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About LinkBacksAm I the only one who thought the guy who invented the roBorat was doing a zach galifianakis impression as a way of referencing the situation?
Am I the only one who thought the guy who invented the roBorat was doing a zach galifianakis impression as a way of referencing the situation?
See, I've said all along - even before the elimination was announced - that I think LHR, even though they'd become my favourites in previous weeks, had the least of the three Round 9 submissions and had to go. I don't disagree with the decision.
And both Dave and Matt have posted clear and well-articulated explanations of what went down on the show, which should, at the very least, quell most of looney conspiracy talk about bias and rigging. But those explanations only proved something I already knew before Round 9, which was that these are two smart, experienced guys in the judge's chairs, which left me wondering even more why the much of the judging conversation on the show came across as wishy-washy to literally tens of forum posters at Earwolf.
I think there's definitely something in the fact that many of the disgruntled were one-eyed Left Handed Radio fans, but I still had to wonder why did I, as a listener who agreed with the decision and who had previous knowledge of and respect for the judges, still feel like the judging conversation wasn't great this week?
In the end, because I don't blame the judges, I blamed the lack of clear criteria. I'm betting that if the further deliberation which happened behind the scenes had been aired then all the important aspects of the judgement would have been covered and articulated better and much of the controversy would have been squashed. But I'm sure there are reasons it wasn't aired too. The production of this brand new podcasting format is as much of a challenge for these producers as anything they've set for the contestants, so I hope if they have the stomach for a season two they take a bunch of the feedback and bring it back better than this inaugural season. And I've mostly enjoyed this inaugural season a lot.
But if the Round 9 feedback is anything to go on maybe their biggest challenge of all isn't going to be finding good contestants, it's going to be finding willing judges.
I thought the same thing, and it was a fairly decent impression for the first 30 seconds or so, but if that wasn't clear to the judges then I don't think that's the judges fault. Zach doesn't have a unique, clearly mimicable voice or catch phrases which make impressions universally obvious in the same way other comedy figures like a Sandler or a Rock or a Rogen do. Or a Borat or Austin Powers for that matter.Originally Posted by Natalie Portmanteau
And either way, it still wasn't the strongest entry.
Last edited by Bucho; September 8, 2011 at 1:00 PM.
Is it worth it? It might just inflame the thread further, probably best just to let it die at this point.
You say that like fire bad.
I didn't read the earwolf forum until recently, and now I can't decide if some of those people even like the show, but I would assume they do by how passionate they are. I just hope that their passion translates to some kind of donation. It really would be awesome if they did another one of these challenges.
Just looked at the Earwolf thread again today and found it closed for new comments - Aukerman finally had enough. What's strange to me about the trolls who ruined it is that while they were usually articulate and tried to present themselves as logical people, they never displayed any sense of humor about themselves or the competition. AST's own Bucho is one of the few persons there/here who consistently made thoughtful constructive criticisms and managed to inject humor into his posts.
This week's challenge was a prank played on the contestants to test their resourcefulness. And if it turned into a prank on the EC listeners too, then some folks clearly lost by not getting the joke.
It's fine to present your viewpoint once and find that no one agrees with you, but it becomes trolling when you restate the same thing over and over again, in the vain hope than you will somehow sway people's opinion. Comedy does not work that way - you can't convince someone that something is "funny" (or "not funny").
And as a person who did recently donate $ to Earwolf, I am confounded as to how those witless, nasty commenters could possibly be the same audience for those shows I adore on a weekly basis.
visit me in the culture dungeon
I didn't read all the comments over there (I don't like to read books on my computer), but of what I did read, I noticed that none of the really angry people acknowledged that their perception of the entries is biased by the fact that they've been listening to these groups for weeks, have decided who they like and who they don't, have become emotionally involved in the drama of the competition and are therefore prejudiced. That's natural, and there's nothing wrong with it, but at least be aware of that when you are confronted with an opinion different from your own that is coming from someone without those built-up biases. There's a downside to having judges come in cold, for sure -- for example, Dave and I couldn't know if Totally Laime's conversation was a rehash or not -- but there's also value in getting a fresh perspective, especially late in the game. I wish the complainers appreciated that, rather than scream about the judges being wrong or misinformed or part of a conspiracy. But I guess they also didn't like hearing us joke around about something that, to them, is gravely important -- I could see how that would be off-putting if you're really invested in the outcome, but then again, it's a reality podcast competition on a comedy network, so can you blame anyone involved for trying to have fun with it?
Thing is there were only 2 maybe 3 people persistently posting angrily and making things really personal. I think a lot of people (me included) were frustrated at first, but wanted to backtrack a bit when we saw how Dirk and Mark Thompson were reacting and didn't want to be associated with them.
I think the decision to have the judges come in cold was a mistake. Yes you want to avoid playing favorites (which probably should have disqualified Totally Laime to begin with) but you end up doing the thing that's most irritating about reality competition shows, eliminating somebody great based on some dumb challenge that they had no chance of winning.
TV innit
We tried to jump on and ask people to not trash the other shows & the judges b/c of the elimination and were promptly ignored, then told that it wasn't about us anymore. I think that says a lot about angry forum posters.
Just a prediction, but I think the husband/wife dynamic and the access to big names as guests = Totally Laime wins, and I can't say I disagree.
I still can't believe that the little dum dum club is two dudes. That one guy totally sounds like a woman.
Hey, check me out. I'm a ghost.
I've paused it in the break before the announcement about who's won. My thoughts:
I'm loving listening to the judges talk about all of the petty issues that have been argued over on the forums. Scott and Jeff do seem to have a handle on why certain things are frustrating and have real opinions of their own.
I didn't love Totally Laime's submission. I recognized all of the judges' points as valid, and what it really came down to was a sort of rushed awkwardness that permeated the episode.
That being said, the LDDC's submission--in my mind--was funny mostly because of their guests. They stole the show, which would be fine on a podcast like TL, where the guest is the only professional in the room, but the guests on the LDDC were much funnier than Tommy and Carl. In fact, the guests' sense of humor and delivery reminded me much more of "an Australian Stop Podcasting Yourself"--as judges have referred to the LDDC in the past--than the hosts'.
In the end, this has surely been a tough and slightly silly task for everyone involved, and I'm glad for the winner and for all of the competitors.
I guess I'll never see what it is that so many Judges seem to see in Totally Laime but after hearing that I can't deny that Scott & Jeff honestly just liked it the most, they gave some great analysis. And that was such an enthralling episode, I can't be mad about it, just some really great analysis on a variety of different topics.
Great final show! The judges and Matt were able to, if not justify, at least shine some light on their decision making process and on the process of creating and maintaining the show itself.
Plus there was further confirmation of Matt's long form improv show !!
Almost Fun Fact: The judges seemed interested to know whether Totally Laime were already friendly with Charlie Day. He's married to Elizabeth's best friend.
I really wish I didn't find Totally Laime host's voice and cadence so difficult to listen to - they seem like good people and have good guests. That nasal register "gives me the shivers" , to quote Owen Meany, as much as I'm curious to hear Shelby Fero.
I'll also never hear "Sidekick Andy", it'll always be "Psychic Andy", no matter how many times I re-realize what she's actually saying.
I think an optimal conclusion to this season would have been runner up prizes awarded to dum dum, lhr and tl, and then the true winner revealed to be CYBER THUG RADIO!*
*featuring Miles Archer
Little Dum Dum Club will be on the Back Room at 7pm PST tonight (Wed. OCt. 12).
Aussie alert! http://www.yowie.com/show/53q
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