21 replies to this topic

[Earwolf Admin]

Welcome to the first episode of Nocturnal Emotions with Har Mar Superstar, where the night time is the right time. Join Har Mar Superstar as he brings you one on one dark conversations with actors, musicians, comedians, writers, and other people of interest that focus on embarrassing moments in their lives and careers. Our first guest is an actor, artist, and great charades player, Macaulay Culkin! Macaulay shares what inspires his work as part of the art collective 3MB, describes the game of Whiskey Slaps, sends his love out to Tommy Wiseau, and lets us know that this is his first interview in six years. That’s not all, we also get into a little segment called Let Me Ruin Your Favorite Song.

[Jacob C]

I don't uh...I don't get this. Is it supposed to be funny? Interesting? Real? Fake? It doesn't really work on any of those fronts, from my perspective, and I've listened to and loved pretty much every Earwolf Podcast. This is just...I don't even know. I don't get it.

[RobinH]

Like most shows with an interview format, I think it's really going to depend on the guest. Also, it's the first show, so perhaps it takes time to find its track.

Glad Macauley Culkin has a creative output. I am one of the ten people who saw and liked "Party Monster". Seems he has become a bit Michael Alig-ish in real life, no?

[Tom Brien]

Yeah I get what you mean, I couldn't tell if Har Mar Superstar was someone's improv character or a real dude.

Actually right now Macaulay Culkin's talking about this club with mural of a Korn concert with The Incredible Hulk and ET and I've completely lost track of if this is really happening or not.

...but if that's what the show is then fuck it, I'm in! This is kinda nuts!
It's on the line of being unbelievable.

[daveB from Oakland]

Wait, what? I haven't listened to this yet. I will momentarily. Har Mar's made some great songs, not sure what he's up to lately, maybe this show will help me find out. And Macaulay Culkin is the guest???!!!???!!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Wow. The tabloids have been making it sound like Macaulay is in pretty dire shape, which I hope is not the case. Or at least I hope the tabloids are guilty of over-exaggerating.

Comments I've read on this board make it sound like this show won't answer my questions. Nevertheless, I am very curious. Wait, does Har Mar really want to call his show "Nocturnal Emotions"??? Maybe I don't want to listen to this ...

[MotorboatJones]

First off, succeed or fail, I'm always glad to hear Earwolf trying new things. However, I'm going to reserve judgment on this one until I hear a few more episodes. Sean Tillman/Har Mar Superstar clearly seems to have a friendship with Macauley Culkin, and it shows. They riff off of each other well and it's very conversational. This episode kind of seems like it loses track of the fact that it's a podcast a bit because it seems a little inside and Tillman and Culkin talk over each other. A lot. Also, Culkin's rapid fire stream of consciousness is, for lack of a better word, exhausting. I'd like to see how this works with another guest.

As for the title of the show, nocturnal emotions? Eesh. I get that it sort of fits with the double entendres of the Har Mar Superstar songs, but it's one of those instances of word play that just made me roll my eyes.

[Isaac Kozell]

Earwolf is spreading its paws and to that I say, "Kudos."

I've always been fascinated by both Har Mar Superstar and Macaulay Culkin. When I saw this episode posted, I thought it would be a really wild trip. But eh, not so much. Sean acknowledged that it's a work in progress. I would like to hear how he develops as an interviewer, especially since he runs in some unusual circles. It's hard to judge a podcast on the first episode, so I'll give it a couple more tries.

I rate this episode PANTS.

[Barry Cohen]

RobinH, on 12 September 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Like most shows with an interview format, I think it's really going to depend on the guest. Also, it's the first show, so perhaps it takes time to find its track.

Glad Macauley Culkin has a creative output. I am one of the ten people who saw and liked "Party Monster". Seems he has become a bit Michael Alig-ish in real life, no?

I've seen it as well and enjoyed it.

I'm not sure I get the negativity so far for this podcast. I can truely say that I enjoyed it thoroughly and found myself laughing quite a bit. Good reference drops as well, I mean Urban Dance Squad? For years I literally thought I was the only person amongst my peers that knew who they were. Remember the end chase scene in the Jeep from Pump up the Volume? Yep, "Fast Lane" by UDS. Also, you can't beat a good "Airborne" reference. I think I watched that movie 20,000 times when I was a kid. Who can forget one of the first appearances in a movie by Jack Black? All in all I'm looking forward to the next episode to drop. Keep it up Har Mar!

[nascartween]

I'm kinda shocked this is not getting positive feedback. I guess people can't take Earwolf branching out, but I commend it.
Think of it in terms of like, say, How Was Your Week? Much like HWYW, this show will depend on the guest.

Not sure about the Ruin Your Fave song game....

[MotorboatJones]

nascartween, on 13 September 2012 - 07:22 AM, said:

Not sure about the Ruin Your Fave song game....

With all apologies to Elizabeth Laime, it's better than the Oprah game.

[Wesley]

Isaac Kozell, on 13 September 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

I rate this episode PANTS.

I forget.... is that better or worse than mustard?

[DubipR]

Interesting podcast... I do enjoy Har Mar's style of interviewing.
As for a first guest, Mac was a suprise choice and entertaining....

I'm giving this a PANTS

[Jeff Ullrich]

I'd like to share my very biased thoughts on this.

We're very excited to be working with Har Mar. He's super talented, much loved and has a fascinating life and friends who want to talk about a variety of things. I think that's exciting.

He's new to this and will find his path and structure soon, but even as a newbie he's done a great job already. And his theme song is my favorite of all our shows!

His passion and enthusiasm for the show are off the charts. That is ultimately what will make his show great. There is only one Har Mar.

As far as Earwolf doing different things, and some people not liking that, I don't think that's an issue. The download numbers have been strong and the overall response we've gotten has been good. But I think when you take what we've done in the past, that has such a distinctive style, new things can take a while to feel "right". That's to be expected. It is even a shock to my system. But we're working hard with the new artists to develop shows that fit the Earwolf feel - produced and structured entertainment. We're getting there. I think Shortwave is already there.

As long as we keep with our overall vision of smart and edgy content for bright, forward thinking people, hosted by great talent, we should be good. Not all of the comedy fans are going to listen to the new stuff, but there will also be new people who come ONLY for that. Which is crazy to think.

I'm going to stop now before Harris shows up and calls me out for the several humblebrags included above.

[Barry Cohen]

Jeff Ullrich, on 13 September 2012 - 10:42 AM, said:

And his theme song is my favorite of all our shows!

I'll second that!

[daveB from Oakland]

Appreciate your thoughts, CEO Jeff ... yeah man, I look forward to Earwolf trying out more and more new and different things in the future. I think the willingness to experiment makes this little corner of teh internets really special.

[daveB from Oakland]

Side note: I think "Ruin Your Favorite Song" has potential to be a strong recurring segment.

And a general Earwolf note: I don't think they played it on this particular show, but I kinda like that Old Spice ad that's popped up on some other shows recently. It's SHORT, it's funny, it's tongue-in-cheek but it's still effective in getting the name of the product out there. And also it's very SHORT. And as far as I know it's a harmless product -- I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting armpit cancer from a roll-on deodorant. Another thing I appreciate about that ad is it's brevity, which is to say it's very SHORT.

Pepsi still sucks (never forget).

[Colin Fraser]

This one feels very 'you had to be there' to follow/enjoy. I'm realizing that I don't like Mac, so I'll try the next episode and see if it grows on me.

[Lukas Holmes]

I think, and this is just my opinion, people may have been trying to figure out what the 'joke' was. We're so used to Har Mar's style of being obviously very tongue in cheek, that some came in expecting this entire thing to be a joke or a sketch. But it's just a standard interview program, as someone said above, and now that you understand that maybe you'll feel better going into future episodes.

[Jacob C]

Barry Cohen, on 13 September 2012 - 11:01 AM, said:

I'll second that!

Oh yeah. Even though I wasn't big on the episode, I got a major kick out of the theme.

And for the record: I didn't HATE this. Didn't think it was bad or anything...just didn't quite understand what it was going for. I'll listen to the next two most likely at least just to make sure I've given it a proper chance (Gelmania didn't really grab me in its first ep either--now it's one of my faves).

[Jenny]

I'm excited to hear what this show becomes a few episosdes in. Har Mar makes good work and he's working with good folks in Earwolf, so yeah... this ep was pretty good for a first run and I'm really excited to see where it goes..I mean, Ellen Page next week? Yes please.

(He's not Sean to me....after seeing him perform twice I just can't reference him as anything else..or not picture him in his underwear.... and I feel I need to attach a link to this photo...)