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Fictional Podcasts |OT| - "You mean it isn't real?"

Ophelion

Member
Add to this the whole professional talking about something in their field, uses big words, second person repeats the word or asks "In layman terms?", followed by the professional further explaining something they would go on to explain anyways.

People in these professions understand that most people have no clue what they are saying, they wouldn't wait until someone asks for them to explain. This is used so many times it's frustrating.

"What's a podcast?" "It's like the radio, but on the internet." Any editor of this type of program would leave that shit out. Also the whole "I'm a big fan of your work, blah blah blah."

The more I listen the more I'm starting to hate, but I'm almost done.

The professional thing is something I'm numb to I think because writers do that shit on TV and in movies all the time. It's just background noise to me now.

And like I said before, they've got enough good ideas that I'm not saying their shortcomings make their shows unenjoyable. Just rough and sometimes irritating.
 

Malyse

Member
I think I'll highlight my personal recommendations. There are only a handful of them and it would help with the "what should I listen to"
 
That's how you end the first season? Really? The fact that the cases are connected, which can already be assumed by episode 3 on, and a guy being on TV that just showed up one previous episode is supposed to hold us over and bring us back for season 2?

This ending seems very thrown together to continue on in my opinion. Don't think I'll continue with the new season unless I hear good things more episodes down the road.
 
That's how you end the first season? Really? The fact that the cases are connected, which can already be assumed by episode 3 on, and a guy being on TV that just showed up one previous episode is supposed to hold us over and bring us back for season 2?

This ending seems very thrown together to continue on in my opinion. Don't think I'll continue with the new season unless I hear good things more episodes down the road.
Black Tapes?

Yeah, I felt that the finale was really anticlimatic and that the penultimate episode,
with the reveal of the cave drawings
, would have worked much better as the finale

The cases being connected was blindingly obvious by halfway through the season, it was kind of annoying waiting for the characters to realize that
 

Sulik2

Member
Ok Limetown was incredible. The psychopathy on display in that final episode. The pride in a horrible thing done well. Just wow. Is there another season coming?
 

Majestad

Banned
Black Tapes?

Yeah, I felt that the finale was really anticlimatic and that the penultimate episode,
with the reveal of the cave drawings
, would have worked much better as the finale

The cases being connected was blindingly obvious by halfway through the season, it was kind of annoying waiting for the characters to realize that

Even thought that was the end of the season, is not like we had to wait too long for the next episode.
 

Malyse

Member
Ok Limetown was incredible. The psychopathy on display in that final episode. The pride in a horrible thing done well. Just wow. Is there another season coming?
Presumably.

This OT was born of Limetown fans trying to find something else to fill time with and me posting a list of what I had been listening to. Got a pretty solid response so I forked it into its own thing.
 
Are there any podcasts in the vein of Welcome To Night Vale but more serious and creepy? I'm already listening to PNWS' podcasts (Black Tapes, Tanis) and didn't like Limetown. I like Night Vale's small town radio host style but if there's one like it that's less direct about the otherworldly aspects, that would be great.

Edit: those recent Limetown impressions. Guess I should give it another shot
 
Oooh yes this is a thread I needed. I love fictional podcasts.

My recent discovery: http://hellofromthemagictavern.com/



I guess they're improv comics or something, so while they do some preparation, I think most of the beat by beat moments are off the cuff. It's really funny.

I can't recommend Hello From the Magic Tavern enough. I'm 10 episodes in and hooked, it's pure genius and a ton of fun!!

The premise is that the host fell through a magic portal behind a Burger King into the magic land of Foon and is now podcasting from a local pub while steeling the Burger King's weak wifi signal. He has two regular guests and occasionally others that join in on the fun.
 

Malyse

Member
Our Fair City
Our Fair City is a campy, post-apocalyptic audiodrama. Founded in 2011 with the help of some incredibly generous Kickstarter donors, Our Fair City has quickly become a notable entry in the audiodrama world. Produced by a staff of Chicago storefront theatre veterans, experienced sound designers, and science educators, Our Fair City has won awards and critical acclaim for its dynamic acting, incisive writing, and high level of production. Led by creator Clayton Faits and executive producer Jeffrey Gardner, the HartLife team produces original audio drama, as well as a comic anthology, an acclaimed series of live performances, and high-concept launch parties.

PleasureTown
Classic radio meets contemporary cable drama in this fictional serial podcast about a failed Oklahoma utopian society and its eclectic residents. Betrayal, murder and hedonism abound in PleasureTown.

The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
The First Family Friendly Podcast on the Web!! Since November 7, 2004!! The Podcast for Gifted Children and Adults!

Radio STEAM
The Spectacular Tales of the Extraordinary Airship Mórríghan: The F.M.A.S. Mórríghan, crewed by Captain Decidia ‘Dez’ Black, Professor Perry Wilder, and their latest assembly of misfits and vagabonds

Radio Theater Project
The best of an anthology series of dramas and comedies for radio. Featuring Science Fiction, Mysteries and Classic stories from past that are now in the public domain.

Redline Theatre
Our mission is simple. We will regularly provide brand-new audio dramas for your listening pleasure. We are not limiting our content to a specific genre. If a story is compelling enough to tell, that’s reason enough for us to share it. Despite our sincerest efforts to remain immature, this flexibility also means that our podcast will occasionally contain mature themes, sexual situations, violence, and possibly even existential ennui. Other times, it will not. This means we could conceivably do an episode about unicorns sharing lemonade on a nice spring day. Of course, if the unicorns start copulating, then goring each other with their horns while questioning their respective places in the universe, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Fantastica Zink
The greatest sci-fi comedy in The Universe. The adventures of Fantastica Zink, the Spirit of Help - a woman very keen to, but unable to turn down requests for help

Rude Alchemy
Serial narrative PODCAST melding History, Mystery, Horror, and Comedy; bi-weekly aural remedy for cases of distemper, neurasthenia, and other cranial-malfeasances!

Siblings Peculiar
Ten years after their paranormal investigator parents were lost in the fabric of time and space, siblings Adam and Sarah Peculiar decided to start a podcast. The goal? To peer into the supernatural, expose government secrets and gain any information possible about the whereabouts of their mom and dad. OPEN YOUR EYES!

Steamboys Radioshow
Newly disgraced Captain Joanna Williams breaks out of prison with the help of her lieutenant, Jackson Collins. Together they enlist the help of their navigator and his autistic brother, Jerry, and all devise a plan to steal back their airship and fly away from the country who betrayed them and now calls them traitor.

The Sting of the Dark Tower
Inspired by a story that was probably written by C.S. Lewis.

Strange Future
Thomas Gordon's life in the city was going just fine. He had a decent job, a nice condo, and was generally content with life. One day, however, his boss was in a particularly foul mood, and a chain of inexplicable mishaps resulted in Thomas getting fired. Fed up with the world, he begins to search for an escape to a better life. While sitting at the Realtor's office, he stumbles upon a flyer on a bulletin board that asks a simple question: "Fed Up?" After calling the number on the pull tab, he meets a group of scientists with an interesting proposition: human cryogenic preservation... Thomas and his companions Vera and Doug emerge into the strange future of the twenty-third century: a world full of amazing technological advances and equally amazing people. Upon digging a little further below the surface, though, they quickly discover that this future isn't exactly the "better world" that everyone thought it would be...

Strangeness in Spacee
What would happen if Sophie, the manager of a NASA Space Centre gift shop, and Trev and Simon, two idiots claiming to be a 1980s styled synth pop duo called Pink Custard, were thrown together with a stressy computer robot called LEMON on board a damaged space craft, lost in a distant universe, orbiting Planet Mirth?

Stray Ami
Stray Ami Tells the story of an imaginary friend named Blanc, as he experiences the world around his best friend, a girl named Andale.

The Table Round
Audio Drama in the Age of Arthur

Tale - A KNIGHT ADRIFT
"The heart is a forge, the soul is a sword," Aveline whispered on ragged breath. As she struggled to stand, a creature cloaked in shadow strode toward its bloodied prey and released a triumphant roar. Palms sweating, eyes ablaze, the knight raised her blade and screamed a worthy challenge in reply…

As darkness spreads across the realm of Valerius, the young Knight Aveline must embark on a dangerous mission to find the corrupt Archwizard Ixiel and prevent him from reviving a vengeful adversary. But if Aveline is to survive her quest, she will have to recruit new allies, battle vicious enemies, and come to understand the true meaning of valor, lest she be banished forever to the gloom of the void.

Tales from the Archives: Volume One
From the author who started it all and New Zealand's original podcast authoress, Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine return to Podiobooks.com with Tales from the Archives, a collection of original steampunk short stories set in the world of their award-winning series, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.

Featuring voices familiar and new, Pip and Tee invite you to sample the fantastic world of their shadowy organisation that fights for Queen and Empire against the mysterious and unknown.

Transmissions from Colony One
Transmissions From Colony One is a radio drama set in the near-future of 2057. Twenty years prior, United States President Richard Thorpe (R-CO) announced the start of a “New Dawn,” a global attitude shift toward widespread space exploration. Technological advents such as fusion energy, worldwide high-speed railway systems, and internet speeds faster than ever envisioned laid the groundwork for an economic explosion, but it lacked a platform on which to occur. Thorpe gave the world an outlet for its immense wealth, asking people across the world to simply look up for humanity’s future.

In the twenty years since, the world has changed drastically. MECTI (Mars Exploration, Colonization and Terraformation Initiative) was established with the goal of starting a permanent human presence on Mars. This meant using fusion-propelled rocketry, the construction of a massive space elevator to make transportation from the surface of Earth to low orbit more cost and energy-efficient, and the creation of a mammoth space station that would dwarf today’s International Space Station. All of these things needed to be done in order for MECTI to work. Now, twenty years after the birth of MECTI, the first crew, MECTI-1, is about to land on the surface of Mars, in the flat expansive region of Amazonis Planitia. This will be the first manned mission to the surface of Mars, and the first of thousands of MECTI manned missions to the Red Planet.

Transmissions From Colony One chronicles the on-board recordings of MECTI-1 as the international crew of sixteen (eight men, eight women) conduct their mission…

Underwood and Flinch: A Vampire Novel
Underwood and Flinch: Blood and Smoke
All David Flinch ever wanted was a normal life. But when you're a member of the Flinch family, normal has never been easy.

For hundreds of years, the eldest male Flinch has been servant and guardian to the vampire, Lord Underwood. While the Flinches have changed through the generations, Underwood has remained eternal. David had hoped to be spared the horror of serving his family's lord and master, but when he is summoned to the Flinch home in Spain by his dying older brother, he knows his luck has run out. After fifty years of slumber, Underwood is to be resurrected from the grave in a ritual of human sacrifice, and David, by right of succession, is to be his resurrector. But there is another Flinch, one who craves the role of guardian to the vampire: David’s sister, Lydia. It’s a job she means to have, even if it means making David’s the first blood shed in this new age of Underwood and Flinch..

Virtual Danger
In order to implement a radical copyright enforcement scheme, Villain requires one of Robot's core components, and he'll stop at nothing to get it; even deactivating Robot and murdering Glitterfairy when she gets in his way. Without affording Death Noodle the opportunity to recover from the loss of his two best friends, Noodle's UN handlers force him to choose between handing over Robot's body to be dissected by government scientists or tracking down and defeating Villain all by himself.

With a heroic journey that puts Death Noodle through settings, technologies, emotional and philosophical quandaries reminiscent of The Matrix, Johnny Mnemonic, Inception, The Prestige, Total Recall, The 6th Day, and The Second Untrue Trilogy, Virtual Danger delivers all the fast-paced writing and high-stakes action you've come to expect from a book in The Death Noodle Glitterfairy Robot Saga. Will Death Noodle be able to save his friends, protect the Internet, and prevent the collapse of civilization, or is he really 'just a noodle', incapable of going solo?

We Are Not Alone
1950s Sci-Fi Sketch Comedy Podcast

The Witch Hunter Podcast
An epic gothic fantasy adventure

Wizard Cops
Wizard Cops is a weekly actual-play RPG podcast set in an American Potterverse of our own creation, emulating the style of, and paying homage to the works of J.K. Rowling. On our website, www.wizardcops.com, we have posted our podcasts, lore we've created, and campaigns so you can play along! Like any Potter nerds, we've been all over Pottermore, studied the extended lore, and fantasized about our Hogwarts affiliations. This would already lend itself to an HP-RPG, but no such thing exists. We've been playing tabletop RPGs as a group for years, and, with the inspiration of our amazing G.M., decided to make an RPG set in the Harry Potter universe... but IN AMERICA. Thus, the world of Wizard Cops was born, centered around the New York Aurors Department in New York City (because seriously, there probably are wizards in New York). Our weekly adventures are full of mystery, action, suspense, high-speed [broom] chases, and a fair deal of puns.

After the Plague
A hotel on the outskirts of London in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. A brutal couple, Lee and Mandy, arrive in a van with two captive women held as sex slaves. Lee and Mandy think the hotel is abandoned, a place to find food and shelter. However, Terry, a former employee who has made the hotel his own, has other ideas.
 
Finally listening to Welcome To Night Vale, and while it's interesting and fun, sometimes it sounds like supernatural Mad Libs. Is there any overarching story or just random weirdness each episode?
 

Malyse

Member
Finally listening to Welcome To Night Vale, and while it's interesting and fun, sometimes it sounds like supernatural Mad Libs. Is there any overarching story or just random weirdness each episode?

Yes.

Think Buffy: there are monsters of the week but there is also a major arc in the background.

Also, it takes a bit to get started.
 
The Night Vale creators are starting a new fiction series: Alice Isn’t Dead
The podcast follows a truck driver who travels the United States in search of her wife
---
Given the creative minds involved, listeners can expect the straightforward premise of “Alice Isn’t Dead” to get strange quickly: The truck driver is to come across towns lost in time, quasi-human creatures and evidence of a larger conspiracy related to her missing wife.
Season 1 starts March 8th, 10 episodes
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/night-vale-creators-to-start-new-podcast-platform/
 

Jharp

Member
So I've really fallen hard for King Falls AM. It starts getting real good about seven or eight episodes in and the characters are really likable. I only wish it was longer than 20 minutes an episode and came out every week rather than every two. But then, I can't really expect them to be able to write and produce that much content, so I'll take what I can get.

Also, to the posters saying Night Vale used to be creepy and less zany... what? That show kicked off with the zany factor pretty hard real early on. The second episode is about a glow cloud that rains dead animals, which the townspeople are relieved to see move on their rival city, and in the eighth episode, it returns to Night Vale and joins the school board.

A giant glowing cloud that rains dead animals joins and eventually becomes president of the school board. The creepy to zany ratio in that entire plot thread is strongly in favor of the zany.
 

Haxan

Banned
This weeks' new eps of Tanis and The Black Tapes were terrible. Although they've both been spinning their wheels the past few weeks, I think this was a nadir for both. I'm hoping they pick back up again, but I'm guessing they've run out of steam and don't know exactly where to go at this point.
 

Sulik2

Member
This weeks' new eps of Tanis and The Black Tapes were terrible. Although they've both been spinning their wheels the past few weeks, I think this was a nadir for both. I'm hoping they pick back up again, but I'm guessing they've run out of steam and don't know exactly where to go at this point.

Tanis feels like it needs to become an audio play not a riff on serial at this point. They need to go into the woods and try to find Tanis in a full audio drama.
 

Blue Lou

Member
DLXEYHX.jpg


Has anybody listened to The Light of September?

It has quite a high profile cast - http://www.radiostatic.co.uk/#!blank/pjdrt

Groundbreaking existential Sci Fi from the multi award-winning Minister of Chance team: following the World's first ever light speed flight, Captain Dalton (Tamsin Greig) must lead her crew over new oceans fraught with danger.
 

Vyse24

Member
Oooh yes this is a thread I needed. I love fictional podcasts.

My recent discovery: http://hellofromthemagictavern.com/



I guess they're improv comics or something, so while they do some preparation, I think most of the beat by beat moments are off the cuff. It's really funny.

This is my jam right here. Seeing this post would bring a smile to Usidore, Wizard of the 12th Realm of Ephysiyies, Master of Light and Shadow, Manipulator of Magical Delights, Devourer of Chaos, Champion of the Great Halls of Terr'akkas. The elves know him as Fi’ang Yalok. The dwarves know him as Zoenen Hoogstandjes and in the Northeast, he is known as Gaismunēnas Meistar. And there may be other secret names we do not know yet.

And here's a video game connection: A majority of the cast works for Jackbox Games (You Don't Know Jack, Fibbage, Quiplash).
 

Sulik2

Member
Episode 12 of Tanis finally moved the story forward. That was a legit great episode. The show is back on the rails.
 

Malyse

Member

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Dana is the best part of Night Vale so I'm super okay with this. Hope it's on a alternating schedule with Night Vale.
 
I'm a bit confused. Did Night Vale turn into an actual story later on? I've listened to the first few episodes and it was mostly the radio guy rambling some weird stuff. I didn't find it interesting or entertaining, so I unsubscribed after episode 5 or 6.
 

Halcyon

Member
I'm a bit confused. Did Night Vale turn into an actual story later on? I've listened to the first few episodes and it was mostly the radio guy rambling some weird stuff. I didn't find it interesting or entertaining, so I unsubscribed after episode 5 or 6.

I don't know. I couldn't figure it out either. I tried listening to a newer episode and it seemed similar.
 

Malyse

Member
I'm a bit confused. Did Night Vale turn into an actual story later on? I've listened to the first few episodes and it was mostly the radio guy rambling some weird stuff. I didn't find it interesting or entertaining, so I unsubscribed after episode 5 or 6.

you should listen to the Night Vale episode: A Story About You immediately

Seconded. You hopped out too fast.

Does any of these have a female lead (or whatever you call the star of a podcast)?

Limetown
The Black Tapes
The Bright Sessions
The Message
Alice isn't Dead

And if you just meant female main character:
The Leviathan Chronicles
Second Shift
Nina Kimberly the Merciless
 
Seconded. You hopped out too fast.
Yeah, the first time I tried to get into Night Vale, it didn't click. Now I'm really into it; the show definitely has arcs and recurring elements and characters, but they're built up gradually. But the main appeal for me is just seeing what crazy thing happens in the town next, more than the story arcs
 

Malyse

Member
Yeah, the first time I tried to get into Night Vale, it didn't click. Now I'm really into it; the show definitely has arcs and recurring elements and characters, but they're built up gradually. But the main appeal for me is just seeing what crazy thing happens in the town next, more than the story arcs

I like it less than I did. Unless they explain
Carlos's shift from "what in thee fuck is happening and why isn't anyone freaking out?" to the mild mannered lahdeedah "I'm a scientist!" markedly inept milquetoast boyfriend
and it's a damn good reason, I'll likely never be really into it again. Plus it's gone from scary to weird.
 
Has anyone suggested Hello from The Magic Tavern?

It's a lightly scripted/improv show about a guy who fell through a portal into a stereotypical magical fantasy world through a portal at a Burger King.

Essentially the premise is that the earth guy interviews magical characters along with his two co-hosts (a shapeshifter that is almost always a badger and a really shitty wizard).

It can be hit and miss. Some episodes are absolutely fantastic, others can be pretty bad. Definitely more leaning toward good quality.

My favorite episode is Skeleton. They interview a skeleton from the first floor of the local dungeon.
 
I like it less than I did. Unless they explain
Carlos's shift from "what in thee fuck is happening and why isn't anyone freaking out?" to the mild mannered lahdeedah "I'm a scientist!" markedly inept milquetoast boyfriend
and it's a damn good reason, I'll likely never be really into it again. Plus it's gone from scary to weird.
Personally I never found it scary. I'd love a series with the same premise but actually creepy. But I'll settle for weirdness now
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
Has anyone suggested Hello from The Magic Tavern?

It's a lightly scripted/improv show about a guy who fell through a portal into a stereotypical magical fantasy world through a portal at a Burger King.

Essentially the premise is that the earth guy interviews magical characters along with his two co-hosts (a shapeshifter that is almost always a badger and a really shitty wizard).

It can be hit and miss. Some episodes are absolutely fantastic, others can be pretty bad. Definitely more leaning toward good quality.

My favorite episode is Skeleton. They interview a skeleton from the first floor of the local dungeon.

love the show, but the improv nature of the world building does make it hit or miss
 

Fireblend

Banned
Listened to the first episode of Alice isn't Dead. It is... Interesting. It's way more unnerving and open about how dark it is and I definitely see some potential, but I hope it doesn't go too far in the style over substance style the first episode is alluding towards; unlike Welcome to Night Vale I hope this one has a good pace in regards to story, and that the creators already know what it's leading to and aren't making it up as they go. Nikol does an amazing job; I loved her in Fringe, I love her in Night Vale and she sounds incredible here as well.
 

Malyse

Member
Listened to the first episode of Alice isn't Dead. It is... Interesting. It's way more unnerving and open about how dark it is and I definitely see some potential, but I hope it doesn't go too far in the style over substance style the first episode is alluding towards; unlike Welcome to Night Vale I hope this one has a good pace in regards to story, and that the creators already know what it's leading to and aren't making it up as they go. Nikol does an amazing job; I loved her in Fringe, I love her in Night Vale and she sounds incredible here as well.

I think that having a set end point is going to help avoid the meandering that Night Vale suffers occasionally. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they had already finished all ten episodes.
 

Fireblend

Banned
I think that having a set end point is going to help avoid the meandering that Night Vale suffers occasionally. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they had already finished all ten episodes.

Wait, this is a 10 episode thing? Oh man, if that's the case consider me hyped! That sounds promising. I thought the ending to NV's first big arc was super satisfying, so I know they can write a really good finale.
 

Malyse

Member
Wait, this is a 10 episode thing? Oh man, if that's the case consider me hyped! That sounds promising. I thought the ending to NV's first big arc was super satisfying, so I know they can write a really good finale.

I think they are planning on running seasons depending on reception.
 

Russ T

Banned
Alice Isn't Dead had a pretty strong first episode, but what I really really really hated about it is the (possibly intentional?) low quality recording. Her esses are some of the strongest and worst esses I've experienced in a professionally produced podcast. Maybe they wanted to give the impression of her recording from her truck, but when my ears recoil in terror to something I'm not usually all that sensitive to, I question the prioritization of stylistic integrity.
 

jediyoshi

Member
Has anyone suggested Hello from The Magic Tavern?

It's a lightly scripted/improv show about a guy who fell through a portal into a stereotypical magical fantasy world through a portal at a Burger King.

Essentially the premise is that the earth guy interviews magical characters along with his two co-hosts (a shapeshifter that is almost always a badger and a really shitty wizard).

It can be hit and miss. Some episodes are absolutely fantastic, others can be pretty bad. Definitely more leaning toward good quality.

My favorite episode is Skeleton. They interview a skeleton from the first floor of the local dungeon.

It's real to me, dammit.
 

Russ T

Banned
I have yet to listen to an episode of Hello from the Magic Tavern that I would describe as anything less than "good". Some are absolutely fucking hilarious. None have been bad! I would recommend this podcast without hesitation to anyone who is into the idea of a comical take on a stereotypical fantasy world.
 
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