Big Red Podcast

I just found the Big Red Podcast. This is a pop culture show comprised of TV reviews with a smattering of literature. The audio is very good and the talking heads take turns and control their interactions well. I haven't heard a single earsplitting outburst. They make allusion to a breakfast meeting where the group has already hashed out what they might say and where the emotional reactions, full of swearing and spitting of egg, are discreetly kept away from my tender ears. Thank you.

One thing you might want to say to these people is “put the TiVo down.” They seem to be consuming way more TV than is necessary. But this works to the listener's advantage...at least in the short term. I have listened to four episodes and these have either confirmed a presumption about certain on-going series or made me excited to netflix a new series that I was unaware of. In short, the Big Red Podcast is a winner. I will return to one of the criticisms the Big Red Podcast made last year about Madmen. This would bear upon one of my past blog entries. I will comment back in that blog 7/23/07.


Some podcast losers. (evil snicker)

In the same arena, but not in the same league are “Hey, want to watch a movie?” podcast and “Destroy All Media” Show. I have been looking for new shows at Podcast Pickle instead of Podcast Alley. I have found hidden gems at Pickle before. However these two did not fall into that category.

First of all the sound of Want to Watch a Movie? is atrocious. When I explain the nature of the show one can understand why. This show creates commentary tracks meant to accompany favorite movies. The first minutes are an explanation of this, then an introduction of the cast and finally a countdown to sync your pod-cast up with the movie. The Hollywood Saloon did this once with much higher production values. Please refer back to my November 2007 blog. The key problem for Want to Watch a Movie? is the group commenting on the film seem to be linked via skype. Skype seems to be a highly compressed scheme for phoning through your computer. I've heard call-ins to podcasts from listeners using a skype connection and the hosts regularly hang up on them. This tells you how poor the sound quality can be, because programs recorded live are very desirous of a decent call in from a listener. So now imagine a show based entirely on this type of sound. Additionally, this show introduces a huge number of people who, in theory, would be adding comments. It would be far too many to keep tabs on if they actually all did have comments, but there are frequent dead silences which make you want to check if your headphones came unplugged, but no, it is just where (10?) people have nothing to say. To be fair, I didn't listen while I was synced. But still...Skip this show, it is still in hobby mode. It isn't that the comments for the movies aren't funny and intelligent, but I found it not worth the trouble given the movie selections.

Better is Destroy All Media, but not by any great margin. Three guys discuss tv and movies in this podcast. One of these men is a huge nerd. Star Trek knowledge, a full-blown goober. This makes the other two speakers cool in proximity, and there is a friendly awareness of this dynamic. The sound quality here is not so great. The nerd is heard most clearly, with his hipper peanut-gallery off mic or at some greater distance (besides a degree of hipper style). This is the opposite arrangement for optimum enjoyment. You want a know-it-all to chime in with some trivia occasionally, not run the show. Also if you have a Cliff Claven happening, you want to double-check his info. Nerdman went off on a tangent about the director Coen Brothers when he actually meant the director Wawkowski Brothers. Ooops! My inner nerd is showing.

Still, You might want to take a chance on this show. It could be made better with the a couple more mics and a bit more structure.