Internet stars Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara rose to new heights of online fame thanks to their shows Unsolved: Supernatural and Unsolved: True Crime on Buzzfeed. So popular were their shows that the website started a YouTube channel dedicated just to Unsolved and affiliated shows. The pair became beloved by their fans for the banter they share with each other and for being friendly foils to one another. Ryan is a superstitious yet lovable short man who believes adamantly in ghosts and spirits, while Shane is a tall smart-mouthed skeptic. Fans love their dynamic as they try to solve unsolvable cases and hunt for demons and ghosts.
From 2016 to 2021, their Buzzfeed shows earned millions of views, but after both concluded the two parted ways with Buzzfeed to pursue their own ventures. So, what are the internet's favorite ghost hunters up to now?
8 They Started A New Company
Shane and Ryan left Buzzfeed to start their own company, Watcher. They make content that is similar to Buzzfeed, but they are now running everything themselves. This means they are less dependent on a big corporation and are therefore able to move more freely and independently, without unnecessary oversight or censorship. This has allowed the pair to flourish creatively and make a variety of new shows.
7 'Too Many Spirits'
One of those new shows, available to watch on the Watcher YouTube channel, is called Too Many Spirits. The show allows the pair to engage directly with their loyal fans and keep up their schtick with Ryan the believer and Shane the skeptic. Fans send in tales about supernatural experiences to the boys, primarily ghost encounters, and the pair rank them on a scale of 1-10 as to how scary and believable the story is. Oh, and the twist is that they get drunk as heck while doing it on specialty cocktails that are made by a friend.
6 They Brought A Friend From Buzzfeed With Them
Who is their bartender in Too Many Spirits? Why it is none other than another Buzzfeed star Steven Lim, who fans might remember from the Worth It series. Lim, ever the foodie and home cook, plays with cocktails for Too Many Spirits but tagged along with his friends to help them make other shows for Watcher. Lim now hosts shows like Homemade and Grocery List. Most popular though is his show Dish Granted, where he tries to make super-fancy versions of not-so-fancy foods, like a $300 dinner of macaroni and cheese.
5 'Weird And Wonderful World'
There are many new and very popular shows on Watcher, many of which play on Ryan and Shane's schtick about the supernatural. Besides Too Many Spirits there is Are You Scared? On that show, the boys read the internet's most terrifying horror stories. There is Spooky Small Talk and Ghost Files, which is the continuation of their ghost hunting projects. But not all of Watcher is about Steven Lim cooking or Ryan Begara's ghost obsession. The boys also do travel segments. In Weird and Wonderful World, they highlight some of the most obscure yet amazing places one can find hidden in cities like New Orleans or Los Angeles. For example, they took a trip to a grocery store in L.A. that only sells soda.
4 'Puppet History'
Steven Lim is the foodie, Ryan Bergara is the ghost hunter, but Shane Madej is the history buff of the group. He got to flex his history chops as the host of Buzzfeed's Ruining History and he continued that fun with Puppet History for Watcher. With the help of a blue muppet-style puppet named The Professor, Madej would delight and test his "students" about some of the strangest yet most fascinating pieces of history.
3 They Are Still Ghost Hunting
As mentioned already, the two have kept up their wildly popular ghost hunting act. Shows like Ghost Files put the boys back in the field of the most allegedly haunted places in the country, and there are even a few episodes of Weird and Wonderful World where they go to places like supernatural museums and seances. Despite years with his friend Ryan, Shane remains a vocal and sarcastic skeptic.
2 They Still Work With Their Buzzfeed Friends
While no longer employed by Buzzfeed, they still work with their old Buzzfeed alums regularly. Along with Steven Lim, Buzzfeed figureheads like Kristen Chirico, Joyce Louis-Jean, and Zach Kornfield, the latter of whom Buzzfeed fans might remember better as one of The Try Guys
1 They Are Not The Only Stars To Have Left Buzzfeed
Speaking of The Try Guys, it should be noted that Shane and Ryan are not the only major names to have parted ways with Buzzfeed. The Try Guys, made up of Kornfield as well as Eugene Lee Yang, Ned Fulmer, and Keith Habersberger, also left the company to start their own production company. Unlike Shane and Ryan, however, they took their brand name The Try Guys with them. After years of success at one company, it would seem that some of Buzzfeed's biggest stars are ready to make their own way in the world of entertainment. We can expect to see more from Ryan, Shane, Steven Lim, and the rest for a while, but their time at Buzzfeed has come to a close.
