We have a podcast here at secretly-important (the secretly-importantcast) and the reason we have one is because we’re also big fans of podcasts. From some really well known ones like This American Life, Fresh Air, and Radiolab, to the less known like Wiretap, Bullseye (formally The Sound of Young America), and How Did This Get Made. If you like podcasts and don’t recognize the last three, then this is the column for you. If you don’t recognize the first three, then begin by listening to those first.
Don’t let any preconceived notions about podcasts get in the way of listening to some really high quality and enjoyable listening experiences. It’s true that for every one good podcast there are a dozen or even dozens not worth a second of your time. That’s why I’m here to help guide you through the murky waters of the itunes store. Each article in this column will feature a great new podcast you should listen and subscribe to.
How Did This Get Made?
I know I’m not alone when I say that I really love terrible movies. Not just bad movies, I mean really truly horrendous ones like, The Room, The Last Airbender, or just about anything starring Nicholas Cage. A bad movie will frustrate you and cause you to spend too much time attempting to fix it’s problems. A dreadful movie can be just as much fun to watch as a really great movie. It’s so bad on every level that you don’t spend any energy trying to fix it, you just sit back and let it’s awfulness shower over you.
It’s inevitable that at some point during an awful movie the question of how did this get made, will arise. It’s a fair question to ask: imagine that someone gave you millions of dollars and asked you to make a good movie, would you assemble the best team possible? Wouldn’t you world tirelessly to make that investment pay off? Mostly, wouldn’t you want to make something that you could be proud of? If these simple questions seem like no-brainers, how is it possible that so many hideous movies are made?
If there is one that I love more then a terrible movie, it’s listening to people, especially funny people, talk about a terrible movie. Well, I’ve just described the podcast How Did This Get Made. It features Paul Scheer of Human Giant, and The League, June Diane Raphael of Party Down, and Jason Mantzoukas of The League, bantering, dissecting, and mocking a new horrible movie each week. Most times they are joined by an equally funny guest host, and recently some of the guest hosts have had a connection to the film themselves.
The show stays lighthearted, they don’t break down the film like a film school might, they simply revel in how bad it is. They make the podcast for exactly the same reason I listen to it, they love terrifically horrible movies.
HDTGM is a member of the earwolf.com family, who’s flagship show Comedy Bang Bang, will eventually find it’s way into this column. With their first episode airing just this past February, this is still a young podcast. Thus far they’ve managed an impressive back log of highly entertaining material. I sincerely look forward to what they’ll be bringing to us of the next year. One thing is for certain, movies are just like podcasts, for every one good one there are a dozen terrible ones.
New episodes are released every other week. In between they release a preview episode to let you know what they’ll be watching the following week, to give you a chance to watch it as well. You can download the episodes for free in itunes or at earwolf.com
HDTGM final from Earwolf Media on Vimeo.
