‘Very Important People’ Snubbed In Emmy Talk Series Category It Can’t Win

Imagine an improvised show so well-played that it feels like a tightly-scripted comedic short. Like an elaborate Whose Line Is It Anyway game, with the production value and staging of a multi-camera sitcom, rooted in parody of an in-depth interview format à la Larry King or Barbara Walters. It had never been done before, till Very Important People at Dropout.tv did it.

Very Important People had the improv comic in me cackling-out-loud since a clip from season 1 episode 2 ran across my Instagram feed, stole my heart and won my carefully-rationed subscription funds. Host Vic Michaelis (Vic Michaelis) dove deep into the psyche of a jumpsuited hairy-chested alien named Denzel (Ify Nwadiwe), exposing his species’ ulterior motive to live in our guest houses, watch our Red Box DVDs, and resettle the Earth. It is a very special episode.

Vic Michaelis plays Vic Michaelis, but the guest on Very Important People is an improviser with no-clue of the character they are about to portray. They go eyes-closed through wardrobe and makeup, till they look into the mirror and meet the character they’ll create. It’s a whimsical fish-out-of-water story every time, not only for the (very important) guest but for the (very demure, very mindful) host Vic Michaelis, at-once intrigued and gently-troubled by the eccentric beings who continually frequent their talk show set.

In highlights from season 2, Michaelis meets a Midnight Louse (Paul F. Tompkins), appearing in the daylight of daytime television to lead his burrowing species out of the underground and into the light of day. In a truly haunting episode, Michaelis meets the life-size incarnation of their childhood ragdoll Steffi Pops (Corin Wells), manifesting in a sinister attempt to rope her back into abandoned codependencies. The season 2 finale, though, may be the very-funniest thing I’ve seen on the Internet in a very-long time.

Spencer (Lisa Gilroy), a furry-yellow mascot whose fangs dig into his lower lip, and demonic horns bud from his forehead, is “Just A Baby.” — a Baby From Hell! Spencer’s father, The Devil, flushed him “up-the-toilet” via express lane sewer pipes, from an especially-deep layer of Double Hell! Spencer appeared on Michaelis’ set, not knowing where or why he is, speaking demonic languages and pleading to be spanked. Let’s just say Dante couldn’t write this episode of wholesomely demonic comedy.

Very Important People is an Internet hit by any metric, with teaser clips on YouTube and Instagram often raking-in 10+ million views. That’d make the show a success by any traditional television rating standard. Though the cross-channel ratings math-out sketchily, pop and critical recognition ring substantially. Michaelis and crew have the subdivided attention of The Television Academy, where they were (nominated for an Emmy / considered for an Emmy nom) in the neon-lit Talk Series category.

Competing against marquee names like Kimmel, Maher and Colbert, “Talk Series” is not the ideal fit for Very Important People. It’s not a late night show, or even a talk show, but a parody of one. It’s an elaborate longform improv game you might imagine upon a Second City or Groundlings stage — an improv game so long and depthy that its lead character arcs across two seasons. There’s no Emmy category for that! Regardless, it’s a big win for any “Internet show,” to be considered.

Consider this. The first time a show produced and distributed exclusively by a streaming network won an Emmy was Netflix’s acclaimed House of Cards, way back in 2013! And, as you might guess, Dropout.tv is not Netflix. Not even close. It’s the latest channel from longstanding (albeit niche) Internet-comedy brand Collegehumor. Five years ago, IAC/InterActiveCorp shopped around then sold the struggling outfit for spare change, to the prodco’s own Chief Creative Sam Reich.

Today, a retooled Dropout.tv’s lineup is stacked with improv comedy shows. Clips dominate the social media feeds, and the streaming network’s subscriber count recently crested 1 million at a bargain $6.99/month. These dropouts must be improvising something important.

Correction: An earlier version of this article attributed the character of Midnight Louse to H. Jon Benjamin instead of Paul F. Tompkins.

“Midnight Louse” played by Paul F. Tompkins.