Nate Hartley and Steve should be banned forever....

[argyle]

Just heard the podcast for this week.  Ugh.  I hope that Steve guy never calls in ever again.  He's obnoxious and that guy Nate Hartley was awful too.  Maybe this has been talked about a lot, but I just felt compelled to write this in.  Steve is running the engine way too high...

[todd]

Damn son, it's a callout! Diss! Diss! Diss!

[argyle]

I've been suspicious of Steve from the very first time he called in, man.  Forget Rookie of the Year -- is the pool of new callers this season so weak that Tom is really thinking about giving that oily LA back-slapper ROY? 

Listen, I don't want to start a flame-war, but that call, eh...Nate Hartley...I felt like I was getting a hard-sell for some questionable property in an old toxic waste zone.

[Matt]

The whole thing did kinda strike me as a human sacrifice-type deal.

Right now, Steve's okay in my book; it's Nate Hartley who should be banned. Constant shameless self-promotion? Gay slurs? Despicable.

[Martin]

Sweet GOMP though!

[John Junk 2.0]

I just heard a (negative) review of Drillbit Taylor.  I didn't realize it was about a bodyguard of children!  That makes that whole call seem like viral marketing.  But I can't remember if Tom instigated the bodyguard joke or Steve did (or Nate did).  I liked the call from Julie's husband more.  Like crimestick points out, Steve did provide us with the fixings for a celebrity GOMP, which is not to be discounted.

[argyle]

Was he knowingly providing a celebrity Gomp?  Or, was it just part of some marketing thing that they cooked up this week...Hartley was definitely worse than Steve, but I say guilt by association.

[Matt]

Was he knowingly providing a celebrity Gomp?  Or, was it just part of some marketing thing that they cooked up this week...Hartley was definitely worse than Steve, but I say guilt by association.

Oh, there's no doubt that Steve thought he was killing two birds with one stone: 1) He brings Tom a "star of tomorrow," thus increasing his chances for Rookie Of The Year 2008, and 2) He helps Nate Hartley get the word out about his (presumably) terrible movie. I don't think Steve had any notion that Nate would be GOMPed. I wonder what Steve'll do next week to make up for the lost ground.

If I were to give Steve an award now, I'd probably give him either Worst Caller or Most Delusional. I still like the guy, though.

[John Junk 2.0]

. I wonder what Steve'll do next week to make up for the lost ground.

Let's hope it doesn't involve a dead fish!

[Miss]

It's usually funny when you can tell Tom is kind of playing along with them. Those were real people, and that's what freaks me out.

[TremblingEagle]

I totally didn't understand the context of any of that exchange

funny how much of the show I don't get
yet I still find it entertaining

[Steve in North Hollywood]

I gotta check the boards more often.

In defense of both my subpar call and Nate's behavior on the phone, I offer the following. 

A) I was driving us to the Drillbit Taylor premiere.  So, Nate's nerves were pretty cranked up (it probably didn't help that I told him of Tom's involvement with Monk, as that is one of Nate's favorite shows), and I was distracted by negotiating a car full of kids through Los Angeles rush hour traffic.

B) Yes, I really do work as Nate's bodyguard/set nanny (laugh all you want, I too find it hilarious) and have been working with him since before he got the part in Drillbit Taylor.  The fact that I'm his bodyguard and he's in a movie about a kid with a bodyguard is purely coincidental.  Nate's mom works and the law dictates that minors have a legal guardian on set with them at all times.

C) As for the "shameless self promotion and gay slurs" ... He's a 16 year old kid.  When he gets nervous, he goes for laughs.  But as a 16 year old kid, he went for something that would make his classmates laugh.  It backfired.  Nate's a very talented, very well behaved kid.  He'd just been in "Nate Show" mode the whole day, and he unknowingly tried to bring the Nate Show to the Best Show ... And we know what happens when someone tries that brand of shenanigans.  They can't all be Petey.

D) I had warned Nate of the possibility of a GOMP, but his nerves just got the better of him, I was too distracted to help steer the call in the right direction, and so we were GOMPed.

E)  We in no way intended to be GOMPed, nor did we agree to being GOMPed ahead of time as some sort of ploy (is ploy the word I'm looking for?) for a Celebrity GOMP.  I really don't plan my calls that far ahead.  You've heard me on the show, I'm usually like "Hi Tom, here's my input."  Then I'm like "Ha ha! Duuuuuuuh," for the next five minutes.


F) As for me running too hot ... I'm one of only two nominees.  Somebody's gotta be the front runner.  I know Tom's called me an Eddie Haskel, and said that I will "implode" and that I'll probably threaten him before the year's up.  But really, I just call in and try to be as in the moment as possible.  If Tom does something to make me laugh, I'm going to laugh. 


Bottom line: I love the show, I thought Tom would get a kick out of the call, but I have a bad habbit of not having an exit strategy.

[dave from knoxville]

E)  We in no way intended to be GOMPed, nor did we agree to being GOMPed ahead of time as some sort of ploy (is ploy the word I'm looking for?) for a Celebrity GOMP.  I really don't plan my calls that far ahead.  You've heard me on the show, I'm usually like "Hi Tom, here's my input."  Then I'm like "Ha ha! Duuuuuuuh," for the next five minutes.

If you are seriously suggesting that GOMPs are staged, and worked out in advance. all of your future GOMPS need to come at Mike's hand, not Tom's.

Sheesh.

[masterofsparks]

E)  We in no way intended to be GOMPed, nor did we agree to being GOMPed ahead of time as some sort of ploy (is ploy the word I'm looking for?) for a Celebrity GOMP.  I really don't plan my calls that far ahead.  You've heard me on the show, I'm usually like "Hi Tom, here's my input."  Then I'm like "Ha ha! Duuuuuuuh," for the next five minutes.

If you are seriously suggesting that GOMPs are staged, and worked out in advance. all of your future GOMPS need to come at Mike's hand, not Tom's.

Sheesh.

I would buy a CD of Mike GOMPs.

[Sarah]

Dave, I think Steve was trying to say that he and the kid hadn't planned on trying to get GOMPed, not that they worked something out with Tom.

Who is the second contender for rookie of the year?  Can't recall.