geejaxies

First reactions are important, and I think it's good to let the judges (and therefore the audience) know that their reactions will be heard. There have been times where I couldn't tell if the laughter was coming from the judges or the recorded submissions. . I think prepping the judges non-verbally works fine. People have suggested info sheets for each judge in the studio that describe the theme and content of the shows they're about to hear. That seems like a good balance. Nothing to listen to in advance, no additional commitment. Much has been said in the past of the fact that an iTunes listing informs a listener of what they're about to hear, and that a podcast isn't experienced in a vacuum of information. A simple info sheet would help to replicate that slightly-informed position of a new listener to a podcast. . Matt, I will try and find time-codes for the moments where it's felt like you've lost the thread or lost momentum when I'm at work this weekend. Thank you once again for listening to feedback, and taking it seriously. It's a case-study in good audience interaction.

I think Fplus can definitely improve their format with bedding music. Bring it in when the character's in effect and pull it out when it's commentary time. That delineates things perfectly without a bingbong. I think that their entry this week was almost entirely followable, but it could still help people who aren't entirely focusing on the show to catch back up if they tune out for a bit. I think it was pretty shitty that they got eliminated for taking a note, while Laime skated by after seemingly ignoring their previous notes. This episode was a segment of what they do, and it was almost as bad as their sketch submission, so the "this isn't what they do" argument doesn't hold water here. . So I'm sad to see Fplus go. I still don't entirely like the negativity of ragging on other people's sex stuff, but it was super funny this week. I've come around to it, and I'll try subscribing. They acquitted themselves well in their exit episode. . Jordan was an excellent guest judge on the past two episodes. Best feedback since the Jesse and Paul F. episode. I agree that Bob and Dan edited themselves to bits, but they still made me laugh considerably harder than anything else I heard this week. I loved the fake-out intro. It put me in a good mood immediately, whereas all of the padding on Totally Laime entirely turned me off. I get that you're proud of your one-line pitch, Elizabeth, but your theme song said it once and then you spent another 15 seconds repeating it as an intro to Erin Gibson. We get it, most important people, least important questions. Very good. Get on with it. . I'm going to start a comedy podcast for the next season called The Frontrunner's Wheelhouse. It should be entirely successful. As long as I don't have any yucky girls on it, since as Ry Mil pointed out, 20% of you are sexist because Matt Besser says the podcast with the woman is a frontrunner and the other 80% are sexist for the usual sexism reasons. . Ladies can be great at hosting podcasts. Jackie Kashian does it, Riki Lindhome does it, Vanessa Raglan (spelling?) does a great job on Pop My Culture, Ali is a great co-host on Kumail Nanjiani's show, and I love Jen Goldberg's contributions on The Biggest Mistake. But Elizabeth's giggly exuberance that has charmed people consistently throughout the challenge entirely killed the comedic momentum of their submission this week at least twice, even covering up a guest or co-host's joke at one point. That's not good hosting. It's not even competent. If a guy did that, it would be just as shitty and frustrating.

I agree with a lot of your criticism. . I think a lot of the "sound quality" complaints come from the hi-fi studio set-up out of which Earwolf records. The only time I've ever actually mirrored the many complaints on sound quality was during the TV Zombies. There's was distractingly bad, even when played through my iPhone's speakers or shitty earbuds, but they did eventually improve it a bit, so good for them. But I imagine most people listen to podcasts either with shitty computer speakers, shitty earbuds, or shitty iphone docks. I'd wager that 5% or less of an average podcast's fanbase uses better technology than that. That's still a significant margin, and obviously shows should put out the best product possible, and I'm personally going to work significantly harder on quality for my own shows, but are most fans of this show actually hearing the sound quality problems that the judges complain of week in and week out? . I was also thinking that Besser could use a co-host. That way he could focus on being the persistent Simon Cowell type guy, with a host by his side to expedite the stuff that he doesn't like as much. His aimlessness is a little off-putting at times. The show also has a lot of "on-air talent" as guest judges, but it would be good to get somebody on the producing team of Earwolf to be a consistent voice on the show. That way you have a perspective from the people that will be working with the winning podcast on a weekly basis, and giving a bit of insight into the backstage elements that make shows successful. . I'm really glad that F+ pushed back on their critique, and a producer-voice could help to alleviate that. Somebody who can track the critiques and keep things consistent. I haven't listened to any of these shows before, but it was very frustrating this week to hear F+ get the boot for taking feedback and implementing it into their show while Totally Laime got through after failing to take notes they've received before. Creative people like Matt Besser, despite all of his true, considerable talent, just aren't focused on tracking consistencies like that. . Also, I never listen to Day 1. It just isn't interesting. But if there was another voice to play with Besser, to offer feedback and consistency for the coaching session, and to keep things moving along, it would help matters greatly. As it stands, it's just 10-2 Skype calls of the same thing coming from one voice. But if there was somebody else there to feed the discussion, it would be much more compelling. . I like the Wolf Den, so if he's available, Jeff Ulrich would be a good fit for that additional role in an eventual Season 2. I understand that he might be too involved with the day-to-day business to clear 4-5 hours a week to tape this. But, the network is halfway his, and he'll be promoting the show, so I think his voice could be a good fit for an expanded role. . It's a good show. I just want to hear it become a great show, and I want it to feel fair. A more organizationally-minded voice could bring fairness to the table.

Wow, that Totally Laime clip turned me off ENTIRELY. It reminded me of when the gang on It's Always Sunny discovered podcasting. . Podcasting is an appealing medium because it doesn't have all the ridiculous trappings of morning zoo crew radio. You don't have to keep me awake on my commute, and you don't need to stop me from switching to something else, because that can be hard to do in the car. When you're a podcast, all you need to do is not make me turn you off. A sad trombone SFX is going to do that every single time. I would rather listen to road noise with my hands at 10 and 2 than listen to a sad trombone. . I actually really liked the F+ submission this week. It was a clever spin on the theme, and the guest was clearly in on the bit, and he executed it well. I still don't like the rampant negativity in what I've heard of their show, but I liked this week's submission. . As of right now, the only shows I'll seek out of the competitors are Bob and Dan (this week's winners, for sure), Complete Guide, and Left Hand Radio. Complete Guide is out, obviously, but I think both Bob and Dan and Left Hand would bring something new to Earwolf. Bob and Dan with their casual riffs, and Left Hand with their excellent execution of their full-sketch format.

I was disappointed with the result here, I'm planning to seek out Complete Guide to hear more of them regardless of this, but episodes 2 and 3 of this week were just phenomenal. It's like I'm auditing a master class in podcasting. I'm combining Matt's comments on 1-in-100 audience members and the feedback from Paul and Jesse on audio quality to re-level each and every one of my podcast episodes before my upcoming pledge drive. I've come around to the fact that it's worth it. Even to win back the one person in a hundred who's an audiophile. . In response to the shows, I have a very visceral reaction to negativity in podcasts, which I think will keep me from ever listening to a few of these shows, from what I've heard. I just don't like listening to people being shitty to each other. It has no appeal for me whatsoever. There are even some Brett Gelman moments on CDR/CBB, which while I know they're fake and fun, I get uncomfortable with it. That's just me. I like Ben Folds, so I'm probably a pussy. Like Scott. . Lastly, huge kudos to the people in this thread. Opinionated and civil. But I could do with about four dozen fewer Brendans.