Episode 10.2 — The Final Challenge: Day 2

[admin 330]

The Little Dum Dum Club have spent the entire Earwolf Challenge in the top, only once being considered for elimination. Today they pull out all the stops as they invite Australian comedians Luke McGregor and Nick Cody into the fold for a full 30 minute episode. Our charmers from down under talk about parents on Facebook, their crappiest comedy gigs, specialty coffee, and strippers in an attempt to win a spot on Earwolf. Will they succeed? Find out tomorrow on The Earwolf Challenge Season Finale!

[admin 330]

The Little Dum Dum Club have spent the entire Earwolf Challenge in the top, only once being considered for elimination. Today they pull out all the stops as they invite Australian comedians Luke McGregor and Nick Cody into the fold for a full 30 minute episode. Our charmers from down under talk about parents on Facebook, their crappiest comedy gigs, specialty coffee, and strippers in an attempt to win a spot on Earwolf. Will they succeed? Find out tomorrow on The Earwolf Challenge Season Finale!

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Remember: one reply per customer. Be nice to each other.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Remember: one reply per customer. Be nice to each other.

[Anonymous Coward 57]

Ok.

[Anonymous Coward 57]

Ok.

[J 1]

Thumbs yes!!

[J 1]

Thumbs yes!!

[IMissCyberThug 1]

Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo's obvious contempt for Matt Besser makes them winners in my book. Though I can see them not winning for the simple fact Earwolf doesn't want to fly them out to LA.

[IMissCyberThug 1]

Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo's obvious contempt for Matt Besser makes them winners in my book. Though I can see them not winning for the simple fact Earwolf doesn't want to fly them out to LA.

[GuruOne 6]

I'll simply re-iterate........ I will give up my Aussie citizenship if LDDC win this thing....... NO JOKE

[GuruOne 6]

I'll simply re-iterate........ I will give up my Aussie citizenship if LDDC win this thing....... NO JOKE

[doubleginntonic 2]

I try to avoid the forums for this show to avoid the inevitable drama follows reality programming but I've been listening since the first week and while it's been shaky at times, the concept is too intriguing and I became way too invested in the outcome of it to not want to see a second season.

That said, I'd make a lot of format changes starting with:
1. Scrap having the podcasts compete remotely.

Instead of recording week by week over the course of a few months, schedule the Challenge for a week or two of daily recording in the Earwolf studios and have the contestants come to LA if they want to compete. Now, I know it's not fair to podcasts located in other parts of the country but lets face it, plenty of talented unknown comedians move west chasing the kind of exposure an Earwolf podcast is going to bring them already; if they're really serious about establishing a show and building a name for themselves, finding a way to spend a week in LA to record is something worth doing. What makes for a good competition reality show is watching the contestants develop and you lose a lot of that with people calling in over Skype.

The interactions between the judges and the contestants feels very detached and comes off more like a teacher grading homework than it should. I don't think Matt would have had near as much trouble conveying exactly what he wanted out of the different shows in the coaching sessions had he been there during the creative process.

2. Give people more than 5 minutes to showcase themselves.

The hardest part about listening to the early episodes is a lot of shows are giving very little content and it makes it next to impossible to really get a feel for them. I'd cut down the amount of shows in the contest to 6 and give each show more time to showcase what they do. For first two episodes, split the shows into two groups of 3 and have them do 15 minute 'mini-sodes' right off the bat with an elimination from each group right off the bat.

After you're down to four, largely maintain the current format only this time when you give challenges, have each podcast record an entire episode. For the judging episodes, have the teams take out the best 10 minute segment for the guest judges to hear but make the full episodes available for download, perhaps as 'bonus content' for a buck or two. The passion generally displayed on these forums says something about the audience of the show and I'm willing to bet if people are emotionally invested enough in the show to start flame wars, they'd gladly cough up a buck or two each week to hear their favorite show. You could split the profits from the bonus shows between the contestants who recorded them and engineer Frank and help make the work everyone puts in to make the show great worthwhile and as long as the whole contest was recorded ahead of time before airing, no one could accuse you of just picking the show making the most money in bonus episodes purchased.

No matter what the format for Season 2 ends up being, I hope it happens and I'm already bummed I won't have a new episode to listen to next Monday.

I really hope Dum Dum Club pulls out the win, they've not only been my favorite in the contest, but one of my favorite podcasts period.

[doubleginntonic 2]

I try to avoid the forums for this show to avoid the inevitable drama follows reality programming but I've been listening since the first week and while it's been shaky at times, the concept is too intriguing and I became way too invested in the outcome of it to not want to see a second season.

That said, I'd make a lot of format changes starting with:
1. Scrap having the podcasts compete remotely.

Instead of recording week by week over the course of a few months, schedule the Challenge for a week or two of daily recording in the Earwolf studios and have the contestants come to LA if they want to compete. Now, I know it's not fair to podcasts located in other parts of the country but lets face it, plenty of talented unknown comedians move west chasing the kind of exposure an Earwolf podcast is going to bring them already; if they're really serious about establishing a show and building a name for themselves, finding a way to spend a week in LA to record is something worth doing. What makes for a good competition reality show is watching the contestants develop and you lose a lot of that with people calling in over Skype.

The interactions between the judges and the contestants feels very detached and comes off more like a teacher grading homework than it should. I don't think Matt would have had near as much trouble conveying exactly what he wanted out of the different shows in the coaching sessions had he been there during the creative process.

2. Give people more than 5 minutes to showcase themselves.

The hardest part about listening to the early episodes is a lot of shows are giving very little content and it makes it next to impossible to really get a feel for them. I'd cut down the amount of shows in the contest to 6 and give each show more time to showcase what they do. For first two episodes, split the shows into two groups of 3 and have them do 15 minute 'mini-sodes' right off the bat with an elimination from each group right off the bat.

After you're down to four, largely maintain the current format only this time when you give challenges, have each podcast record an entire episode. For the judging episodes, have the teams take out the best 10 minute segment for the guest judges to hear but make the full episodes available for download, perhaps as 'bonus content' for a buck or two. The passion generally displayed on these forums says something about the audience of the show and I'm willing to bet if people are emotionally invested enough in the show to start flame wars, they'd gladly cough up a buck or two each week to hear their favorite show. You could split the profits from the bonus shows between the contestants who recorded them and engineer Frank and help make the work everyone puts in to make the show great worthwhile and as long as the whole contest was recorded ahead of time before airing, no one could accuse you of just picking the show making the most money in bonus episodes purchased.

No matter what the format for Season 2 ends up being, I hope it happens and I'm already bummed I won't have a new episode to listen to next Monday.

I really hope Dum Dum Club pulls out the win, they've not only been my favorite in the contest, but one of my favorite podcasts period.

[Julia 477]

You've gotten me hooked, Earwolf Challenge! I cannot wait to hear what happens on tomorrow's show. No matter who wins, Earwolf is going to gain an awesome new podcast.

[Julia 477]

You've gotten me hooked, Earwolf Challenge! I cannot wait to hear what happens on tomorrow's show. No matter who wins, Earwolf is going to gain an awesome new podcast.

[B Naylor 3]

Well LDDC had the more engaging and funny conversation for me, their stories and questions take things into weirder territory, and they just seem to have a more unique point of view. Totally Laime have somewhat of a gimmick in being a husband and wife team, but they don't have personalities as strong as LDDC.
-
I will say I found myself wishing there was a woman in the room during the stripper story, it nearly got too much into boys club territory with that, but since the story and ended up being about the guilt and discomfort felt in getting a lap dance, it redeemed it and stopped it feeling too macho.

[B Naylor 3]

Well LDDC had the more engaging and funny conversation for me, their stories and questions take things into weirder territory, and they just seem to have a more unique point of view. Totally Laime have somewhat of a gimmick in being a husband and wife team, but they don't have personalities as strong as LDDC.
-
I will say I found myself wishing there was a woman in the room during the stripper story, it nearly got too much into boys club territory with that, but since the story and ended up being about the guilt and discomfort felt in getting a lap dance, it redeemed it and stopped it feeling too macho.

[chesterdouglas 291]

I do enjoy the Little Dum Dum Club, but I don't feel as though the episode presented here is the best showcase for the strengths of their podcast. Honestly, I feel like it may come down to having too many people in the room at once. Although the Little Dum Dum Club does occasionally venture into the territory of talking to multiple guests at the same time, their podcast ordinarily centers around the two hosts speaking with one other person. However, in this case the four-guys-hanging-out-and-shooting-the-shit aesthetic devolved into a bit of a clusterfuck at points. It reminded me of the basic logic underlying the number of villains typically appearing in sequels to superhero movies -- if one villain is good, two villains ought to be fantastic. Except that it almost never actually works out that way.
-
Having said that, however, these are obviously talented guys, and I wish them the very best of luck in the competition.

[chesterdouglas 291]

I do enjoy the Little Dum Dum Club, but I don't feel as though the episode presented here is the best showcase for the strengths of their podcast. Honestly, I feel like it may come down to having too many people in the room at once. Although the Little Dum Dum Club does occasionally venture into the territory of talking to multiple guests at the same time, their podcast ordinarily centers around the two hosts speaking with one other person. However, in this case the four-guys-hanging-out-and-shooting-the-shit aesthetic devolved into a bit of a clusterfuck at points. It reminded me of the basic logic underlying the number of villains typically appearing in sequels to superhero movies -- if one villain is good, two villains ought to be fantastic. Except that it almost never actually works out that way.
-
Having said that, however, these are obviously talented guys, and I wish them the very best of luck in the competition.

[Foam Corner 94]

Luke McGregor is delightful.
At this point I mostly want LDDC to win because they might not take a loss too well, and they might burn some bridges. The frustration they're showing lately is a bit hard for me to listen to. And all of it stems from stupid flights from Australia to L.A. being so expensive.

[Foam Corner 94]

Luke McGregor is delightful.
At this point I mostly want LDDC to win because they might not take a loss too well, and they might burn some bridges. The frustration they're showing lately is a bit hard for me to listen to. And all of it stems from stupid flights from Australia to L.A. being so expensive.

[jughead 189]

eh, I lost interest about half way through their podcast. I can't really recall myself laughing at any point of the show.

[jughead 189]

eh, I lost interest about half way through their podcast. I can't really recall myself laughing at any point of the show.

[Rutabaga 0]

Both final episodes were good. It is a tossup. I think they should both win because that would probably anger the most people.