Blue Mountain State
Blue Mountain State is an American television sitcom that premiered on Spike on January 11, 2010. The series was created by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, and produced by Lionsgate Television. The series is about a fictional university, Blue Mountain State, and its football team, the "Mountain Goats". It portrays certain aspects of American university life, including American football, sex, binge drinking, drugs, wild partying, and hazing. Over the years, due in large part to being streamable on Netflix, the series has developed a cult following.
In February 2012, it was reported that Blue Mountain State would not be renewed for a fourth season. On April 8, 2014, was announced and a Kickstarter launched on April 15, 2014. The Kickstarter campaign reached its goal of $1.5 million on May 11, 2014, and the film was released in February 2016.
Cast
Main
- Alex Moran : A Junior starting quarterback, acting Captain, from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
- Sammy Cacciatore : The team mascot from Cheyenne, Wyoming and Alex's roommate, childhood friend and Mary Jo's half brother.
- Kevin "Thad" Castle : A Senior linebacker/team captain from Connecticut.
- Martin "Marty" Daniels : Marty is the coach for Blue Mountain State, and former NFL player.
- Radon Randell : Radon was the new freshman starting quarterback from Detroit.
- Craig Shilo : A running back from Columbus, Ohio. National High School Player of the Year, Craig Shilo was the team's star freshman player.
- Denise Roy : Denise is Craig Shilo's high school girlfriend.
- Mary Jo Cacciatore : Mary Jo is Sammy's younger sister.
- Debra Simon : Debra is Marty's ex-wife and current girlfriend.
Recurring
- Harmon Tedesco : Harmon Tedesco is the drug-abusing kicker for the football team. Harmon exploits anything to get him high, from smoking weed to sticking ice rods up his rectum. Harmon lives at the Goat House with Thad, Alex, and Sammy.
- Donald "Donnie" Schrab : Donnie Schrab is the center for the Blue Mountain State football team. He is somewhat childish and very easygoing. Donnie lives in the Goat House. It was revealed in Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland that Donnie is gay.
- Larry Summers : Larry lives in the Goat House, is Thad's best friend, and is often seen following him around. He has shown to do anything to help his team, even diving his finger up Thad's butt on Coach Daniels's orders.
- Jon Jon Hendrix : Coach Jon Jon is Coach Daniels's best friend and second-in-command. He is extremely loyal to his boss
- Pauline : Pauline is the resident cougar at the Blue Mountain State Goat house. She loves it when people pee on her, which is what made her become attracted to Sammy since he peed on her while she was drunk. She's had sex with all the football players and Sammy. In Season 2, she becomes pregnant and leaves a message at the Goat House. She ultimately decides to raise the baby on her own, until it is announced that Coach Daniels is the father.
- Kate : Kate is Captain of the cheerleading squad. She has shown great disdains towards both Sammy and Mary Jo. In Season 2, it is revealed that she is Thad's personal cheerleader after she sprains her ankle, and makes Mary Jo fill in for her.
- Warren Simon : Warren is the dean of Blue Mountain State. He was a nerd in his youth and resents Coach Daniels. He tried to humiliate Alex by holding a banquet in his honor and giving a speech on a paper he knows Alex didn't write, and he convinces the nerds to turn on the jocks. His plans were ruined by a prank led by Sammy. Warren was dating Debra, Daniels' ex-wife, but she and Daniels eventually got back together.
Special cameo appearance
- Bill Romanowski as Himself
- Bill Parcells as Himself
- Brian Bosworth as Himself
- Boomer Esiason as Himself
- Craig Carton as Himself
- Chuck Liddell as Himself
- Chad Johnson as Himself
- Clay Travis as Himself
- Dan Patrick as Himself
- Stacy Keibler as Herself
Seasons
Reception
gave the series 38 out of 100, from the four reviews it collected. Brian Lowry of Variety found that "Blue Mountain embraces that aspect of Spike's mandate over all else – putting the bodily function/semi-nudity cart before the sitcom horse." Lowry also stated: " has simply made this too-blue "Mountain" into a comedic molehill." Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald gave the series a favorable review saying, "Blue is also frequently funny in a raunchy American Pie way. It's a college comedy in which the guys want to get wasted and laid, in whatever order." Joe Walljasper of the Columbia Daily Tribune describes the series as appealing to those who viewed the film Porky's and "felt that the jokes were a little too high-brow.".In its first season, the show averaged 949,000 viewers in its first six episodes while improving on the time slot by 165% among men 18–24. In its second season, its premiere drew a 1.34 rating in Men 18–34, up 34% compared to the first season average and was ranked No. 2 in its timeslot. Over the season it showed significant ratings growth compared to season 1, delivering a +33% increase in Men 18–34, +50% in Men 18–24, and +14% in Men 18–49. Season 3 of Blue Mountain State started airing on September 21, 2011 on Spike.
The show has gathered a small cult following after it was released on Netflix. Fans of the show often start petitions and Facebook pages to make Spike bring the show back for a fourth season. Many members of the cast, especially Page Kennedy, hinted at a reunion project in the month leading up the announcement of the film. Kennedy made Vines and tweeted with show stars Darin Brooks, Alan Ritchson, Frankie Shaw, Chris Romano and Sam Jones III.
Filming locations
- Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
- John Abbott College, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
- McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
- Lower Canada College, Montreal, Quebec
- Cunninghams Pub, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
- Mel's studios
Broadcast
Season 3 began airing September 21, 2011 on Spike at 11 pm.
Feature film
In March 2013, Ed Marinaro stated in an interview with Class Act Sports that he was working on a Blue Mountain State film. He continued to hint on Twitter at some 'behind-the-scenes' work being done on said movie. In early March 2014, Page Kennedy started hinting at Blue Mountain State reunion project on Instagram, Vine and Twitter along with Darin Brooks, Kelly Kruger, Alan Ritchson, Sam Jones III, Frankie Shaw and Romanski.On April 8, 2014, Blue Mountain State: The Movie was officially announced. To help make the announcement, Alan Ritchson, in character as Thad Castle, made a fake video featuring Jimmy Kimmel.
On April 15, the production launched a Kickstarter campaign, much like the hugely successful 2013 campaign by Veronica Mars to get the cancelled show made into a feature film. The project's goal was to raise $1.5 million by May 15 in order to fund the film. There were rewards for donating to campaign, such as personalized tweets from the cast, shot and pint glasses with the BMS logo, and a speaking role in the film.
On May 11, 2014, the Kickstarter goal of $1.5 million was reached. On May 15, 2014 the Kickstarter campaign ended, with the final funds raised being $1,911,827 from 23,999 backers.
In May 2014, it was announced Jay Chandrasekhar would be the director of the film. However, on September 28, 2014, Lev L. Spiro was announced as the new director of BMS: The Movie. The crew started filming in late 2014 on location in Wilmington, North Carolina. Filming was reportedly complete by December 14, 2014.
The film, titled , was officially released on February 2, 2016.