Episode 9.3 — Time Crunch: Day 3

[GhaleonQ 0]

*followed Totally Laime and The Little Dum Dum Club since they began, will now listen to Left-Handed Radio*

Whatever the critiques of the challenge (good and bad), I think everyone involved would do well to avoid accusations of bad faith. I find it weird that a segment of the judges/forum people haven't been on board with Totally Laime at all, but I understand why. I feel like bringing a grin over an entire segment is a lot more important than getting 1 or 2 pops, as I'd rather be consistently entertained for an hour than have 8 really great moments connected by lulls. People who feel differently aren't imbeciles, just looking for something different.

I felt like the sketch group could have made 2 or 3 better, obvious choices (even within the constraints), and the judges weren't that harsh. The judges sided tonally with Totally Laime this week when they haven't in others. There was no conspiracy, no idiocy, no injustice. The decision was transparent. Geez, guys.

(That said, Matt, who's done really well, should remind judges to react as judges and not as their comic selves. It's obvious that the most vocal people prefer sober assessment to comedy in the judge portions.)

[GhaleonQ 0]

*followed Totally Laime and The Little Dum Dum Club since they began, will now listen to Left-Handed Radio*

Whatever the critiques of the challenge (good and bad), I think everyone involved would do well to avoid accusations of bad faith. I find it weird that a segment of the judges/forum people haven't been on board with Totally Laime at all, but I understand why. I feel like bringing a grin over an entire segment is a lot more important than getting 1 or 2 pops, as I'd rather be consistently entertained for an hour than have 8 really great moments connected by lulls. People who feel differently aren't imbeciles, just looking for something different.

I felt like the sketch group could have made 2 or 3 better, obvious choices (even within the constraints), and the judges weren't that harsh. The judges sided tonally with Totally Laime this week when they haven't in others. There was no conspiracy, no idiocy, no injustice. The decision was transparent. Geez, guys.

(That said, Matt, who's done really well, should remind judges to react as judges and not as their comic selves. It's obvious that the most vocal people prefer sober assessment to comedy in the judge portions.)

[Alec 31]

"Ya blew it!" Ha Ha Ha! I love that LHR took the elimination better than anyone in this forum. There was bound to be a lot of controversy no matter how these last few weeks turned out. Bottom line, these podcasts have all done a great job and deserve the listeners they've gained from this competition. Great job, Matt! Remember not to tell any of the forum commenters that there is a $500,000 check included with the winner's contract.

[Alec 31]

"Ya blew it!" Ha Ha Ha! I love that LHR took the elimination better than anyone in this forum. There was bound to be a lot of controversy no matter how these last few weeks turned out. Bottom line, these podcasts have all done a great job and deserve the listeners they've gained from this competition. Great job, Matt! Remember not to tell any of the forum commenters that there is a $500,000 check included with the winner's contract.

[Bozarth 0]

Hey guys, Adam from LHR here.

We are very flattered by the love you guys have shown us here on the forum. Like Caroline said earlier, if you are disappointed we got the boot this week, then subscribe to us on iTunes and leave us a nice review. We're still going to have a show for you guys to enjoy, it just won't be here on Earwolf. There's no need to go after the judges, the host, or even the other contestants because they are all very nice human beings who only want to entertain you. We'll have more thoughts for you in our farewell blog post, but for now I want to say thanks for all of this big support the last few weeks.

Also, just a side-note, I'm the only Cuddlah in the bunch at LHR. I am pretty sure the other 4 only listen to math podcasts.

[Bozarth 0]

Hey guys, Adam from LHR here.

We are very flattered by the love you guys have shown us here on the forum. Like Caroline said earlier, if you are disappointed we got the boot this week, then subscribe to us on iTunes and leave us a nice review. We're still going to have a show for you guys to enjoy, it just won't be here on Earwolf. There's no need to go after the judges, the host, or even the other contestants because they are all very nice human beings who only want to entertain you. We'll have more thoughts for you in our farewell blog post, but for now I want to say thanks for all of this big support the last few weeks.

Also, just a side-note, I'm the only Cuddlah in the bunch at LHR. I am pretty sure the other 4 only listen to math podcasts.

[janus1172 11]

I thought LHR had a great defense for not referencing the fake out situation. They stuck to their guns and did what they would have done had a guest cancellation in short notice happened in real life. I did get the feeling the judges took that into consideration in making the elimination, which I'm glad about.

Personally, I feel all of the groups should have done what LHR did and produce content that could stand on its own without knowing about the prank situation. It felt more in line with the spirit of the challenge (and what should happen in the real podcast world) than LDDC's submission. But there were no constraints on whether they could reference the situation or not, so it really was just about how enjoyable the submission was.

That said, I think this challenge should have been specific constraints on whether the fake out should be referenced or not. And the initial reveal should have been that Zach backed out, not that they got punked.
--
LHR also had a good description of the process and how much work went into making their original content. And it was clear that factored into the judgment, too. I can see where LDDC are coming from, but their complaint of not having enough time in no way measures up to what LHR had to do. I wish the judges and Matt would have given LHR a little more props for that on air.

[janus1172 11]

I thought LHR had a great defense for not referencing the fake out situation. They stuck to their guns and did what they would have done had a guest cancellation in short notice happened in real life. I did get the feeling the judges took that into consideration in making the elimination, which I'm glad about.

Personally, I feel all of the groups should have done what LHR did and produce content that could stand on its own without knowing about the prank situation. It felt more in line with the spirit of the challenge (and what should happen in the real podcast world) than LDDC's submission. But there were no constraints on whether they could reference the situation or not, so it really was just about how enjoyable the submission was.

That said, I think this challenge should have been specific constraints on whether the fake out should be referenced or not. And the initial reveal should have been that Zach backed out, not that they got punked.
--
LHR also had a good description of the process and how much work went into making their original content. And it was clear that factored into the judgment, too. I can see where LDDC are coming from, but their complaint of not having enough time in no way measures up to what LHR had to do. I wish the judges and Matt would have given LHR a little more props for that on air.

[jeffullrich 652]

You want honesty. You want answers. I'm AFRAID to post on my own goddamn forum. That sucks. Let me start by saying, I don't think the guest judges are to blame. They came in and did the best they could. I don't feel Besser is to blame, he tried to keep things interesting. I don't blame Scott, we were all with him on this effort to try and have fun with this particular challenge and we knew that the time element was a very legitimate issue to introduce. I don't blame Frank or Peter because they have put their hearts and souls into this entire show since APRIL when we first started to work on it. Including myself, all of the people I mentioned above are guilty in some small way of poor execution. 1 million forum commenters can't be wrong. But to say it's biased is not true. To say that we are too corporate is not true. Would a big corporation bring 9 competitors to the attention of their customers? For every minute you are listening to The Bob and Dan Cast you aren't listening to Who Charted?. I knew that coming in and I still wanted to do the show and get exposure for the contestants. So enough with the "corporate" bullshit. I'm flattered that my idea to try something new has gotten so many of you to care so much. But it makes me sad how quickly you can turn on us. It makes me not want to try new things like this. And the number one reason I started Earwolf was to innovate the shit out of digital comedy. To say that our entire "brand" has a pox upon it due to Week 9 of The Earwolf Challenge is a shame. Over 40 people and 260 guests have worked their asses off for free, week in and week out for a long time to build up trust and credibility with you guys and many of you are taking one episode from one show and saying that throws it all away. I guess I'm just confused about what you want? I read the criticism that we were repeating the challenges so we tried something new. This just feels like a whole lotta can't win. If I come on here and defend us - I'm not "listening". If I agree with you that we suck - I'm being dishonest. I'm not going to throw my colleagues under the bus, they work too hard to deserve that. I'm just not sure what many of you want us to say? We tried something new. It didn't work well. For that, I am sincerely sorry. Really, we want this show to succeed, obviously. But I don't think one week of poor execution makes us the worst people in podcasting. Okay, I've re-read this post enough that I better just hit the button, it's not getting any better. Here goes...

[jeffullrich 652]

You want honesty. You want answers. I'm AFRAID to post on my own goddamn forum. That sucks. Let me start by saying, I don't think the guest judges are to blame. They came in and did the best they could. I don't feel Besser is to blame, he tried to keep things interesting. I don't blame Scott, we were all with him on this effort to try and have fun with this particular challenge and we knew that the time element was a very legitimate issue to introduce. I don't blame Frank or Peter because they have put their hearts and souls into this entire show since APRIL when we first started to work on it. Including myself, all of the people I mentioned above are guilty in some small way of poor execution. 1 million forum commenters can't be wrong. But to say it's biased is not true. To say that we are too corporate is not true. Would a big corporation bring 9 competitors to the attention of their customers? For every minute you are listening to The Bob and Dan Cast you aren't listening to Who Charted?. I knew that coming in and I still wanted to do the show and get exposure for the contestants. So enough with the "corporate" bullshit. I'm flattered that my idea to try something new has gotten so many of you to care so much. But it makes me sad how quickly you can turn on us. It makes me not want to try new things like this. And the number one reason I started Earwolf was to innovate the shit out of digital comedy. To say that our entire "brand" has a pox upon it due to Week 9 of The Earwolf Challenge is a shame. Over 40 people and 260 guests have worked their asses off for free, week in and week out for a long time to build up trust and credibility with you guys and many of you are taking one episode from one show and saying that throws it all away. I guess I'm just confused about what you want? I read the criticism that we were repeating the challenges so we tried something new. This just feels like a whole lotta can't win. If I come on here and defend us - I'm not "listening". If I agree with you that we suck - I'm being dishonest. I'm not going to throw my colleagues under the bus, they work too hard to deserve that. I'm just not sure what many of you want us to say? We tried something new. It didn't work well. For that, I am sincerely sorry. Really, we want this show to succeed, obviously. But I don't think one week of poor execution makes us the worst people in podcasting. Okay, I've re-read this post enough that I better just hit the button, it's not getting any better. Here goes...

[DirkGently 0]

@Adam Glad that you see the general consensus here is that this weeks challenge was bullshit and you guys got the shaft. Very big of you to try and curb the disappointment here.
.
The fact is tho, this weeks challenge wasn't administered in a fair, or even coherent way. We have rules contradicting each other, and the judges to whom this all falls on- well, they don't know the criteria for how to vote.
.
I mentioned bias towards totally Laime a few weeks ago and Jeff Ullrich immediately crawled out and tried to spin me as a George Noory lizard people conspiracy theorist. Now a bunch of people are beginning to pull the wool off their eyes, but now I'm beginning to wonder how much is bias, and how much is simply bumbling...
.
Consider this... Matt prolly met these judges in the parking lot before the show and smoked a huge bong load of spliff or something with them... (Matt's sounded a little strung-out and confused about rules for this entire season lol) They were prolly in the car laughing about all sorts of dumb shit and we're like... "holy shit guys... the shows about to start... we gotta get in there".
.
So like the professionals they are, they went into work and listened to the submissions. Matt probably forgot to tell them any of the guidelines and just told them to 'wing it'... then he stonily rolled with the punches that the judges were throwing out.
.
But whatever. Who gives a shit anymore right? I'll still listen to podcasts and still follow Besser and a lot of the other judges projects. lol. Next time I hear the phrase 'earwolf challenge' -I'm sure the first thing that comes to my mind will be - 'HA, what a fucking joke THAT was'. It's been more entertaining reading the forums this week than the shows themselves... I've really been entertained by a lot of this- thanks everyone!
.
Interesting that it seems like a lot of TL defenders came out of the woodwork on the forums today but were strangely silent yesterday when everyone was up-in-arms (except Chester who keeps saying the exact same thing in every post lololol).
.
Good concept guys. a reality show podcast.

[DirkGently 0]

@Adam Glad that you see the general consensus here is that this weeks challenge was bullshit and you guys got the shaft. Very big of you to try and curb the disappointment here.
.
The fact is tho, this weeks challenge wasn't administered in a fair, or even coherent way. We have rules contradicting each other, and the judges to whom this all falls on- well, they don't know the criteria for how to vote.
.
I mentioned bias towards totally Laime a few weeks ago and Jeff Ullrich immediately crawled out and tried to spin me as a George Noory lizard people conspiracy theorist. Now a bunch of people are beginning to pull the wool off their eyes, but now I'm beginning to wonder how much is bias, and how much is simply bumbling...
.
Consider this... Matt prolly met these judges in the parking lot before the show and smoked a huge bong load of spliff or something with them... (Matt's sounded a little strung-out and confused about rules for this entire season lol) They were prolly in the car laughing about all sorts of dumb shit and we're like... "holy shit guys... the shows about to start... we gotta get in there".
.
So like the professionals they are, they went into work and listened to the submissions. Matt probably forgot to tell them any of the guidelines and just told them to 'wing it'... then he stonily rolled with the punches that the judges were throwing out.
.
But whatever. Who gives a shit anymore right? I'll still listen to podcasts and still follow Besser and a lot of the other judges projects. lol. Next time I hear the phrase 'earwolf challenge' -I'm sure the first thing that comes to my mind will be - 'HA, what a fucking joke THAT was'. It's been more entertaining reading the forums this week than the shows themselves... I've really been entertained by a lot of this- thanks everyone!
.
Interesting that it seems like a lot of TL defenders came out of the woodwork on the forums today but were strangely silent yesterday when everyone was up-in-arms (except Chester who keeps saying the exact same thing in every post lololol).
.
Good concept guys. a reality show podcast.

[robstraws 16]

@Jeff I don't think a majority of the people here are really blaming you/earwolf/the host, or even saying that the show itself was bad, yes some people are but you are always going to get that when you create a connection that can be snapped like any competition. I am sure if you go and read Americas got talent's forums it will be a very similar string of comments, it's what competition brings with it. If people really did think this was being mishandled they wouldn't listen to it week in and week out and it seems like more and more people have been deeply interested in it with each passing challenge instead. I hope that this kind of debate doesn't dissuade you from doing another season of this because I think a second season will be even better than this one with everything that has been learned.

-
Also with the growth of any forums comes a bigger chance of trolls and less professional posts. I think that this has been a reason for people to finally start posting and with that comes the bad as well as the good.

[robstraws 16]

@Jeff I don't think a majority of the people here are really blaming you/earwolf/the host, or even saying that the show itself was bad, yes some people are but you are always going to get that when you create a connection that can be snapped like any competition. I am sure if you go and read Americas got talent's forums it will be a very similar string of comments, it's what competition brings with it. If people really did think this was being mishandled they wouldn't listen to it week in and week out and it seems like more and more people have been deeply interested in it with each passing challenge instead. I hope that this kind of debate doesn't dissuade you from doing another season of this because I think a second season will be even better than this one with everything that has been learned.

-
Also with the growth of any forums comes a bigger chance of trolls and less professional posts. I think that this has been a reason for people to finally start posting and with that comes the bad as well as the good.

[jonbershad 0]

Jeff, if it makes you feel better, I'm sure the American Idol message boards get pretty heated every year. But, do the ratings go down the next season. Nope. Because, at the heart, the fans still love the show.
.
Contests make people passionate and sometimes that means anger. Already it looks like the forum is less heated today than yesterday. Yes, some people are still apoplectic but some people always will be.
.
Most of us are here because they love the show, love the network, love Matt, love the producers, etc. I can't speak for everyone but for me personally, as someone who couldn't even finish yesterday's episode, I know that it won't change my view of the show as a whole. You guys tried something new and awesome and one element kind of f'ed up. Oh well. This was the first time anyone's tried this and I'm sure nearly everyone here appreciates that and will give the team all necessary leeway for any perceived growing pains.
.
...Not that the judges gave LHR any leeway this week.
.
I kid! I kid!
.
Anyway, thanks for, y'know, the hours and hours of free entertainment!

[jonbershad 0]

Jeff, if it makes you feel better, I'm sure the American Idol message boards get pretty heated every year. But, do the ratings go down the next season. Nope. Because, at the heart, the fans still love the show.
.
Contests make people passionate and sometimes that means anger. Already it looks like the forum is less heated today than yesterday. Yes, some people are still apoplectic but some people always will be.
.
Most of us are here because they love the show, love the network, love Matt, love the producers, etc. I can't speak for everyone but for me personally, as someone who couldn't even finish yesterday's episode, I know that it won't change my view of the show as a whole. You guys tried something new and awesome and one element kind of f'ed up. Oh well. This was the first time anyone's tried this and I'm sure nearly everyone here appreciates that and will give the team all necessary leeway for any perceived growing pains.
.
...Not that the judges gave LHR any leeway this week.
.
I kid! I kid!
.
Anyway, thanks for, y'know, the hours and hours of free entertainment!

[B Naylor 3]

Jeff, the fact that you've inspired such passionate responses shows you've been doing something right. The fact that people are this disappointed over what they perceive to be a drop in quality is a testament to how consistently well-produced Earwolf's podcasts have been - It's the usual high quality that makes it stick out even more.

I still think the idea for this challenge was a good one, it just wasn't implemented very well. The guidelines didn't seem to be explained to contestants or the judges properly and the half hour time limit seemed arbitrarily short. If they were supposedly going to be interviewing Zach for an hour, then giving them an hour to come up with something would have made more sense, and the extra 30 minutes have been a lot fairer on LHR.

But it's fine with me, I've not turned on Earwolf, I'm a little disappointed with how this went down, but then I listened to this week's Who Charted and I was in a great mood again.

So thanks for all the work Jeff, don't let it get you down or discourage you.

[B Naylor 3]

Jeff, the fact that you've inspired such passionate responses shows you've been doing something right. The fact that people are this disappointed over what they perceive to be a drop in quality is a testament to how consistently well-produced Earwolf's podcasts have been - It's the usual high quality that makes it stick out even more.

I still think the idea for this challenge was a good one, it just wasn't implemented very well. The guidelines didn't seem to be explained to contestants or the judges properly and the half hour time limit seemed arbitrarily short. If they were supposedly going to be interviewing Zach for an hour, then giving them an hour to come up with something would have made more sense, and the extra 30 minutes have been a lot fairer on LHR.

But it's fine with me, I've not turned on Earwolf, I'm a little disappointed with how this went down, but then I listened to this week's Who Charted and I was in a great mood again.

So thanks for all the work Jeff, don't let it get you down or discourage you.

[truthskull 109]

seriously, can we boot dirk, so he can cry conspiracy into the mirror like he wants. his holier than thou act is getting really old

[truthskull 109]

seriously, can we boot dirk, so he can cry conspiracy into the mirror like he wants. his holier than thou act is getting really old

[DirkGently 0]

@Brian I just said this was a bumble and not a conspiracy! can you READ MAN? Jeff said conspiracy- I even just said that I'm not so sure about judge 'bias' anymore, and this whole problem might just be confusions part... the judges, the contestants, Matt, everyone just seemed confused.
.
But hey dude, you're a boyscout right? Who else should get the boot from here guy? (fascism does not become you Brian)

[DirkGently 0]

@Brian I just said this was a bumble and not a conspiracy! can you READ MAN? Jeff said conspiracy- I even just said that I'm not so sure about judge 'bias' anymore, and this whole problem might just be confusions part... the judges, the contestants, Matt, everyone just seemed confused.
.
But hey dude, you're a boyscout right? Who else should get the boot from here guy? (fascism does not become you Brian)

[Brendan 96]

@Adam Bozarth: Nicely put. It still seems you were ousted unduly by this challenge. Through all the ire, it seems that the lack of focus with the rules of the challenge was the issue.
 
The concept of "engagement" keeps coming up. I guess it's something that's really personal to each person. TL got the win because of it. I guess I feel that if the judges examined why they felt more engaged by TL they might have realized the shortcomings of that submission. For me, I wasn't engaged because I didn't care for the topic or the stories it spawned. It just seemed like a conversation I've heard a thousand times before. And although the judges were into it for some reason, it still didn't make them laugh at all. They never even described it as funny, which is why I question what made it engaging and why did it win? Especially when LDDC was both engaging AND funny. I'll admit their criticism that it got stale is acceptable, but I felt TL was even more guilty of that. TL just has a "The View" or "Regis & Kelly" vibe to it.

[Brendan 96]

@Adam Bozarth: Nicely put. It still seems you were ousted unduly by this challenge. Through all the ire, it seems that the lack of focus with the rules of the challenge was the issue.
 
The concept of "engagement" keeps coming up. I guess it's something that's really personal to each person. TL got the win because of it. I guess I feel that if the judges examined why they felt more engaged by TL they might have realized the shortcomings of that submission. For me, I wasn't engaged because I didn't care for the topic or the stories it spawned. It just seemed like a conversation I've heard a thousand times before. And although the judges were into it for some reason, it still didn't make them laugh at all. They never even described it as funny, which is why I question what made it engaging and why did it win? Especially when LDDC was both engaging AND funny. I'll admit their criticism that it got stale is acceptable, but I felt TL was even more guilty of that. TL just has a "The View" or "Regis & Kelly" vibe to it.

[Podricast 14]

i think we got to the right top three, and now, whover is eliminated from this point , some people are going to feel like the wrong one lost...

that said, i think this podcast in the future (if there is a future?) would benefit from either, two full time judges and one guest judge...or a small set of guest judges that cycle in so they are all familiar.
.
Also, the judges should be given all of the emails that the contestants are given each with with the challenge , etc....
.
Also also, the judges should be there to listen to the coaching (but not chiming in, that could get too convoluted)
.
Also also also, (this is probably the most unrealistic) BEFORE the contest begins, each podcast should choose one representative podcast from their back catalog...if they are ever in the bottom three, the judges will have to listen to the three representative podcasts to get a better feel of a full show and break ties...maybe this would be unreasonable...and probably doesnt matter since the top 3 podcasts are the right three