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TikTok debates whether 'Shmunguss' is a real Netflix category or an elaborate hoax: 'I'm being gaslit'
TikTok was left super confused after one man claimed to discover a hidden Netflix category called “Shmunguss.” In fact, more than 12.3 million people have flocked to his viral video in the past few days just to see for themselves what it was all about. But after sparking a heated debate in the comments section, it appears the whole thing was just for laughs and not actually based in any truth.
It all started with @channel.everything‘s video, which appeared to show someone scrolling through Netflix to find something to watch when they stumbled upon the bizarre category.
“Okay, I’m at my girlfriend’s house — can someone tell me what these categories are?” the TikToker says in the clip.
Then, wedged between “Trending Now” and “Award-Winning Films,” @channel.everything appears to land on something called Shmunguss, which includes films such as The Shmunguss King and The Shmunguss Among Us.
“Shmunguss?!” the TikToker asks in utter confusion.
“I’m on a VPN!” his girlfriend chimes in from somewhere else in the room.
“A VPN into what, another dimension?” he shouts back before landing on one video that starts playing an actual trailer.
“WHATTTT?!” he exclaims, just as the video cuts out.
In his post caption, the man seemed truly perplexed.
“Does anybody else have this??” he asked. “pls im so confused.”
In the comments, people tried to make sense of it.
“I’ve been trying to find what the hell a Shmunguss is everywhere online I can’t find a thing bro,” one person wrote.
“tell me why I googled ‘schmunguss’ and get ZERO results,” someone else asked.
Others only replied with more jokes.
“I married a Shmunguss deserved a 4th season,” one person wrote.
“A shmunguss is someone who uses a vpn to stream global content,” another claimed. “Netflix created this category to say they know what we r doing.”
A few people wondered whether he’d somehow accessed “interdimensional cable,” a reference to the show Rick & Morty on Adult Swim.
But others remained skeptical of the whole thing.
“you will never convince me this is real,” one person commented.
“i feel like i’m being gaslit,” said another.
According to multiple sources, the skeptics seem to be right about this one. Turns out, Netflix doesn’t have a weird new category named “Shmunguss” (and no, it’s not some super early April Fool’s joke). The long list of “featured films” within the category isn’t real either, despite seeming pretty legit.
@channel.everything is actually known for posting bizarre stories and fake news that can be easily debunked. It also included a link in its bio to “Shmunguss” merch within hours of the video going viral, which was another red flag.
In the end, it appears to be one big joke — an elaborate, well-crafted and highly sophisticated joke, but nevertheless, a joke. (Kudos to the creative mind and skilled editor who created it, though.)
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The post Is Netflix’s ‘Shmunguss’ category real? appeared first on In The Know.
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