Max

Matt...it's pretty hard for me to believe you honestly think TL was funnier than LHR this week. I mean, if you do, then you do...but don't you think it's at least possible that you and your guest judges got caught up in a little groupthink and came up with the wrong consensus? . Just from listening to the show, it seems clear that you weren't really judging based on humor, so much as how clever/resourceful the shows were in dealing with the challenge. You wanted a Galifianakis 'hook' in the LHR sketch, a clever transition in LDDC, and thought TL was the best because they had an (excruciatingly minimal) hook in their show - asking the questions they would have asked Zach to each other. That's the most desperate, obvious hook I can imagine, but since the terms of the contest seemed to get changed midshow to looking for something like that, they apparently came out on top. . TL is cute, charming, has a hook...but it's just. not. that. funny. . I am sorry these comments took such a harsh turn and feel like I contributed to that. I shouldn't have slagged Dave Anthony's podcast, not being familiar with it. But the tone of this show was pretty disrespectful. Whether the judges perceived/meant it or not, it clearly came through to the listening audience, and that has the tendency to rile people up. Not that the judges should be pulling punches - but there's a way to be harsh, and it's the Doug Benson way.

Matt...it's pretty hard for me to believe you honestly think TL was funnier than LHR this week. I mean, if you do, then you do...but don't you think it's at least possible that you and your guest judges got caught up in a little groupthink and came up with the wrong consensus? . Just from listening to the show, it seems clear that you weren't really judging based on humor, so much as how clever/resourceful the shows were in dealing with the challenge. You wanted a Galifianakis 'hook' in the LHR sketch, a clever transition in LDDC, and thought TL was the best because they had an (excruciatingly minimal) hook in their show - asking the questions they would have asked Zach to each other. That's the most desperate, obvious hook I can imagine, but since the terms of the contest seemed to get changed midshow to looking for something like that, they apparently came out on top. . TL is cute, charming, has a hook...but it's just. not. that. funny. . I am sorry these comments took such a harsh turn and feel like I contributed to that. I shouldn't have slagged Dave Anthony's podcast, not being familiar with it. But the tone of this show was pretty disrespectful. Whether the judges perceived/meant it or not, it clearly came through to the listening audience, and that has the tendency to rile people up. Not that the judges should be pulling punches - but there's a way to be harsh, and it's the Doug Benson way.

Besser's furious introspection seems to be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Was it really so surprising that LHR handled the challenge as they did? What were they supposed to do, transform into a chat show and complain for 5 minutes like the other two? . At a certain point there has got to be some sense from the host of this show that he understands the rules and can plan ahead accordingly. I'm not writing to trash Matt, I love his work and his criticism is oftentimes incisive. But these weekly eliminations are beginning to seem like random chance when he can't straighten out even basic misunderstandings before it's too late, and that's death for a reality show of this type. . I'll join the chorus: I didn't laugh once at Totally Laime. Honest conversation? That conversation could have *become* honest in any number of ways, but instead it stayed in the shallow water of amusing and meaningless personal anecdotes. . TLDDC was funny, at least, but I got the impression that they thought even 30 minutes of planning was too much time. It sounded like they flipped the mics on as soon as they got word of the switcheroo and just let'er rip. I had a distinct "my kid could paint that!" sensation. . At the end of the day, Earwolf has a chance to diversity its podcast lineup by offering a real sketch show, or it can pick up yet another chatfest. This particular challenge changed no part of this fundamental reality, so it's really a shame that LHR seems destined for the ax. I can't help but think a lackluster year for the winner of EC season 1 (as seems inevitable for LDDC or TL) will dim anticipation for future challenges. . And I don't mean that as an affront to those two shows, by the way. Both of them have their charms. I just don't see how they'll do well as part of Earwolf, where any number of more famous, more established names are already doing the same schtick. . Also, based on the rumors in the comments, I tried to listen to Walking the Room to find out who got cut. Literally couldn't get through it. A bunch of guys I've never heard of saying 'fuck' a lot and complaining about the zoo? Riveting stuff!

Besser's furious introspection seems to be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Was it really so surprising that LHR handled the challenge as they did? What were they supposed to do, transform into a chat show and complain for 5 minutes like the other two? . At a certain point there has got to be some sense from the host of this show that he understands the rules and can plan ahead accordingly. I'm not writing to trash Matt, I love his work and his criticism is oftentimes incisive. But these weekly eliminations are beginning to seem like random chance when he can't straighten out even basic misunderstandings before it's too late, and that's death for a reality show of this type. . I'll join the chorus: I didn't laugh once at Totally Laime. Honest conversation? That conversation could have *become* honest in any number of ways, but instead it stayed in the shallow water of amusing and meaningless personal anecdotes. . TLDDC was funny, at least, but I got the impression that they thought even 30 minutes of planning was too much time. It sounded like they flipped the mics on as soon as they got word of the switcheroo and just let'er rip. I had a distinct "my kid could paint that!" sensation. . At the end of the day, Earwolf has a chance to diversity its podcast lineup by offering a real sketch show, or it can pick up yet another chatfest. This particular challenge changed no part of this fundamental reality, so it's really a shame that LHR seems destined for the ax. I can't help but think a lackluster year for the winner of EC season 1 (as seems inevitable for LDDC or TL) will dim anticipation for future challenges. . And I don't mean that as an affront to those two shows, by the way. Both of them have their charms. I just don't see how they'll do well as part of Earwolf, where any number of more famous, more established names are already doing the same schtick. . Also, based on the rumors in the comments, I tried to listen to Walking the Room to find out who got cut. Literally couldn't get through it. A bunch of guys I've never heard of saying 'fuck' a lot and complaining about the zoo? Riveting stuff!

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Count me as another listener rooting for LHR at this point. The chat shows just seem...anodyne, I guess. Laime and LDDC are pleasant, but Earwolf is already dominated by chat shows. And with respect to both of those podcasts, neither of them has made me laugh the way something like Comedy Bang Bang can almost every week. LHR has also not hit one out of the park with me yet, but an explicitly sketch-based show would add some nice variety to the Earwolf menu. The gains from the other podcasts seem like they would be marginal at best. I was surprised that Doug was so frank about it, but it's true that Totally Laime isn't real bringing anything fresh to the table. It's nice that they have boiled down their hook into a single line (and it's a good line), but we already have a dozen podcasts where famous comedians talk about bullshit. In fact, that may be the majority of podcasts period.

Count me as another listener rooting for LHR at this point. The chat shows just seem...anodyne, I guess. Laime and LDDC are pleasant, but Earwolf is already dominated by chat shows. And with respect to both of those podcasts, neither of them has made me laugh the way something like Comedy Bang Bang can almost every week. LHR has also not hit one out of the park with me yet, but an explicitly sketch-based show would add some nice variety to the Earwolf menu. The gains from the other podcasts seem like they would be marginal at best. I was surprised that Doug was so frank about it, but it's true that Totally Laime isn't real bringing anything fresh to the table. It's nice that they have boiled down their hook into a single line (and it's a good line), but we already have a dozen podcasts where famous comedians talk about bullshit. In fact, that may be the majority of podcasts period.