I loved it, although I'd agree that by the time they got to the finale, things had gotten bizarre enough that it was hard to track. Still, the first couple of episodes were as funny as any podcast debut I've heard in a long while. Those guys are experts at pimping each other into deeply absurd territory.

Hell, TV Nation was instrumental in my transition from a scripture-spouting conservative middle schooler into a left-wing high schooler. Moore's lost a lot of shine for me since then, but I'll always owe him that.

That one sticks out for me. The Mike Tyson "In the Air Tonight" scene should have been a huge laugh, but it relied entirely on an element of surprise that had been spoiled months earlier.

Kind of an atypical Hard Nation this week, but in a very good way. Loved the undecided voters being stubbornly uncertain about whether Hillary was a woman or a little boy, and especially Mark and Pete gradually being pulled into their banana-bread hive mind.

"I bent over backwards for him."

I loved everything about Spontaneanation’s first Detroit episode, from Marc Evan Jackson making mischief to Nyima Funk resurrecting beloved local TV ads to Craig Cackowski sliding into the guest seat, but PFT’s performance as Budino the Pudding Phantom might go down as my favorite thing I’ve ever heard on this show.…

I was trying to remember what the trigger line was. I just knew it was something wonderfully dumb, and that fits the bill.

One episode in, I highly recommend Hoot Gibson: Vegas Cowboy on Howl. It's a fun mix of pop-culture history and weird flights of fancy. Andy Daly is stellar as ever in the title role, but it's not much like the grim insanity of the ADPPP. This is more of a Thrilling Adventure Hour-type of venture, and I'm fully on…

The 100th episode of With Special Guest was pretty much just Wild Horses hanging out and goofing on each other under the thin guise of a Mommycast, which naturally means it's invigorating, gross and deeply hilarious. The vagi-rectal tearing story was a particular highlight, as was everybody cracking the fuck up around…

Every episode goes so far off the rails, but the characters are grounded in such a familiar type of middle-aged teacher sad-sackery that it never stops being relatable.

Yeah, he finally gave me a breathalyzer after putting me through several physical tests. I'm not sure if there's some specific police strategy to that or what. But I blew under the limit and that was that.

Yet only 50 years ago clowns wielded enough clout to lobby congress for official recognition of International Clown Week (signed into law by the ever-jovial Richard M. Nixon). https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…

Speaking of, the weather chap for the Twin Cities NBC affiliate is Sven Sundgaard.

Please tell me he hosts an op-ed segment called "The Real Deal with Neill McNeill."

It was a bit of a down week for Hard Nation and I think you're right - Onion Joe Biden is such a marvelous comic creation that everybody else pales in comparison. Really though, in a week where Biden gave that chillingly great speech referencing his son, I don't know that anybody was gonna find a very deep well to…

If you're not a Howl subscriber, I'm again gonna say Big Grande's The Teacher's Lounge is worth at least the trial period. I'm four episodes in and the snowballing of four endlessly spiraling midlife crises gets funnier with each installation. Drew Tarver had already started to break out before this show, but Dan…

Robert Kirkman was one of the stronger non-comedian guests on Comedy Bang Bang of late, and Ryan Gaul's increasingly decrepit Doug Gropes was just as funny as his first appearance, but John Gemberling owned the show doing what John Gemberling does: making things as unpleasant as possible without quite tipping over…

Not to worry, we've still got Scott Adams!

Christmas Vacation was a holiday classic in my household growing up, and I think it holds up today, but the last time I watched it I was struck that the movie's central conflict is that an upper-middle-class white guy might not get as nice a swimming pool as he wants. Doesn't make the movie any less fun, but that…

There was a very brief window in 1998 when I believed Bran Van 3000 was the future of popular music. That window closed quickly.