Legendary Digital Networks is hoping to capitalize on one of its most beloved web series by bringing a new show to Alpha, its subscription video on-demand service. The show in question is called CelebriD&D, and it features a cast of TV, film, and digital media notables who will gather together to play Dungeons & Dragons.
The dungeon master for CelebriD&D is Matthew Mercer, who also hosts the popular web series Critical Role on the Legendary-owned Geek & Sundry channel. Mercer serves as the master of ceremonies for a role-playing five-person band that consists of his Critical Role co-stars Marisha Ray and Taliesin Jaffe, Dan Casey and Jessica Chobot of the Legendary-owned Nerdist network, and a guest. In the premiere episode, that guest is actor Joe Manganiello, who has a long history with Dungeons & Dragons.
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CelebriD&D is a clear attempt to build on the success of Critical Role, which streams each week on Twitch and regularly reaches six-digit view counts 87 episodes into its run. While CelebriD&D may share a parent company and a theme with Critical Role, it more closely resembles another Dungeons & Dragons web series, Dan Harmon’s HarmonQuest. Both of those shows are built for on-demand viewership rather than streaming, and they’re both distributed through SVOD platforms: HarmonQuest through NBCUniversal’s Seeso and CelebriD&D through Legendary’s Alpha, which launched last year.
To watch the full, 45-minute premiere of CelebriD&D, you’ll need an Alpha account, which will run you at least $4.99 per month. Will the new series be able to translate Critical Role’s sizable audience into paying customers? We’ll find out as additional CelebriD&D episodes are released at a later date.
