Harmontown: 129 - Best Of A Bad Lot
December 9, 2014 6:41 AM - Subscribe
Harmontown welcomes the return of comptroller Jeff Davis, Mayor Harmon wants you off his lawn and creator of The IT Crowd, Graham Linehan, meets Dan on stage for the first time and they exchange their transcontinental show runner blues.
Great to have Jeff back. Guest comptrollers are good in moderation, but hearing a dozen of them bumble around constantly asking "Am I doing this right?" gets old quickly. Also nice to have a kind-of-serious discussion about the mechanics of TV comedy with Graham Linehan.
posted by adrianhon at 2:59 PM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by adrianhon at 2:59 PM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]
I haven't quite finished the episode but so far no coverage for Jeff's absence. I'm pretty sure he was just off filming for a tv show though.
posted by yellowbinder at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2014
posted by yellowbinder at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2014
Jeff was on tour with "Whose Line" for a while. For the most part that's where he was.
It is so good to have him back. I did think he went too far with the rape jokes in D&D on his last episode, but he is an important part of the dynamic of the show. He's the best a pushing back on Dan, and I think he does a lot to shape the general pacing of the show.
Graham Linehan was a great guest. I never fell in love with IT Crowd, but I'm a big fan of Black Books. I should try Father Ted.
Here's a wiki link to the Mountain Dew campaign Dan mentions, which didn't quite play out the way he remembers, in that of course they never actually produced a soda called "Hitler had some good ideas"
(But if they had, it would have been Green Apple flavored.)
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:20 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
It is so good to have him back. I did think he went too far with the rape jokes in D&D on his last episode, but he is an important part of the dynamic of the show. He's the best a pushing back on Dan, and I think he does a lot to shape the general pacing of the show.
Graham Linehan was a great guest. I never fell in love with IT Crowd, but I'm a big fan of Black Books. I should try Father Ted.
Here's a wiki link to the Mountain Dew campaign Dan mentions, which didn't quite play out the way he remembers, in that of course they never actually produced a soda called "Hitler had some good ideas"
(But if they had, it would have been Green Apple flavored.)
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:20 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is my first time listening to Harmontown. It was my impression that the part with the guest was way better than the preceding bit (kind of like WTF with Marc Maron). Is that how it usually is?
posted by ocherdraco at 11:43 AM on December 10, 2014
posted by ocherdraco at 11:43 AM on December 10, 2014
Is that how it usually is?
Having listened to many (most?) episodes, I think the actual rule is that shows are best when Dan is drunk and worst when he's hungover. Beyond that, there's not much of a pattern. For a long time every episode ended with a D&D session, but they recently broke that streak.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:10 PM on December 10, 2014
Having listened to many (most?) episodes, I think the actual rule is that shows are best when Dan is drunk and worst when he's hungover. Beyond that, there's not much of a pattern. For a long time every episode ended with a D&D session, but they recently broke that streak.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:10 PM on December 10, 2014
Harmontown isn't really a guest-driven show. In fact, it is a running gag what a bad interviewer Dan is.
The opening bits are funnier to me when Dan is talking about his life, rather than current events.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 1:05 PM on December 10, 2014
The opening bits are funnier to me when Dan is talking about his life, rather than current events.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 1:05 PM on December 10, 2014
The impact of the guest relies heavily on the guest and everyone's comfort shooting the breeze on whatever comes to mind, from what I've discerned so far from about 40 or so shows (the same holds true for DnD!).
Sometimes Dan and Jeff just really hit the ball out of the park prior to the guest and sometimes it turns into a slow drag waiting for the guest.
The one magical ingredient I've discovered in terms of my enjoyment, it's always more reliably entertaining once Spencer hits the stage as his personality and sense of humor are not as similar as Jeff's and Dan's. And as much as Dan's inebriation can affect the show, Spencer's level of being high, can also affect the show, though not as severely.
posted by Atreides at 1:34 PM on December 10, 2014
Sometimes Dan and Jeff just really hit the ball out of the park prior to the guest and sometimes it turns into a slow drag waiting for the guest.
The one magical ingredient I've discovered in terms of my enjoyment, it's always more reliably entertaining once Spencer hits the stage as his personality and sense of humor are not as similar as Jeff's and Dan's. And as much as Dan's inebriation can affect the show, Spencer's level of being high, can also affect the show, though not as severely.
posted by Atreides at 1:34 PM on December 10, 2014
I too wanted more explanation for Jeff's absence (and sorry if this is gauche, also for the fact that he wasn't at Dan's wedding), but I was glad to have him back.
posted by purpleclover at 1:49 PM on December 10, 2014
posted by purpleclover at 1:49 PM on December 10, 2014
Jeff's also been shooting a travelling game show, so depending on the tightness of that schedule it's definitely possible to miss a wedding without bad blood.
posted by yellowbinder at 2:43 PM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by yellowbinder at 2:43 PM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Atreides at 2:12 PM on December 9, 2014