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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3197 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Welcome to Night Vale

It's one of those podcasts that's best listened to in small doses. After a while, the episodes just kind of blend in to each other. That said, it does have some interesting characters and circumstances, like the man who is neither too short nor too tall, or the house where time and space don't work.





StJohn  ·  3196 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, I agree, I can't binge it — I can't tell whether that's because it was better at the start or because the episodes tend to get repetitive, but either way it's always good for a chuckle at least. Last year they came out with a novel, which I read with a lot of anticipation. It suffered from exactly the problem you'd expect — it has the same tone and pacing as the podcast, which is totally wrong for a novel. It has its moments, but you can't write a novel like it's a half-hour podcast. I did go see their live show last year, though, and that was spectacular. They really nailed it there with more of a variety format where we got to hear a lot from different characters.

There's always a special joy in the Glow Cloud (all hail) or the Dog Park (no dogs or humans allowed), or even just Cecil's dewey-eyed admiration for Carlos. Some jokes will just never get old for me.

user-inactivated  ·  3196 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I can't tell whether that's because it was better at the start or because the episodes tend to get repetitive.

It's probably a bit of both. It's a drawback of trying to keep a story going just because. The longer it goes, the more likely it is to meander and lose focus. I've heard similar complaints for TV shows and God knows it's true for comics. I think there's a lot of merit to ending a story in a definitive and timely fashion.

StJohn  ·  3196 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You know I think you're right. They got bogged down in their own continuity. The show worked a lot better when it was a bunch of throw-away references that no-one expected to come back. It starts getting tedious when you're still following the same plot threads (one crumb at a time) from a year ago.

user-inactivated  ·  3195 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think that kind of thing only works well if you have the story roughly plotted out in advance. Otherwise you get stuff with dead ends and plot holes, like Lost.