How Did This Get Made? Is a show with a question at it’s heart, that question being: ‘how did this get made?’ Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael work with a guest, desperately attempt to bring some reason to films with almost no logic within them. They do this with good humour, elegance and hilarity, attempting to not only get to the heart of a film, but to get their with comedy to spare. A show that shines brightly with it’s energy, atmosphere and cadence, How Did This Get Made? Is quite the podcast.
Paul Scheer and a monkey
The show really peaks in both humour and energy when they really analyse the film as a group, really trying to break the film down into something cohesive or even allegorical. Working on several fronts, this forefronts their comedy as a unit, but also highlights the magical madness of the movies perused. Their attempts to dissect these movies, even though many of them are absent of any real discernible logic, shows an admirable commitment to fathom out nonsense in the pursuit of comedy. Inevitably, this leads to the cast becoming increasingly exasperated with the whole process, each new piece of information turning the paradigm on it’s head, this endless recursiveness resulting in a humour that amps up inexorably. Scheer, Mantzoukas and Raphael end up laughing as much at each other as with one another, with confusion reigning supreme and the only thing that even makes sense is their hilarity. It also really highlights their chemistry as a unit, growing from the fact that they are all friends and that two of them are married and being harnessed in the best moments of the show.
Jason Mantzoukas!
Given the naturalistic chemistry of the triple threat of hosts, it is occasionally difficult for the guests to fit into the collective. Much as several of them, notably Jesse Thorn, Jake Fogelnest and Scott Aukerman take their opportunity to dig deep into the films best and worst elements with frequently hilarious results, some of them seem to simply ‘be there.’ Fortunately though, there is no such apathy when they have people who were actually involved in the film on. Vanilla Ice is remarkably elucidatory about his experience on Cool as Ice, whilst Lexi Alexander (director of the equally ill-fated 2008 Punisher translation) is remarkably sage about her experiences directing a film that became a flop out of her own control. Paired with Scheer, Mantzoukas and Raphael, these people who made movies people hate to love offer an illuminatory and different perspective on not only the film itself, but exactly how it was made, as the crew’s theories can be discussed with someone who will actually know the answer.
June Diane Raphael!
The show has also grown much more into itself of late, with the trio more and more able to craft the show’s comedy and providing it with it’s own unique atmosphere. It had initially seemed as if they were unsure about their foray into the podcast market, but now they appear to have really learnt to love the show and more specifically, what they really want to make. This has resulted in an increased sense of fun and revelry not only evidenced by the show’s increased length, but also the move away from listener content in the main show, this being replaced with more frenzied conversation. A key factor behind this change seems to be a change in the movies they choose. Rather than picking movies that are boring disasters, they began to pick films which are maddeningly stupid and are unfathomably ridiculous, but are just exciting. This excitement means that the casters are far more intent on talking about the films, quite often coming equipped with far more to say than there is time for. Almost all the episodes featuring the near signature line ‘we haven’t even talked about…’ line at the final segment. These steps forward mean that they are happier with the whole experience, and can give themselves time and space to make the show a far more easily comedic experience.
Growing stronger by the week, How Did This Get Made? is a show that seems to be finally fulfilling it’s initial promise. Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael ably attempt to bring light to films where before there once was only confusion, their exasperation matched by their comedy, their confusion matched by a delightful sense of joy. This podcast may soon be all that was meant to be, a true insight into exactly how these films got made.