hodge

Congrats to TL for winning, and to the Challenge for being interesting throughout. I think all the podcasts involved will have gained listeners, so it's really a win win situation. Some of us listeners are actually in a position where we are more qualified than the actual judges to rate the podcasts in certain ways because we have actually listened to entire podcasts of the competitors. That said, it's still subjective, and the founders of Earwolf can choose whomever they like. I personally would have chosen TLDDC. I've downloaded most of their podcasts after hearing them on this show and listened to at least a dozen. Not once have I listened to one of their podcasts without laughing out loud. Scott Aukerman questioned if they focus on inside comedian talk too much, and I can attest that they don't. They mine funny material from various everyday events. I knew somehow that Scott would go for TL before I even heard the final podcast, which seems counterintuitive because he specializes in silly, pointless comedy such as Between Two Ferns and Comedy Bang Bang. (That's not a criticism. I find them both funny.) That would seem to put him more in the camp of TLDDC, but I just knew he would go the other way. I also think they have more upside because they are more naturally in-the-moment hilarious than any of the other podcasters. Little bits, games or recurring segments can always be added to a podcast arsenal, but I'm not sure you can teach funny. I wonder if they'd been located in L.A. and interviewed American celebs if that would have helped their cause with the judges. They actually caught up with Charlie Day at the Melbourne premiere of Horrible Bosses. In 30 seconds or so of unrehearsed interaction, and having never met him before, I thought they pulled more out of Charlie Day than any comparable segment of TL. They possibly hurt themselves in the final by going with two guests. Their show thrives on the one guest format which they usually have, and frankly they don't need any more. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. They are the one competing podcast that I will continue to follow. On a final note, Matt Besser and others mentioned a lot of other podcasts that exist out there. I've Googled and Googled until I could Google no more, and most of those podcasts had never come up in my web searches until I heard about them on the show. It would be nice if there was some semi-comprehensive listing of the more popular ones. Is there, or did I just give myself an idea?

Congrats to TL for winning, and to the Challenge for being interesting throughout. I think all the podcasts involved will have gained listeners, so it's really a win win situation. Some of us listeners are actually in a position where we are more qualified than the actual judges to rate the podcasts in certain ways because we have actually listened to entire podcasts of the competitors. That said, it's still subjective, and the founders of Earwolf can choose whomever they like. I personally would have chosen TLDDC. I've downloaded most of their podcasts after hearing them on this show and listened to at least a dozen. Not once have I listened to one of their podcasts without laughing out loud. Scott Aukerman questioned if they focus on inside comedian talk too much, and I can attest that they don't. They mine funny material from various everyday events. I knew somehow that Scott would go for TL before I even heard the final podcast, which seems counterintuitive because he specializes in silly, pointless comedy such as Between Two Ferns and Comedy Bang Bang. (That's not a criticism. I find them both funny.) That would seem to put him more in the camp of TLDDC, but I just knew he would go the other way. I also think they have more upside because they are more naturally in-the-moment hilarious than any of the other podcasters. Little bits, games or recurring segments can always be added to a podcast arsenal, but I'm not sure you can teach funny. I wonder if they'd been located in L.A. and interviewed American celebs if that would have helped their cause with the judges. They actually caught up with Charlie Day at the Melbourne premiere of Horrible Bosses. In 30 seconds or so of unrehearsed interaction, and having never met him before, I thought they pulled more out of Charlie Day than any comparable segment of TL. They possibly hurt themselves in the final by going with two guests. Their show thrives on the one guest format which they usually have, and frankly they don't need any more. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. They are the one competing podcast that I will continue to follow. On a final note, Matt Besser and others mentioned a lot of other podcasts that exist out there. I've Googled and Googled until I could Google no more, and most of those podcasts had never come up in my web searches until I heard about them on the show. It would be nice if there was some semi-comprehensive listing of the more popular ones. Is there, or did I just give myself an idea?

The ideal final challenge would be to actually give them an hour with Zach Galifianakis.

The ideal final challenge would be to actually give them an hour with Zach Galifianakis.

If this was a contest for a spot on the Oprah Winfrey Network, then TL won the week. If this is a comedy podcast challenge then TLDDC won. As far as LHR goes, I just didn't find them funny but I realize comedy is subjective and they seem to have a lot of fans. I hope they are successful and pick up some listeners due to this challenge.

If this was a contest for a spot on the Oprah Winfrey Network, then TL won the week. If this is a comedy podcast challenge then TLDDC won. As far as LHR goes, I just didn't find them funny but I realize comedy is subjective and they seem to have a lot of fans. I hope they are successful and pick up some listeners due to this challenge.

After further review, I've decided that I'm an idiot for saying that Laime won this week. This is a comedy podcast competition, right? The Dum Dum guys made me laugh the most, pure and simple. At first I was thinking they carried it on too far, but after a little more thought, it was a dirty trick that Earwolf pulled and they could have probably carried on a lot longer. The Laime story was nice and sweet, but it now reminds me of this incident: I once sat on a panel of judges at a karaoke contest. One of the contestants was singing a love song. During a break in the song he beckoned his girlfriend on stage. As the song ended, he got down on one knee and proposed to her. People were gasping at the gesture, and he suddenly became the sentimental favorite. I didn't know what to make of it until my buddy leaned over and told me, "Don't fall for it. I saw him do the same thing at another contest last week." Now, I'm not accusing Elizabeth and Andy of that kind of blatant manipulation, but I think the story they told is a little bit like this. We all probably have a relative, say a grandpa for example, who tells the same stories over and over. He might have a good story that he tells at dinner for each new guest. The guest might enjoy the story, but everyone in the family is rolling their eyes because they've heard grandpa's story so many times. I think the Laime podcast pulled out one of their old favorite stories (again, focusing on sex - a pattern with them) while the Dum Dum guys stayed in the moment. Which of those is more repeatable over a long podcast run? In my opinion, the answer is obvious.

After further review, I've decided that I'm an idiot for saying that Laime won this week. This is a comedy podcast competition, right? The Dum Dum guys made me laugh the most, pure and simple. At first I was thinking they carried it on too far, but after a little more thought, it was a dirty trick that Earwolf pulled and they could have probably carried on a lot longer. The Laime story was nice and sweet, but it now reminds me of this incident: I once sat on a panel of judges at a karaoke contest. One of the contestants was singing a love song. During a break in the song he beckoned his girlfriend on stage. As the song ended, he got down on one knee and proposed to her. People were gasping at the gesture, and he suddenly became the sentimental favorite. I didn't know what to make of it until my buddy leaned over and told me, "Don't fall for it. I saw him do the same thing at another contest last week." Now, I'm not accusing Elizabeth and Andy of that kind of blatant manipulation, but I think the story they told is a little bit like this. We all probably have a relative, say a grandpa for example, who tells the same stories over and over. He might have a good story that he tells at dinner for each new guest. The guest might enjoy the story, but everyone in the family is rolling their eyes because they've heard grandpa's story so many times. I think the Laime podcast pulled out one of their old favorite stories (again, focusing on sex - a pattern with them) while the Dum Dum guys stayed in the moment. Which of those is more repeatable over a long podcast run? In my opinion, the answer is obvious.

The judge's comments were right on this week. Totally Laime won this round by ackowledging the no show and turning it into a positive. They have a sweetness about their relationship that is refreshing. The biggest criticism I have is that their "go to" topic usually seems to be of a sexual nature. It's not that people don't want to hear about that stuff, but it does get old to focus on just that instead of a world of interesting topics. I haven't listened to a full Laime podcast, so I could just be getting the wrong impression about that. The Dum Dum guys had me laughing right off the bat. For pure chuckles per minute, they have always been my favorite, and they didn't let me down this week. I loved that they didn't shy away from the missing guest thing but took it head on right out of the gate. Their (slight) downfall was that they carried the bit too far. I think it would have been better if Tommy had shifted into talking about his recent trip when it came up in conversation. That would have a great take-off point from their opening rant. Having listened to some of their shows, I imagine that's where things might eventually have gone in a regular length podcast. I didn't put these guys first this week because I now have higher expectations from them. I hope they come through strong next week because I'd like to see them win over their presumed competition, Totally Laime. Either way, I'll continue to download their podcasts because they make me laugh. As for Left Handed Radio, third place isn't bad. I think they put out a bit of a dud this week. As the judges suggested, at least make it a Zach Galifianakis robot. They could have really had fun with it and playfully thumbed their noses at Besser and his lying accomplices.

The judge's comments were right on this week. Totally Laime won this round by ackowledging the no show and turning it into a positive. They have a sweetness about their relationship that is refreshing. The biggest criticism I have is that their "go to" topic usually seems to be of a sexual nature. It's not that people don't want to hear about that stuff, but it does get old to focus on just that instead of a world of interesting topics. I haven't listened to a full Laime podcast, so I could just be getting the wrong impression about that. The Dum Dum guys had me laughing right off the bat. For pure chuckles per minute, they have always been my favorite, and they didn't let me down this week. I loved that they didn't shy away from the missing guest thing but took it head on right out of the gate. Their (slight) downfall was that they carried the bit too far. I think it would have been better if Tommy had shifted into talking about his recent trip when it came up in conversation. That would have a great take-off point from their opening rant. Having listened to some of their shows, I imagine that's where things might eventually have gone in a regular length podcast. I didn't put these guys first this week because I now have higher expectations from them. I hope they come through strong next week because I'd like to see them win over their presumed competition, Totally Laime. Either way, I'll continue to download their podcasts because they make me laugh. As for Left Handed Radio, third place isn't bad. I think they put out a bit of a dud this week. As the judges suggested, at least make it a Zach Galifianakis robot. They could have really had fun with it and playfully thumbed their noses at Besser and his lying accomplices.

All of the podcasts left are pretty good. I still enjoy the dum dum guys the best. I agree that they threw a couple of overly tough questions out at first, but I disagree that they got "lucky" with their practical joke question that resulted in the pizza story . There's an old saying that you make your own luck, and I think that's what they did. When the first question or two hit a dead end, Tommy quickly moved on and kept the conversation flowing until they hit paydirt. Then they ran with it. They seem to adapt really well on the fly and I'm not sure some of the other podcasts do that quite as well.

All of the podcasts left are pretty good. I still enjoy the dum dum guys the best. I agree that they threw a couple of overly tough questions out at first, but I disagree that they got "lucky" with their practical joke question that resulted in the pizza story . There's an old saying that you make your own luck, and I think that's what they did. When the first question or two hit a dead end, Tommy quickly moved on and kept the conversation flowing until they hit paydirt. Then they ran with it. They seem to adapt really well on the fly and I'm not sure some of the other podcasts do that quite as well.

I originally downloaded this challenge with no intention of listening to more than an episode or two, but they hooked me. I've even gone so far as to download podcasts from all the contestants that intrigued me during the contest segments. I have to say the Dum Dum guys are hands down my favorites. They don't do anything elaborate and I usually have no idea who it is that they're talking to. That is their major drawback. It is also their biggest advantage. I find myself intrigued and ready to book a flight Down Under. Even though I've never played footy their way and I don't know all the locations or people they discuss, there's something universal about their humor. It's Seinfeld-esque in this sense - it's basically a show about nothing, but it almost always flows effortlessly and makes me laugh. That's enough for me.