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Truth or Fail game-show videos (2009)

project history · status: last documented in 2011 (looked back on in 2018) · last event: milestone (2011-11-28) · last mentioned: 2018-11-07

Hank launched Truth or Fail in March 2009, a game of linked videos where viewers pick the true one of two facts. It was relaunched with its own channels that July and had guest hosts and over 130,000 subscribers by 2011. Hank later said it never worked and became impossible once YouTube annotations ended.

Parts: Hank asks viewers to subscribe to the Truth or Fail channel (2009)

Told alongside: Brotherhood 2.0: the 2007 year of daily video letters · Truth or Fail Trivia: Complexly's trivia packages for bars and schools (2018)

About: Truth or Fail, Growing Pains, Kristina Horner, Shark Week, Dan Brown (creator), The Lost Symbol

date event what video
2009-03-04 launched Hank launches Truth or Fail: two facts per video, pick the true one to follow a sequence of videos; five correct answers win a secret prize. Truth or Fail! START HERE 00:00:00
2009-03-05 rule change Hank corrects the game: one question's answer was wrong (Growing Pains, not Perfect Strangers) and there are four questions, not five. → refers to Truth or Fail! START HERE TRUTH OR FAIL!!! (START HERE) (re-try...with more info) 00:00:45
2009-07-03 milestone Hank announces that he and John are relaunching Truth or Fail as of today, refined after the original was a fail. TRUTH OR FAIL!!! Episode 2 (New and Improved) 00:00:00
2009-07-03 rule change Hank sets the new rules: a subscribe channel for the first video and a no-subscribe channel for answer videos; videos posted on the host's channel and at youtube.com/truthorfail; rotating hosts. TRUTH OR FAIL!!! Episode 2 (New and Improved) 00:00:00
2009-07-15 milestone A Harry Potter Truth or Fail goes up today, guest hosted by Kristina Horner. This Isn't Hogwarts! A Harry Potter Song 00:03:02
2009-07-30 setback Hank says there will be no Truth or Fail this week (week of 27 July 2009) because it is stuck in his broken camcorder. Mules are so Half-Ass 00:00:00
2009-08-04 milestone Truth or Fail returns with a Shark Week edition. Twitter Games and Truth or Fail 00:01:51
2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) milestone Hank says Truth or Fail is doing extremely well; the last episode was guest-hosted by Dan Brown on The Lost Symbol. DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! 00:01:27
2010-01-25 milestone Hank hands over to a pre-recorded 'Hank from last week' to start an episode of Truth or Fail about dogs: two facts per round, click the true one or fail. Name My Dog! 00:02:38
2010-06-21 milestone John hosts a World Cup edition of Truth or Fail at the end of his video, inspired by Hank's video. You're Gonna Die 00:02:17
2011-10-10 milestone John airs a pre-filmed animal-mating edition of Truth or Fail in his vlog, with a signed copy of one of his books for one random finisher. Animal Mating and Librarian Talking 00:00:29
2011-11-28 milestone Hank reports Truth or Fail now has over 130,000 subscribers; his latest episode is on the Muppets. Stuffed with STUFF! 00:01:57
2017-07-14 looked back Hank says Truth or Fail, still promoted on the 2010 channel page, never worked, though it was a good show he worked hard on. (playful) YouTube History Lesson: Vlogbrothers Through the Ages 00:01:45
2018-11-07 looked back Long ago Hank made an internet trivia game, Truth or Fail; it was great but relied on YouTube annotations, so it is now literally impossible. A New Thing? 00:00:58

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

21 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

  • 2009-03-04 · Truth or Fail! START HERE — announcement: Hank introduces Truth or Fail, a new game he created: he states two facts and viewers say which one is true, or fail. — 00:00:00 · also in: TRUTH OR FAIL!!! (START HERE) (re-try...with more info)
  • 2009-03-04 · Truth or Fail! START HERE — announcement: Hank says the game guides viewers through a sequence of videos, and anyone correct all five times gets a very special prize he won't reveal. — 00:00:00
  • 2009-03-04 · Truth or Fail! START HERE — Hank: Question one: either John won his first writing award at age eight, or 'Helen Hunt' is the oldest Hank Green song viewers have heard. (playful) — 00:00:00 · also in: TRUTH OR FAIL!!! (START HERE) (re-try...with more info)
  • 2009-03-05 · TRUTH OR FAIL!!! (START HERE) (re-try...with more info) — announcement: Hank says he got one question wrong: the one about Perfect Strangers was actually the theme from Growing Pains, and hints viewers should click the Perfect Strangers answer. — 00:00:45
  • 2009-03-05 · TRUTH OR FAIL!!! (START HERE) (re-try...with more info) — announcement: Hank apologises that the first video didn't show up in many subscription boxes, hopes this one will, and says it is all part of figuring out how Truth or Fail will work. — 00:00:45
  • 2009-07-03 · TRUTH OR FAIL!!! Episode 2 (New and Improved) — Hank says viewers may remember the original Truth or Fail as a great big fail, but he liked the idea and has refined it. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2009-07-03 · TRUTH OR FAIL!!! Episode 2 (New and Improved) — announcement: Hank says Truth or Fail videos will be posted on the host's channel and at youtube.com/truthorfail, with future hosts other than the vlogbrothers; the first other host is not yet announced. — 00:00:33
  • 2009-07-03 · TRUTH OR FAIL!!! Episode 2 (New and Improved) — Hank poses the episode's question: either strippers earn more while ovulating than while menstruating, or Albert Einstein loved playing Scrabble; viewers pick the truth. (playful) — 00:01:31
  • 2009-07-15 · This Isn't Hogwarts! A Harry Potter Song — announcement: Hank announces a Harry Potter Truth or Fail today, guest hosted by Kristina Horner of the Parselmouths and the Five Awesome Girls. — 00:03:02
  • 2009-07-30 · Mules are so Half-Ass — announcement: Hank says there will be no Truth or Fail this week (week of 27 July 2009), because it is stuck inside the broken camcorder. — 00:00:00
  • 2009-08-04 · Twitter Games and Truth or Fail — Hank describes Shark Week as Discovery Channel packing all its shark footage into one week to scare viewers who cannot stop watching. (playful) — 00:01:51
  • 2009-08-04 · Twitter Games and Truth or Fail — announcement: Hank: Following Shark Week, Hank presents a Shark Week edition of Truth or Fail. — 00:01:51
  • 2009-08-26 · DEMOLITION DERBY! — announcement: Hank announces a Truth or Fail going live Friday with John and Jory from the Microwave Show, which he finds hilarious while editing. — 00:03:18
  • 2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) · DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! — announcement: Hank says Truth or Fail is doing extremely well; its last guest host, Dan Brown, did a wonderful job on a Truth or Fail about The Lost Symbol. — 00:01:27
  • 2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) · DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! — announcement: Hank reports that Dan Brown has been picked as a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and hopes he wins lots of money. — 00:01:27
  • 2010-01-25 · Name My Dog! — Hank: The first round offers two dog 'facts', one a lie: Chewbacca's vocalizations were based on an Alaskan Malamute's, or all dogs are ambidextrous; the answer is not given here. (playful, unsure) — 00:03:17
  • 2010-03-17 · Side-Boob is Not my Ultimate Concern — announcement: Hank appends a new episode of Truth or Fail that he has just made. — 00:03:16
  • 2011-10-10 · Animal Mating and Librarian Talking — announcement: John: Having to get back to The Fault in Our Stars, John gives Hank instead a Truth or Fail on animal mating that he filmed in the past. — 00:00:29
  • 2011-10-10 · Animal Mating and Librarian Talking — announcement: John: Truth or Fail rules: two purported facts, click the true one or fail; one randomly chosen person who finishes the game will receive a signed copy of one of John's books. — 00:01:05
  • 2011-11-28 · Stuffed with STUFF! — announcement: Hank says Truth or Fail now has over 130,000 subscribers; his latest is about the Muppets because the movie was amazing. — 00:01:57
  • 2011-12-26 · Project for Awesome and Truth or Fail — Hank plays another edition of Truth or Fail, a game show in which he gives two purported facts and viewers click the true one, this time on Christmas carols. — 00:01:27