JMS Format Adjustment

Now that the podcast is getting a bit of a relaunch, I thought I might try adjusting the format a bit. Up until now, I've been putting out "Regular Episodes" that are fully produced with two or more guests, and then bonus interviews and other shorter segments that are generally less produced and usually include just one guest.

Well starting now, I'm gonna try to make it a little more simple and hopefully better by meeting in the middle. As a rule, each new podcast will have one guest, but will hopefully have the same production feel as the previous full episodes. No more "shows" vs. "bonus interviews," although I still may continue to use some names like "Recurring Character Central" and "Famous Fans" if they apply. Here's why I think this will work better for all of us...

The "full episodes," while fun to do, just take a lot of time to produce...and with matching the audio of different guests, recorded under different conditions, don't always sound better for it. It slows down my ability to get more episodes out because of the editing process and it also keeps completed interviews on the shelf longer while I'm waiting for other appropriate guests to match them with. (I don't think I gave away a big secret by letting you know that this is not a live show!) They're also just a bit too long. Most people don't have the time to sit through an hour long podcast, which some of these have become.

Going forward, I'm just gonna throw them all out there together: big names, smaller names, and some names you've never heard of. They'll all come out as regular podcasts, and will vary in length depending on how much there is to cover and how much each guest brings to the plate. The one guest format should generally keep these to a half hour or less, which just makes it a little more conducive to listening on your commute to work or whenever you have a little down time. And if you still want more, great. This should make it a little easier to release new podcasts on a more regular basis. I'm hoping for at least one a week, but we'll see how it goes.

Don't let this little experiment make you think that our mission has changed. It's still all about retro pop culture. In fact, shorter but more frequent podcasts will hopefully give me more flexibility to do some of the more obscure retro stuff that I really like to mix in. To keep up with a regular release schedule, I might even talk with some more people from behind the scenes. I may talk with people who blog about pop culture or run retro websites. Maybe we'll have some recurring guests.

While I obviously still want to land the big name retro stars, that's never been the only goal of the show. When I do "Recurring Character Central" for example, it's not just because I couldn't get the star of the show, although that certainly could be the case. I do it because it's something different and those guests are sometimes the most fun. If I interview the guy who invented the Chipwich, it's not just because Tom Cruse wasn't available. I just really really like chipwiches! I like covering things like "Encyclopedia Brown," that was big when you were growing up, but that you may not have thought about in years. Things that you won't find on every other retro show. So I'll probably do more of that kind of thing.

Of course, I'll still do my best to bring you well known retro actors, and hopefully more athletes and musicians as well. I'll just do whatever I think is fun and interesting. The beauty of one guest per podcast is that you can pick and choose which episodes you want to listen to. That's what I do when I download shows like "The Sound of Young America." Hopefully it will work for us as well.

So that's the plan. Beyond that, we'll just see what happens. We could still put out a longer special on a case by case basis. Or I may come up with something totally new. Let's see how it goes. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think. And of course, all the old stuff will still stay up there for you to listen to in the "reruns" section.

If you've actually made it to the end of this ridiculously long post, it means that you're a true fan! I appreciate it and look forward to bringing the show back better than ever. Thanks!

www.justmyshow.com