Episode 9.3 — Time Crunch: Day 3

[gleurg 18]

I'm not at all one for reality shows, but man if this doesn't have me hooked. I'm personally pulling for Little Dum Dum Club, but even if they don't win, I'll be (just about) as happy to listen to Totally Laime each week. You guys have served to introduce me to a number of podcasts that I probably wouldn't have otherwise stumbled across, and I'm really on pins and needles to see how this turns out.

[Leg 0]

Does Earwolf understand how badly they've undermined the legitimacy of this competition over the course of its run? If you were looking to showcase comedy podcasting an authentic media platform, congratulations. Across nine weeks, you've proven that podcasting can be just as shallow and shitty as TV.

[Leg 0]

Does Earwolf understand how badly they've undermined the legitimacy of this competition over the course of its run? If you were looking to showcase comedy podcasting an authentic media platform, congratulations. Across nine weeks, you've proven that podcasting can be just as shallow and shitty as TV.

[Bucho 188]

I feel bad for LHR, but I also felt bad for the judges having to give feedback from what came across as a position of unnecessary confusion. If the judging criteria was focused on funniness then clearly LDDC were winners this round and TL may have been the ones to go. If the criteria was on being engaging then the correct decision was made because TL was the easiest to follow and LHR, although they were funnier than TL, was the hardest.
.
If there's a next season then stronger criteria need to be set out and stated for the judges and the listeners, otherwise there will be rounds like this one where it all does sound very half-assed - and worst of all, like a poor podcast with the gall to judge better podcasts than itself.
In fact, there's the rub. How do you take Besser, Belknap and Anthony - three respected, established talents - and combine them into something which is no fun to listen to? You overcomplicate and convolute something which many previous Challenge judges have already said is best kept simple. If this week had been a four-way contest between the final three and The Challenge, then this week The Challenge - with all that firepower at its disposal - somehow contrived to finish fourth.
.
That's why I find myself in the odd position of agreeing with the decision and still loving everybody involved, but feeling like round 9 of the Challenge was overall a failure.

[Bucho 188]

I feel bad for LHR, but I also felt bad for the judges having to give feedback from what came across as a position of unnecessary confusion. If the judging criteria was focused on funniness then clearly LDDC were winners this round and TL may have been the ones to go. If the criteria was on being engaging then the correct decision was made because TL was the easiest to follow and LHR, although they were funnier than TL, was the hardest.
.
If there's a next season then stronger criteria need to be set out and stated for the judges and the listeners, otherwise there will be rounds like this one where it all does sound very half-assed - and worst of all, like a poor podcast with the gall to judge better podcasts than itself.
In fact, there's the rub. How do you take Besser, Belknap and Anthony - three respected, established talents - and combine them into something which is no fun to listen to? You overcomplicate and convolute something which many previous Challenge judges have already said is best kept simple. If this week had been a four-way contest between the final three and The Challenge, then this week The Challenge - with all that firepower at its disposal - somehow contrived to finish fourth.
.
That's why I find myself in the odd position of agreeing with the decision and still loving everybody involved, but feeling like round 9 of the Challenge was overall a failure.

[GuruOne 6]

Kinda predictable that the "shoot the shit" podcasts made the final, right? Like we really need yet another one of those

[GuruOne 6]

Kinda predictable that the "shoot the shit" podcasts made the final, right? Like we really need yet another one of those

[EvilBunnySanta 1]

Why is everyone up in arms about this week, of course they had to be lied to get them to think on their feet. It was more about being able to make something in an extreme time crunch not just someone bailing, like what if the back half of your podcast gets corrupted or something and you need to get it finished by the end of the night, what would you do? Also the judgment was totally fair, do i agree that TL was better than LDDC, no, but they were right for eliminating LHR because they by a long shot had the worst submission. TL kept you engaged and moved nicely LDDC was funny and energetic and LHR was neither, the math solves itself. I do feel LDDC was better, I do agree it dragged a bit but they re-found the funny again but that is neither here no their because it doesn't matter who wins it only matter who loses. It was sad to see LHR go because those are some funny ass dudes and dudette but these 3 podcasts are all great in their own way, so if you weigh all the podcasts on all their submissions through the season its all about even, so the only way you could have judged is by who had the worst submission, I see in no way how they got fucked over.

[EvilBunnySanta 1]

Why is everyone up in arms about this week, of course they had to be lied to get them to think on their feet. It was more about being able to make something in an extreme time crunch not just someone bailing, like what if the back half of your podcast gets corrupted or something and you need to get it finished by the end of the night, what would you do? Also the judgment was totally fair, do i agree that TL was better than LDDC, no, but they were right for eliminating LHR because they by a long shot had the worst submission. TL kept you engaged and moved nicely LDDC was funny and energetic and LHR was neither, the math solves itself. I do feel LDDC was better, I do agree it dragged a bit but they re-found the funny again but that is neither here no their because it doesn't matter who wins it only matter who loses. It was sad to see LHR go because those are some funny ass dudes and dudette but these 3 podcasts are all great in their own way, so if you weigh all the podcasts on all their submissions through the season its all about even, so the only way you could have judged is by who had the worst submission, I see in no way how they got fucked over.

[B Naylor 3]

There was a nice conversation briefly about different philosophies towards podcasts that Earwolf and Walking the Room have and the discussion over consistency/having a bad week. Dave Anthony and Matt Belknap came across a lot better today.
-
It still all seems irrelevant though because whatever criteria you judge it by - how effectively they worked under pressure /professionalism/how funny it was. LHR knocked Totally Laime out of park, and I don't dislike TL at all.
-
It's just a real shame that lessons still haven't been learnt after all this time and such a huge mistake was made at such a crucial point in the competition.

[B Naylor 3]

There was a nice conversation briefly about different philosophies towards podcasts that Earwolf and Walking the Room have and the discussion over consistency/having a bad week. Dave Anthony and Matt Belknap came across a lot better today.
-
It still all seems irrelevant though because whatever criteria you judge it by - how effectively they worked under pressure /professionalism/how funny it was. LHR knocked Totally Laime out of park, and I don't dislike TL at all.
-
It's just a real shame that lessons still haven't been learnt after all this time and such a huge mistake was made at such a crucial point in the competition.

[Mark1326657704 0]

It would have been funny to listen to the judges bending over backwards trying to defend their paper-thin arguments against LHR, while LHR politely shredded every single one of those arguments, if the judges had then manned up and admitted that they were completely full of shit and had no idea what they were doing. "If that's the case, do you not have a sketch that's laying around?" "We were told that it had to be totally original content." "Oh, I didn't know that. I would have cheated."
-
No consistency. No firm criteria. No effort. Clear bias toward Totally Laime. TOTALLY half-assed.
-
This podcast is an embarrassment.

[Mark1326657704 0]

It would have been funny to listen to the judges bending over backwards trying to defend their paper-thin arguments against LHR, while LHR politely shredded every single one of those arguments, if the judges had then manned up and admitted that they were completely full of shit and had no idea what they were doing. "If that's the case, do you not have a sketch that's laying around?" "We were told that it had to be totally original content." "Oh, I didn't know that. I would have cheated."
-
No consistency. No firm criteria. No effort. Clear bias toward Totally Laime. TOTALLY half-assed.
-
This podcast is an embarrassment.

[truthskull 109]

Jeff, Scott and Matt have all said in so many words that they both don't mind and enjoy things getting heated in here, and I kind of enjoy reading it as well. On the other hand, though, using words like betrayed seems almost absurd. No one promised you anything, this is all completely free content. You have a right to enjoy what you want, you have a right to think and say what you feel, but no one owes you anything. I don't mean to sound like a real Dirk here, but the moment you think you deserve any of this, is the moment you have been given too much. Appreciate things a little more or go back to ABC and FOX and see how you fare

[truthskull 109]

Jeff, Scott and Matt have all said in so many words that they both don't mind and enjoy things getting heated in here, and I kind of enjoy reading it as well. On the other hand, though, using words like betrayed seems almost absurd. No one promised you anything, this is all completely free content. You have a right to enjoy what you want, you have a right to think and say what you feel, but no one owes you anything. I don't mean to sound like a real Dirk here, but the moment you think you deserve any of this, is the moment you have been given too much. Appreciate things a little more or go back to ABC and FOX and see how you fare

[CarolineEAnd 41]

I hope everyone uses their angry-energy to go to iTunes, subscribe to Left Handed Radio, and leave it positive reviews.
-
I, too, was upset with this week's judgement but I really really liked all 3 of the remaining competitors and would have been sad to let any of them go. I listened to Totally Laime before The Challenge, but LHR and LDDC have made their way into my iTunes forever.
-
Fortunately, as Dave Anthony said, a podcast does NOT need to be on a network to exist or to be absolutely great. If you are upset that LHR won't get the exposure that they would have on Earwolf, I say use that feeling to become LHR's biggest advocate and to tell all your friends about it. Blog about it. Post links on Facebook and Twitter.
-
Since when has the winner of a reality show been the most successful one to emerge? I think that both Totally Laime and The Little Dum Dum Club would make great additions to Earwolf, but no matter what happens I can still listen to whatever I want.

[CarolineEAnd 41]

I hope everyone uses their angry-energy to go to iTunes, subscribe to Left Handed Radio, and leave it positive reviews.
-
I, too, was upset with this week's judgement but I really really liked all 3 of the remaining competitors and would have been sad to let any of them go. I listened to Totally Laime before The Challenge, but LHR and LDDC have made their way into my iTunes forever.
-
Fortunately, as Dave Anthony said, a podcast does NOT need to be on a network to exist or to be absolutely great. If you are upset that LHR won't get the exposure that they would have on Earwolf, I say use that feeling to become LHR's biggest advocate and to tell all your friends about it. Blog about it. Post links on Facebook and Twitter.
-
Since when has the winner of a reality show been the most successful one to emerge? I think that both Totally Laime and The Little Dum Dum Club would make great additions to Earwolf, but no matter what happens I can still listen to whatever I want.

[maoglone 0]

It feels like there's a bias towards TL to me. IMO, they've had pretty weak submissions for the last few weeks, and this one was no exception. There are lots of reasons for there to be a bit of a bias towards TL, I guess, but at this point the bias is too clear and it's making the game no fun to listen to.

Something to think about for Season 2, I suppose.

[maoglone 0]

It feels like there's a bias towards TL to me. IMO, they've had pretty weak submissions for the last few weeks, and this one was no exception. There are lots of reasons for there to be a bit of a bias towards TL, I guess, but at this point the bias is too clear and it's making the game no fun to listen to.

Something to think about for Season 2, I suppose.

[Greatbob Umber 73]

It's sad that we're down to the top three, and podcasts are STILL getting voted off based on themes that put them at a serious disadvantage and nobody seems to know exactly what the actual criteria is for which the podcasts should actually aim for. It would have been easy and fair and certainly more entertaining to say, "Hey, we're down to the final three, give us ten great minutes of whatever you all do BEST," but no.
.
I still like the idea of the Earwolf Challenge, but this thing has been mismanaged and shoddily handled from the start. I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the finale. I don't know that I'm interested in who gets the yearlong podcast contract based on two minutes of content on who has the best outro.

[Greatbob Umber 73]

It's sad that we're down to the top three, and podcasts are STILL getting voted off based on themes that put them at a serious disadvantage and nobody seems to know exactly what the actual criteria is for which the podcasts should actually aim for. It would have been easy and fair and certainly more entertaining to say, "Hey, we're down to the final three, give us ten great minutes of whatever you all do BEST," but no.
.
I still like the idea of the Earwolf Challenge, but this thing has been mismanaged and shoddily handled from the start. I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the finale. I don't know that I'm interested in who gets the yearlong podcast contract based on two minutes of content on who has the best outro.

[linuslee 0]

@Bucho

"How do you take Besser, Belknap and Anthony - three respected, established talents - and combine them into something which is no fun to listen to? You overcomplicate and convolute something which many previous Challenge judges have already said is best kept simple. If this week had been a four-way contest between the final three and The Challenge, then this week The Challenge - with all that firepower at its disposal - somehow contrived to finish fourth."

Well said sir.
 
@Brian

On the other hand, though, using words like betrayed seems almost absurd. No one promised you anything, this is all completely free content. You have a right to enjoy what you want, you have a right to think and say what you feel, but no one owes you anything. I don't mean to sound like a real Dirk here, but the moment you think you deserve any of this, is the moment you have been given too much.

 
I may be guilty of hyperbole by using the word betrayed, but it's a genuine emotional response. The podcaster / audience relationship is what this whole series has been about -- considering the audience, why should they listen to you over all the other podcasts out there? Why should they keep coming back? Prove to us you have what it takes to be endorsed under the Earwolf brand.
 
The podcaster's relationship to their audience is about trust. You may be giving out content for free, true. But so is everyone else, with few exceptions. There's an opportunity cost. Why shouldn't a listener feel betrayed for investing hours of their attention keeping up with a podcast and it turns into something you didn't sign up for? People feel passionately, because they're invested.
 
The reason anybody listened to the Earwolf Challenge is because we expect a certain quality from Earwolf. We expect a certain standard, associated with their brand. If the Earwolf brand was worth nothing, then the prize for the challenge would be worthless. This week's challenge has tarnished the brand and damaged that trust.

[linuslee 0]

@Bucho

"How do you take Besser, Belknap and Anthony - three respected, established talents - and combine them into something which is no fun to listen to? You overcomplicate and convolute something which many previous Challenge judges have already said is best kept simple. If this week had been a four-way contest between the final three and The Challenge, then this week The Challenge - with all that firepower at its disposal - somehow contrived to finish fourth."

Well said sir.
 
@Brian

On the other hand, though, using words like betrayed seems almost absurd. No one promised you anything, this is all completely free content. You have a right to enjoy what you want, you have a right to think and say what you feel, but no one owes you anything. I don't mean to sound like a real Dirk here, but the moment you think you deserve any of this, is the moment you have been given too much.

 
I may be guilty of hyperbole by using the word betrayed, but it's a genuine emotional response. The podcaster / audience relationship is what this whole series has been about -- considering the audience, why should they listen to you over all the other podcasts out there? Why should they keep coming back? Prove to us you have what it takes to be endorsed under the Earwolf brand.
 
The podcaster's relationship to their audience is about trust. You may be giving out content for free, true. But so is everyone else, with few exceptions. There's an opportunity cost. Why shouldn't a listener feel betrayed for investing hours of their attention keeping up with a podcast and it turns into something you didn't sign up for? People feel passionately, because they're invested.
 
The reason anybody listened to the Earwolf Challenge is because we expect a certain quality from Earwolf. We expect a certain standard, associated with their brand. If the Earwolf brand was worth nothing, then the prize for the challenge would be worthless. This week's challenge has tarnished the brand and damaged that trust.

[robstraws 16]

Listening to this was like watching a car crash I couldn't prevent. If you go back and listen to monday this "IT JUST MATTERS THAT THIS SUBMISSION IS FUNNY AND NOTHING ELSE" aspect doesn't exist, in fact quite the opposite. After LHR gave their defense today it seemed like they were even at more of a disadvantage. I hope that the final challenge puts the overall performance of both podcasts into consideration. Consistency is really important to me when it comes to listening to a podcast and you can only gather that information from the whole challenge. Good Luck LDDC and TL, hope you can both be funny.

[robstraws 16]

Listening to this was like watching a car crash I couldn't prevent. If you go back and listen to monday this "IT JUST MATTERS THAT THIS SUBMISSION IS FUNNY AND NOTHING ELSE" aspect doesn't exist, in fact quite the opposite. After LHR gave their defense today it seemed like they were even at more of a disadvantage. I hope that the final challenge puts the overall performance of both podcasts into consideration. Consistency is really important to me when it comes to listening to a podcast and you can only gather that information from the whole challenge. Good Luck LDDC and TL, hope you can both be funny.