Welcome to Podcast Portal: a spontaneous column that will highlight podcasts of all genres that are lesser known or new shows that are worth giving a listen. With the medium continuing to grow, it is hard to acknowledge all of them. However, I am going to try and find as many noteworthy titles as possible to share and hopefully expand your mind to the greatest growing medium out there. If you have any podcast that you feel is worth adding to the Podcast Portal, please make sure to inform me whether through the comments or through an e-mail (information in sidebar).
SHOW: The Official Watchmen Podcast
HOSTS: Craig Mazin, Damon Lindelof
NETWORK: HBO
HOSTS: Craig Mazin, Damon Lindelof
NETWORK: HBO
EPISODE BEING DISCUSSED: "Masks (Episodes 1-3)"
With the fall season starting to fade into winter, it's becoming easier to admit one thing: HBO has a surefire hit with Watchmen. The show is being sold as a "remix" of the Alan Moore series as it contemporizes themes to a more modern sensibility. Where it should play as a mere gimmick, the first three episodes have produced one of the most ambitious, exciting comic book series of this decade. It doesn't stop merely at referencing the hits. It builds on top of things, leaving a lot of new mysteries that one would associate with Damon Lindelof, who both received acclaim and vitriol for his incessant use of twists on Lost. With his latest show, he's not shying away from the absurd, and it's all for the best.
Watchmen feels like a show that needs to be obsessed over, finding value in every detail and understanding what goes into the craft. It's likely why Lindelof has teamed with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin to make a show breaking down his process for the show as well as what inspired him to do it in the first place. Lindelof is someone who likes to be challenged, and it came with finding a way to make the Moore series relevant to a modern audience. Whereas the original dealt with nuclear fallout, he wanted to explore a police state and what it meant to wear masks. The origin of the series by itself started almost as a dare, asking himself if the show could be a worthwhile follow-up to the original. If it isn't, he will be crushed.
It's hard to tell if this will be a thorough show that will keep coming back to the episodes to better understand its themes. For now, the format suggests that it will come back in increments to better understand the episodes within an arc. The format makes sense, if just because the series has a gift for slowly unveiling detail, needing time to make any lick of sense. Even the choice to hide Jeremy Irons' character's identity leads to some fun stories. This included why they shot Irons' scenes first and how they marketed the series when appearing at conventions. This isn't just a show meant to highlight the themes, but also how the early phenomenon of the show has taken off. Who knows if there will come a time when Lindelof will be able to comment on the feedback on the series as a whole, or if the finale will be a three-hour dive into everything that Lindelof wanted to achieve.
For now, the podcast is a necessary extension of the series. While it's not likely to answer some of the darker mysteries, it will add clarity as to how the series came to be. Hearing Lindelof discusses reading about "black Wall Street" or giving a certain Watchmen original character a bigger role in episode three is to hear the creative process at its most clairvoyant. This isn't meant to just be another superhero show. It's one that plans to reinvent the wheel, taking risks and making a world that is unlike anything else out there. There has never been a TV series like Watchmen, and hearing Lindelof talk about why he loves the challenge is to hear what makes the show so exciting.
The Official Watchmen Podcast follows a recent trend of HBO creators getting a chance to unveil their personal thoughts on the series. While fans would love to hear Lindelof go into detail about every episode, it's nice to hear him talk at all, especially with Mazin who is on point the entire time. It's an engaging show that fills in some cracks but still allows the mystery to exist for audiences wanting to piece together the story on their own. This isn't meant to give answers, but to develop an appreciation for what went into making this strange new world exist. It's a fun show about craft and one that should be included in any fan's rotation.
OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5
WORTH A SECOND GO?: While in a better world the show would last longer and go into further depth, it's still great to hear Lindelof talk about the series at all. Thankfully what goes into the series is far more exciting than conventional production and it's likely that future episodes will only get more open about the crazy ideas he has to make the show stand out. If you love Watchmen, you have to keep this in rotation.
With the fall season starting to fade into winter, it's becoming easier to admit one thing: HBO has a surefire hit with Watchmen. The show is being sold as a "remix" of the Alan Moore series as it contemporizes themes to a more modern sensibility. Where it should play as a mere gimmick, the first three episodes have produced one of the most ambitious, exciting comic book series of this decade. It doesn't stop merely at referencing the hits. It builds on top of things, leaving a lot of new mysteries that one would associate with Damon Lindelof, who both received acclaim and vitriol for his incessant use of twists on Lost. With his latest show, he's not shying away from the absurd, and it's all for the best.
Watchmen feels like a show that needs to be obsessed over, finding value in every detail and understanding what goes into the craft. It's likely why Lindelof has teamed with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin to make a show breaking down his process for the show as well as what inspired him to do it in the first place. Lindelof is someone who likes to be challenged, and it came with finding a way to make the Moore series relevant to a modern audience. Whereas the original dealt with nuclear fallout, he wanted to explore a police state and what it meant to wear masks. The origin of the series by itself started almost as a dare, asking himself if the show could be a worthwhile follow-up to the original. If it isn't, he will be crushed.
It's hard to tell if this will be a thorough show that will keep coming back to the episodes to better understand its themes. For now, the format suggests that it will come back in increments to better understand the episodes within an arc. The format makes sense, if just because the series has a gift for slowly unveiling detail, needing time to make any lick of sense. Even the choice to hide Jeremy Irons' character's identity leads to some fun stories. This included why they shot Irons' scenes first and how they marketed the series when appearing at conventions. This isn't just a show meant to highlight the themes, but also how the early phenomenon of the show has taken off. Who knows if there will come a time when Lindelof will be able to comment on the feedback on the series as a whole, or if the finale will be a three-hour dive into everything that Lindelof wanted to achieve.
For now, the podcast is a necessary extension of the series. While it's not likely to answer some of the darker mysteries, it will add clarity as to how the series came to be. Hearing Lindelof discusses reading about "black Wall Street" or giving a certain Watchmen original character a bigger role in episode three is to hear the creative process at its most clairvoyant. This isn't meant to just be another superhero show. It's one that plans to reinvent the wheel, taking risks and making a world that is unlike anything else out there. There has never been a TV series like Watchmen, and hearing Lindelof talk about why he loves the challenge is to hear what makes the show so exciting.
The Official Watchmen Podcast follows a recent trend of HBO creators getting a chance to unveil their personal thoughts on the series. While fans would love to hear Lindelof go into detail about every episode, it's nice to hear him talk at all, especially with Mazin who is on point the entire time. It's an engaging show that fills in some cracks but still allows the mystery to exist for audiences wanting to piece together the story on their own. This isn't meant to give answers, but to develop an appreciation for what went into making this strange new world exist. It's a fun show about craft and one that should be included in any fan's rotation.
OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5
WORTH A SECOND GO?: While in a better world the show would last longer and go into further depth, it's still great to hear Lindelof talk about the series at all. Thankfully what goes into the series is far more exciting than conventional production and it's likely that future episodes will only get more open about the crazy ideas he has to make the show stand out. If you love Watchmen, you have to keep this in rotation.
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