Episode 10.3 — The Final Challenge: Day 3

[robstraws 16]

Congrats to Totally Laime. Both podcasts were really great and both deserved to win. Between the coffee I was drinking and Scott dragging out his decision my heart was pounding. Both podcasts get a subscriber out of me and I think out of a lot more listeners.

[robstraws 16]

Congrats to Totally Laime. Both podcasts were really great and both deserved to win. Between the coffee I was drinking and Scott dragging out his decision my heart was pounding. Both podcasts get a subscriber out of me and I think out of a lot more listeners.

[VIJoe 1]

Great job to all involved in this unique experiment. I am going to miss seeing the Earwolf Challenge episodes show up in iTunes. Looking back on the show, I have a couple of thoughts that I hope will be considered as constructive criticism. I think most of my criticism concerns structural elements of the show. I like the concept. I enjoyed the execution -- especially Matt. Here are the little things that I think might be improved:

*Judges: I like the rotating judges. I might prefer that Matt hold a more traditional moderator role and not actively be a Judge but it's a minor preference. My biggest complain re the judges is that I feel that the podcasters being judged don't know the judges. I, for one, am a podcast fan and I am fans of every one of the judges that participated. However, I feel that only a couple times (Brett Ham w/Matt Gourley comes to mind) did the podcaster specifically address a judge. A lot of times Matt would just say, 'Mark and Jesse' are here with me instead of saying WTF's Mark Maron and Jesse Thorn from Jordan Jesse Go. I realize this might be repetitive to the listener -- maybe the podcasters could be notified ahead of time via email or whatever (for all I know, actually, they already are -- it just doesn't seem like it.)

*Rules and Criteria: I know there was some discussion along the way about the fact that Matt had to do the coaching session with each podcast and that they we're always consistent. I have a suggestion regarding this. How about Matt pre-record a coaching general session. That coaching session, which Earwolf Challenge listeners hear as part of the show, has already been made available to the various podcasts. That way the conversation could be more focused with each of the shows since he has already gotten the basics out of the way.

*Submission Intros: Don't like em. This information might properly be used in the 'defense' portion if somebody ends up in the bottom three. I say jump right into the submission. If somebody ends up in the bottom three, then we get some discussion on what they were trying to do and where they were trying to go with it.

*Interaction: One of the things that separates this from a TV reality show is the lack of direct conflict between competitors. This is an unformed idea -- but how about some type of challenge which requires the podcasts to be pitted against one another or somehow challenge one another. Just a thought.

Hopefully the Challenge comes back for Season 2. Congrats to Totally Laime.

[VIJoe 1]

Great job to all involved in this unique experiment. I am going to miss seeing the Earwolf Challenge episodes show up in iTunes. Looking back on the show, I have a couple of thoughts that I hope will be considered as constructive criticism. I think most of my criticism concerns structural elements of the show. I like the concept. I enjoyed the execution -- especially Matt. Here are the little things that I think might be improved:

*Judges: I like the rotating judges. I might prefer that Matt hold a more traditional moderator role and not actively be a Judge but it's a minor preference. My biggest complain re the judges is that I feel that the podcasters being judged don't know the judges. I, for one, am a podcast fan and I am fans of every one of the judges that participated. However, I feel that only a couple times (Brett Ham w/Matt Gourley comes to mind) did the podcaster specifically address a judge. A lot of times Matt would just say, 'Mark and Jesse' are here with me instead of saying WTF's Mark Maron and Jesse Thorn from Jordan Jesse Go. I realize this might be repetitive to the listener -- maybe the podcasters could be notified ahead of time via email or whatever (for all I know, actually, they already are -- it just doesn't seem like it.)

*Rules and Criteria: I know there was some discussion along the way about the fact that Matt had to do the coaching session with each podcast and that they we're always consistent. I have a suggestion regarding this. How about Matt pre-record a coaching general session. That coaching session, which Earwolf Challenge listeners hear as part of the show, has already been made available to the various podcasts. That way the conversation could be more focused with each of the shows since he has already gotten the basics out of the way.

*Submission Intros: Don't like em. This information might properly be used in the 'defense' portion if somebody ends up in the bottom three. I say jump right into the submission. If somebody ends up in the bottom three, then we get some discussion on what they were trying to do and where they were trying to go with it.

*Interaction: One of the things that separates this from a TV reality show is the lack of direct conflict between competitors. This is an unformed idea -- but how about some type of challenge which requires the podcasts to be pitted against one another or somehow challenge one another. Just a thought.

Hopefully the Challenge comes back for Season 2. Congrats to Totally Laime.

[c_n_anderson 0]

Great show. I was fine with either show winning - and I'll be subscribing to both and hopefully get a chance to go to the CBB live show when Tommy is on.
.
I thought it was funny when Elizabeth asked Charlie what his biggest fear was. Maybe not as funny as when Scott used to ask his guests how much money they made last year or their exact address, but I think all of those questions work to initiate funny comedic discussions even if they don't necessarily put the guest "at ease". It's a comedy podcast, I am not expecting serious answers to any of those questions.
.
I'd love to hear (and even potentially participate) in the bonus episode if that is still going to happen.

[c_n_anderson 0]

Great show. I was fine with either show winning - and I'll be subscribing to both and hopefully get a chance to go to the CBB live show when Tommy is on.
.
I thought it was funny when Elizabeth asked Charlie what his biggest fear was. Maybe not as funny as when Scott used to ask his guests how much money they made last year or their exact address, but I think all of those questions work to initiate funny comedic discussions even if they don't necessarily put the guest "at ease". It's a comedy podcast, I am not expecting serious answers to any of those questions.
.
I'd love to hear (and even potentially participate) in the bonus episode if that is still going to happen.

[rdriley 21]

I've criticized TL numerous times over the course of this challenge, so I feel like I'm completely secure in saying that the better podcast won. Based solely on this submission, I enjoyed TL a lot more. Jeff said in his notes that he tuned out on LDDC a couple of times, and I did as well. Over the course of the challenge, there were a couple of LDDC submissions that really killed it and stood out (like last week, when I personally probably would have voted TL out instead of LHR), but TL has been more consistently enjoyable for me.
.
I guess the best way to put it would be to say that TL had a couple of bad weeks, LDDC had a couple of great weeks, but overall I just graded TL higher.
.
Overall, I really loved the Challenge. Loved Besser. Found a couple of new podcasts to listen to. Even enjoyed the controversies, as long as people weren't being dicks about it.

[rdriley 21]

I've criticized TL numerous times over the course of this challenge, so I feel like I'm completely secure in saying that the better podcast won. Based solely on this submission, I enjoyed TL a lot more. Jeff said in his notes that he tuned out on LDDC a couple of times, and I did as well. Over the course of the challenge, there were a couple of LDDC submissions that really killed it and stood out (like last week, when I personally probably would have voted TL out instead of LHR), but TL has been more consistently enjoyable for me.
.
I guess the best way to put it would be to say that TL had a couple of bad weeks, LDDC had a couple of great weeks, but overall I just graded TL higher.
.
Overall, I really loved the Challenge. Loved Besser. Found a couple of new podcasts to listen to. Even enjoyed the controversies, as long as people weren't being dicks about it.

[aaron martinez 0]

Love the show and the series!! Great job everyone! Only thing I don't like is all the whining about negative comments in the forums. Sure there's a lot of haters out there but you have to ignore them. I think I've heard Matt & Scott complain about the forums a few too many times and although I totally agree with them I think they're giving those negative commenters too much power by mentioning it on the show. ANYWAYS - keep up the awesomeness Earwolf!

[aaron martinez 0]

Love the show and the series!! Great job everyone! Only thing I don't like is all the whining about negative comments in the forums. Sure there's a lot of haters out there but you have to ignore them. I think I've heard Matt & Scott complain about the forums a few too many times and although I totally agree with them I think they're giving those negative commenters too much power by mentioning it on the show. ANYWAYS - keep up the awesomeness Earwolf!

[ChrisT 0]

Well done to totally laime, I enjoyed both podcast pretty much equally however its a bit shit that from the first week everyone must have thought totally laime were going to win just because they have already had most of the earwolf guests on. I also agree that little dum dum shouldnt have won simply because they are different to whats on earwolf, but they were the only group not to go into the bottom three and they were genuinely the funniest. All in all probably the top 3 were the top 3 and everyone could argue personal preference, I just thought you might avoid going for the obvious.
I was surprised by how bad Matt Besser was although I am a fan I disagreed with him when at least 3 times he said I don't get it to what I believed were good jokes with a good twist, probably the best example of this is the brett hamil sketch where it started with a hack then it went to 'alternative' comic complaining about a hack then to a comedian complaining about how alternative is hack its probably the sketch which was most originally implemented using the gameshow outline, although it wasnt clear it was clever and I picked it up after the first buzzer, The only reason I bring it up is because its one of the only sketches that stood out. I was more surprised than anything because he made out like he hates meta-humor and meta-reference but I think his problem was worrying about the 'challengers' being obvious or hack, you should let people be meta and if they are hack/not funny you learn that about them.
Overall I enjoyed the challenge I hope you tweek it and I hope Matt comes back I just hope he is more brutally honest and of course maybe he was being I just thought he struggled to be a Host, Coach and a Judge. Hope this didnt come across as whiney.
PS Matt forgot to mention Freak Dance and unfortunately no one will read this as it went so long and incoherent so hopefully he will remember to plug next week

[ChrisT 0]

Well done to totally laime, I enjoyed both podcast pretty much equally however its a bit shit that from the first week everyone must have thought totally laime were going to win just because they have already had most of the earwolf guests on. I also agree that little dum dum shouldnt have won simply because they are different to whats on earwolf, but they were the only group not to go into the bottom three and they were genuinely the funniest. All in all probably the top 3 were the top 3 and everyone could argue personal preference, I just thought you might avoid going for the obvious.
I was surprised by how bad Matt Besser was although I am a fan I disagreed with him when at least 3 times he said I don't get it to what I believed were good jokes with a good twist, probably the best example of this is the brett hamil sketch where it started with a hack then it went to 'alternative' comic complaining about a hack then to a comedian complaining about how alternative is hack its probably the sketch which was most originally implemented using the gameshow outline, although it wasnt clear it was clever and I picked it up after the first buzzer, The only reason I bring it up is because its one of the only sketches that stood out. I was more surprised than anything because he made out like he hates meta-humor and meta-reference but I think his problem was worrying about the 'challengers' being obvious or hack, you should let people be meta and if they are hack/not funny you learn that about them.
Overall I enjoyed the challenge I hope you tweek it and I hope Matt comes back I just hope he is more brutally honest and of course maybe he was being I just thought he struggled to be a Host, Coach and a Judge. Hope this didnt come across as whiney.
PS Matt forgot to mention Freak Dance and unfortunately no one will read this as it went so long and incoherent so hopefully he will remember to plug next week

[wo 265]

Congrats Totally Laime; I'll be tuning in each week.

[wo 265]

Congrats Totally Laime; I'll be tuning in each week.

[B Naylor 3]

Where have all these Totally Laime fans been the past few weeks? It would have brought some balance to the discussion if there'd been more people speaking up to defend them.

[B Naylor 3]

Where have all these Totally Laime fans been the past few weeks? It would have brought some balance to the discussion if there'd been more people speaking up to defend them.

[raxozellet 86]

Loved the show! Good Job to Besser and the gang.
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Although I hated TL for the purposes of the competition I will most definitely tune in every week and listen to the backlog as they are a strong podcast. The final submission was mos def better by TL.

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TLDDC is a great podcast but the final submission was just not as strong. I will sub to them as well.
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I hope to hear more podcasting from Matt Besser.

[raxozellet 86]

Loved the show! Good Job to Besser and the gang.
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Although I hated TL for the purposes of the competition I will most definitely tune in every week and listen to the backlog as they are a strong podcast. The final submission was mos def better by TL.

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TLDDC is a great podcast but the final submission was just not as strong. I will sub to them as well.
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I hope to hear more podcasting from Matt Besser.

[Ted 1]

Congratulations to Totally Laime and to Earwolf. This series has been great fun and highly informative, and I hope Scott and Jeff use it as a model of what makes Earwolf so powerful. Their willingness to experiment has created a series with a captivating sense of urgency. For me, that urgency isn't really derived from the "horse race"; instead, for me, the really fascinating thing was listening to highly skilled judges analyze and speak about an art form that they themselves participate in. That criticality has allowed me to better appreciate the nuances of this art form, kind of like hearing an artist talk about a painting. Matt Besser's hosting style is remarkable, he managed to maintain a sense of playfulness while also speaking in a highly transparent, self-aware and honest way. That balance of playfulness and self-reflexivity is at the core of my favorite Earwolf programs, and I suspect it's the quaility that makes this network seem unique.

[Ted 1]

Congratulations to Totally Laime and to Earwolf. This series has been great fun and highly informative, and I hope Scott and Jeff use it as a model of what makes Earwolf so powerful. Their willingness to experiment has created a series with a captivating sense of urgency. For me, that urgency isn't really derived from the "horse race"; instead, for me, the really fascinating thing was listening to highly skilled judges analyze and speak about an art form that they themselves participate in. That criticality has allowed me to better appreciate the nuances of this art form, kind of like hearing an artist talk about a painting. Matt Besser's hosting style is remarkable, he managed to maintain a sense of playfulness while also speaking in a highly transparent, self-aware and honest way. That balance of playfulness and self-reflexivity is at the core of my favorite Earwolf programs, and I suspect it's the quaility that makes this network seem unique.

[sofarsogood 0]

This podcast was extremely educational for me, as I'm working on developing my own podcast. Listening to the challenges and hearing all the guest judge's and Matt's perspectives has been phenomenal, and I'm really looking forward to season 2.

I was mildly disappointed that, after listening to the first challenge, I thought that Totally Laime would end up winning and I was right. In an ideal world, there would be 10 challengers, all of which would have the hooks and show to win. I know that this will always be a very subjective thing, but from the start they just felt more professionally put together than the others, and I remember thinking, if I have to guess, that Totally Laime will take the entire thing.

That said, I think this was a complete success. Hearing Matt Besser pontificate was priceless, and I'm very glad that Earwolf did this. Season 2 ahead!

[sofarsogood 0]

This podcast was extremely educational for me, as I'm working on developing my own podcast. Listening to the challenges and hearing all the guest judge's and Matt's perspectives has been phenomenal, and I'm really looking forward to season 2.

I was mildly disappointed that, after listening to the first challenge, I thought that Totally Laime would end up winning and I was right. In an ideal world, there would be 10 challengers, all of which would have the hooks and show to win. I know that this will always be a very subjective thing, but from the start they just felt more professionally put together than the others, and I remember thinking, if I have to guess, that Totally Laime will take the entire thing.

That said, I think this was a complete success. Hearing Matt Besser pontificate was priceless, and I'm very glad that Earwolf did this. Season 2 ahead!

[ronsalas 0]

Congrats to Totally Laime and bummer to the Little Dum Dums. I have become a fan of both your podcasts and some others over the course of this competition and I definitely think this decision could've easily gone the other way. Good luck to all of you guys and I'm eagerly looking forward to season 2. Meanwhile I'm going to go back and listen to this whole thing from the beginning and see if I can pick up stuff I missed.
And thanks to Matt for being such an awesome host. You're the best!

[ronsalas 0]

Congrats to Totally Laime and bummer to the Little Dum Dums. I have become a fan of both your podcasts and some others over the course of this competition and I definitely think this decision could've easily gone the other way. Good luck to all of you guys and I'm eagerly looking forward to season 2. Meanwhile I'm going to go back and listen to this whole thing from the beginning and see if I can pick up stuff I missed.
And thanks to Matt for being such an awesome host. You're the best!

[ShitBarf 0]

I want to start by saying that Matt was a great host and to echo Scott sentiments, I enjoyed having him in my earholes 3 days a week. Thanks Matt!
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Congratulations to Totally Laime! Elizabeth and Andy, I look forward to your first Earwolf episode.
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Personally I would have picked The Little Dum Dum Club. Tommy and Karl consistently make me laugh which is what I look for in a podcast and they have definitely gained a subscriber and fan in me. Either way Earwolf gained a strong podcast.
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Thanks Earwolf team, I was surprised at how invested in the process I became. Can't wait for a season 2.