLTQ1MTEtYTIwYy0yMWI5NTViMzBkMTgiXX0 |access-date=31 October 2024 |issn=2578-4900}} <!--B--> * {{cite book |last1=Boatright |first1=Robert G. |last2=Shaffer |first2=Timothy J. |last3=Sobieraj |first3=Sarah |last4=Young |first4=Dannagal Goldthwaite |title=A Crisis of Civility?: Political Discourse and Its Discontents |date=18 February 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-05196-5 |language=en}} <!-- Quote: "Sam Hyde intentionally claimed credit for the OSUshooting, and his friends helped circulate this misinformation on Twitter." Source does not state its own sources but chapter note 3 reads "We did not verify the accounts of every individual participating in the discussion, nor did we check the veracity of every personal story shared via Twitter. Instead, we focused on those individuals driving the discussion and verified their accounts and identities." <!--D--> *{{cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Joan |last2=Dreyfuss |first2=Emily |last3=Friedberg |first3=Brian |title=Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America |date=20 September 2022 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-63557-864-5 |language=en}} <!--F--> * {{cite book |last1=Foreman |first1=Gene |last2=Biddle |first2=Daniel R. |last3=Lounsberry |first3=Emilie |last4=Jones |first4=Richard G. |title=The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in the Digital Age |date=21 June 2022 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-77747-2 |language=en}} <!--M--> * {{cite book |last1=Marantz |first1=Andrew |title=Antisocial: How Online Extremists Broke America |date=20 February 2020 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-1-5098-8250-2 |language=en}} <!--S--> * {{cite book |last1=Sienkiewicz |first1=Matt |last2=Marx |first2=Nick |title=That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them |date=26 March 2024 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-40296-6 |language=en}} * {{cite journal |last1=Sienkiewicz |first1=Matt |last2=Marx |first2=Nick |title=Appropriating Irony: Conservative Comedy, Trump-Era Satire, and the Politics of Television Humor |journal=JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies |date=2021 |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=85–108 |doi=10.1353/cj.2021.0046 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/349/article/800086/pdf |access-date=31 October 2024 |issn=2578-4919|url-access=subscription }} <!--W--> * {{cite book |last1=Webber |first1=Julie A. |title=The Joke Is on Us: Political Comedy in (Late) Neoliberal Times |date=11 December 2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4985-6985-9 |language=en}}
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Category:American performance artists Category:American sketch comedy troupes Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American black comedy Category:Internet trolling Category:Internet hoaxes Category:Surreal comedy Category:Comedians from Massachusetts Category:2010s in comedy