Crunch!

Crunch is a weekly comedy show on PMQ, first aired on June 9th, 2023. The show focused on memes on various communities, along with the big memes. The hosts themselves also have their own memes, and they will often show it off without anyone knowing. The show has been popular in various countries, with multiple dubs existing soon after. The show is also credited for helping PMQ regain their number 1 spot after a series of scandals hit the channel the year prior.

History
Crunch was the program that MePhone4 came up with around late 2022. With PMQ desperate for a program to regain the ratings, Crunch eventually get pushed to start on May 21st, and the first episode was aired on June 9th at 8:00PM.

Crunch had no real promotions of any kind, yet it was able to set a new record for the most viewed program in PMQ's entire modern history (1998-now), with over 45% of the population on PMQ to watch what was still a very boring show.

As the show progresses through the episodes, new hosts started to come in. From just 2 hosts (MePhone4 & Shuaib Aslam), it went all the way to 6 by the end of the season (MePhone4, Stickman, Val, Keith, John, Josh)

For a while, Crunch was experimenting with adverts on screen. This put some people off, including Nathan who jokingly raged over it. Ads on screen only existed for 1 episode (S1E10). They also experimented with airtime, but they ended up stopping all weekday broadcasts starting from S1E10, and switched to a Sunday-only show.

After S1E8, Shuaib Aslam decided to leave, mostly because he has been a reporter for PMQ News and hosting a show is "too much" for him.

Crunch was initially scheduled for a Season 2 on September 3rd, but it wasn't until September 17th, 2023 that Season 2 officially began. Season 2 brought in a whole new intro, along with both RossoTX (who was a guest) and Momokuma as the new hosts. Episode 2 takes Crunch from their old studio (presumably E1 at EBC Broadcasting Tower) to a new studio 30 floors high, right on the top of PMQ's headquarters.

Episode 3 saw a timeslot change, where Crunch is now a part of PMQ's The Entertainment Dream Team, with Crunch itself starting at 7:30am, next to The Amazing Digital Circus (7:40am)

The timeslot change didn't last long, as after the timeslot takeover on what's supposed to be Episode 6's broadcast (October 22nd, 2023), the producers decided to mock The Amazing Digital Circus (which was the show that took the slot the week prior). After furious comments from TADC fans, Crunch halted their Season 2 efforts until it was eventually cancelled on December 5th.

During all this, relations between MePhone4 and Stickman worsened. They constantly argued behind the scenes, to the point where they almost broke their files on November 24th. As a result, Stickman and Josh left the show. Stickman later went on to create The Stickman Show the next month, while Josh returns to his old job as a news reporter.

For a while, people were worried if this could be the end of Crunch as a whole. To everyone's surprise, MePhone4 announced their Season 3 efforts on January 1st, 2024. The first episode is going to be on air at the old airtime of 8:00pm, January 28th, 2024. With the change in hosts, Season 3 promised a new format, where every episode has guests. The first guest to appear is Nathan Plays, who MePhone4 has confirmed about the appearance.

Season 1
S1 episodes consist of 3 skits & memes, typically lasting 1 minute each, along with casual talk at the beginning and end. Total airtime of Crunch during Season 1 is at 4-5 minutes for each episode.

Season 2
S2 episodes are typically longer than S1, lasting 6-7 minutes. This is due to the expanded amount of skits to 5 and the introduction of part-time hosts like RossoTX and Grimagikoopa. From Episode 3 until the halting of S2, the show got expanded to 15 minutes, with 10 skits and some news built-in.

Season 3
S3 episodes are scheduled to also be 15 minutes, however the amount of memes is down to 8. Added to S3 is the new chatshow side of Crunch, where MePhone4 talks with the guest for 2-3 minutes.

Reception
Crunch was overwhelmingly postively rated for its awesome memes, goofy styles and the amount of personality each host had. Over time, some cracks of the show began to show, as MePhone4 and Stickman got stuck in endless arguments and hate, presumably the main reason to Stickman exiting Crunch after Season 2.

The show was notorious for having offensive memes towards communities they got hate from, especially YEOW and TADC. YEOW members alleged that the show is purposefully made for racism and encourages people to destroy the show. TADC fans was "annoyed" from how Crunch took over the slots that they watch the most, so they wrote a complaint to PMQ. The complaint resulted in S2E6 getting delayed, which makes Crunch hosts & viewers equally annoyed. The controversial comments on S2E6 was so hated by TADC fans that Crunch delayed S2E7 to November 12th, then November 19th, before cancelling forever out of pressure.

Links
1. https://www.youtube.com/@jeykies3745 - Current distributor of all Crunch episodes