Game Changer kicked off Season 8 on May 18 with a "legally spicy" episode called "Don't Wake Standards and Practices," that dared to mock Disney, Star Wars, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Bluey, and much, much more copyrighted intellectual property. But how did Dropout's producers decide what was too far? 

Mashable reached out to Game Changer host and Dropout CEO Sam Reich for answers to your burning "Don't Wake Standards and Practices" questions. 

In this Season 8 premiere, Reich welcomed Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, and Jeremy Culhane to a Game Changer set that resembled the board game Don't Wake Daddy — with a standards and practices lawyer who pops up in place of Daddy. 

Because, as Reich put it in the episode, "We're all grown up, and we're not afraid of Daddy anymore. We're afraid of the legal consequences of our actions." 

With each prompt, the players were trying to push the envelope for comedy, without going into a legal danger zone that would wake Standards and Practices, and send them back to start. To determine how dicy their comments are, Reich welcomed three "legal eagles" to take over the podium. In the episode, real-life lawyers Devin Stone, Alexis Noel, and Iya Baclagan served as judges, awarding points and penalties. But after much laughs and so much dunking on Disney properties, you might well be wondering how Dropout can get away with showing all this on Game Changer. 

We went to Reich for the answers. Over a video call, he shared the ins and outs of "Don't Wake Standards and Practices."

How can Game Changers' "Don't Wake Standards and Practices" air?

Ally Beardsley laughs while Jeremy Culhane does up his pants on "Game Changer: Don't Wake Standards and Practices." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

"In [making this episode], we were presented with this paradox," Reich said, "We're creating an episode where we're basically asking players to be legally spicy. What if they do something so spicy we can't show it? Haven't we shot ourselves in the foot? We kind of rolled the dice on that. Although we had a little bit of advice from our lawyers, obviously." 

Reich also acknowledged that Fair Use, a U.S. legal doctrine, is at play here, allowing copyrighted material to be used without permission for criticism, news reporting, educational purposes, or parody.

Was anything cut from Game Changer's Season 8 premiere for legality? 

Ally Beardsley, Lou Wilson, and Jeremy Culhane compete on "Game Changer: Don't Wake Standards and Practices." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

Nope. Reich told Mashable, "Coming out of [making the episode], our lawyers looked at it, and they allowed us to keep everything. And the reason is because in the world of entertainment legality, commentary and context are everything. And the context of this being about pushing legal limits serves us so well that they're not concerned that anyone would be confused about like the 'why' we're saying any of this."

Are those really Dropout's lawyers?

Alexis Noel, Devin Stone, and Iya Baclagan are "Game Changer"s legal eagles for "Don't Wake Standards and Practices." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

No. 

Reich shared, "Devin [Stone, known on YouTube as] Legal Eagle, I have known for a few years. He's obviously an online personality; he's a Dropout fan. We've been looking for an opportunity to work with him on something, and this was just like the perfect case of A and B coming together."

Reich continued, "Alexis [Noel], we found through casting. Iya [Baclagan], we found through casting. Alexis is a little bit more like traditional corporate law experience, as I understand it. Iya is a true Standards and Practices lawyer; that's what she does. So, the fun there was all three of them came from different backgrounds….It was fun to see when they aligned and when they diverged. But all of them are super camera-ready and down to clown lawyers."

How was Ally's video about Disney and McDonald's allowed? 

Ally Beardsley sings on "Game Changer." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

After Culhane and Wilson toyed with sexual innuendo, Beardsley was given a classic Game Changer prompt with "Propose a Visual Effect to Go Here." Beardsley becomes the first to awaken Standards and Practices by proposing an animation featuring a Mickey Mouse with pierced nipples and a "completely accurate Death Star" that reveals the McDonald's logo. 

Reich is surprised that they didn't have to cut any of Ally’s pitch. "I, in a million years, never thought we would be able to animate that for real. I was like, best-case scenario, a couple of sketches, maybe." However, he added, "It helps that our version of Mickey Mouse looks like absolute nightmare fuel," noting, "The fact that we aren't advertiser-supported means that we could be R-rated, which is super helpful."

Did the creator of Bluey sign off on her appearance here? 

Sam Reich, Lou Wilson and Phil on "Game Changer." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

Later in the episode, Wilson is challenged to "threaten Bluey." And as he does, a little animated dog that looks pretty much like Bluey frolics onscreen, along with some less accurate Bluey characters, reflecting Wilson's ignorance of that particular IP. 

Reich quoted back this reporter's description of the scene in his explanation, saying, "'Pretty much' is the operative word there. [Plus], it's like so clear that Lou doesn't really know what's going on with Bluey. He has Bluey as the dad. He says, 'Yellow Wife.' I think that helps us out a little bit here."

Did Dropout reach out to Bluey creator Joe Brumm, for permission? Reich laughed, "Good Lord, did we not ask. This is one of those cases where it's like, maybe better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

However, Reich has a past work relationship with Brumm, which made him pretty confident the Australian animator would be okay with this bit. He added, "All I can say is, Joe, please don't. Please don't come after us."

SEE ALSO: Bluey has an unexpected Dropout connection beyond the Game Changer shock

What's the difference between broadcast and streaming in terms of what can be legally shown? 

'Saturday Night Live's Jeremy Culhane shows his "game" on "Game Changer: Don't Wake Standards and Practices." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

There are points in "Don't Wake Standards and Practices," where the legal eagles refer to Broadcast Standards, like the Safe Harbor rule, which basically says more provocative material is allowed to air on television after 10 p.m. However, as a streamer, Dropout doesn't have to follow those rules. 

Reich explained how Game Changer's producers determined what would work best for the episode, saying, "We asked our lawyers to think a little bit more in terms of network broadcast standards, or like cable broadcast standards, than in terms of streamers, because streamers can get away with so much. Therein kind of lay our resolution to the paradox, as if it were. Like our lawyers were going to judge it by cable broadcast standards, we were going to show it relative to streaming standards, and in the gap is where we saw the entertainment possibility."

Legally, does Jeremy have game? 

Jeremy Culhane gets spanked by Phoenix Askani on "Game Changer: Don't Wake Standards and Practices." Credit: Kate Elliott / Dropout

Over the course of the episode, Jeremy Culhane takes a beating, being literally spanked by Phoenix Askani and dragged by Stone for his lack of "game." But in the end, he wins the episode and edit approval. Thus, the premiere ends with a comically clunky cut in which Stone declares, "Points added for Jeremy's well-documented and extraordinary game."

So, does Reich think Culhane has game? He told Mashable, "I think I have to say, legally, Jeremy has game, because I believe that's the truth. Is it incredibly fun to say he doesn't? Oh boy, yes. It's funny, Jeremy now being like a young star of Saturday Night Live, now that feels like punching up."

Game Changer Season 8, episode 1, "Don't Wake Standards and Practices," is now streaming on Dropout.