- I started listening to The Challenge through TCGTE, but I'm also a huge fan of Earwolf, Maximum Fun and PFT. I've been listening to Tim and Tom since podcast 1 (where the audio SUCKED and there was a third person, who may have been killed off). Really sorry to see them go. I also knew they were going to be a tough sell, based on their "Beat Wikipedia" premise, because that's rarely what the podcast actually is.
- T&T have a tendency to completely lose track of what the topic is for their show, and this is exactly why I listen to them (and also for Tim and Tom Solve Your Problems, probably the best podcast segment ever (besides the What's Up Hotdog Memorial Plugs). In my opinion, the best part of the show is the first 15-30 minutes when they talk about nothing. They are very funny and they play very well off each other. They work the best when they are antagonistic/argumentative which didn't come across at all in the clip they played. Most of the episode is riffing on inane topics and about 15-20 minutes is actually about the topic (which may be a bad thing to other people, but that's why I love the show). There's a great sense of spontaneity in their conversation. Their show is much more free-form than Matt and the judges were led to believe (which I have to say is mostly Tim and Tom's fault for leading them astray and not picking a good clip to play).
- The name of their show is really a small part of their podcast, and they rarely use the "beat Wikipedia at its own game" conceit. It's more of an excuse to complain about certain topics (which don't have anything to do with the main theme of the podcast) within each themed episode, like Starbucks customers/baristas and teenagers. Some of their greatest episodes are very loosely themed, like HaircutCast, where they talk about bad haircut experiences they've had. They didn't really get across to Matt and the judges that they aren't a fact-based podcast like How Stuff Works and How to Do Everything, or even John Judge Hodgman (sic). In fact, they usually say something like "If someone used this episode as a guide to ___, they would be horribly misinformed."
- Also, if Tim and Tom are reading this, you should have picked something from the Loch Ness Monster episode. That podcast was the closest you've ever come to the title of your show, and it was also hilarious.
- I hope this whole essay doesn't come off as jerkish, I just wanted to explain their show better than they did on The Challenge. Good luck to all the other podcasts!
- Also, constructive criticism for the Earwolf Forums: It would be great if we could space between paragraphs!
