Today is release day for the newest podcast on the HeadStuff Podcast Network! Talking Ted, hosted by Joe Rooney and Patrick McDonnell, is a show about the memories, stories and insights into what has made Father Ted such a staple of Irish culture. Rooney, who appeared on the show as Father Damo, and McDonnell, who played Eoin McLove re-watch each episode of the show, adding some behind-the-scenes commentary, and placing the plot lines in the context of ‘90s Ireland.
Each episode features an interview with a cast member, and season one guests include Ardal O’Hanlon, Pat Shortt, and Rosemary Henderson, while the original theme song for the show has been composed by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, the composer of the original Father Ted theme tune and “My Lovely Horse.”
The show is part of a larger trend in podcasting: in-depth reviews of both classic, and cult classic TV shows. Rebecca Onion writes in Slate, “To judge by the recent proliferation of these shows, the idea–which is surely appealing to networks looking for podcast hosts who can bring existing fans to their feed–has legs.” Here are some of the shows part of this popular podcast genre.
The West Wing Weekly
Launched in 2016, The West Wing Weekly is the biggest success story of the genre. The show is co-hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway, creator of Song Exploder and The West Wing superfan, and Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey on the show. Each episode of the podcast is centred around an episode of the show and often features a cast-member or expert relevant to the episode’s subject matter.
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 9/10
An excellent theme that is original and contemporary while also playing into the soaring patriotism of TV theme music, minus some of the pomp.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- Deep dive
Hirway brings the in-depth analysis and Malina contributes insights and behind the scenes stories.
Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald
In Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald, actual BFFs Zach Braff and Donald Faison re-watch and re-cap Scrubs, a sitcom about doctors working in the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital. Braff and Faison starred as J.D. and Turk respectively. Each episode of the podcast covers an episode of the TV show (they’re currently on season 6).
Check out a more in-depth HeadStuff review, here!
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 7/10
This theme is goofy and jaunty, with nice details in the lyrics.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- BTS
The show falls mostly into the category of behind the scenes recap. A non-insignificant portion of the podcast features Braff and Faison chatting with each other, fellow cast members and writers of the show, not necessarily about Scrubs.
Office Ladies
Like Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald, Office Ladies celebrates a friendship born out of the show, this time hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Pam Beesly and Angela Martin on The Office. The show is highly structured, and notably, Fischer and Kinsey take the time to give credit to the crew that made each episode, including the director, writer(s) and editor(s).
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 4/10
Entirely pleasant, but non-specific to the TV show or podcast.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- Deep-dive
This is a deep-dive show. Both hosts carefully consider the plot lines of each episode.
Welcome To Our Show
Another podcast hosted by real-life friends and co-stars: Zooey Deschanel (Jess Day), Hannah Simone (Cece Parekh) and Lamorne Morris (Winston Bishop) of New Girl. The show alternates between episode recaps and “conversations” with the shows’ creators and featured guests. Plus, each week the hosts play a new version of the wacky New Girl game, True American.
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 7/10
Appropriately twee, also a bit grating.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- BTS
The show’s focus is on behind-the-scenes stories.
The Gilmore Girls Podcasting Universe: I Am All In With Scott Patterson & Gilmore Guys
These two shows recap Gilmore Girls from slightly different angles…
I Am All In With Scott Patterson
This Gilmore-Girls-cast is based around the premise that Scott Patterson, who starred as fan favourite Luke Danes, has never watched the show (barring the pilot and part of the Netflix reboot). The podcast is named for a much beloved line his character said on season 5 episode 3.
You can check out our full review of I am all In with Scott Patterson on our website now!
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 8/10
Scott Patterson does music! This is his song, and it fits his character and the TV show aptly.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- Casual re-watch
Similar to most of the shows in the format, the episodes are part re-watch, part BTS context, part interview, and part Gilmore Girls cultural-reference-explainer.
Gilmore Guys
Hosted by Kevin Porter, Gilmore Girls fan, and Demi Adejuyigbe, Kevin’s convert. This is a show by Gilmore Girls fans, for Gilmore Girls fans.
Podcast Theme Song Rating:
- 9/10
Porter and Adejuyigbe hilariously improvise lyrics over Sam Phillips’ “la-la” interstitials that are actually in Gilmore Girls, and then also use them to transition between segments.
Casual re-watch, BTS, or deep-dive?
- Deep dive
This is a deep dive podcast: each episode features a supercut of all the pop culture references in a segment they call “pop goes the culture.”
The first episode of Talking Ted is out now, with new episodes releasing fortnightly. Go give the show a listen, and let us know what you think below!
There are plenty of other shows on the HeadStuff Podcast Network that you might like, including Double Love and Sissy that Pod, two companion podcasts which delve deep into the worlds of Sweet Valley High and Ru Paul’s Drag race respectively.
