''The Gamekillers'' is a one-hour

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

that aired on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in the United States on February 6, 2006, and re-aired on The Comedy Network in Canada. It was a cross-promotional event with Axe Dry, who had previously used the "Gamekiller" premise in an ad campaign. Therefore, the television series is known as "

branded content Branded content (also known as branded entertainment) is a type of entertainment product made or otherwise funded by an advertiser. They are designed to build awareness for a particular brand by presenting content that reflects its values and image ...

". The "Gamekillers" are a collection of stereotyped characters who represent certain personalities who, according to Axe and the show's producers, 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.

Characters

In the show, each Gamekiller was profiled, and actors playing certain ones were introduced to unsuspecting real-life couples to ruin their dates.

TV series

MTV 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, his name is etched onto the "ancient Axe Gamekillers Chalice", alongside other such historical ladies' men as

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

, Casanova,

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...

and

Sasquatch Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

. This series reprises some of the Gamekiller roles featured in the original special and introduces several new characters:

References

External links

Official siteOfficial Canadian siteThe GameKillers Game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamekillers, The 2000s American television specials 2006 television specials 2006 in American television MTV original programming