Adam Ruins Everything

Adam Ruins Everything is an American educational comedy television series starring Adam Conover that debuted on September 29, 2015, with a 12-episode season on truTV. The series aims to debunk common misconceptions held by the public on a variety of topics. On January 7, 2016, it was announced that the show had been picked up for 14 additional episodes to air starting on August 23, 2016. An hour-long election special was later produced. 
On December 7, 2016, truTV announced the renewal of "Adam Ruins Everything" for a 16-episode season, which premiered on July 11, 2017. An additional miniseries of six animated episodes premiered on March 20, 2018, subtitled "Reanimated History". On May 9, 2018, TruTV announced the show had been renewed for 10 more episodes, and would return late 2018. On July 8, 2019, it was announced that eight additional season 3 episodes would air that year, beginning on August 13, 2019.
On December 1, 2020, Conover announced on his website that with a new Netflix show being planned called "The G Word", "Adam Ruins Everything" was effectively concluded.
Format.
"Adam Ruins Everything" is based on a CollegeHumor web series of the same name, and stars comedian Adam Conover. Each episode begins with an ordinary person going about their daily lives before stating a common misconception regarding a certain topic. Usually the person in question is recurring cast member, comedian Emily Axford. Adam appears seemingly out of nowhere and introduces himself, and informs the other character and the audience about the misconceptions related to the character's statement. This dialogue serves as a springboard to a more in-depth discussion of commonly-held beliefs and falsehoods related to that topic, in which Adam provides historical background to explain how the ideas in question became popularized, introducing real-life experts who explain these details, and citing peer-reviewed science studies and other empirical sources from which the information is derived. When he does this, the citations briefly appear onscreen. This information is presented via the use of sketch characters, time travel, and animated segments, sometimes to the annoyance of the other character. At the end of the show's third act, the other characters' frustration will reach a critical point, prompting them to feel demoralized and disempowered. In the fourth act, however, Adam responds with a "positive takeaway", explaining how the new knowledge that has been provided can provide a solution to the situation, and explaining how the characters and views can do their part to improve society and their lives.
In 2016, truTV aired "The Adam Ruins Everything Election Special", which took a historical look at the American presidency and election system, and which was filmed before a live audience in Los Angeles, California.
The first season featured interstitial segments titled "Ever Wonder Why?" which briefly explored subjects unrelated to the episode's main topic. The second season replaced these segments with extended, out-of-character interviews with the show's experts. In season three, these were replaced with new segments in which Emily talks about other subjects related to the main topic.
Cast.
Other.
These actors appear in featured roles, often as historical figures that help illustrate the origins of the ideas that Adam scrutinizes.
Reception.
"Adam Ruins Everything" has received positive reviews from critics. Reviewing the series premiere, "The New York Times" reviewer Neil Genzlinger wrote, "Adam Conover's new television series isn't the first dedicated to the fine art of debunking, but it's one of the most entertaining." Reviewing the second season, "The Wall Street Journal" critic John Anderson wrote, "In short, he's irritating. But he owns it. Which makes his quasi-educational comedy series so goofily endearing." Writing in "Fast Company", Christine Champagne described Conover as "the lovechild of Debbie Downer and the coolest, most contrarian college professor you ever had."
truTV president Chris Linn stated in a 2018 interview that the show is "a breakout hit" for the network, and that truTV's research has found that viewer "sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, even for people who don't agree with [Conover]. They appreciate his approach."
Reviews have praised "Adam Ruins Everything"'s ability to encourage critical thinking and change its minds using comedy and facts, even when viewers have strongly-held beliefs to the contrary. Writing in the Pacific Standard, Andy Dehnart said: 
"Adam Ruins Everything" has found use by educators in the classroom. In a paper entitled "Adam Ruins Everything, Except Economics", Pennsylvania State University teaching professors Jadrian Wooten and James Tierney wrote that "Adam Ruins Everything touches on many economics topics that are relevant to introductory-level courses" and went on to describe how segments from the show could be used to teach concepts in economics.
Criticism.
Writing in "The Verge", Sean O'Kane criticized the episode "Adam Ruins Going Green"'s representation of a report on electric cars by "Slate" magazine. He wrote: A similar argument against the episode was leveled by Fred Lambert of the pro-EV publication Electrek. Adam Conover and researcher Peter Miller released a response to O'Kane's op-ed, in which they stated:
The episode "Emily Ruins Adam Ruins Everything", functioned as a "corrections" episode, in which Conover and Axford revealed and discussed factual errors the show made over the preceding season. In this episode, Conover stood by the facts presented in the "Going Green" episode but argued that the presentation could have been clearer, stating, "If that many people misread our argument, we should have done a better job explaining it."
Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, a chemist and science journalist working for Germany's public broadcasting, criticized a portion of the episode "Adam Ruins Science" about animal testing for making what she called misleading claims about scientists and misquoting sources.
International broadcast.
In Canada, the series premiered on January 12, 2017 on Much. The series is broadcast on SBS Viceland in Australia. The series premiered on Netflix for the United States on September 30, 2018.