Is AV Club Just Trying To Get More Hits?

[ryansartor]

I don't think I'm being too cynical in assuming that AV Club put The Best Show in "The Rest" as a way of creating more buzz for their site in the same way that Pitchfork will slam an O.K. album to get more hits.

I don't even understand how it's conceivable that many of these podcasts could be in the same league as Best Show. The only other explanation is that AV Club judges each show against it's previous installments, rather than by their overall quality, but even that doesn't make sense as this week's Best Show was top-notch.

What do you guys think? Did AV Club do this just to get a rise out of us?

[Guerruckey]

I don't think they're doing it to drive up traffic, I just think the reviewer didn't listen to the whole show. Or, for some reason, thinks the show needs a guest to make it interesting. Or maybe this dude just wouldn't know from funny if it made him tap dance on top of a shopping cart.

Of all the shows that have aired since they added Best Show to PodMass, I can't believe this was the one that got sent to "the rest", it's the best Best Show I've heard since I started listening a few months back.

[oilcantim]

I think the "no guest" thing is the biggest factor.  I find it hard to believe that last week's show provided less entertainment than Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh talking about Tropical Starbursts, or whatever.

[Jason from Huntsville, AL]

What do you guys think? Did AV Club do this just to get a rise out of us?

Nah. I disagree with the reviewer's opinion (this is one of the strongest shows in recent memory, especially the "buffet" & "bullying" sections),  but they're entitled to it as a reviewer. Some of the fuzzy handling of details in the review makes me think they may not have listened to it too closely, though.

Anyway, it's a review. Great things get reviewed poorly all the time. And this episode was great.

[Guerruckey]

I find it hard to believe that last week's show provided less entertainment than Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh talking about Tropical Starbursts, or whatever.

You may be on to something. Clearly, Michael Ian Black is doing PodMass reviews for the AV Club.

[Charles Arrington]

i have to agree they are influenced by the "no guests" policy.

with the revolving podcasts of carolla, nerdist, maron - they're basically just recycling the same guests every week while Best Show has guests infrequently. Hardwick even admitted in an interview he calls the other hosts to see who they're having on. The only difference is Maron is a good interviewer.

[yesno]

I can't believe there's a weekly review for the Culture Gabfest, which is a podcast that reviews other things.

I'm going to write a column that casts a critical eye on the podcast reviewer scene.

[oilcantim]

I'm going to write a column that casts a critical eye on the podcast reviewer scene.

Are you TRYING to make the universe implode?

[Omar]

I think it's safe to say that, in general, everything the A.V. Club does is geared towards getting more hits¹.  I'm very excited about the forthcoming Kashi Cinnamon Harvest® Organic Promise™-sponsored "DVD Featurettes of the Damned!"

"This week our very own Gregory Horshnagle offers his stray observations on Franka Potente's facial expressions during her on-set Run Lola Run interview! Also: Gregory reports on his attempt to replicate the film's emergency streetside tracheotomy!"

As for this specific case, it's hard to believe the "Podmass" scribe would think that downgrading The Best Show would inspire any sort of hit-bouncing buzz.

The notion of "reviewing" podcasts (or terrestrial radio shows that are available in podcast form) is silly enough, but it's even sillier (perhaps the AVC obtained a government grant) to declare that a single episode of a show with more than 400 total episodes is somehow missing some of the "usual magic." What exactly is the "usual magic"?  The perceived magic of the most recent shows?  The magic of, say, shows from 2005-2007? The magic of the 2009 show featuring Martin Short?  The Mayubernatorial Debate?  The time the Gorch was in the studio?  The show where AP Mike removed his trousers, drank a case of Victory Hop Devil, and played the entire Drive-By Truckers catalog on a kazoo²?  There's an increasing amount of commentary on The Best Show that is completely devoid of any sense of the show's history and scope.

Also: Who cares!  The WM3 are free!

1. Edit to add: An increase in readership/"hits" is certainly a perfectly reasonable -- and essential -- goal for any online publication attempting to attract readers.  The AVC has been chugging along for quite some time and is now a strong operation that has expanded beyond the confines of the Web to encompass books, companion live events, those erotic trading cards featuring images of Scott Tobias and Noel Murray, etc.  They do, of course, sometimes score some wider buzz, but it's usually a happy accident that results from a particularly juicy interview, e.g., B. Pinchot's free-flowing riffage about sickos like T. Cruise and D. Washington.

2. Edit to add: I found AP Mike's wheezing take on "Outfit" to be particularly moving, especially the bizarre interludes in which he quoted dialogue from the between-round Chuck Wepner corner chatter during the 1975 bout with Muhammad Ali.

[Rasmussen]

I'd say that Omar is correct on everything

[Kris K]

This week's show was great! What the @&$? is this "The Rest" malarkey? Maybe the Podmass reviewer really likes the banned callers.

[JesseFromVegas]

I said this elsewhere, but the AV Club frequently is utterly clueless and if anything the Best Show should have a weekly review all on it's own.  It's bigger and better than a podcast and shouldn't be judged alongside such paltry entertainments.  It's like judging the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel alongside a velvet Elvis portrait.

[CSW]

Maybe the Podmass reviewer really likes the banned callers.

Or is one?

More seriously though, all of what Omar said.

[Sashamak]

See I think the podmass guy is one of the bullies from high school.

[Stupornaut]

I don't think I'm being too cynical in assuming that AV Club put The Best Show in "The Rest" as a way of creating more buzz for their site in the same way that Pitchfork will slam an O.K. album to get more hits.

This is not how Pitchfork works, incidentally.