First look at YouTube prankster Ed Bassmaster's new CMT show
YouTuber Ed Bassmaster is bringing his antics to Country Music Television.
The hilarious prankster's new cable series -- The Ed Bassmaster Show -- will round out the network's Thursday night line-up, beginning on April 14.
“This is my show and it’s very much like me,” Bassmaster told Mashable. “It was basically someone giving me money to pursue the dream I wanted to pursue.”
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Mashable got a sneak peak of the series (below).
Bassmaster, who has just over 2 million subscribers and over 500 million views to his channel, is known for his in-character prank videos. Growing up, he was always the class clown, with aspirations to one day star on Saturday Night Live.
Inspired by comedians like Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey, the Philadelphia-based star started a YouTube channel in 2006.
“I saw YouTube as an outlet for what I had been doing since I was a kid,” he said. “I’ve been a comedian my whole life.”
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His show, from the producers of MTV shows like Teen Wolf, will feature some of his off-the-wall characters including Skippy, the loveable yet annoying nerd who oversteps boundaries, and Mumbles, who has an unintelligible accent.
“While filming the show, the first thing that I always thought of was my YouTube fans – because I know what they like and I know what they want to see. They were my No. 1 focus,” Bassmaster said. “I wanted to be 100% real. To do that, I had to keep it as close to my YouTube channel and I didn’t want it to look over-produced.”
But a bigger budget did allow for more opportunities. Bassmaster said fans can expect similar pranks, with higher production value aka more cameras, better costumes and access to places Bassmaster said he didn’t have as just a YouTube star.
Bassmaster is not the first – nor will he be the last – digital star to make the jump to traditional TV. Some have done it successfully, others don’t have as much luck. Though networks and studios are increasingly looking to the digital world to find new talent, they still haven’t fully mastered how to attract the younger, cord-cutting audiences.
“TV is much harder,” Bassmaster admitted. “You just have to film a lot more in a short amount of time and it’s exhausting. It’s an awesome experience but it takes a lot out of you.”
Still, he’s grateful for the chance to expand his audience. CMT, a Viacom-owned network, reaches more than 92 million homes in the U.S.
“To have a TV show come along you could say it’s a dream,” he said. “It’s one in a million, probably less than that.”
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Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
