Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for Season 2 of Dimension 20: On a Bus, now streaming on Dropout.
Comedy streaming service Dropout went a little harder this April Fool’s Day by launching a “second season” of Dimension 20: On a Bus.
The one-episode second season, which was suddenly released on Wednesday, serves as a follow-up to the viral short video released last year alongside Dropout’s “Game Changer” episode. The video features pitches for the Dimension 20 season from Dragon Master Katie Marovich’s key players (and D&D experts) Jasmine Brar (Little Army Man), Abria Iyengar (Blue M&M), Matthew Mercer (Rindt), and more. Brennan Lee Mulligan (Hat) departs on a bus trip from North Hollywood to LAX Airport in Los Angeles.
Marovich, a tabletop RPG newcomer, said Mulligan, creator and star of “Dimension 20,” and Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout and host of “Game Changers,” never expected the video to garner more than 6 million views. But as soon as that happened, there was talk of making full-length episodes of “On a Bus.”
“We talked about this story very early on, right after the original season 1 of 2:30 premiered,” Marovich told Variety. “I didn’t know it was going to be this big. I was so excited to see people wearing my costumes and dressing up as me at the convention. I don’t think we expected that either. So it kind of made sense to do something else so soon after it actually premiered.”
Although not originally planned as a continuing series, “Dimension 20: On a Bath” filmed a second season in January with the original cast and their characters (minus Iyengar’s original blue M&M, “because Abria kept eating blue M&Ms,” Marovich said) and resumed gameplay based on Marovich’s rules.
What started as a joke (and is now Dimension 20’s highest-rated episode on IMDb) remains a joke throughout most of Season 2, but Marovich says he wanted to pay homage to the art of D&D while DMing a group of hardcore players.
“There’s a fine line between making fun of something and respecting it, because I actually obviously respect[this],” Marovich said. “They’re all great and they’re much better at this than I am. So while I’m doing this job, I definitely don’t want to offend anyone. I just want to have fun.”
Marovich says he “can’t stress enough how much we knew” about the inclusion of D&D in the original Dimension 20: On a Bath, but said he put a lot of effort into planning Season 2.
“We actually did a lot of preparation. We spent a lot of time thinking about the details. Oh, is this going to cross the line? Is this going to be uncomfortable for Brennan and the other people at the table, or is this just going to be fun for everyone?” Marovich said. “And I’m a very type-A person, so it was really hard for me to not read about D&D and know everything about it before coming in. But when I talked to Brennan beforehand, he was like, honestly, I’d rather not know about this. I’m just going to come in as an idiot. But my impulse was definitely, oh, I have to be prepared to actually know what I’m supposed to do. So I kind of subverted that. But this time I really tried not to go beyond that.”
Read more of Variety’s interview with Dimension 20: On a Bus star Marovich about plans for season 2 and additional episodes below.
At what point in the preparation for Dimension 20: On the Bus Season 2 did you decide that additional die types might be useful, or do you think the game mechanics should include multiple rules?
In the first season, which was 2 minutes and 30 seconds long, I literally had no idea what to say about the die system. And those six people, the “perfect six,” came to me and I went with them. But in this case, it was obviously a long season, so I thought maybe that wasn’t enough. So you can see that we have a different system this time. It’s much more complicated. TI-83 is involved. It may be difficult for viewers to understand. Maybe I’m going to write something, some kind of instruction manual or my own book. We want people to know that there are other systems that can be used besides the Perfect 6.
At the end of Season 1, did you leave any room for where you wanted the story to go plot-wise if it continued beyond that part?
Not at all. I can’t stress enough how little I knew going into Season 1. I really had no idea what I was going to say. The only thing that brought me here was that there was a bus. And in season two, obviously, I spent a lot of time purely on the pitch. As I was talking to Brennan, he was really like, “No, let’s not think too much about the plot, because it actually makes it harder.” If the DM knows exactly what they want to do and is obviously collaborating with the other players, then everything is up to them to say. So, for me, I can’t stress enough how little thought was put into Season 1. I had to rewatch the season multiple times. What the hell did I say? I thought. I don’t know what I did.
This photo was taken in January. How long did it take to shoot?
It was a day, but it actually started late, so some people were already on set in the morning. So it was a long day that started a little late, but it was fun. I had to take my baby with me to the set, but it’s fun to work on things like pumping and breastfeeding as a new parent. But it was really fun.
This episode uses a lot of props from previous seasons of “Dimension 20.” Did Brennan give you full access to the prop room or did he suggest specific pieces to use?
The team behind this was truly amazing. Of course, I don’t know anything about “D&D,” but they were very helpful in putting together all the props from the various seasons that could be used. And it was just a bit of a collaboration where people who were much more knowledgeable than me were coming up with something. Like Vecna in Critical Role, this is obviously something I don’t know and I can’t even think of that part because I haven’t seen it. I mean, it was definitely something someone else came up with. It was truly a collaboration. And definitely the best part is from others who are far more knowledgeable than me.
During the episode, you revealed that you were approached by Critical Role to “replace” an unnamed character on the show. Are those negotiations still ongoing?
I would like to believe they are underway. And yeah, I’m choosing to believe that it will happen. Whether that’s true remains to be seen. But I choose to believe that these negotiations are ongoing.
You also said that Brennan was given a much bigger budget than the average season of “Dimension 20” would get from Dropout. How much more do you have to say?
I think you said it was three times the budget? And obviously, I mean, you saw it — yes, we used it. we spent money. I think we had a budget of $5,000 just for cheats. And obviously, we’ve been through all of that.
Do you think these new additions – the “Mr. Question” badge, the dice tray with Cheetos – will be incorporated into the standard gameplay of Brennan’s upcoming season of “Dimension 20”?
I’d like to believe that they won’t be exclusive to D20, but something that everyone is doing throughout D&D. I would like to believe that it will become part of the gameplay from now on. And that’s the reality I choose to live.
The episode ends with one of Brennan’s iconic long monologues from “Dimension 20: Candy’s Crown.” Why did you choose that particular speech at this moment in “On the Bus”?
It was so weird because I didn’t know that was where it came from. Like, I started speaking from the heart and people backstage shot me at that and I was like, oh my gosh. Again, me and Brennan are very in sync. This is just one example of how we always come up with the exact same monologue word for word. So, yeah, for me, no, I hadn’t seen it. No, of course I wasn’t stealing. It was certainly independent.
Was this a one-off expansion of BIT, or are there more to come? Is Dimension 20: On a Bus Season 3 in the works?
Yes, I’m going to embarrass Sam and Brennan enough that they’ll do everything they can to shut me up. So I can promise you, we are planning to produce season 3. But[Dropout’s publicist who is monitoring this interview]would say, “No, Katie has no right to promise that. Please don’t put that in the article. She doesn’t have the authority.” But I promise you, Jenny, there will be a season 3, season 4, and season 5.
Everyone on the bus? Or do you think Dimension 20: On a Bus could become a series of its own, with further spin-offs?
I love that question. I’m watching Dimension 20: Inside an Uber. Not surprisingly, I could see it on Waymo. Here we are in 2026. We have to start thinking big. I could definitely see it inside the spaceship. Well, let’s go to space. I think there are many. It’s a world so rich that I’m ready to keep exploring. Dimension 20: On the Bus season 10 may indeed take place in space or underwater, but nothing has been decided yet.
Well, we’re already on a plane in season 2, so things are rapidly accelerating. Did you plan in advance for each of the cast members to come to the DM chair and take over at various points during the filming of the episode, or did it just happen?
No, I never thought he would do that. I did a little bit with Matt. That was my first one. And I thought, wait a minute, this might be a good idea and I should keep doing this, because this is actually a much better way to advance the story than I would do it. Of course, I don’t think all of their appearances didn’t appear throughout the story. But really the best part of this episode is when I’m not in the driver’s seat.
Did you take what they said, learn from it, and apply it throughout the rest of your work?
yes. And in fact, you can see the look on my face when I had a lightbulb moment every time they said something much smarter than anything I could have come up with. And I thought, oh yeah, I have to do that. Whatever it is, we must continue to pursue it. You see, when I’m not sitting in my chair, I’m always like a little kid, giddy with excitement that someone is saying something much smarter than I am.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
