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Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant are producing a new series, but they're not really calling it a "podcast." All references I've seen and heard call it an "audiobook." The first installment is available from iTunes and Audible now, and the second installment is coming later this month.
This is slightly different than what has come before, which could be a good thing.
This series is called "The Ricky Gervais Guide To...". Each installment sticks to a single topic -- installment one is "Medicine," and installment two is "Natural History."
I am guessing that this new format is a response to people's reactions to the fifth podcast series.
First, the fifth series wasn't even a series, really. All the episodes came out at once and were not even available as individual episodes, rather there was one file released that contained all the episodes in one program. In fact, the first two "episodes" were just one long episode interrupted in the middle by announcements of "That's the end of the first episode" and "Here's the second episode."
Second, the fifth series jumped around a lot and didn't seem to be about anything in particular.
So sticking to individual topics and releasing the installments one by one over a period of weeks could represent a big improvement. I've listened to about half of the first installment, and it is decidedly more focused than the fifth series, and is more entertaining overall.
I have not yet gotten to the controversial part. Apparently, Ricky makes a comment that people who have surgery in order to lose weight are "lazy fat fucking pigs" who should "stop eating, get off your arse and go for a run."
Ricky's response on his blog is as follows:
"I heard someone on the radio once say that they were tired of the prejudice aimed at the overweight. They said something like 'you're not allowed to make fun of gay people, so why are you allowed to make fun of fat people? It's the same thing.'
"It's not the same thing though, is it? Gay people are born that way. They didn't work at becoming gay. Fat people became fat because they would rather be that way than stop eating so much. They had to eat and eat to get fat. Then, when they were fat they had to keep up the eating to stay fat. For gayness to be the same as fatness, gay people would have to start off straight but then ween themselves onto cock. Soon they're noshing all day getting gayer and gayer. They've had more than enough cock... they're full... they're just sucking for the sake of it. Now they're overgay, and frowned upon by people who can have the occasional cock but not over indulge.
"When a doctor tells me that that's how you become gay, I'll stop making jokes about fat people."
I don't agree with everything he says here, and I think he's oversimplifying the situation by assuming that the only reason people are overweight is because they can't control their eating habits.
But remember that this is a man who has made fat jokes about himself all along. The previously referenced Telegraph article quotes him as saying of himself this past September, "'I laugh about being fat, but I should be ashamed. I should walk down the street and have people shouting "Fatty!". That's what I want, to get me out of it.
"'I get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say to myself, 'Oh, you f---ing fat b-----d'.'"
So I do believe that any obesity jokes or comments that he makes are more self-reflexive than anything else.
[UPDATE: I finished it. It's not a huge deal. The context is that they're talking about the differences between complications that can arise from NECESSARY surgeries (like heart transplants) and VANITY surgeries (like collagen injections). The controversial statement is, I thought, a fast, passing remark. I thought it was fairly clear in context that Ricky was not talking about fat people in general, but rather about people who use surgery as a first resort rather than a last resort.]
My commute time today was long enough that I got through the whole series/season/whatever.
It's okay. It's not as outright hilarious as the earlier series/seasons, nor as consistently funny. The really funny moments are fewer and farther between. Karl completely disappears for a while in the third episode, leaving Ricky and Steve to talk amongst themselves for ten minutes or so.
I liked it better when it was in true, clear-cut episodes. It seemed kind of odd that Episode One ended, and Episode Two began with them picking up the discussion that they were having at the end of Episode One. There didn't actually need to be an episode break, except for the fact that about half an hour had passed since the start.
I won't spoil anything by transcribing or repeating the best jokes. I'll just say that the stuff about the Nazis was probably a little too serious overall, but the best parts were probably (a) the "Room 102" discussion and (b) the "Desert Island Discs" discussion. The gay marriage bit in the first episode was okay, but not quite as good as the stuff that followed.It's probably the weakest link in the chain of five. But, on the whole, it's still funny, it's still worth a listen.
Well, it seems to be out early. After rickygervais.com and Ricky Gervais's (other) podcast made repeated references to the new season's starting on September 16, the new season seems to be available now.
Since the podcast was scheduled to start tomorrow, I thought I'd check Audible tonight to see if there was any advance info (Audible rarely puts up advance info).
Lo and behold, it was there and already available for purchase. Not as a podcast (i.e., four weeks with a new half hour each week), but as a two-hour file with the description, "all four episodes are here as a single download. And not only is it available now, it shows a release date of September 5, 2008.
So it's on my iPod now. I guess I know what I'll be listening to on the way to work tomorrow. More details after I've listened to some or all of it. [UPDATE 9/16: The promised "More details" can be found here.]
The description attached to the Audible file also says this about the stars:
"Ricky Gervais, of course, is the award-winning co-creator and star of The Office (upon which the current NBC hit series is based) and HBO's Extras. Steve Merchant, who also stars in Extras, is his long-time creative partner. Karl is a pile of protoplasm that mimics the functions of a human being."
The "most downloaded podcast of all time" is coming back for more.
I'm having trouble finding specific references online, even at RickyGervais.com. However, Ricky Gervais has been doing a sporadic podcast for some months now. This past weekend, there was an eight-minute free clip from the upcoming "Series 5" podcast with Ricky, Steve Merchant and Karl Pilkington.
Now, the "Series 5" reference is slightly confusing to me, because I only ever knew of three series of podcasts. In late 2006, they released what the podcast page of rickygervais.com refers to as "Three special free podcasts - The Podfather Parts I, II and III," so perhaps they are counting those as Series 4? Or perhaps the "5" was just a typo?
Whatever.
Anyway, the long and short of it is that the podcast description says that the new series will be available starting Tuesday, September 16.
The Guardian was the official distributor of the original podcasts, so perhaps checking in with the Guardian's "Ricky Gervais Podcast" page over the next three weeks might reveal more information (right now, it just says "Sorry, you're too late. The Ricky Gervais podcasts on Guardian Unlimited are now finished," and refers you to rickygervais.com).
I previously mentioned WNYC's show Radiolab.
I mentioned the fact that Radiolab comes in sets of five episodes. What I failed to mention is that they often post mini-episode podcasts during the radio show's down time. These can be as short as ten minutes or as long as an hour.
This week, available only as a download, they have a 50+ minute discussion that Robert Krulwich had at the 92nd Street Y with Brian Greene, author of "The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos." In their own description of the show, "Robert and Brian discuss what’s beyond the horizon of our universe, what you might wear in infinite universes with finite pairs of designer shoes, and why the Universe and swiss cheese have more in common than you think."
No fancy audio editing, just a straightforward discussion in front of a live audience. The comments currently posted on the episode's page indicates that Mr. Greene seems to have touched a nerve -- "I find it totally absurd to suggest that free-will is just a useful, comforting and necessary component that helps us get through the day," and "Brian, I find your particular solution to be extremely pessimistic and limited."While listening to it, there came a moment when all I could think of was the title of David Byrne and Brian Eno's new album, "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today."
This is a podcast recommendation.
A few months ago, "This American Life" decided to promote WNYC's show, "Radiolab." They simply re-broadcast a Radiolab episode in hopes of attracting people to that show. Since then, I've been downloading the Radiolab podcast.
And Radiolab is a very interesting show. They do some unorthodox but interesting things with the audio editing -- things that could easily become gimmicky in other hands. But the creators of the show ensure that any quirks in the sound editing are in support of the material, not just something to make people go "Oooooh!"
This past week's episode is a rerun from a couple of years ago. The topic is "Emergence," the concept that (according to Wikipedia) "the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions." For example, ant colonies building their nests in a way that their entrances stay above water level during floods -- something so intelligent that you couldn't expect from any individual ants, but which somehow occurs when the ants congregate in large numbers.
The episodes tend to come in clumps of five programs released in a row, then several weeks off, then another five episodes, etc. All the episodes I've listened to have been immensely interesting.
Repeating an earlier posting:
If you've not seen it before, you should check out Abigail's "X-Rated" Teen Diary. Despite the title, it is TOTALLY safe for work. The "X-Rated," she explains, is just adult-speak for "You're not supposed to look at this, it's private."
The premise is that between the seventh and eighth grades, Abigail developed Bloomberger's Syndrome, which is this disease that, like, totally changes your DNNA 'n' stuff -- the upshot of which is that this thirteen-year-old girl happens to look exactly like a middle-aged man, though she still talks and acts like a thirteen-year-old girl..
She posts new videos every Tuesday and Thursday (recently changed from three times a week), and the videos tend to run between thirty seconds to two minutes. The entire backlog of Abigail videos is available for viewing on her site. There is also a channel on YouTube, and the whole series of videos is available as a video podcast through iTunes as well.
If you know a man in the Bay Area, preferably with some facial hair and/or bald(ing), who is willing to do some kind of semi-scripted semi-improvisation on camera for a couple of hours some weekend, let me know. I want to send a video response to Abigail, but I need someone to play my mother or whose mother I can play. In other words, I've got a couple of ideas (one of which is that Mom has adult-onset Bloomberger's syndrome), but I don't insist that we do those things specifically. We would work together to do whatever works best.
So if you know someone who would be interested in doing this or if you yourself are interested in doing this, let me know. If you don't already know my e-mail address, either leave a comment on this posting or click on my profile on the left-hand side of this page to find an e-mail link.
Repeating and expanding an earlier posting:
If you've not seen it before, you should check out Abigail's "X-Rated" Teen Diary. Despite the title, it is TOTALLY safe for work. The "X-Rated," she explains, is just adult-speak for "You're not supposed to look at this, it's private."
The premise is that between the seventh and eighth grades, Abigail developed Bloomberger's Syndrome, which is this disease that, like, totally changes your DNNA 'n' stuff -- the upshot of which is that this thirteen-year-old girl happens to look exactly like a middle-aged man, though she still talks and acts like a thirteen-year-old girl..
She posts new videos every Tuesday and Thursday (recently changed from three times a week), and the videos tend to run between thirty seconds to two minutes. The entire backlog of Abigail videos is available for viewing on her site. There is also a channel on YouTube, and the whole series of videos is available as a video podcast through iTunes as well.
If you know a man in the Bay Area, preferably with some facial hair and/or bald(ing), who is willing to do some kind of semi-scripted semi-improvisation on camera for a couple of hours some weekend, let me know. I want to send a video response to Abigail, but I need someone to play my mother or whose mother I can play (are you listening Jonathan?). In other words, I've got a couple of ideas (one of which is that Mom has adult-onset Bloomberger's syndrome), but I don't insist that we do those things specifically. We would work together to do whatever works best.
So if you know someone who would be interested in doing this or if you yourself are interested in doing this (Jonathan, you said I should mention you in my blog...), let me know. If you don't already know my e-mail address, either leave a comment on this posting or click on my profile on the left-hand side of this page to find an e-mail link.
With the Tony Awards coming up soon, this is a good time to point out a resource:The American Theatre Wing has two free podcasts available.One is an audio podcast called "Downstage Center". It is the podcast version of their weekly XM Satellite Radio program. This week's interview is with Harold Prince. In recent weeks, they have spoken with Paul Rudnick, James Earl Jones, Michael Cumpsty (who was at UNC-CH at the same time I was, and whom I saw in many Playmakers Repertory productions), Nathan Lane, Edward Albee and Tom Stoppard. Each program lasts approximately an hour.The other is a video podcast called "Working In the Theatre." These seminars take place about once a month, so they fill in other weeks by encoding programs from their archives. The nature of the panel changes from program to program. "Production" programs tend to feature the writers, directors, producers, cast and crew of a single show. "Performance" programs feature a panel of performers from several shows that are running on Broadway when the program is taped. Other programs can feature a panel of, for example, writers, or a panel of producers or directors or designers.Far more interesting material than I have time to watch or listen to.
If you've not seen it before, you should check out Abigail's "X-Rated" Teen Diary.
Despite the title, it is TOTALLY safe for work. The "X-Rated," she explains, is adult-speak for "You're not supposed to look at this, it's private."
The premise is that between the seventh and eighth grades, Abigail developed Bloomberger's Syndrome, which is this disease that, like, totally changes your DNNA 'n' stuff -- the upshot of which is that this thirteen-year-old girl happens to look exactly like a middle-aged man, though she still talks and acts like a thirteen-year-old girl..
She posts new videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the videos tend to run about thirty seconds to two minutes. The entire backlog of Abigail videos is available for viewing on her site and is available as a video podcast through iTunes as well.
If you know a man in the Bay Area who is over forty, preferably with facial hair and/or bald(ing), who is willing to do some kind of semi-scripted semi-improvisation on camera some weekend, let me know. I want to send a video response to Abigail, but I need someone to play my mother (can you say "adult-onset Bloomberger's?").
Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant are producing a new series, but they're not really calling it a "podcast." All references I've seen and heard call it an "audiobook." The first installment is available from iTunes and Audible now, and the second installment is coming later this month.
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