The Gamekillers was the title of a one-hour television special that was aired on MTV in the United States on February 6, 2006 and re-aired on The Comedy Network in Canada. It was a cross-promotional event with Axe Dry who had previously used the "Gamekiller" premise in a recent ad campaign. Therefore, this television series is known as "branded content".
The "Gamekillers" are a collection of stereotyped characters who represent certain annoying personalities who teens and 20-somethings often encounter throughout the course of their social life. In particular, each Gamekiller is said to be particularly skilled at inadvertently (or sometimes purposely) ruining a date and breaking up a couple. They are all generally understood from a male perspective.
In the show, each Gamekiller was profiled, and actors playing certain ones were introduced to unsuspecting real-life couples to ruin their dates.
MTV
MTV subsequently ordered five half-hour episodes of "The Gamekillers", evolving the original 2006 special into a full television series. The first episode premiered on September 21, 2007. In each episode, a male contestant who thinks he is on a simple reality dating show goes on a series of dates with an actress who he believes to be a fellow contestant. Every situation he finds himself in is completely staged, and in every date the contestant is confronted with a Gamekiller, whose purpose is to throw the date off course and ruin the contestant's chances of success. If the contestant overcomes the challenges the producers place in front of him, he will have his name etched onto the ancient Axe Gamekillers Chalice, alongside other such historical ladies' men as Hugh Hefner, Casanova, John Hancock and Sasquatch.
This series reprises some of the Gamekiller roles featured in the original special and introduces several new characters: