Nov 29, 2010
#8: A Gypsy, A Tramp, And A Thief
Obviously, Burlesque is much on our minds this week, both within the studio, and without, per Quinn’s No Middle Ground. Dave submits an episode of Clone High for The Canon, Tara gets a second job as an Ammo Cop, Dave brings up a Tiny Triumph, we discuss the week’s winner and loser, and things get heated with a brand-new format in Game Time.
EHG #8: A Gypsy, A Tramp, And A Thief
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Episode Rundown
Trying to avoid spoilers? Here’s when we start talking about what.
- 0:00:00 – Intro
- 0:01:05 – No Middle Ground: Cher
- 0:02:30 – Burlesque
- 0:15:15 – Ammo Cop: Predators
- 0:19:50 – The Canon: Clone High: Film Fest: Tears of a Clone
- 0:37:17 – Tiny Triumph: #FontMovies
- 0:39:15 – Winner & Loser of the Week
- 0:45:10 – Game Time
- 0:50:10 – Outro
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Tags: buffy the vampire slayer, burlesque, cher, clone high, fonts, leslie neilsen, predators or see all tags
Aaaaaaw yeeah! I was just waiting for an episode of Clone High to be put up for The Canon.
I like the idea of an audience participation Game Time. Are you leaning more towards a live thing, with participants calling into a Skype Conference or whatever, or is the tech too iffy for that, more something cut together from audio clips participants send in?
Not live but something that works split into podcast and website components. I’ll explain the “Mullendash” idea later today when I get back as an example.
So Mullendash.
If you have played Balderdash or Dictionary before you know the basic rules. You pick a word and each player writes a fake definition for it then the reader reads them out loud with the real definition in the mix and people guess what they think the real one is.
We did that but with the enjoyably terrible punchlines from EW’s original Hot Sheet with Jim Mullen.
I dug up the rule sheet I made for it:
http://extrahotgreat.com/media/mullenrules.pdf
The online version would start on one podcast with the Mullen setup, users would submit fake punchlines online to me (hidden from public view) then a poll goes up with the real entry, Joe and Tara’s entry and X number of user entries. Users vote in that poll and the one with the most votes becomes the user’s answer (hidden until airtime) on the following podcast. Rinse, repeat.
I have no idea what a Jim Mullen is or what his terrible punchlines are like, but the basic concept is clear enough, thank you.
I suspect that the game doesn’t really work with a single round drawn out over a whole week like that. Games of wit generally draw a lot of the fun from rapid pacing. But it might!
Here’s a proposed variation: We the users send in questions, possibly of the definition kind, but also other things that can be answered in a similar manner, i.e. by wildly making stuff up. A pop-culture theme is encouraged. Tara and Joe and the week’s guest, if any, have to come up with an answer each live on air after being read the question. David awards one point for the most correct answer, the users award a point (by post-podcast vote) for the most entertaining answer. Three or four rounds per podcast, the overall winner, as always, gets nothing but bragging rights.
Could you give an example of a question/item?
Question: “In a season 3 episode, MacGyver gets trapped in an abandoned shack near an old mine. How does he improvise an escape?”
Real Answer: “He makes a hot air balloon out of old tent fabric, a stove pipe and welding equipment.”
I’m not sure if this is a great example. The idea is, something that you might know if you’re way into TV, but you probably don’t, and that leaves you lots of room for creative guesses.
For a definition question, maybe “What is Nephroptosis?”, a disease that’s been on House.
Ah! Ok, that makes sense. I like the user-generated aspect of it though the challenge is to have it be something ungoogleable.
Here’s an example MullenItem:
As the MullenReader I’d say:
“DEADWOOD: A new western series on HBO about ultra violent cowboys who cuss and swear like they’re on The Sopranos.”
Then everyone writes fake punchlines trying to emulate Mullen.
They are mixed in with the real punchline and “read” out.
FYI this is the Mullen punchline to give you a sense of his writing style:
“It was originally going to be called Gun-f—ing-smoke.”
Why not audience participation canon? Not just for suggestions. More often than not, we hear someone say that they love the show but would choose a different episode. I’d love to hear arguments for two different episodes of the same show, and your audience votes on which one wins.
In that scenario they can make the case for the other episode in another Canon if they feel strongly about it. And I think it is worth noting that the user isn’t just suggesting an episode they are making a case for it (or should be anyways, I did get a voicemail this week that just said ‘how about this one’ which isn’t something we can work with).
Totally agree with Joe on Red Riding Hood. I saw the first trailer, and it seemed obvious.
Agreed. I’ve also been telling this to people who have no idea what I’m talking about. “It’s so obvious who the wolf is!”
That is unless it’s Gary Oldman. Which is even more obvious maybe.
Notes!
1. The answer to the NYC game time was “films set in NYC” and I gave Tara the point for that before she added “from the 70s”. The correct answer was nested in there.
2. I didn’t give Joe a chance to steal the R2-D2 point like I should have but at least he did say he was going to give the same answer Tara did. He won anyways. GET OFF MY BACK!
I went and found Clone High on YouTube! I can’t believe I never heard it it before, love learning about new stuff.
Is it weird that I think that Dave looks like the love child of Ty Burrell and Denis O’Hare in the picture above?
Oh you mean my two dads?
Well, now I’m terribly interested in Tara getting started on Glee.
I completely agree. Even though it is putting the Black Eyed Peas in my head, I would love for Tara to “get started” on Glee.
Just wanted to say a quick and profuse thanks for introducing me to Clone High. Holy hell, how have I been missing this show all these years?
@glark @taraariano @joereid thanks… Wesley…
Clone High? This has had a place of honour in our DVD collection for years.
“Ever since Scangrade got here, you’ve been acting like such a little bitchbot!” -CJS
For adding “Film Fest: Tears of a Clone” to canon, I will hereby follow the three of you until the end of time. (No, that is not a threat.)
I think I was the only college sophomore to watch “Clone High” during it’s original run on MTV in 2002. It was rediscovered a few years later, when I was living abroad with Canadians of course. However, I’m a little sad that you chose this particular episode, because I think “A Room of One’s Clone” where the dog is elected class president is the absolute best.