Episode 7.3 — Original Content: Day 3

[JW Buchanan 1]

People need to be informed about this Severe Male Ugliness (SMU) problem. That's why I'm starting a fundraising campaign to raise awareness and combat this deadly affliction which plagues our message board. Ry Mil and I will be traveling door-to-door, selling Racine Kringles and handing out literature. Please Note: We only have apricot, cherry, and apple kringles; we've run out of raspberry/cheesecake and pecan kringles.

[auxt 0]

TL has put up a couple of weak entries. That's not saying the show is terrible, or that women are deficient podcasters. TL earned that frontrunner status on their own merit. Their early entries were great.
 
I do think B&D is the most underrated of the remaining shows. Their recent submissions have been stronger than they've gotten credit.

[zerohacker 0]

I was bummed to see F+ get eliminated. I thought it should have been Bob&Dan. They seemed like they were trying a little too hard to be JJGo, ever down to the way one of them spoke, it reminded me of Jesse's inflection.

[EvilBunnySanta 1]

NOT EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE INTERNET LOVES TOTALLY LAME AS MUCH AS RY IT MUST BE BECAUSE OF SEXIST SMALL MINDED MEN WHO CAN ONLY LAUGH WITH THEIR PEE HOLES

[Mark1326657704 0]

Since I'm gay, is there a different reason that I hate Totally Laime instead of because Elizabeth won't fuck me? Am I maybe one of those anti-woman queers who hates them all because I envy their vaginas or something?

It must be something like that, because, like RY says, there's no way a woman could be judged on her own merits. There HAS to be some sexism involved. If a woman fails, it's not her fault! It's because she's a woman!

[Ale 7]

There is a point to the fact that most of these podcasts have been malecentric though. And as has been said several times, it's this 2-3 guys talking about guystuff content that just doesn't stick out, even among these 10 contestants. The Fort, Television Zombies, The Complete Guide to Everything and Bob and Dankind of became the same show for me mentally, since there is very little to differentiate them with. "Oh, right those were the one's that talked about a mini-bigfoot. No, it were those guys. No..."

Do people listen to Totally Laime because they want to hear a woman? No, but having a woman on the show breaks the mold and makes the content a bit fresher and more universal in my opinion. I can't put my finger on it, but I must honestly say that Bob and Dan feels like it could use a female co-host, bring it out of the boy's room. The cool thing about The Dum Dum Club is that even though they are two guys with other male hosts they never seem to get stuck in the videogame/sci-fi-swamp and at the same time doesn't go all "bro"-comedy. And this is coming from a pretty nerdy person.

[geejaxies 0]

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

[JW Buchanan 1]

You're all uglies. None of your opinions can be trusted. I don't think I can make this any clearer.
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OK, one more try: You guys are showing mean, rude bias against Totally Laime because you're ugly gross uglies who will never receive female attention due to acute gross ugliness 80 20 percent something. You guys are so rude! So ugly and rude and gross and disgusting and mean.

[janus1172 11]

I think the F+ push-back regarding the "conflicting" notes reveals a bit of why they were eliminated. The notes were not inconsistent or conflicting. In the PFT episode, they got the note that with a longer piece being read they need to break in for commentary to keep it interesting. In the latest episode, they got the note that when multiple people are reading from several posts in a forum, the "commentating" needs to be separated either in style or time from the readings.

That these two notes were perceived as conflicting shows that F+ didn't have a good grasp on the spirit of the notes or their intent. They were just seen as "more commentary, sooner" vs. "less commentary, later." Besser and the judges in both cases were right on in their notes. While F+ are clearly funny funny folks, the structure of the show can certainly be improved to make it tighter and easier to comprehend in any listening format.

[@henkelwine 0]

First Post:
I started listening to the TLP over a year ago, and am admittedly a huge fan of Elizabeth & Andy. There is something so quaint and special about their show. For me it carries "cult" status because it's not in the "top 100" comedy podcasts on iTunes and the show has no real sponsors(Honda does not count). Despite this, Elizabeth has an amazing knack for getting great guests and making them feel comfortable and subsequently, candid conversation ensues. The quality of guests is equal to that of CBB, but unlike CBB, there is no schticky improv to bring the show to a grinding halt.
TLP deserves to win this challenge. LDDC would probably bring the most listeners to Earwolf (considering they have an entire continent as a fanbase), but TLP would bring the best array of guests and the best non-improvy/sketchy comedy to Earwolf since, well, the first ten minutes of any episode of CBB.

[Brendan 96]

@henklewine: "TLP would bring the best array of guests and the best non-improvy/sketchy comedy to Earwolf since, well, the first ten minutes of any episode of CBB. "
There's a lot of great guests and "non-improv/sketchy comedy" already on Earwolf besides "first ten minutes of any episode of CBB. " I think Totally Laime wouldn't fare quite as well as you think if stacked up against all of Earwolf's podcasts. That's not meant to be a slam on Totally Laime, just an endorsement for the high quality of Earwolf.
Also, Little Dum Dum Club doesn't necessarily have an entire continent as a fanbase any more than any American podcast has the entire country as a fanbase. I think the reason some people think it would be a good choice for Earwolf is because they are both comedians and are funny on their own, even without a funny guest.

[action52 554]

I think the F+ has a great concept, but also one that is difficult to make work. It's very hard to find a balance between too much reading (which can make it monotonous) and too much riffing (which can make it confusing). They also need more consistency with the format and better overall sound quality. The fact that they have so many different people makes it even harder, I think. I've listened to two episodes of the podcast and while the 3 minute limit is part of the problem for them, it's not the whole problem. I think they still have a ways to go in terms of making it sound like a polished, professional-sounding show that is easy to listen to and understand. They've actually improved quite a bit during the challenge, but I think the judges were right to disqualify them because they still have a ways to go. I think this podcast has more potential than any of the others, and I hope this challenge serves as a springboard to increase listenership and steadily improve the show. I do intend to listen in from time to time after the challenge is over.
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Totally Laime has gotten some points for "cuteness" but I don't see why that's a bad thing. Having a charming, charismatic host is one of the things that makes a podcast fun to listen to. Elizabeth definitely has that, and even though she might not appeal to everyone, she does appeal to some people. I hate to play the "sexism card," but I think she might be more popular with women than men. Attracting a female audience is a good thing when podcasts are so male-dominated, and like people have said it helps them stand out. Still, charm will only get you so far and if Totally Laime continues to put in submissions like the last few weeks, they deserve to be eliminated.

[Hammerpants 0]

What a travesty! I don't understand how you could get lost with the F+, and don't know how you could be entertained with the last couple Totally Laime's. They seem to be coasting by every week because the guest judges have either been on their show before, or been aquainted with the shows guest from that week. They should have been eliminated after their horrible attempt at writing and acting last week or their fumble on a potentially interesting interview this week.
They also did the annoying introduction thing that Matt said no one would be doing this week.