When the CoughCough hit us in March of 2020, SML was naturally affected, and that included its cast and crew. Chris, not wanting to risk getting sick, took a break off of SML for most of the year and had most of his characters recast or put on hiatus, leaving Logan scrambling to make up for his absence. This led to a number of forgettable videos, without Pooby to anchor them down more of the SML crew’s bad habits became known - Lance’s loud and obnoxious characters, Lovell’s characters falling more into black stereotypes, Logan only using Elaina for female characters and nothing else - the fans clearly wanted Pablo back, and when Pooby returned to the channel in August 2020, Logan was now sure of his talents - and made DAMN SURE to use ‘em.
Now this isn’t some jab at the Poobinator, he seems like a pretty chill dude and he actually has some decent acting chops, and Logan knows that well - but he definitely seems a bit TOO prominent nowadays. He plays Brooklyn Guy and Cody of course, two of the more prominent SML mainstays, but he also shows up in the vlogs, he plays himself and Judge Pooby, he even does stuff for those dreaded SML Merch TikToks - it can definitely seem like a bit much, especially when it comes at the cost of other actors, who don’t get nearly as much praise from Logan or the fans, despite arguably being just as good.
Case in point? Lovell. Now I’m not gonna act like I know what happens behind the scenes with these videos, I don’t know if Logan prefers Poobskadoo’s characters over Lovell and the others, or if they’re not as enthusiastic about it and Inner Poob the only one willing to do these roles, but whether the case is, it would seem to explain why Lovell’s characters have been downplayed thru most of last year. I mean, what did Chef Pee Pee even do last year? Lose an arm and try to bone Tom Brady once? What about Bowser? He appeared in one maybe-decent video and vanished? He still does Joseph, but Joseph feels so inconsequential to the videos that it doesn’t change much - whether that’s because Logan doesn’t like those characters or Lovell isn’t always available, we’re not sure.
The same applies to Eliana - she can actually be a really strong actress on some occasions (Rose crying over Jeffy’s death in Jeffy’s 18th Birthday, some of the older Mario/Rosalina videos), but she’s mostly relegated to only playing the “girl” characters, which doesn’t give her much room to actually shine, and even her mainstays like Rosalina, Penelope and Karen are so boring and underutilized that it barely makes a difference and helps her stand out. This is probably why most people prefer Pooby Doo and Lance over her and the other crew - besides them obviously playing the most popular characters, they also seem to make more of an actual impact with their characters, be it because the other actors’ characters are so underutilized, and because of how bland their characters are.
Favoritism is a real problem in the business, and SML is no exception. I don’t mind Poobic Hair as a guy or as an actor, but I definitely think the other crew deserves just as much praise and credit as him, but never seem to get as many roles or appreciation from fans. That said though, if Eliana ever plays Craig the Devil she better do it RIGHT, that’s the role of a lifetime right there.
