Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 gave gamers one of the most lifelike virtual renditions of a modern city ever. Aside from being full of realistic Los Angeles landmarks, Rockstar also riddled the game with parodies of American culture that include satirized versions of popular TV shows and websites. While most gamers will probably spend most of their time in GTA 5 exploring its painstakingly crafted open-world, Rockstar also baked a surprising amount of detail into its mock websites and television series.
There are a total of 83 distinct, in-game websites accessible through players’ smartphones and eight different shows that can be watched by kicking back in front of a TV inside a home or apartment. A majority of these details didn’t play a major role in GTA 5‘s story and were included to make Los Santos feel more like a living and breathing city. Still, there are a handful of sites and shows that are more memorable than others.
GTA 5 players will be introduced to some TV shows and sites through main story quests, while others are there to be explored by users outside of the game’s narrative. Specific shows and sites even contain Easter eggs that will impact gameplay or offer interesting bits of lore. Here are the best fictional TV shows and websites included in GTA 5.
GTA 5 Best TV Show: Fame or Shame
Fame or Shame is a GTA 5 reality TV talent show that parodies real-life shows like American Idol and The X Factor, where a panel of judges rates a contestant’s performance. The judges are also caricatures of actual TV personalities, like British judge Hugh Harrison, a clear parody of American Idol‘s Simon Cowell. The show can be tuned into by flipping to the Weazel channel, and as of the events of GTA 5, it’s on its 14th season.
GTA 5 protagonist Michael De Santa storms the set of Fame or Shame during the self-titled main story mission “Fame or Shame.” He learns that his daughter, Tracy, is auditioning for the show and interrupts the audition with his partner in crime, Trevor Phillips, because Michael believes she shouldn’t embarrass herself on national television. After the fiasco, Michael and Trevor chase Fame or Shame host Lazlow Jones and force him to strip and dance for them. Once they both threaten Lazlow to stay away from Tracy, he runs off. Lazlow will continue hosting the show after this, and players can tune in whenever they’re around a TV.
GTA 5 Best TV Show: Republican Space Rangers
Republican Space Rangers is an animated series that also runs on the GTA 5 channel Weazel about three stereotypical American space soldiers. The trio travels the universe in the hunt for anything they perceive as a threat to America so they can destroy it. Each Republican Space Ranger dons a suit similar to Halo protagonist Master Chief’s power armor and is a satirization of the stereotypical conservative American view on life.
Republican Space Rangers is full of crass jokes and parodies modern American foreign policy in how its protagonists view their home country as the center of the universe. While most of its jokes are exaggerating characteristics and personalities of a conservative worldview, it also occasionally delves into liberal stereotypes. The GTA 5 cartoon features surprisingly lengthy episodes that always touch on political and social debates, which is a surprising degree of detail for a minor TV show in a fictional universe.
GTA 5 Best Websites: Epsilonprogram.com
GTA 5 is home to several bizarre cults, one of which is the Epsilon Program and has its own chain of side quests. The only way to access these optional missions is by taking a survey on the Epsilon Program’s website with Michael. Completing the eerie questionnaire will then unlock the questline, which will take Michael on a wild adventure.
The GTA 5 quest series lasts for eight missions that result in Michael trekking through the desert, stealing exotic cars, and donating $75,000 to the Epsilon Program, which eventually leads to meeting the group’s leader. In the end, Michael is eventually assigned to deliver a car with $2 million in the truck to the cult that players can choose to keep for themselves.
GTA 5 Best Websites: Bleeter.biz
Finally, Bleeter is GTA 5‘s version of Twitter, where in-game characters and personalities microblog about in-game events. Rockstar’s title is filled with parodies of Silicon Valley tech giants, and Bleeter is a shining example. Posting on the site is referred to as “Bleeting,” identically to Twitter’s “tweeting,” and the fictional platform’s mascot is a sheep instead of a bird.
The site isn’t as prominent as GTA 5‘s Facebook parody, LifeInvader, but it’s one of the game’s hidden gems. That’s because in-game characters ranging from random Bleeters to Michael’s family all post Bleets about in-game events or joke about things in their personal life like real Twitter users would. The site is another surprising detail crammed into Grand Theft Auto 5‘s already highly intricate open world.
