Object shows
An object show (commonly miscapitalized as an Object Show or simply abbreviated as just a show) is a type of web series that was invented in 2008 with Total Firey Island, later popularized in 2010 with Battle for Dream Island, and typically feature anthropomorphized objects that usually compete for a prize, similar to reality shows like Total Dramaand Survivor, although some are non-competitive. The general fanbase of object shows are collectively known as the object show community and it is the community in which the genre revolves around.
Format[edit | edit source]
Many object shows are typically made in an animation software, such as Adobe Animate and FlipaClip, while most past shows were made in Moho, which was back then known as Anime Studio. However, a handful of shows are made in other mediums, such as often presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides, or live-action; using paper with characters printed or drawn on them.
Several object shows are illustrated in the Battle for Dream Island artstyle and use publicly available assets from it, while many other are hand-drawn or use their own. A few object shows, mainly more comedic ones, may switch to other artstyles randomly as surprise. There are many object show creators who do not release the assets for their shows (commonly to avoid theft), most notably AnimationEpic, while there are many that do, most notably jacknjellify.
Much of the object show genre around the competitional ones contained every personality basis for a cartoon but sometimes they can also follow up changes of personality or making unique ones. The characters of said shows typically fall into tropes characterized by reality shows and its parodies, such as egotistical hosts, manipulative leaders, geeks, and jocks.
On many occasions, a person might reuse a character from their past show to their present show, give ownership of their show to, or have more than one ownership of the exact same show.
Competition[edit | edit source]
Competition-based object shows usually begin in a world where anthropomorphized objects inhabit (usually taking place in an unspecified open grassland). The objects go around their lives before the host arrives. The host later invites the contestants to battle for a prize (typically money or other valuable object). Many of them are sorted into teams in the first episode.
After a challenge is finished, the losing team usually goes up for elimination, with votes being casted by either the contestants or viewers. The contestant with the most votes (least on vote to save) is typically eliminated. This continues on until only one contestant remains in the finale, who wins the prize.
Types of elimination[edit | edit source]
| Name | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Normal | The default type of eliminations. Only one contestant gets eliminated. |
| Double elimination | A slightly rarer form of elimination. Rather than one contestant getting eliminated, two contestants get eliminated. |
| Multi-elimination | More than two contestants get eliminated. The amount can be 3, 5, 10, or anything else. This type is highly recommended for object shows with a larger cast, but typically seen when getting a new contestants to join/rejoin the show. |
| Challenge | A competing version of eliminations. One contestant or more gets eliminated if they reach last place in a challenge. This is more notably used in tiebreakers. |
Types of voting[edit | edit source]
One of the most common methods of voting, popularized by Battle for BFB, use letters in square brackets as shorthands for the characters (e.g. [A]). In most shows, viewers cannot vote multiple characters at the same time (e.g. votes such as "[A] or [B]" or "[A] [B]") as it could confuse the creator(s).
Voting functions[edit | edit source]
| Name | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Viewer voting | The default function. Viewers vote for which contestant they want to be eliminated. |
| Contestant voting | The alternate function. The contestants on the losing team vote each other to be eliminated, most of the time similar to shows like Survivor or Total Drama. |
| Winner voting | The alternate function of contestant vote. The contestants on the winning team vote for which contestant they want to be eliminated. |
| Loser voting | The alternate function of contestant vote. The eliminated contestants vote for which contestant they want to be eliminated. |
Voting types[edit | edit source]
| Name | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Dislikes | The viewers vote on who to be eliminated from the show. The contestant with the most votes gets eliminated. |
| Likes | The viewers vote on who to not be eliminated from the show. The contestant with the least votes gets eliminated. This method was first notably used on BFB 17. |
| Team's choice | The viewers vote for teams. The team with the most votes gets to choose a team with the least votes to get eliminated. |
| Contestant's choice | The viewers vote for someone on the winning team. The contestant with the most votes gets to choose who leaves the show. |
Voting methods[edit | edit source]
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Comments | Commonly used in the Battle for Dream Island series. The viewers cast a vote (often along with other remarks) on the comments section of the video to make it count. |
| Like/dislike | Most notably used in Battle for Dream Island Again. The viewers vote by rating (liking/disliking) contestants' videos (often unlisted and accessed from the descriptions of episodes). The contestant with the most likes usually get a prize, and the one with the most dislikes gets eliminated. |
| Poll | For organization and privacy, votes on comments are set to not count, and polls hosting them are instead the place. |
Non-competition[edit | edit source]
Non-competition-based object shows usually revolve around objects randomly going on adventures. A majority have episodes that connect the show's storyline, while some don't. Despite their lack of competition show elements, these shows often entertain audiences with their headcanons and unique characters. In fact, many viewers find themselves eagerly anticipating each new episode to see where the objects' adventures will take them next.
Joke[edit | edit source]
Joke-based object shows are those who don't take themselves seriously. Joke shows usually derive their humor from being satire, being purposely bad, memes, references, or being unpredictable. Joke shows commonly feature one-off gags, characters that by themselves are a joke ("joke characters"), or satire of old or poorly made object shows.
Mini[edit | edit source]
Mini object shows are mainly spin-offs of normal ones. A different cast is given, no dialogue is implemented, and usually up to two contestants will be up for elimination. This type was first invented in 2020, and the first ever mini show named BFDI Mini originated in TikTok.
Timely[edit | edit source]
Timely-based object shows are those with a specific upload schedule. A small cast is given, and the episode is left rushed to stand out with the upload schedule. This type was invented by FusionAnimations in 2020 with the creation of The Daily Object Show, a show in which its schedule later breaks.
Despite this, some other timely shows tend to have its episodes air in a certain holiday or event each year (e.g. Saint Patrick'sly Object Show by Cosmic Comet; each episode airs on St. Patrick's Day, The Solar Eclipsely Object Show by Xananer; each episode airs on a day a solar eclipse happens, etc.).
Friend[edit | edit source]
Friend-based object shows usually revolve around the same technique as normal object shows, except the cast consists of characters representing the creator's friends. Some notable examples include Burger Brawl, Greeny's Grand Game, and Mickey Mouse Battle House.
Large cast[edit | edit source]
Large cast object shows are those whose amount of contestants are 30 or higher. This was popularized in late 2017 with Battle for BFDI (later Battle for BFB), the fourth season of Battle for Dream Island released on November 3, 2017, but later gets criticized due to the possible risk of lack of screentime and character development for the contestants during script writing.
There's a widespread fear that shows like these could end up lasting for like a massive amount of years, except this can be resolved with more-than-single eliminations (e.g. Battle for Dream Island: The Power of Two) and splitting into two shows (e.g. Battle for BFB into Battle for Dream Island: The Power of Two).
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Total Firey Island was the first ever competitive piece of object media, but the first one made public is Battle for Dream Island.
- The first ever piece of OSC media was a comic known as FIREY to keep our customers happy.
- Almost all new formats of object shows were the most implemented by jacknjellify.