The Gamekillers
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The Gamekillers was the title of a one-hour television special that was aired on MTV in the United States in 2006 and re-aired on the The Comedy Network in Canada. It was a cross-promotional event with Axe Dry who had previously used the "Gamekiller" premise in a recent ad campaign. Therefore, this television series is known as "branded content."
The "Gamekillers" are a collection of stereotyped characters who represent certain annoying personalities who teens and 20-somethings often encounter throughout the course of their social life. In particular, each Gamekiller is said to be particularly skilled at inadvertently (or sometimes purposely) ruining a date and breaking up a couple. They are all generally understood from a male perspective.
The fourteen Gamekillers are:
- BRITISH ACCENT GUY: who impresses women with his phony accent and general foreignness
- THE MOTHER HEN: a domineering girl who micromanages the lives of her girlfriends
- CARL: an average single friend who considers dating to be a low priority, compared to other hobbies, like sports
- THE MESS: a guy who is not only a slob, but tries to provoke immaturity from his friends
- EARLY MAN: a generally macho, strong bully
- THE BALLADEER: who uses his musical skills to woo over women
- THE PACE CAR/THE 11: a girl who is distractingly attractive, though "out of your league". Played by Giulianna Ramirez
- SENSITIVO: an overly sensitive and protective, possibly gay male friend of a girl
- MAN CANDY: a distractingly attractive man who can easily steal dates
- THE DRAMA QUEEN: a girl who makes a big production out of everything
- THE BALLER: a basketball athlete who uses his skills to impress
- IQ: a very smart guy who "claims" you won't get the girl, and tends to be a windbag
- THE ONE-UPPER: a guy who always claims to be doing something better and more interesting than whatever you've done, tends to be a bore
- MAN WITH DOG: a guy who uses his dog to impress a girl
- KASH MUNNI: a wealthy, snobbish guy who flaunts his cash everywhere he goes
In the show, each Gamekiller was profiled, and actors playing certain ones were introduced to unsuspecting real-life couples to ruin their dates.
MTV subsequently ordered five half-hour episodes of "The Gamekillers", evolving the original 2006 special into a full television series. The first episode premiered on September 21, 2007. In each episode, a male contestant who thinks he is on a simple reality dating show goes on a series of dates with an actress who he believes to be a fellow contestant. Every situation he finds himself in is completely staged, and in every date the contestant is confronted with a Gamekiller, whose purpose is to throw the date off course and ruin the contestant's chances of success. If the contestant overcomes the challenges the producers place in front of him, he will have his name etched onto the ancient Axe Gamekillers Chalice, alongside other such historical ladies' men as Hugh Hefner, Casanova, John Hancock and Sasquatch.
This series reprises some of the Gamekiller roles featured in the original special and introduces several new characters:
- THE SWARM: a group of the girl's best friends, who relentlessly interrogate and embarrass you;
- NATURAL DISASTER: the politically correct, new age, earthy guy who uses his green ways to impress girls while criticizing your lifestyle
- THE FLIRT: a provocative girl who will flirt and tease you, distracting you from the girl you're with
- THE WAND: the street magician who uses his magic tricks to impress the girl and annoy you
- THE CONQUISTADOR: the sultry, world-traveling Casanova-type whose mastery of romance languages and knowledge of foreign lands impresses and charms girls to no end
- THE JOKESTER: the guy who is "always on", using his quick wit to get laughs, often at your expense
The series will enjoy a five week run on MTV and MTV2, with new episodes premiering every Friday night at 7pm on MTV.
