Dude, Check the News, It Doesn't Matter What Channel

About

Dude, Check the News, It Doesn't Matter What Channel refers to a scene from Smiling Friends in which Charlie tells Pim to check the news on any channel, followed by Pim turning on the TV and seeing chaos in the streets. The scene comes from the second episode of season two, titled "Mr. President," which aired on May 12th, 2024. After its release, the clip was made into a green screen format as early as May 13th, inspiring memes in which the footage on the television and the room in which Pim and Charlie are in are changed to alter the context. The meme is seemingly a reference to a viral OneyPlays moment in which Zach Hadel, co-creator of Smiling Friends, yells "they hit the Pentagon." and "turn on the TV it doesn't matter what channel."

Origin

On May 12th, 2024, Smiling Friends season two episode two, titled "Mr. President," aired on Adult Swim. At one point in the episode, Charlie tells Pim, "Dude, check the news, it doesn't matter what channel." Pim turns on the TV and watches scenes of chaos in the streets (shown below, left).

On May 13th, YouTuber^[1] Green Screen Videos by Murdoink posted a version of the scene in which a green screen has been edited into the background of the room, as well as over the TV screen, garnering over 32,000 views in 10 days (shown below, right). The user also posted the green screen to their X^[2] account, @Murdoink, garnering over 10,000 likes and 1,500 reposts in the same span of time.

Spread

The green screen template began to inspire memes the day it was posted on May 13th, 2024, on both YouTube and X. For example, that day, X^[3] user @baldwinvoices posted a version of the meme that gained over 19,000 likes in 10 days (shown below). On the same day, X^[4] user @JtasticVA posted an edit referencing Persona that gained over 13,000 likes in the same span of time.

https://t.co/ZoOGm8Mqlk pic.twitter.com/Y1dmPgJihB

— Baldwin 🔜 Momocon 2024 (@baldwinvoices) May 13, 2024

On May 14th, YouTuber^[5] skarm posted a version of the meme that gained over 30,000 views in nine days. On May 16th, X^[6] user @ther1zzmeister posted a version of the meme adding a clip of Zach Hadel saying "they hit the Pentagon" onto the TV, garnering over 2,900 likes in a week (shown below).

https://t.co/Sg0MN0aMpw pic.twitter.com/vuVeScotir

— 💛 CHARPIM FOREVER 🩷 (@ther1zzmeister) May 16, 2024