There are lots of podcasters on iTunes who deal solely in the realm of entertainment commentary. I may be doing myself a disservice here, as I write exclusively about one entertainment medium: podcasts. But can you blame me? There are tons of them out there — lots of rich content to pontificate on. What I’m really talking about is podcasts where the hosts talk about one movie, one television show, one book, for as long as the podcast exists. I know a lot of these are studio driven, but there are others.
No real mystery here I guess. Just fan culture doing what it does. But why does it do what it does?
The IchaPod CraneCast is but one podcast dedicated to the television show, Sleepy Hollow. There’s also Welcome to Sleepy Hollow, and of course The Headless HorsePod. Maybe I made up the HorsePod one.
It’s a phenomenon we see across media channels. Chris Hardwick, for one, has made a micro industry hosting Talking Dead on AMC, an after-show plot discussion with the occasional celebrity guest. He also hosted Talking Bad, a show similar in ilk.
The Walking Dead has a podcast too, called, what else but, The Walking Dead Podcast. Actually, there are about 30 Walking Dead podcasts. I found one network with three different shows devoted to the southern zombie, melodrama. A guy named Evil Ed hosted one. Hmmm.
But in podcastia, this all started (to my knowledge) with a little show called MuggleCast, the product of a Harry Potter fan site. It was incredibly successful by early aughts podcast standards. It won the People’s Choice Podcast at the 2006 Podcast Awards. Two years later it won Best Entertainment Podcast, and it won again in 2009.
I’m not being condescending here. Promise. I just can’t say I understand shows about shows that are currently shows. Too many shows for you? I completely get it when it’s a podcast framed around programs that were cancelled after three seasons and/or have developed a cult following over the years. And I really get shows covering obscure entertainment vehicles. For example, there was the MooseCast, a show about the quirky TV comedy/drama Northern Exposure. I got that. You may’ve read my interview with April Richardson about her show, Go Bayside! love that podcast. But I really don’t understand some of these other ones where people sit around and talk about mainstream, ubiquitous programming. Is this a case of “old people be hatin’”?
You tell me.
Here are some other podcasts devoted to your ‘current’ favorite TV shows and movies.
Boars, Gore, and Swords: A Game of Thrones Podcast
PodCasturbia’s The Blacklist Podcast
