Game Show Replaces Its Host After 8 Seasons

Um, Actually Season 9 will look a little different. As the popular trivia game show heads into a new season later this month, burgeoning streaming platform Dropout released a new trailer for the new episodes, revealing in a Doctor Who parody that Mike Trapp and Michael Saltzman are stepping down from their respective roles as host and fact checker, with regular guest Ify Nwadiwe taking on hosting duties alongside new fact checker Brian David Gilbert.

Dropout did not share a reason for the sudden change, though it comes as Trapp digs deeper into his writing career, in January announcing that 2024 is "the year of Trapp-written cartoons." He is attached to Nickelodeon's new series Rock Paper Scissors, as well as Season 4 of Big City Greens on Disney. A possible reason for Saltzman's exit is unclear. Announcing that he would be joining the show, Nwadiwe wrote on Instagram that a "new ear" was beginning, "thanks for all the well wishes and thanks to @mikewtrapp and @justaddsaltz for leading the way for me and @briamgilbert. Let's boogie!"

News of the changes to the upcoming season were welcomed by fans, with one person commenting, "I LOVE Ify!!! And BDG joining the Dropout regular cast feels right." Somebody else wrote, "Rip trapp and saltzman but bdg and ify is such an amazing choice to replace them. Not to mention i love the previewed a clip of them actually playing um actually this season. So excited!!!" Meanwhile, a third person hilariously said that they "want the episode with Trapp as a contestant to be purely questions he's asked before to see if he retained knowledge as a host."

Um, Actually is a geek-based trivia game show "of fandom minutiae one-upmanship, where nerds do what nerds do best: flaunt encyclopedic nerd knowledge at Millennium Falcon nerd-speed," per an official synopsis. Season 9 guest stars include Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Dante Basco (Hook, Avatar: The Last Airbender), Demi Adejuyigbe, and drag queens Jujubee, Monét X Change, and Trinity the Tuck.

The series is Dropout's oldest still-running series on the platform, having premiered in 2015, according to Polygon. Um, Actually Season 9 premieres on Dropout on Tuesday, Feb. 27 on Dropout. New episodes will be released every other Tuesday.