Escape the Night is an American reality television series created, hosted, produced, and owned by Joey Graceffa. The series follows fantasy plots based on horror and murder mystery aesthetics. The series premiered on June 22, 2016, through YouTube Red. The series concluded its fourth season on September 4, 2019, making the longest-running series on YouTube Premium until 2020. After the cancellation of the series, the creator announced an upcoming film and set up a fundraiser.
| Escape the Night | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Joey Graceffa |
| Written by | Adam Lawson |
| Directed by | Adam Lawson |
| Starring | Joey Graceffa |
| Opening theme | "Evil House" by George Shaw |
| Composer | George Shaw |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography | Cypress Sterling |
| Editor | Steve Grubel |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 19–41 Minutes |
| Production company | Brian Graden Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube Premium[a] |
| Release | June 22, 2016 – September 4, 2019 |
Synopsis
editThe series follows internet personality Joey Graceffa as "The Savant", a fictionalized version of himself mysteriously transported through various historical eras and trapped in elaborate, time-frozen estates controlled by dark forces. Forced against his will, Joey must summon other internet personalities to join him, with each participant required to assume an era-appropriate persona and attire to gain entry. Together, they face complex puzzles and dangerous challenges to uncover magical artifacts that are key to banishing the sinister powers controlling each estate.
Each artifact is guarded by fearsome creatures, intricate puzzles, and strange characters. With only one night to succeed, the group’s survival hinges on teamwork but comes at a cost: at the end of each episode, a vote is held, resulting in one participant’s elimination through a fictional death at the hands of one of the evil’s forces protecting the artifacts. The survivors advance, facing increasingly difficult trials to retrieve each artifact and unlock a way home.
Each season introduces Joey and a rotating cast of YouTubers to a new historical setting, where they must work together to escape or risk being trapped forever. None of the cast members know what will happen next, experiencing each twist, hidden clue, and monstrous encounter in real-time as they strive to break free of the era’s dark curse.
Unlike other reality competitions where players strategize to “win” and receive a cash prize, Escape the Night offers no reward for "survival" to the cast members who reach the end of each season. This allows participants to focus on developing their characters and building a compelling storyline within the unscripted narrative, rather than solely competing to reach the finale. This format gives cast members the freedom to fully explore their roles, contributing to the evolving storyline without the usual stakes or fairness found in traditional reality shows. Additionally, producers can script certain characters in advance to be eliminated at the end of a specific episode if requested due to scheduling commitments, health issues, or in cases of inappropriate conduct.
Production
editConcept
editIn October 2015, the subscription service formerly known as YouTube Red, revealed upcoming projects including an untitled Joey Graceffa project that involves a murder mystery.[1] A year later, the subscription service teased clips of their upcoming murder mystery series.[2] Graceffa revealed in a Teen Vogue interview that "the idea for the project has been in the works for two years, and that he most looked forward to collaborating" with other YouTubers.[3] The creator also said the series was inspired by a murder mystery episode of television series Lizzie McGuire, and was also closely related to the American film Clue (1985).[4]
Filming
editThe creator described filming season one as "super-intense" from starting production at 10PM and wrapping up filming at 6AM. This took five consecutive nights from filming "two episodes each night" at Los Angeles, California.[5]
Distribution
editTwo episodes of the first season premiered on June 22, 2016, through YouTube Red.[6] The premiere season gained success, was renewed for a second season in October 2016, and premiered on June 22, 2017.[7] Graceffa confirmed that a third season was renewed in May 2018. The third season premiered on June 21, 2018. With the fourth season renewed, it made the longest-running original series on YouTube.[8] The fourth season premiered simultaneously at VidCon during a panel conference with Graceffa and was also available to watch for free on YouTube, on July 11, 2019.[9]
Episodes
edit| Season | Contestants | Episodes | Originally aired | Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||||
| 1 | 11 | 10 | June 22, 2016 | August 17, 2016 | YouTube Red | Joey Graceffa Eva Gutowski Oli White | |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | June 22, 2017 | August 16, 2017 | Andrea Russett Tyler Oakley | ||
| 3 | 10 | 10 | June 21, 2018 | August 15, 2018 | Joey Graceffa Matthew Patrick Nikita Dragun | ||
| 4 | 10 | 10 | July 11, 2019 | September 4, 2019 | YouTube Premium | Bretman Rock Colleen Ballinger | |
Post-production
editGabbie Hanna controversy
editOn June 27, 2021, former contestant Gabbie Hanna released "an exposé video" that aimed at producer Daniel Preda, creator Joey Graceffa, and their creative team. In the video, her eating disorder was triggered by "alleged mistreatment on set" and her dietary meal requests were denied by production.[10] Daniel Preda denied Hanna's allegations and personally received her meal options. Preda also mentions that Hanna has "missed or delayed production obligations" and was "verbally abusive" to staff.[11] Various season four cast members sided with the creator and writers of the series, with one of them mentioning it "paints an untruthful picture of what happened."[12]
Cancellation and sequel
editAfter a year from its fourth season premiere, YouTube Premium confirmed and declined to renew the series for a fifth season. In the summer of 2021, Graceffa stated in a vlog that the streaming service will no longer fund and distribute further seasons of the series, but has stated that he has full ownership of the intellectual property.[13]
In October 2023, Graceffa released a couple of teasers for an upcoming project through the series' social media platforms. Later on, the creator announced an upcoming film for the series; a fundraiser was set up through Indiegogo.[14] In November 2023, Graceffa brought five previous contestants to compete a role in the upcoming film which are Manny Mua, GloZell Green, Tyler Oakley, Teala Dunn, and Rosanna Pansino (who ended up winning).[15]
Other media
editAttraction
editWith the release of the fourth season, an immersive escape room was set up for a limited event that ran exclusively from August 9 to August 27, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. The escape room had multiple rooms to venture through, with surprise guest appearances from Joey Graceffa, Jack O'Connor as Mortimer, and Eva Augustina Sinotte as The Sorceress.[16]
Board game
editIn June 2020, Graceffa announced that due to COVID-19's impact on Hollywood and television, their fifth installment was postponed indefinitely, but teased a new interactive fan version. Fans of the series subscribed to a newsletter email list in order to receive updates about the new project. A Kickstarter campaign was started to fund a board game based on the series; their goal of $30,000 was achieved in just three hours. It was formally announced the next day.[17]
Awards and nominations
edit| Award | Year[b] | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streamy Awards | 2016 | Best Costume Design | Olivia Hines | Nominated | [18] |
| Best Ensemble Cast | Escape the Night | Won | |||
| 2018 | Best Comedy Series | Nominated | [19] | ||
| Best Costume Design | Olivia Hines | Won | |||
| Best Ensemble Cast | Escape the Night | Nominated | |||
| Show of the Year | |||||
| Shorty Awards | 2018 | Best Website Series | Won | [20] |
Footnotes
editReferences
edit- ^ Jarvey, Natalie (October 21, 2015). "YouTube to launch subscription Service with original series from Fine Brothers, PewDiePie". The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Weiss, Geoff (May 5, 2016). "YouTube teases 'Red' series from CollegeHumor, The Game Theorists, Joey Graceffa in latest trailer". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ Cerón, Ella (June 21, 2016). "Watch all your favorite social media stars play an epic game of murder mystery". Teen Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Hamedy, Saba (June 21, 2016). "Watch Joey Graceffa bring YouTubers together for 'a dinner party to die for'". Mashable. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
- ^ Hiramine, Brie (June 21, 2016). "Exclusive: Joey Graceffa reveals behind-the-scenes secrets from 'Escape the Night'". J-14. A360 Media. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- ^ Agard, Chancellor (June 23, 2016). "Joey Graceffa, Escape the Night cast perform seance in YouTube Red series — exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Dotdash Meredith. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Weiss, Geoff (May 25, 2017). "Liza Koshy, Tyler Oakley, Jesse Wellens to star in season 2 of YouTube Red's 'Escape The Night'". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hoggatt, Aja (June 1, 2018). "The 'Escape the Night' season 3 trailer is finally here". Entertainment Weekly. Dotdash Meredith. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 12, 2019). "YouTube fantasy competition series 'Escape The Night' to return for fourth season". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ Tenbarge, Kat (June 28, 2021). "Joey Graceffa says Gabbie Hanna was a 'nightmare' on the set of 'Escape the Night'". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ Tenbarge, Kat (June 29, 2021). "Gabbie Hanna called a production assistant a 'dumb f---ing c---,' 'Escape the Night' producer says". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ Winkie, Luke (June 30, 2021). "The Gabbie Hanna and Escape the Night drama, explained". Vulture. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (June 25, 2020). "YouTube cancels 'Escape the Night' but host Joey Graceffa has something else in store for fans". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ Gutelle, Sam (November 2, 2023). "YouTuber Joey Graceffa seeks $250,000 for film adaptation of mystery series 'Escape The Night'". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Graceffa, Joey (November 30, 2023). "Escape the Night cast compete for a movie role". Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Weiss, Geoff (July 12, 2019). "Joey Graceffa's 'Escape The Night' spawns actual escape room in Los Angeles this August". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (July 7, 2020). "Joey Graceffa launches 'Escape the Night' horror board game on Kickstarter". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Robinson, Will (October 4, 2016). "Streamy Awards 2016: Full Winners List". Entertainment Weekly. Dotdash Meredith. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Schaffstall, Katherine (October 22, 2018). "Streamy Awards 2018: Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 16, 2018). "Shorty Awards Nominees: Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe among those recognized for Social Media Excellence". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)