MuggleCast 157 Transcript
Show Intro
Micah: Over the next three weeks MuggleCast will be teaming up with Teddy Bears for Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides teddy bears to children affected by homelessness, disease and neglect.
Andrew: It’s time for the show and its fans to help give back to those who really need it. Visit MuggleCast.com to learn about this great charity and how you can make a difference.
Laura: The Potter fandom has always prided itself on rallying around great causes. No amount is too small and all funds go directly towards providing children with hope for the future through the comfort and security of a brand new teddy bear.
Andrew, Laura, and Micah: Thanks.
[Intro music begins]
Andrew: Hey, Mason. Did you know that on July 1st Yahoo! Domain renewal pricing increased to $34.95 per year?!
Mason: $34.95 per year? No way! Ridiculous! That’s not a deal at all.
Andrew: You’re right. It’s not. And I do need a deal.
Mason: You need a deal? I got the deal you need, Andy! Check this out: transfer your domain to GoDaddy for as little as $6.99 and get a free one year extension, plus guaranteed renewal pricing. GoDaddy.com makes transferring easy and offers loads of extras including hosting, a five page site builder, and much more. Oh yeah! Plus, as a listener of MuggleCast, enter code Muggle, that’s M-U-G-G-L-E, when you check out and save an additional 10% on any order. Some restrictions do apply. I want you to see the site for the details. Get your piece of the Internet at GoDaddy.com.
[Harry Potter theme plays]
Jim Dale: [as Professor McGonagall] This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you all to MuggleCast hoping you enjoyed – Dobby! Dobby, come here! Here! Dobby! [as Dobby] Yes, I’d just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce MuggleCast to all of you! Thank you! Thank you!
[Show music begins]
Micah: Because at least we’re not making you wait eleven months until our next show – well, maybe we are – this is MuggleCast Episode 157, our final weekly episode, for August 17th, 2008.
Andrew: All right, well, it is time for our final weekly episode of MuggleCast. And, you know, at first it was just going to be the show where we looked back on the show and we do all the segments that we’ve ever done, and it’s still going to be that, but now there’s this big news that Half-Blood Prince is being delayed until 2009, and now that’s the big focus of the week.
Jamie: Yeah, it’s a huge surprise. It’s ridiculous. But, you know …
Andrew: And Jamie’s back! It’s even bigger news than the movie delay.
[Jamie and Kevin laugh]
Eric: I agree with that.
Andrew: Oh, and I can’t forget Kevin either. Kevin’s here too. Hello, Kevin.
Kevin: Hello.
Andrew: It’s been awhile for both of you.
Jamie: Well, it’s nice to be back.
Andrew: Welcome back.
Jamie: I tell you, it’s absolutely very nice to be back. I’ve missed it a lot. I can feel the serotonin cascade down into my brain now…
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: …from being back this week.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: And how about you, Kevin? The same feelings?
Kevin: Absolutely.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: All right, good. I’m Andrew Sims.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Eric: I’m Eric Skull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: I’m Matthew Britton.
Elysa: And I’m Elysa Montfort.
[Show music continues]
News: Movie 6 Moved to July
Andrew: All right, Micah Tannenbaum, we’re not going to have big focus on the news this week, but what is the big story? I know you’re very upset about this, so try to get through it.
Micah: You mentioned it before. The big story…is…it’s our last weekly show.
Everyone: Oh.
Andrew: No. No.
Eric: It’s sort of pressing.
Andrew: Let’s be modest. What’s the real big news?
Micah: All right, well, the big news is that Half-Blood Prince has been delayed until July 17, 2009.
Andrew: WHAT?!
Eric: HUH?!
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Eight months after the original date in November. And this is just, in my opinion, one of the most ridiculous moves that Warner Bros. has ever made.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Micah: And it is completely, 100%, revenue generated. There’s no other reason!
Andrew: Oh, Micah!
Matt: Is this bugging you, dude?
[Laura and Matt laugh]
Micah: It’s bugging me a little bit.
Andrew: Let’s be happy. This is a happy show. No. Well, honestly, when I heard this news I was like, “Oh, I’ll never forget where I was when I found out.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: We were in Target, about to check out, and Eric called me, and then Ben called me and, honestly, a little part of me died inside when I found out. I just felt so empty and betrayed.
Jamie: No, Andrew! That’s not true, is it? That’s not true!
Andrew: No, I am dead serious. Matt, what did I say in the Target? What did I say?
Matt: I said, “This is awesome.”
[Andrew, Laura, and Matt laugh]
Andrew: No, I actually felt like a little part of me died. I’m not even kidding!
Matt: Yeah.
Jamie: Andrew, that’s not true though, is it?
Andrew: It was kind of depressing. No, Jamie, I’m not kidding you. I really did.
Jamie: You’re still going to see it.
Andrew: What was your reaction?
Jamie: I was like, well, fair played, these things happen in Hollywood. You know, I wasn’t going to…
Matt: Yeah.
Jamie: Like, fair enough. If a part of me died, like, parts of me die when, like, there are world tragedies, Andrew.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: Or like when somebody close to me gets hurt.
Andrew: That’s a world tragedy!
Matt: Yeah, kind of like when Russia was invading Georgia or, you know, something’s going on in the world, but [whispers] Harry Potter‘s been delayed.
Jamie: Yeah, it’s sad, but, you know…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I’m just really…
Jamie: These things happen.
Matt: Yeah, it’s very sad. It really is though.
Eric: Well, can you guys name the last big movie that did this? That totally delayed eight months? I mean, I’m not going to say it’s unprecedented, but…
Jamie: Matt, you need to teach Andrew to suck it up and start, you know, hiding his feelings.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: Oh – oh no. I’m fully backing your moral example there, Jamie.
Matt: Mhm. Well, this is just a big shock, though, because, I mean, Harry Potter is such a huge franchise for Warner Bros. and the fact that they delayed this movie is just kind of shocking.
Jamie: But it’s Dark Knight mania, isn’t it?
Andrew: Here’s my main problem: it was so late in the game to make this decision. I mean, we just got under a hundred days. And I was about to e-mail our coder and be like, “Yeah, you can take the zero off that countdown, that third one, since we’re at 98 now, there’s no reason for that.” And, you know, and then this happened. It’s just really surprising. Now, Micah in particular, and I’m not even joking, he’s very upset on this issue.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I guess we’ll go through some of the concern. And let’s face it, a very large part of the fandom is very upset about it.
Jamie: But it’s brilliant when you think about it. Like, there are, you know, a hundred days to go and they put it back and the hype gets built up and, you know, I just think – anyway, it brings Harry Potter – sorry, it ends – Harry Potter‘s going to end even later now, so I don’t know why people are complaining, you know?
Eric: Well, actually, Jamie, I’m going to disagree with you. They said that the Deathly Hallows filming would still be on schedule so that will not be affected and, therefore, end later. And I don’t think that the…
Jamie: Oh. [laughs]
Eric: …excitement is what’s being built up here. I think that what they’re building up here is the lynch mobs who are going to go out to WB and cause some…
Laura: The lynch mobs?
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Eric: You know. The riots!
Kevin: People are going to watch it either way.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, really.
Matt: Well, it’s just sad because you waited like an entire year for this movie and then you find out that you have to wait completely another year.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: And for what reason? And for what reason? Because Dark Knight over-performed at the box office and they no longer need the money this year? But they said, “Hey, wait a minute, we could use it next year”?
Laura: Yep.
Eric: That’s the reason they gave. Now whether or not you want to believe that and, you know, there are a few e-mails and stuff that we read, but whether or not you believe that, that’s kind of crappy.
Matt: Well, what I didn’t get was, did Warner Bros. really doubt that The Dark Knight would do so well in the box office?
Jamie: No, they knew!
Andrew: That’s a good question.
Jamie: They knew it was going to clean out.
Matt: They knew it was going to be awesome.
Jamie: They knew it was.
Matt: Wouldn’t they have put that in consideration for the Warner – for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince release?
Jamie: It’s timing, isn’t it?
Andrew: I think, well – let me tell you. Here’s a couple things that bother me.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: First of all, two weeks ago – two weeks ago, the teaser trailer comes out. What does it say? November. A week later on HarryPotter.com, they publish all the Half-Blood Prince release dates, you know, and they’re like November, whatever. It’s the 21st, a couple days later, blah blah blah. And there was one more thing that I can’t remember right now. But it’s just all these different things, and it’s like, you realize that this was actually a very late minute decision.
Laura: Yeah, but I don’t believe for a second they didn’t know it was coming. I mean, they try to make it sound like…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …”Oh, we just made this decision yesterday, really, no one knew!”
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yeah, no. I think that’s crap.
Matt: Yeah, I don’t really buy that whole “Harry Potter is a summer movie.”
Eric: Yeah, yeah, that’s crap.
Matt: Because if that was true then they would have made it a summer release at the get-go.
Matt: Yeah, that was lame.
Eric: Absolutely, absolutely, you’re totally right, Matt. You can’t tell me that the – there’s very little going on this weekend if you look at the Entertainment Weekly – er, sorry, this fall. It’s a holiday movie season. You can’t tell me that Harry Potter – I mean, Harry Potter has always been holiday movie season with the exception of Movie 3 and 5. You know, most of the time.
Matt: And they’re always released for Thanksgiving weekend, too.
Eric: Exactly! And Christmas and they stay over Christmas. There was something in the press release about giving it a longer box office stay. That’s absolute crap, because the next big movies to hit after the Thanksgiving or Christmas are, like, February, March. You know, Harry Potter would be, you know, assuming it’s a good movie, would stay through months.
Andrew: Micah, what was the point you brought up earlier today about kids being out of school in the summer?
Kevin: I think we lost Micah.
Andrew: Oh, did we? Oh, woops!
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: No, what I was going to say, the point Micah made was that this movie was coming out over Thanksgiving anyway. So it’s like, kids are going to be off anyway. That was the point that Micah had.
Kevin: Oh.
Andrew: Here’s something else that bothered me: this release date was set before Order of the Phoenix came out. We were – I was on the Order of the Phoenix set September 2006, and right before that was when they announced the release date. And when we were interviewing David Heyman, I said to him, “Why set the date this early?” And he says, “Well, we want to set our schedule ahead of time because, you know, we want to know what we’re doing,” and, you know, the gist of it was that they wanted to be, you know, a little more organized with, you know, setting the dates. And I wonder if they actually waited to set a release date, you know, maybe until, I don’t know, Order of the Phoenix was out. Then they would have decided to release it in the summer.
Jamie: No, but, Andrew…
Andrew: …instead of making this decision before Order of the Phoenix was even finished filming!
Jamie: Andrew, it’s so approximate though.
Kevin: Yeah.
Andrew: It’s just – it felt so absurd from the beginning.
Jamie: But movie making takes so long to do.
Kevin: And it seems strange that they delayed so long to tell everyone.
Elysa: Yeah.
Kevin: If that was the case, you would think that they would…
Matt: Yeah. They delayed after they gave us the teaser trailer.
Kevin: Yeah, exactly.
Andrew: You know, there was a blogger a few weeks ago – somebody sent this in as a news tip, there was a blogger who made a post about maybe the reason why we haven’t been getting the teaser trailer is because they’re delayed. And I’m thinking, “Oh my God. First of all, this guy’s insane! How could they delay the movie this late in the game? There’s no way!”
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: And [laughs] it came true! And I think that’s partially why a part of me died inside…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …because, like, when somebody suggested that to me – well, when I read that blog first I was like, that is the biggest bunch of B.S. I’ve ever read. There’s no way they’re pushing this movie back.
Matt: Well, I don’t know if a part of me died inside when I found out. It kind of felt like someone just kicked me in the stomach or something.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: I kicked you in the stomach. In Target I was so freakin’ angry.
[Elysa laughs]
Matt: Oh, that’s why I blacked out.
Laura: Yeah, you guys were really upset. I saw your reaction video on YouTube. It was very sad.
Andrew: Yeah, of course we had our reaction video too. [laughs]
Elysa: You did? I didn’t see that!
Laura: Oh, they were in tears, Elysa. It was – oh my gosh.
Elysa: Oh my God.
Laura: Heartbreaking.
Andrew: There have been so many people submitting petitions.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: You know, e-mailing in their petitions and stuff, you know, complaining like, “Sign these petitions. MuggleNet, please post this.”
Matt: Oh my god, I – I – what were we talking about?
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Yeah, but… [laughs]
Elysa: Yeah.
Matt: That’s what I was talking about. I got like thirty plus…
Kevin: Oh my God.
Matt: …invites, and they’re like all different groups saying, “Boycott WB.” “WB sucks.”
Kevin: Yeah, they’re all unique.
Matt: “Let’s all not even see the movie.”
[Eric laughs]
Matt: “WB is the devil.”
Elysa: That’s not going to work.
Laura: That is all such a load of crap. Seriously? None of these people are going to boycott the movie. They’re all going to go see it.
Matt: I mean, but you can understand their reaction to it. But, I mean, just some of them are so extreme. You’re just thinking, “oh my goodness.”
Laura: Yeah, I’ve gotten a few e-mails from people who are like, “Yeah, we want you guys to promote this on your show, and we’re going to lead a boycott against Warner Bros.” I’m like, oh my God! Calm down! Breathe!
Eric: 25 to 250 separate groups.
Matt: I mean, we can agree that the decision wasn’t exactly, you know… [laughs] …a positive on our side, but I don’t hate – we don’t WB for it. Do we?
Micah: Sure, why not?
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I don’t know, that’s debatable.
Micah: I don’t hate them; I think this was a pure business decision…
Matt: It was definitely business.
Micah: …and from a business perspective it makes a whole lot of sense. From a fan perspective, it sucks. I mean, there’s – that’s kind of the two different sides of all this.
Matt: Yeah, it really does suck.
Eric: We were expecting a movie here, in November.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Jamie, you don’t seem to be as hurt by it. I mean, what’s your – what’s your take on it? I mean…
Jamie: I think it’s, as Matt says, it’s business. You know, it’s going to happen. When you – [headset makes noise] Sorry, my headset flew off – when you said…
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: …that you were talking with Heyman, and, you know, when they sort of set a release date that far in advance, then, you know, movies, you can’t tell. When you’re spending $100 million on anything then there’s so many things that could go wrong, even if one tiny part of it gets put back, then the entire project gets put back, so these people who have to set a release date have to work within tiny, tiny windows. So even though it probably is a complete business decision and it’s all about making more money, ’cause, you know, they obviously learned quite a bit from The Dark Knight and all the hype surrounding that. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a couple of things that also should have edged them towards moving it back, so they can relax in other areas as well.
Micah: I really believe the point that they gave us about how the writer’s strike could have impacted other films that were slated to be released in 2009 and maybe something very recently happened that caused one of those films to not go into its final production.
Eric: Writer’s strike? What writer’s strike?
Matt: Yeah. Well, earlier on in the announcement they said that the writer’s strike had some effect, or something, to this delay, but…
Andrew: On future films.
Matt: I think that was just a quick cop out that they could think of.
Laura: Yeah, I agree.
Matt: I don’t think there really was any real…
Elysa: I agree.
Eric: What writer’s strike?
Micah: You don’t think it’s possible that they lost a movie slated for that 2009 summer month? And just decided…
Eric: No because everything right before that is coming out now.
Matt: The only thing that I can see that the writer’s strike had some effect on it as, I think you’re right, Micah, I think it had something to do with a separate movie, maybe?
Andrew: Right, that’s the issue, yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: Right, so say Movie X was supposed to come out…
Matt: Why does it really have anything to do with a huge movie like Harry Potter? Couldn’t they just switch out with another movie?
Micah: Well, I’m just saying, say they lost their biggest revenue-generating movie of 2009 due to some issue with the writer’s strike, and they didn’t find out about it until just now, or in the last few weeks, let’s say, and so they handed down the decision, let’s put out Half-Blood Prince in 2009, because we know that’s going to make us that money.
Kevin: Yeah, that does makes sense.
Andrew: Yeah. I just – I think what it comes down to is, sure, people – be upset for whatever reason that you want, but the reason I’m upset about this is the timing of it all. They announced this too late. They should have made this decis – decis – [stumbles over words] – decision a long time ago.
Jamie: They should have done it, it’s true.
Micah: Yeah.
Jamie: It is…
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: It is kind of bad on their behalf. I don’t know.
Andrew: They released a teaser trailer two weeks ago that said November, and then the following week they released release dates! It’s so – it’s just unprofessional.
Matt: Well, yeah.
Jamie: But it’s genius too, though.
Andrew: Why? Why is it genius?
[Eric laughs]
Jamie: No, you know, it’s just great the way everyone’s talking about it in all types of publicity.
Andrew: That’s true.
Jamie: It’s good publicity. Like, if you’re angry, Andrew, you’re thinking about it, which means, you know, you’ve got Harry Potter and Warner Bros. on the brain.
Eric: And you’re more likely to buy action figures…
Micah: Yeah, and now you have eleven months to forget about it.
Andrew: I am so angry, I’m going to go buy the complete collection on Blu-Ray right now!
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Well, you know, Jamie…
Matt: I have to say, though…
Eric: What?
Matt: Go ahead.
Andrew: I am so angry I’m going to go see another WB movie on November 21st. Grr.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Jamie: Wow.
Andrew: Sorry. I’m done interrupting.
Matt: Well, I have to say, though, that on a positive note for this delay, is that the move will be released a day before HPEF’s convention, Azkatraz, in San Francisco.
Jamie: Yes.
Elysa: Oh, that’s a good point.
Eric: Well, no, did you guys get the e-mail about that, too, they’re actually – they’ve already booked an IMAX theater. A whole theater.
Laura: You’re kidding me!
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, no, Azkatraz – HPEF has really, really gotten it good here. It’s very lucky for them. Very fortunate for them.
Andrew: Yes. And…
Matt: I got to tell you…
Elysa: Wow, that’s kind of neat though.
Matt: I am so going to Azkatraz.
Jamie: Oh man, yeah! It sounds awesome!
Eric: I know, it’s totally one great reason to go. Yeah, absolutely.
Andrew: And I’ll tell all you guys about this after the show. We can’t announce this yet, but already we are planning an event in relation to the movie release and Azkatraz. So put two and two together.
Jamie: It’s going to be a podcast probably, since we do a podcast, eh?
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Well, okay.
Matt: Put two and two together, Jamie, very good.
Andrew: No, no. Okay, obviously it’s a podcast, but it’s a special podcast.
Laura: Ooh.
Matt: [whispers] Special.
Andrew: I’ll tell you guys after the show. They don’t want to announce anything yet. But they’re working on it. It’s going to be cool. Let’s move on to some e-mails that we’ve received and we’ll comment on them. Obviously, the fans, as I said, are very upset about these developments.
Reaction to Release Date Move: The Movie is Bad
Andrew: First one comes from Ed McPherson of Anaheim. Just around the corner from the MuggleCast studios.
Matt: Oh my goodness.
“I’m a firm believer that this movie was put on hold because it is not good. It must have been previewed and found wanting. Therefore, it was decided to fix it. This also explains why there was such a delay in releasing a teaser trailer. The excuse of the writer’s strike only makes sense if what they had was bad. If it has already been shot, then you do not need writers anymore. What do you think?”
Matt: Hm.
Elysa: I think that would suck for us after hyping up that teaser trailer.
Micah: Well, we kind of explained this earlier, I think. I think he’s confusing the writer’s strike here. He’s thinking that the writer’s strike had an impact on Half-Blood Prince. That’s not what they’re saying.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: They’re saying that the writer’s strike had an impact on other movies slated to come out in 2009 and, therefore, Half-Blood Prince needed to be moved.
Matt: Right.
Andrew: Elysa, what did you say?
Elysa: Oh, me? No, I just said I think that would suck…
Andrew: Yeah.
Elysa: …after – that would suck for us after hyping up that teaser trailer. I mean, we spent two hours talking about how great it looked, and so if the reason is that the movie’s terrible…
Andrew: Yeah.
Elysa: …we’re going to come out looking like idiots.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. Well, and – to avoid these – this type of criticism, they did say in the press release, you know, oh the film is great. David Heyman is like, “I’m so proud of David Yates and the entire cast. Incomparable cast,” you know.
Micah: Those were so scripted, man.
Jamie: They have to say that, though, don’t they? They’re not going to say it’s [beep].
Laura: Yeah, but even if the movie is good, they’re still going to face this sort of criticism. Because really, when you look at a film this big being pushed back that much, that’s what people are automatically going to assume. And that’s a lot of the reason I feel this was a really bad move on their part. I mean, yeah, it’s more publicity for the movie but it’s not necessarily good.
Andrew: Hey, do you guys think – I had this idea last night too – do you guys think maybe they actually did have this decision before the teaser trailer came out? They just didn’t want to announce it beforehand because then everyone would be so PO-ed?
Jamie: You’re such a conspiracy theorist, Andrew.
Matt: That is such a bad tease, though.
Elysa: I’d be pissed.
Matt: “Let’s tease them with this awesome teaser trailer and then just tell them, ‘you know what? You’re going to wait another year for this.'”
Eric: Absolutely. I mean, when I first heard this news I said, well, wait a minute, that explains why the teaser trailer was so late, because the whole movie isn’t ready and it has to be pushed back. But at the same time then, I think they kind of got themselves into a pickle, which is our catchphrase.
Jamie: Yay! [laughs]
Eric: Because they waited so long to release the teaser trailer that, you know, that they waited so long so that if they hadn’t released the teaser trailer at the time they mentioned the delay, it would be an even bigger issue because we would have, you know, three months anticipation of, you know, different reports saying it would come out in this movie, come out in this movie, and then WB says wait, another eight more months without a teaser trailer, that would be a bad thing. If they had mentioned it way, way long ago…
Jamie: See, that is very, very true, yeah.
Matt: Yeah. Well, how could Half-Blood Prince not be ready though? I mean, what is in The Half-Blood Prince that is so much more difficult than the other movies that they had to actually push back the release date?
Eric: It’s a worthwhile – it’s a worthwhile question to ask.
Micah: Nothing. That’s it. It’s all business.
Matt: I could understand if, like, Goblet of Fire – or Deathly Hallows – was pushed back because of the, you know, production value and they couldn’t get all the CGI, special effects and stuff.
Jamie: It’s a harder film, isn’t it? The image is sort of like quite a bit more important in these two, in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, than it has been in the last five.
Matt: Half of the movie is memories! Just put a fog effect in the lens and that’s it.
Jamie: What, like iMovie it, Matt?
[Eric and Jamie laugh]
Matt: Oh my god! Totally! Just take some ashes and blow it into the lens and then you’ve got it.
Jamie: And ruin your 150 grand IMAX camera. [laughs]
Matt: Yes.
Jamie: That’s probably why the movie’s being put back. They tried your amazing idea.
[Eric and Jamie laugh]
Micah: What did you guys think about the reasoning, you know, Half-Blood Prince is now closer to the release of the first Deathly Hallows and fans will enjoy that.
Eric: Bull! Bull! Like they give a crap!
Matt: It’s their movie.
Micah: I was talking to Andrew about this, I don’t know, last night. What does that do for the fan, though, if Half-Blood Prince is now closer to Deathly Hallows? I mean…
Andrew: They’re just trying to give everyone something positive about it. I mean, you know, that’s all it is.
Micah: There’s no sort of flow from one to the other, really. I mean, Dumbledore dies, that’s the end of Half-Blood Prince.
MuggleCast 157 Transcript (continued)
Reaction to Release Date Move: The Fans
Andrew: Okay, here’s another e-mail. From Katie:
“I was just wondering your thoughts about the fans. I know a lot of people were saying they won’t be going after this because WB is…”
Naughty word.
“…them off.”
Kevin: Oh, that is such…
Andrew: “Do you think this is going to affect the money they are going to make?”
Kevin: Absolutely not.
Andrew: “It was a total shock when I found out.”
Matt: No! No!
Laura: People are still going to go see the movie.
Eric: People are still curious.
Matt: To be honest, it was a good move to release Half-Blood Prince in the summer because they do better during the summer. However…
Eric: Do you really think that?
Matt: …they could have actually given us a little – yeah, I do! I honestly think, because they did better with Order of the Phoenix.
Jamie: Guys, I have a perfect analogy for this. If you’ll…
Andrew: What’s that?
Jamie: I just went to buy an iPhone from this shop in the U.K., and it’s the only sort of network that does the iPhone, and they screwed me around, and screwed me around, so my mum says to me – she is not an Apple fan, so, you know, obviously this statement will come as a shock to the Apple fans. She said, “Well, why don’t you just get a different phone? One that’s not an iPhone.”
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Obviously a ridiculous sentiment…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: …but I was like, obviously, I can’t. So, you know, Warner Bros. is the only company releasing a decent Harry Potter movie, so of course people are going to go see it even if they have to wait ten years, kind of like I had to go back to the store fifteen million times and pay a zillion pounds on top of it. I’m still going to get an iPhone because I want an iPhone. I don’t want anything else.
Eric: Absolutely. No, I think that the logic is flawed when they say that Order of the Phoenix was the second highest grossing movie. I mean, obviously that’s the fact, but it was also the Summer of Potter that was releasing, you know, a week before the actual last book in the series. It was all hyped up. As far as summer movies go, if you guys remember this summer that is just passing now, there were three or four big movies that I wanted to see every weekend, and I would not have had the time or the resources to go back and see a movie twice because I always wanted to see the next movie that was coming out, the next movie that’s coming out. Summer is so piled up like that. November, Thanksgiving weekend, and Christmas there’s – that’s not how it is. There might be two, three movies…
Jamie: You could have seen them if you had wanted to though, couldn’t you?
Matt: I know. Andrew, how many times have we seen Wall-E and The Dark Knight?
Eric: Once.
Matt: I think we’ve seen them at least three or four times. Each.
Andrew: Dark Knight three times, Wall-E three or four.
Eric: Oh my gosh. Well, Wall-E was a great movie.
Andrew: And I saw Hairspray like seven times.
Jamie: Oh my God, that is insane.
Laura: Oh my God. [laughs]
Eric: That’s unnecessary.
Andrew: It was a good film.
Matt: Is that really that surprising?
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: It’s a good film. I enjoyed it. It’s a good film. Good emotion.
Jamie: Why don’t you just download something?
Andrew: Because I want to support the creators, Jamie. And you know what? This bodes wetter – this bodes better for a L.A. premiere. I mean, personally, that’s what I want. I want an L.A. premiere instead of New York City.
Laura: It would be a lot easier. [laughs]
Andrew: Because the way….
Kevin: Because you live there?
Jamie: Why do you want that, Andrew?
Kevin: Close to there, I should say.
Andrew: Yeah, because I live close. Yeah, exactly.
Jamie: No, I know. I know.
Andrew: I want to drive, I don’t want to fly.
Matt: It’s a half hour drive from here.
Kevin: I think Micah and I would prefer a New York.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, honestly.
Micah: Yeah, plus, you know, it does get warm here in the summer, Andrew. It’s not just L.A. that’s nice in the summertime.
Andrew: Yeah, but the L.A. – there was something about the L.A. premiere that was really…
Laura: Haven’t all the summer premieres taken place in L.A.?
Andrew: Well, there’s only been two on L.A.: The Chamber of Secrets and…
Matt: Order of the Phoenix.
Andrew: …Order of the Phoenix.
Eric: Guys, I think we should compromise. I think the premiere should be in Chicago.
Andrew: You know, there was another blog – oh no, it was Fox News…
Laura: Eww.
Andrew: …and you guys won’t believe this. Fox News said the reason why they are having this delay is because WB is disappointed with Dan’s image in Equus.
Laura: What?!
Elysa: Did Bill O’Reilly tell you that?
Jamie: No way.
Andrew: No, but it was a blog post on Fox News. It said that Dan Radcliffe is going to be in Equus the same time as the movie comes out, and it’s just going to be bad publicity, and, you know, because he’s naked, you know. He comes out naked. The naked pictures and all that. What kind of BS is that?
Eric: Well, no, that is BS. Well, for several reasons.
Matt: The nude photos were out for Order of the Phoenix too.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: They were, and the movie’s already filmed, and Dan and all the actors are only getting older, so if you’re going to talk about pushing actual production schedules back or filming schedules, which they haven’t yet, you know, I mean, the actors are only getting older.
Jamie: It’s not going to be enough to make a difference, is it? Like, four months they push it back they’re not going to get gray hair.
Eric: Yeah. [laughs] It’s true. It’s true. It’s true. There’s another e-mail.
Kevin: November 21st.
Reaction to Release Date Move: A Live Show
Eric: This other e-mail, kind of, we just talked about it, but it’s from Afik – or Afike – Age 22 from Malaysia. She says:
“Hi. Regarding the movie delay, why don’t you set up a quick live show so that everyone can vent in a nice little MP3 package that can be sent to stupid WB? Cheers!”
Andrew: That’s what we’re doing right now, and we will…
Eric: Well, she said live show.
Matt: Stupid WB?
Eric: With all the public.
Andrew: Oh, a live show. Yeah, that would be a mess.
Matt: Yeah, let’s do it right now.
Andrew: No thanks, that would be a mess. And then we…
Jamie: Wouldn’t that be great, though, if we could change those people’s opinions just by doing that? Like if you didn’t like, you know, a politician’s stance on something you just sent an MP3 and he changes it completely.
Andrew: He changes his opinion.
Jamie: The war in Iraq. [laughs] Send an MP3.
Andrew: Only if it’s on an iPod, though.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Wink.
Jamie: [unintelligible] the Apple products.
Matt: It’s sad. WB created a dark day for the fandom, didn’t they? From November 21st. That’s going to be a sad day, though.
Micah: They’re not stupid; they’re looking out for themselves and doing what makes the most sense in terms of…
Matt: Of course. Yeah, but…
Micah: Money.
Matt: …for the fandom itself, though, I’m not talking about WB. I’m talking about the fandom.
Jamie: Hey, Matt.
Matt: It’s going to be a dark day for all the fans.
Jamie: Matt, it’s going to be a dark day, but when is the day darkest?
Eric: Just before the dawn.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”
Matt: “And the dawn is coming.”
[Elysa laughs]
Andrew: “I assure you, the dawn is coming.”
Eric: “I believe in Harvey Dent.”
[Laura laughs]
Matt: In eight more months.
Andrew: And then it cuts to a close up. “Not for you, Potter fans.”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Ooo. Slam.
Andrew: All right, well, I think that wraps up our discussion on this for now. I’m sure there will be more to come. Maybe, you guys, maybe WB will change your mind and be like, “Hey, look, we were, you know…”
Elysa: “MuggleCast said so, so…”
Andrew: “We understand you guy’s concern. You are the fans and we respect you, so it will be out in November.”
Elysa: Yeah, right.
Laura: Yeah, right.
Announcement: Micah’s Birthday!
Andrew: So let’s move on to announcements. First up, Micah Tannenbaum is celebrating a birthday.
Elysa: Happy Birthday, Micah!
Andrew: Happy Birthday, Micah!
Laura: Happy Birthday.
Andrew: A round of applause for Micah!
Micah: Thank you.
Matt: [singing like Marilyn Monroe] “Happy Birthday, Micah Tannenbaum…”
Andrew: When is your birthday, Micah?
Micah: Sunday, August 17th.
Jamie: Ah, Happy Birthday for then!
Matt: Ah, there it is.
Andrew: I will send you a Facebook gift.
Micah: Oh, thank you!
Andrew: It will cost me a dollar.
Matt: Oh, I have a free one, so I’ll give one to you.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Well, congrats, Micah. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.
Micah: Thank you.
Announcement: Podcast Alley
Andrew: It’s very nice. Don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley. It’s midway through August and just because this is the last weekly show doesn’t mean you want to stop now. Am I right, or am I right?
Matt: [singing] “Ain’t no stoppin’ us now…”
Announcement: Terminus
Andrew: And lastly, Eric wants to talk about Terminus.
Eric: Okay. For those who attended and those who didn’t, Terminus the Harry Potter conference, happened just this past week in Chicago, Illinois. Great fun! There were about – overall there were about 1,600 fans, I think that they said were registered there. The whole event started off with Wrock Chicago on Wednesday night, which was actually – it wasn’t just Wednesday night. It was twelve hours during the day. Tons of wrock bands from all over came in. There was great programming, I think it was actually some of the best I’ve experienced. I mean, I actually go to programming, but it was – was really, really good stuff. It proved something good to me, which was that, you know, these books, while we can still talk about some very interesting stuff. I’ll talk to you guys about it later, but the programming at Terminus was really amazing. Last but not least, the Bon Voyage Ball, which Ben Schoen was wonderful enough to grace us with his presence during, and Dylan and Emerson…
Andrew: Oh, how nice.
Eric: …made a showing too. And then the closing banquets. But I just wanted to say thanks to everyone I saw there, and it was great, great fun, and very successful. It was a beautiful hotel, the Chicago Hilton downtown. It was amazing, so I just wanted to…
Andrew: Cool. It’s a shame that’s their last one.
Eric: It’s their last one.
Matt: Yeah, I never got to go to one of those type of conventions.
Andrew: Well, their last Harry Potter Con.
Eric: Oh yeah, that [unintelligible] doing, I think. Yeah. But it was very successful.
No Muggle Mail This Week
Andrew: All right. Thank you, Eric. Muggle Mail this week. Now, I think I stated last week there’s a problem with our feedback form, and we’re actually still having a problem with that feedback form, so there actually is really no Muggle Mail this week. We have a few more e-mails scattered throughout the show, but if you do want to e-mail us about something, e-mail our personal e-mail addresses directly while we still – while we figure out what’s wrong with our feedback form. Just use any of our first names at staff dot mugglenet dot com. And we’ll try to have that worked out soon.
This Week in MuggleCast History
Andrew: Okay, now it’s time for This Week in MuggleCast History. We’ve been doing this segment for the past few weeks, and we take a look at what was happening this time one year ago, or two years ago, since we have been around for a while now. I guess even three years ago.
Laura: Yeah. Three years ago now.
Andrew: I didn’t realize that. Crap. [laughs]
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: All right, so we are going to go back to Episode 51. This was August 13th, 2006, when Ben set a new standard
in podcasting by driving through Nebraska searching for a Wi-Fi signal and podcasting from his car.
Jamie: Oh, wow!
Laura: Oh gosh.
Andrew: And it’s actually pretty funny.
Jamie: Was that in 2006? Oh my God, that is insane.
Andrew: I know.
Matt: I know, you were just a kid then, Jamie. You were teenaged.
Andrew: And now you are in your twenties. Weirdo. [unintelligible]
Jamie: Matt, don’t even talk about it. That’s insane…
Micah: Yeah, you got a problem with that?
Jamie: That’s insane. I don’t want to get any older. I’m feeling it.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
Jamie: You know, I have a problem with it. I have a huge problem with it. I want to be eighteen again.
[Andrew and Laura laughs]
Jamie: Everyone stop!
Andrew: All right, well, let’s do this. This Week in MuggleCast History. So we’ll just go back in time now.
[Andrew and Matt make time machine noises]
Micah: That’s all the news for this August 13th, 2006 edition of MuggleCast. Back to the show.
Ben: There’s a car passing me and I’m laying down. Hold on.
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: False alarm. They turned, they turned.
Laura: Wouldn’t it be awesome if Ben got arrested and we were recording?
Ben: Live on MuggleCast.
Jamie: Oh, it would be so funny. It would be Spy on Schoen.
Ben: This is ridiculous. I drove three-and-a-half hours tonight, tired as – more tired than you can imagine.
Jamie: Tired and soaked to his skin.
Ben: And I get here to record MuggleCast, and I go to the library to steal their Wi-Fi…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Ben…
Ben: They had it encrypted…
Jamie: …I think the term is “use” not “steal,” you know?
Ben: “Use” their Wi-Fi.
Jamie: Oh God, that sounds awful.
Ben: They have it password protected. And so I drive around this small podunk town, searching for Wi-Fi, and I found some, and now I am parked in the middle of the street…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: …windows rolled up in my car. It’s about 5,000 degrees and I’m here to do MuggleCast.
Elysa: Oh boy.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: So, I am the most dedicated MuggleCaster…
Jamie: That’s commitment to you?
Laura: That is devotion.
Ben: …ever.
Jamie: Are we still streaming this to the FBI, Andrew? Or did we stop?
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, I think we’re going to have to stop after this episode.
[Andrew makes time machine noises again]
Andrew: Oh, what an episode. Elysa, you feel his pain?
Elysa: Yeah, I feel his pain. Ben has definitely passed the torch on to me.
Andrew: I’m sorry, Elysa, but Ben did pioneer that concept of podcasting.
Elysa: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andrew: You are just a mere copy cat.
Elysa: Okay. I did it better.
[Andrew and Elysa laugh]
Eric’s Crackpot Theory of the Week
Andrew: Oh geeze! Okay. All right, well, now keeping in the spirit of going through all the segments at, you know, we’ve always done here on MuggleCast, we’re going to now do Crackpot Theory. Eric’s Crackpot Theory of the Week. Eric, are you – do you think you’re ready for this or what?
Eric: Yeah. No, Andrew, I’m totally psyched.
Andrew: Yeah, I can hear it in your voice.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: No, how did you come up with that segment? How do you – can you intro it? Like how you came up with it,
because this is like the only real segment I ever really had, but it was a complete rip off of – the [unintelligible] by Jane Jack.
Andrew: But it really wasn’t. Jane Jack did this too, but it really wasn’t! Somebody – I don’t know, I can’t remember how we came up with it. But I remember somebody – people complained about that and I was like, no I didn’t even know they did it.
Eric: Same name, though. Same name, different stuff.
Andrew: Same name, okay. Same name, sure.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Andrew: All right, well – so I actually had to search through deep into the Gmail inbox because, you know, people haven’t been sending these in, but I did find a good one. This comes from Kate, 22, of Wisconsin, and she writes:
“My crackpot theory is that Harry Potter…”
Oh wait. [laughs] Are you ready, Eric? [laughs]
Eric: Well, she’s probably 23 by now so we should wish her a Happy Birthday.
Andrew: Yeah, true. That’s… [laughs] Yeah, that’s true. Anyway, okay, so here’s the crackpot theory:
“My crackpot theory is that Harry Potter is real. Jo is a squib who is breaking the silence between the two worlds. There is a Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, and a Quidditch World Cup. Once more, our favorite people, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore. etc. are/were real. Of course names have been changed; it’s like details altered for the sake of literary effect.” Eric, go.
Eric: Wait, what part of this was the crackpot theory?
Andrew: Harry Potter – generally, Harry Potter is real.
Eric: Yep, but it is.
Andrew: No, but you know what I mean.
Eric: No, but it is. It’s real, dude. What are you talking about? What’s the crack part? I’m waiting for the crackpot part.
Andrew: Real, like we could actually, physically meet Harry Potter.
Eric: Oh, okay, okay. So if we can really physically meet Harry Potter I think that what would…
Jamie: Eric, stop giving yourself thinking time.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly. [laughs]
Eric: No, I think this – I think that what would be happening – I think that Draco would be working at a Starbucks somewhere, maybe in San Francisco, and Harry on Ministry business would go and meet him. I think that’s – I think that’s totally right. So all the people in the downtown L.A. area – or San Fran, sorry, San Fran area, just check your Starbuckses, I think that Draco Malfoy is secretly working undercover at a Starbucks.
Andrew: Okay, fair enough. Is that your crackpot theory?
Eric: Yeah, it was actually one of the – it is also one of the only fan fiction references I think I’ve ever done in my life, so I’m pretty happy about that.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Had to get one of those in the show.
Andrew: All right, so here’s some of the reasonings that Katie provided: the characters in the world of HP seem so life-like to so many people. That’s because it is.
Eric: It’s called an allegory.
Andrew: How do Squibs make a living in the magical world? Jo solved that problem by using the proceeds of the HP books to set up a fund to help needy Squibs. Another reason: lots of unexplainable things happen in real life. How come they can’t be explained by magic? Another reason: Dementors cause hurricanes and tornadoes, which we’ve seen a lot of in recent years, and ever been to Wal Mart late at night? The people who come out look like wizards who are trying to dress up as Muggles.
Eric: [laughs] I really like…
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I really like that second one about the funds from the Harry Potter books going to sort of employment, security, welfare for Squibs. I really like that one.
Matt: Well, I’m curious, what are the people who look like – that work at Target? Laura?
Laura: Hey.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Laura: Don’t be mean to me.
[Jamie and Matt laugh]
Dueling Club
Andrew: There you go. There’s Crackpot Theory! All right, let’s move on now to Dueling Club. This is another segment we haven’t done in a while, and we have a couple submissions. I think they’re good ones. First one comes from Brady, 14 of Manitoba, Canada.
Jamie: Andrew!
Andrew: Yeah?
Jamie: I have a Dueling Club for afterwards as well.
Andrew: Okay.
Jamie: This one is amazing.
Andrew: Okay, cool. He says:
“Hi, you haven’t done Dueling Club in a while, have you? I have a suggestion. Michael Gambon versus Richard Harris. No, not that same old endless argument of who is the better Dumbledore…”
The answer is Gambon, by the way…
Matt: No, it’s not.
Andrew: “I mean two old Muggle men, one on one, fisticuffs! Also, I love your show and Andrew is not hot…”
Okay, I’m pretty sure that said hot.
[Matt laughs]
Laura: No, no, don’t think so.
Matt: That was me.
Andrew: Okay, thank you. So, Michael Gambon versus Richard Harris. If they had to duke it out, let’s say in their golden days, when, you know, they were actually in good fighting condition.
Laura: I would say Gambon, and I mean I’m not just saying that by virtue of the fact that I’m a huge Gambon fan, but…
Jamie: I agree, I agree.
Laura: I don’t know, he’s just seems like he has more of an attitude than Richard Harris did, you know?
Andrew: Yeah, I agree too. I always saw Richard Harris as a very frail man, no matter what age.
Matt: Well, wait a minute. There’s…
Jamie: He really was.
Matt: Okay, well, there’s a ten year difference between the two actors too.
Eric: That’s a good point. I’m trying to think – I’m looking at the Richard Harris Wikipedia here, and he was kind of – he did have some kind of fierce roles going on for him. But I’m willing to say that Michael Gambon could out-scream Richard Harris and, therefore, would probably win in a duel.
Matt: [laughs] Richard Harris would probably not win in a fight with Michael Gambon, because Michael Gambon would just run down the stairs, grab him, and push him to the side of the wall and says, “Did you know I played you in the Goblet of Fire?”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Shaking him, shaking him. And he’ll say, “No, I didn’t.”
Matt: “No sir!”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: All right, the second one comes from Anlise – Analise:
“I really miss the segment, so I thought I’d send a new topic in. Molly Weasley versus McGonagall. You had a previous segment where Minerva beat out Umbridge, so considering Molly’s new found power, I wanted to see where this would go. And for the sake of being original, I love the show. Eric, you’re my favorite.”
How cute.
Matt: Awww.
Eric: Had to get at least one of those e-mails before the end of the show.
Jamie: Molly would just, like – she’d just make cakes and stuff and cook food, and McGonagall would just blast her down.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: That’s not sexist, that’s just…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: That’s just taking stuff from the books, because, you know, it’s what she does, Molly. She cooks and makes onion soup and bread.
Andrew: Yeah, but we also saw her kill…
Jamie: She’d try and do that to try and placate McGonagall, but…
Andrew: We also saw her kill Bellatrix.
Jamie: Well, we did, that’s very true. And she did find a lot of power. I…
Andrew: I mean, have we ever seen McGonagall kill anyone?
Matt: No, we haven’t seen her kill anyone…
Eric: McGonagall’s just very stern to people.
Jamie: I don’t think she’s that kind of person.
Eric: She just glares at them.
Matt: But she’s been in battles all the time. Do you honestly think that Molly Weasley could have beaten Bellatrix Lestrange if the fact that she almost killed her daughter didn’t influence her, you know, filled with rage.
Jamie: No way. She couldn’t have done. No.
Matt: No, I think the fact that she killed Bellatrix means that she has the potential, but it doesn’t mean that she can kill – she could just duel just off the drop of a hat.
Eric: Going back to what Jamie said about the cooking thing, I think that it’s very likely that Molly Weasley would have a sort of sit down dinner, you know, and invite McGonagall to it, if the two were on bad terms, and, you know, maybe just slip a little arsenic…
Jamie: Talk about it, yeah.
Eric: …into the little pumpkin juice, you know, sort of thing.
Jamie: But also, Eric, the – even though Molly has killed a human being, when Professor McGonagall transforms into a cat, every single mouse that she’s killed more than adds up to Bellatrix, because she’s a demon when she’s a cat.
Eric: That’s a good point.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: She goes around killing every single small vole animal.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: That’s a lot of mice waiting for that McGonagall animagus in the afterlife, I’ll tell you that.
Jamie: Don’t you think it’s weird when people talk of snake venom and stuff like that, when they always compare humans to mice. Like, I swear there’s one snake that has enough venom to kill, like, a hundred humans or 250,000 mice. It’s just a weird comparison.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Yeah, but I think there is some potential here.
Matt: Yeah. Wait, so are we men or are we mice?
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: Micah, what do you think? Molly versus McGonagall. Who would win?
Micah: Probably McGonagall. I mean, she’s just more learned, I guess you could say. She seems like she’s much more powerful. Even though Molly did kill somebody, I think it was more out of a protective nature than anything else, whereas I think McGonagall would probably be more apt to kill, just sort of overall, I guess you could say. Just – and I think being a Transfiguration teacher, obviously, she spent a lot of time around Dumbledore as well…
Eric: That’s true.
Micah: …so I’m sure she’s learnt a few things from him.
Eric: Even as a teacher she seems more educated in spellwork than – I mean, Molly’s got a lot of charms that apply to the home, and – but McGonagall seems to be a lot more educated, more experienced.
Andrew: Elysa, how about you? What do you think? Who would win?
Elysa: I’m going to go with McGonagall too. I mean, I was sort of on the fence about this, but I agree with Micah. I think Molly Weasley, she was able to kill Bellatrix because she was instigated. I don’t think – I think in terms of skill and talent McGonagall would still beat her out, so…
Laura: Yeah. You know, I think it depends on the context. I mean, if McGonagall were about to fail Ginny in Transfiguration, I think Molly would say, “Not my daughter, you bitch.”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oooh.
Matt: And then McGonagall would be like, “oh no you di-int.”
Laura: [laughs] But otherwise, I would have to agree that McGonagall definitely seems to be trained better.
Micah: Wait. Andrew, what was the line you used back in an older episode about McGonagall sitting on the…
Laura: [laughs] Oh yeah.
Micah: …bricks all day?
Andrew: Was it “mmmm, girl”?
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: It was something along the lines of…
Matt: “You’d be sore too if you had to stand on that wall all day.”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: What was it? “You’d be…”
Matt: I remember…
Andrew: …what too?
Matt: I remember because I transcribed that part.
Andrew: “Mmm girl, you’d be sad too if you had to sit on that bridge all day.”
[Laura laughs]
Make the Connection
Andrew: Something like that. Well, let’s keep moving the show along now. [laughs] Here’s another segment we haven’t done in a while. Well, we’ve been doing Make the Music Connection, but since Jamie’s back we’re going to do his original idea, Make the Connection.
Jamie: I have some crackers for you guys today.
Matt: Oh no.
Laura: Aw man.
Jamie: You’re going to be struggling.
Matt: God, I love crackers.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Andrew, you have to make the connection between Harry Potter and the extremely narrow possibility of being struck by lightning twice.
Andrew: Oh God. Okay, let’s see.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: Well, you know, the possibility of Molly Weasley killing Bellatrix was – what’s the chances of being struck by lightning twice, like one in a trillion or something?
Jamie: Something like that, yeah.
Matt: Okay. Yeah.
Andrew: Anyone who expected the – if MuggleNet had – you know how MuggleNet had the predictions in the book – you know, like, Dobby die, a thousand to one. Well…
Jamie: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: …the chances of the prediction that Molly Weasley would kill Bellatrix, the chances would be about one trillion to one.
Jamie: That’s pretty good.
Andrew: [laughs] Thank you. I thought it was.
Jamie: Wait. Isn’t that saying that – aren’t you insulting us though? [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: No, I’m not insulting us…
Jamie: Saying that we get odds wrong.
Andrew: No. I’m just saying that, you know, nobody would’ve ever predicted that.
Jamie: That’s good though, that’s very good. Laura, do you want this one?
Laura: Aw, man. I guess so.
Jamie: All right. You have to make the connection between Harry Potter and being water boarded by Will Smith.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: As seen in I Am Legend? Or Hancock. Sorry.
Laura: [laughs] Oh my God.
Jamie: No, no, just any Will Smith. Any Will Smith water boarding, you know? An advanced CIA interrogation technique by Will Smith.
Laura: [laughs] God. I don’t know. I guess that’s what would…
[Jamie laughs]
Laura: …have happened to you if you had got an advanced reader copy of a Harry Potter book and leaked it. I assume that something along those lines would have happened to you. So…
[Jamie laughs]
Laura: Yeah. Exactly. Go to Guantanamo Bay.
Andrew: Hancock style.
Jamie: Eric, you have to make the connection between Harry Potter and Incubus front man, Brandon Boyd, chillaxing in Hawaii.
Eric: Chillaxing in Hawaii? I – okay.
[Jamie laughs]
Eric: Harry Potter – well, see, I think that’s a likely vacation, you know. We’ve seen several times people vacationing in the Harry Potter books, right? We’ve got Aunt Marge vacationing in Majorca. We’ve got the Weasleys going to Egypt. We got Hermione going to France. I think it only makes sense that at some point they might cross paths with, what was it, Brandon Boyd of Incubus chilling in Hawaii. Yeah, yeah. People go on holidays.
Jamie: And, Eric, what – what song would he sing? What’s the greatest Incubus song?
Eric: The greatest Incubus song? Hang on, let me pull up my iTunes library.
Jamie: Everyone needs to listen to Incubus “Dig.” “Dig” by Incubus. You will absolutely re-invent music for yourself. Listen to it. Matthew? You next?
Matt: Yeah, I guess. I’m going to get it wrong anyway, Jamie, like I always do, so it doesn’t matter.
Jamie: You have to make the connection between Harry Potter… [laughs]
Laura: Awww.
Jamie: All right. You have to make the connection between Harry Potter and Bugs Bunny writing his own self-help novel.
[Micah laughs]
Matt: Okay. Well, due to the hundreds and thousands of suicide letters that Warner Bros. was given from the Harry Potter fans from the Half-Blood Prince release date, Bugs Bunny has put it upon himself to to write his own self-help…
[Jamie laughs]
Matt: …book to keep all the Harry Potter fans from killing themselves to having to wait another eight months.
Eric: Very timely and very brave.
Laura: Wow.
Eric: I like that.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Nicely done.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Very lucid, Matt, as well. Very good. All right, Micah?
Micah: All right.
Jamie: Ready?
Micah: Yup.
Jamie: All right, this is quite a topical – well, not really topical but you’ll appreciate it. All right, you have to make a connection between Harry Potter and “The Downeaster Alexa” by Billy Joel.
[Matt laughs]
Micah: The one thing that I can think about. “The Downeaster Alexa” is really about the start of the hard times of fishermen and all sorts of people who work on the ocean and, you know, trying to provide for their families, and the only person that comes to mind for me is Arthur Weasley. He’s always going to work trying to provide for his family, doing whatever he can. So – and he’s not on a boat, I get that, but that’s about as best as I can do.
Jamie: No, that’s good, that’s good.
Eric: Arthur Weasley works at a grocery store.
Jamie: Elysa, okay, this is quite a tough one, sorry. [laughs]
Elysa: Oh great.
Jamie: Okay, make a connection between Harry Potter and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation being turned into a safe house for Werewolves. Oh, actually, werewolves is kind of an obvious link there. Okay, turned into a safe house for starfish.
Eric: Are you making this up as you go along?
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: No, I had a few notes down.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Werewolves and starfish.
Elysa: Wait, turned into a safe house for starfish?
Jamie: Starfish, yeah. [laughs]
Elysa: All right. I’m going to say that Bill Gates is Voldemort’s public relations manager and he’s doing this as a facade to cover up all his evil doings.
Eric: Wow, you’re really anti-capitalism, aren’t you?
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Elysa: If it makes anyone feel better we can say that he’s been put under a curse.
Laura: That works.
Jamie: All right, yeah.
Andrew: All right, well, that’s how we play Make the Connection. Thank you, Jamie.
Jamie: You’re welcome, that was fun.
MuggleCast 157 Transcript (continued)
Jamie’s British Joke of the Week
Andrew: Jamie, the spotlight is still on you. It’s time for a British Joke of the Week.
Jamie: Awesome, I don’t actually have one.
[Andrew says something unintelligible]
Jamie: Or the decade, actually, I think.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: All right, this one’s kind of weird. I hope you guys like it. I found it earlier. All right, there are two prawns, one called Johnny and one called Christian. They’re extremely happy prawns playing with their happy prawn friends. One day Johnny decides that he’s bored so he goes to see Cod. “Cod, I’m bored,” says Johnny, “Please turn me into a great big shark.” So Cod waves his magic fin and turns Johnny into a shark. Johnny swims off and has a few fun weeks scaring all his little friends. But eventually they work out that this particular shark isn’t going to eat them so they start ignoring him. Johnny gets angry and, since he’s an extremely disturbed prawn, he starts eating them. At last there is only Christian left and Johnny wants to play with him. He goes to Christian’s rock and says, “Christian, come out and play with me.” Christian replies, “No, no, you’re a huge shark, you’re going to eat me.” “No, I won’t eat you, please come out and play with me.” “No, you’re a huge great shark, you are going to eat me.” So Johnny swims off to see Cod. “Cod, I’m bored, all my friends are dead and Christian won’t play with me. Please turn me back into a prawn again.” Cod says, “Okay, I think you learned your lesson.” He waves his magic fin and Johnny is a prawn again. He swims off to see Christian. “Come out and play with me,” he calls. “No, no, you’re a shark, you’re going to eat me.” And Johnny replies, “No, it’s okay, I’ve spoken to Cod, I’m a prawn again Christian.”
Laura: Oohh.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Oh, it’s a…
Matt: It’s a…
Eric: It’s a born again joke! Oooh.
Laura: Got it.
Eric: Religious tolerance, Jamie.
Favorites
Andrew: Okay, well, rolling right along, it’s time now for Favorites. And we’re going to do favorite MuggleCast memory. And we sort of did this before where we said, you know, like our favorite show moment, or we played a clip. But we’re just talking now overall, whether it’s just a specific episode maybe, or a moment. Or a live show, or, you know, a favorite host. Whatever you want it to be, that’s what it is. So we’ll go around the table and just, you know, reminisce a little bit, and then we’ll get into some voicemails from fans. How about, Matt, you start.
Matt: My favorite MuggleCast memory is definitely in the summer of 2007 when I got to meet everybody for the Order of the Phoenix premiere. It was just really nice seeing everybody, and we had such a great time. That whole summer was just so much fun, but…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: How about Elysa next? How about you next, Elysa? You’re relatively new to the show.
Elysa: Yeah, you know what? I was first – I was inclined to go with the live show that we did at Portus, but I’m actually going to have to say, before I was ever on the show, you let Laura plug Operation Sudan.
[Andrew laughs]
Elysa: And that was forever ago…
Andrew: Yeah.
Elysa: …and that just really stuck with me because, at the time, I was having such problems with getting people to help us out…
Andrew: Awww.
Elysa: …and trying to – and trying to spread the word and get it out there. And you sort of – you just came in and saved the day as usual, so…
Andrew and Laura: Awww…
Andrew: Well, it wasn’t me. I mean, you know…
Elysa: That’s my favorite memory.
Andrew: It’s great when we all come in here and discuss our various projects.
Micah: Favorite moment? I mean, it would probably have to be in Philadelphia. I think Enlightening was one of the best conventions that I’ve been to. It was really just well done, and I thought of all of our live shows that it was probably the best one we’ve ever done, just in terms of the crowd being so engaging, the venue itself, and just kind of how the discussion went. Even though I hadn’t read Order of the Phoenix – or not – no, hadn’t seen Order of the Phoenix, sorry.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: And, you know, but also I think really, at the very beginning, back in New York City meeting Andrew and Ben for the first time when we did that Leaky Mug at Barnes & Noble around the Goblet of Fire release…
Eric: Oh, I was there too.
Micah: Yeah, you as well, and, you know…
Andrew: Conveniently forgotten.
Micah: I didn’t mean to exclude anybody…
Eric: No, no, don’t forget how happy that memory was of you meeting me. [laughs]
Micah: Andrew and Ben. [laughs] Well, you got – you were off at the Disney Store somewhere.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Picking up that Mickey Mouse.
Micah: But, no, when I first met Andrew and Ben they were waiting in line for Starbucks or something like that, so that was kind of the first thing that had popped into my mind right there with them.
Andrew: And then – and then a song crept into your head was a – what was it?
Micah: The song? Oh, by…
Andrew: [sings] “I can’t see me loving nobody but you…”
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: No?
Micah: No, I thought you were going to say U2.
Andrew: Oh…
Micah: City of Blinding Lights, but…
Matt: Chariots of Fire or something like that, huh?
Micah: [laughs] But – and as far as, like, shows and things like that, I mean, there’s been a lot of them; there’s been a lot of great moments. Too many to sort of just point out any of them, but, you know.
Andrew: Okay, Laura, how about you?
Laura: Oh my gosh, this is hard. It would probably have to be a tie between meeting everybody that we do the show with and the Book 7 release in London. That was so much fun.
Jamie: Oh God. Oh my God.
Laura: The venue was great.
[Matt laughs]
Laura: What!? What!?
Jamie: No, no, I’m saying, I’m…
Micah: You need a box of tissues there, Andrew – Jamie.
Jamie: You do. Book 7 was amazing.
[Jamie and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Yeah…
Micah: Yeah…
Laura: It was amazing. But I do also have to say dancing to the Hippogriffs song at Prophecy 2007. [laughs]
Matt: Yes! That was the epitome of that whole summer, that dance right there.
Laura: Yeah. Yeah, it was.
Andrew: Let’s see, who else still has to go? Is it just me? Oh no, Jamie, how about you?
Jamie: Well, probably best thing would have to be either Lumos 2006 because everything started, we met everyone, it was “Oh wow, oh wow, this is, you know, this is insane. I can’t believe all this stuff is happening!” And we got to meet people for the first time, meet all the fans. That was an incredible experience. Tour was absolutely insane as well. I had one of the best times of my life going across country with everyone. And that was a lot of fun. But one of the funniest show moments, that I always think, is when Andrew takes a break, and we’re all on Skype about to record, and we’re like, “Right right, let’s get down to it, let’s start it,” and then there’s just tumbleweed going along where everyone’s just like, “Uh, uh, I don’t know how to start this.”
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Which is funny.
Andrew: I would have to say Lumos was definitely one of my favorite moments too…
Jamie: Oh, that was amazing.
Andrew: …because that was the first time, Jamie, you met any of us.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: That made it especially special.
Jamie: That was very cool.
Andrew: Definitely the road tour, and also what Laura said, the live podcasts. But really, and I’m not even lying, I really do enjoy doing this podcast every single week, so I have to say every episode is my favorite moment.
Laura: Awww.
Jamie: Andrew, you can’t say that.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: That’s really corny.
Matt: No way. No, no, no.
Micah: Wow.
Andrew: [laughs] No, but I really do mean that. I really do enjoy doing this week to week. But yeah, it’s given us all a lot of great experiences, I have to say.
Micah: There’s so much that doesn’t make it, too. I mean, there are so many funny things that we say that aren’t allowed to be put on the airwaves, I guess you could say.
Eric: Not so much anymore though.
Andrew: Yes, a lot of stuff. In this episode too.
Eric: Oh yeah, in this episode probably. You know, that’s very interesting that Jamie should say Lumos, I think. That was really – I mean, that was my first conference and there were a lot of people that I met there that I’m still very good friends with today, and I just – who really watch over me. Lumos was a great experience, so was London. Ah geez, I’m going to say the first time Ben called me up to – I was driving, I don’t know where I was going. But Ben called me up, I was driving, and he said, “Hey, do you have a headset?” And I said “Why?” And he’s like, “Well, you know we did that thing, that podcast, it was called ‘MuggleCast?'” The second episode had just been released, and he’s like, “Yeah, we were going to have Jamie on, but we don’t know if Jamie can make it, so why don’t you get a headset and…”
Jamie: Yeah, I bet he didn’t say it like that. I bet he was like, “Dude, that dumb Brit.”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: No.
Eric: Actually, actually, it all worked out because I got my headset, and the reason I choose that moment was not just because of how great I think that Episode 3 – I mean Episode 4 – I just related to you guys so well, but I chose it because I didn’t know what was in store for me. You know, everything was completely new, and I had been working, you know, for MuggleNet for two, three – actually, three years, and Jamie for two, but, you know, we never really just podcasted together. I mean, that was the newest thing.
Jamie: Yeah.
Eric: I just choose it because it was just such an innocent moment were everything could’ve – the future was just ahead of us. You know, looking back, I’m a very nostalgic person. The future was ahead of us, and I’m going to choose that first moment when Ben called me as my absolute favorite MuggleCast moment, because I just – I didn’t know what was in store.
Matt: Awww.
Andrew: That’s sweet.
Matt: That’s so cute.
Andrew: Yeah. Now I think that’s everyone. There’s our favorites. Unfortunately, in case anyone’s wondering where Kevin is, he is in the midst of a very bad storm right now in Connecticut.
Micah: Which is also here too.
Andrew: And he lost power. Yeah. But Micah’s sticking through it. He’s got his back up generators and his hamster’s spinning the wheels.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: He’s okay.
Micah: What about any other random moments, though? I mean, is there anything that you guys could think of?
Andrew: Not anything that we haven’t really talked about before. We’ve played lots of “Best Of” clips and everything.
Eric: Random moments – Jamie, what’s your favorite – what’s your favorite – what’s your favorite Ben moment on the show? You remember anything funny Ben said that absolutely cracked you up?
Jamie: There has been a lot. We have – I mean everything funny that’s happened – just some of the stuff that’s happened has actually – you couldn’t write it.
Micah: I remember you, though, Jamie, “Ben Carla Schoen, will you marry me?”
[Everyone laughs]
Voicemails
Andrew: Oh yeah. All right, well, let’s continue moving along. Now keeping with the theme of “Best Of” moments, we have lots of voicemails from callers. We’re going to play a few of these, and then we’ll move along to Chicken Soup and then wrap it up. So here’s the first caller:
[Audio]: Hello, MuggleCasters, my name’s Connor, I’m from Ohio, and I’m just calling to give my comment on the show as a whole. I thought it was a great show. I’m really mad that you guys aren’t doing anymore weekly episodes. I get it with Chapter-by-Chapter over and stuff. But I really wish I could’ve been a longer listener. I only started at, like, 132, and I wish I could’ve been there from the beginning, but anyways, it’s a great show and I hope you keep doing it. Thanks. Bye.
Andrew: So there’s a caller who wishes he got in on the fun earlier.
Jamie: He could just use your time machine. Why don’t you give him a practical demonstration?
Andrew: He could or just download the old episodes.
Eric: Yeah, it’s as simple as going…[makes time machine noises]
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Yeah, but that’s not as exciting.
Eric: Actually, I was going to recommend too, and it’s good this voicemail allowed me the lead in to do it, but you guys, our episodes – well, only like the last ten are actually on the feed. MuggleCast.com has all the episodes ever and I was trying to start a sort of revolt….
Andrew: Yep.
Eric: Not a revolt, but just – I wanted to get people listening to the older shows, maybe go in order, and we’ve got the MuggleCast fan forums, you know, to discuss all the episodes ever and, you know – so its discussion may live on even though a lot of it’s Book 6 speculation, or Book 7, but…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: There’s all those funny moments, and so…
Andrew: There you go.
Eric: …if you wish – if you find yourself like this voicemailer, wishing that you had gotten to listen earlier, there’s all those funny moments and they’re locked in history. They’re always going to be on our server.
Andrew: And we have many more voicemail calls so let’s move it along.
[Audio]: Hey MuggleCasters, this is Kelsey, 16 from California. I’ve been listening to the show since about Episode 40 and have loved it ever since. I spent my summer vacation downloading and listening to every episode you guys have ever made and I’m proud to say I made it through every one. Thanks for keeping me so entertained. Though I am sad to see the weekly shows end, I am very excited that you are keeping on. No one knows when the next episode will be, but I know that I can’t wait for my phone to go off, saying, [Easy Button] “That was easy,” letting me know that the Twitter has been updated and the new show is out. Thank you for all the memories over the years and keep up the great work. Bye!
Matt: Awww.
Laura: Awww. That was sweet.
Andrew: That caller was very prepared. She has the…
Eric: Easy button.
Andrew: …MuggleCast Twitter account all set up, so she’s notified as soon as a new episode comes out. That’s nice, that’s good. Okay, and here’s the next one.
[Audio]: Hey MuggleCast, it’s Sevem from California. I just wanted to say that I really appreciate what you guys have done over the past three years, and I’ll miss your weekly shows so much. Your shows have helped me through a lot of boring times and endless airplane flights. You guys have always been my favorites. Keep rockin’. Thanks. Bye.
Andrew: Thank you for that. You guys, I’m starting to change my mind. I’m starting to think that we shouldn’t go, you know, cancel the every other week thing.
Matt: It’s true.
Elysa: Don’t say that.
Andrew: Just kidding. [laughs] All right, here’s another – ouch, that’s mean.
Laura: Pulled a WB there.
Andrew: Here’s the next caller.
Eric: Yeah, just like WB waited…
Andrew: Yeah, I did.
Eric: …until the last possible minute to say, hey wait.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, guys, I mean, you know, gosh, you’re mad at us for – well, not mad, but people are upset that we’re not going to be weekly anymore. At least we’re not pushing it back eight months. Am I right or am I right?
Eric: He’s right. He’s right.
Matt: Uh, yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] Okay, here’s the next caller.
[Audio]: Hey MuggleCasters. My name is Maggie and I am 12 years old, and I live in Sarasota, Florida.
Andrew: Awww.
[Audio]: I am totally Potter crazy, and I just wanted to thank you guys for all that you do. I have been a part of the Potter fandom for about a year, and a MuggleCast does more than just fill my Potter craving. I love you guys until I’m as old as Nicholas Flamel. Okay, bye.
Matt: Awww.
Laura: Awww.
Jamie: That was a nice message.
Laura: Thank you.
Andrew: She was nine years old when we started MuggleCast.
Matt: Such an unbelievable…
Eric: So cute.
Laura: Oh my gosh. Wow.
Andrew: Crazy.
Eric: God, this is going to make me cry.
Andrew: All right, and… [laughs] And here is the final one for today.
[Audio]: Hi there, MuggleCasters. On your site you asked for responses to how MuggleCast has been a good thing for you, and I’m calling for that. By the way, I’m Jess. I’m from Pennsylvania. Anyway, MuggleCast is so totally amazing. I started listening to it on Episode 97, and I’ve been laughing and listening ever since. You guys are the greatest, I really love you, and just keep releasing episodes, even if they’re not weekly, because I’m really going to miss you guys. You guys have kept me so happy sometimes. This probably isn’t the best thing that you’ve ever heard. It’s not exactly [unintelligible], but you guys mean a lot to me. All’s fair in love and pickles. Bye, guys.
Laura: Awww, that was so sweet!
[Andrew says something unintelligible then laughs]
Eric: My eyes are watering now.
Andrew: [laughs] So as everyone can see, MuggleCast has played a very important role in the lives of thousands.
Eric: Sounds like you’re proving something, Andrew.
Andrew: No.
Eric: The voicemails speak for themselves.
Andrew: Well, you know, it’s very nice to hear these messages from all the callers, and we got tons of messages, and we’d love to play them all, but we really cannot even fit them into a whole show, you know, without the rest of the stuff.
Eric: [unintelligible] …tear-fest of, you know, it all. Just, like, closing info to everyone’s, you know, voicemails, that’s just – but I think we should thank the listeners. I don’t think that’s in the rightly, but, you know, sort of a thing at the very end.
Andrew: Yeah, of course.
Eric: And if you still want to send your gold, you know, to the P.O. Box, we’ll give them the address one more time.
Laura: Oh please. Yes.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: Or oil, it’s probably worth more now.
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: We’ll wrap things up with Chicken Soup for today, and then we’ll have a few final words. This comes from John, 17, of Iowa. He writes:
“Hey, MuggleCast, I just wanted to thank you for making my summer a lot more enjoyable than it could’ve been. I was having a great summer when, all of a sudden, I got caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing.”
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: “My parents grounded me and didn’t tell me when I could be un-grounded. I knew this would be bad, so I went to my computer quickly to download as many episodes of MuggleCast as I could to keep me entertained. Needless to say, being grounded wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be, thanks to you guys. Now I’m un-grounded and having a fun summer again.”
Matt: Yay.
Andrew: “P.S. After seeing ‘Wanted’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ three times each, I got to thinking how B.A. it would be to see Morgan Freeman play the part of Dumbledore.”
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Oh, that would be amazing. Oh man.
Laura: That would be awesome.
Eric: “Harry Potter.”
Andrew: He’s been everywhere lately. He’s great. So there’s Chicken Soup. That’s one of the segments that’s, you know, been around for a while, really recognizing, you know, how fans really do appreciate the show. And of course we’re never really going to end MuggleCast. I mean, that would, of course, be silly. And, like we said from the beginning, I think, you know – what was it? – maybe January, when we announced that we were going to stop weekly shows? Or was it earlier than that?
Matt: I think it was, like, November, December.
Andrew: Geez. And our original plan was March. And then we decided to, you know, give – let Chapter-by-Chapter pan out, one chapter a week. And then it ended up here. So it’s kind of weird to think this is actually the last weekly show.
Jamie: It’s kind of sad.
Laura: It is.
Andrew: I was reading the – yeah, I know. While I was reading the Chicken Soup I got kind of sad. I was like, wait, why are we doing this? [laughs]
Jamie: A piece of Andrew died inside, but there are two pieces of Andrew that have gone this week. See if you can cause more pieces of Andrew…
Andrew: No, I lost too much from The Half-Blood Prince…
Eric: You’ve got to gather your Horcruxes, Andrew.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: [laughs] Yeah.
The Hosts Give Out Thank Yous
Eric: Seriously, keep them close. I’m actually – guys, I have the seventh book right in front of me, and I’m reading this dedication that Jo Rowling wrote on her seventh book. And it’s just – it’s really great. I’m going to see if I can try and convert it here. The dedication of this podcast – should we dedicate this episode or – I mean, the whole podcast has been for the…
Andrew: Sure.
Eric: …the fans, but the dedication of this [laughs] – sorry – this podcast is split seven ways. From Andrew, from Kevin, from Ben, from Jamie, from Eric, from Laura, from Micah. And Matt, Elysa, Mikey B, everyone else here at MuggleCast. We just want to thank you for sticking with us until the very end of the weekly segments, of the very weekly, weekly segments, but, listen, thanks, listeners. And it has been one heck of a journey, at least for me too, I know I was – since we first got feedback from the show and, you know, made it this far, I wanted to thank you, the listener, for just being with us. You know, we enjoy podcasting and the best gift, I think, of podcasting is hearing the people that like to hear us speak as much as we like to hear ourselves speak. [laughs] But who can take something out of it? Who can – who can take something out of it. And…
Matt: Eric, are you getting a little teary?
Eric: Yeah I am, I am. I’m trying not do this on recording, not because I have to be strong, but because there will be mass flooding.
Jamie: Awww, Eric, that’s not the right message to give along to children, that only weak people cry. Everyone can cry.
[Everybody laughs]
Matt: I know. Jamie bawls all the time.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Matt: And I’ve seen those biceps.
[Everybody laughs]
Eric: No, it’s not weak, people. Seriously, guys…
Jamie: That was genius, thank you.
Eric: Well, then why – okay, you guys should say something. You guys should all say something. Don’t let it just be me.
Andrew: Well, let me say, this should be no sad time. And quite frankly, I think after this, MuggleCast will be better then ever. The reason why we are switching from non-weekly – switching from weekly to whenever we feel we can produce a show is because we want to give you the best shows. And I would much rather have ten amazing episodes that, you know, action packed, lots of laughs, a lot of fun, great group of people. Instead of just, you know, week after week it’s “Looking at MuggleNet there’s not much in the news going on” and, “Let’s do a discussion that, you know, we could do but it really isn’t going to pull you in.” And I’m not saying we’re not capable, because, sure, we could come up with lots of discussions! But the thing is that I feel like the show at this point will be much better off doing episodes that we release when we feel like it’s time to release them.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: And there’s going to be plenty of episodes. Don’t think this is the end of us. There’s plenty!
Matt: It’s not like we’re going to wait ’till July to make another episode.
Eric: And if you guys are sad out there, just remember that WB just screwed everybody over, so…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Focus on them.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Don’t be angry at us.
Matt: We kept our promises.
Andrew: Micah, Laura, Jamie, as you know, pioneers of this show – Eric, you are too, but you already said what you had to say. How about you guys? Do you have any other thoughts?
Jamie: Oh man, it is sad. It is very, very sad. It does feel like a part of the last three or four years is coming to an end. And it has been a huge part of the last three or four years, and it’s been a lot of fun. It really has been. I know when Eric says that I completely understand what he’s saying, and you guys have made it, the fans have made it. It’s been an absolute pleasure to meet every single one of you, and I really mean that, and I’m sure every one else means that as well. It’s been an absolute whirlwind, and I can’t thank everyone enough, really, so thank you very much. I tip my hat off to you.
Andrew: [laughs] Laura?
Laura: Oh my gosh, Jamie just made me feel so sad!
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Jamie: Sorry.
Laura: I mean, this – I mean, it’s definitely bittersweet because this has been such a huge part of the last three years of our lives. But, you know, like Andrew was saying, it’s hard for me to feel entirely sad about it because it’s not like we’re ending; we’re going to keep going. It’s just a matter of putting out quality shows when we can do it. And I’m still excited, because we have things to look forward to. We’ve got three more movies to look forward to, so I think it’ll to be great. I think we’ll put out some good stuff between now and then, and I don’t really see this show dying ever, so…
Micah: Ummm… [laughs]
Andrew: Micah?
Micah: You know, I’m just – in all honesty, I know we’ve talked a lot about the fans, and just the ability to interact and to meet with them no matter where we go, and just kind of the experience that we’ve had over the last three years has been amazing. But, you know, for me, one thing I did want to say, though, is really to thank the rest of you guys, because, you know, you guys have done a tremendous job over the last three years. You know, being – I always say this – you know, a little bit older, it’s really amazing to look back and to see what all of you have done, you know, sort of maturing and doing this show, and taking the responsibility of it, and just putting out a quality thing every single week that people enjoy that impact their lives.
Eric: Micah, your persistence, too, man.
Laura: Awww, thank you.
Eric: I mean, you’ve done great things for this show.
Andrew: Of course. Micah was a really crucial edition to…
Eric: He really was.
Andrew: …this podcast. And, frankly, the show would be completely different if any one of us were not involved at this point. Completely different. Everyone has made such an impact on the show, it really is amazing. Because, you know, not anyone can just go on a podcast and really, and I mean it, make an impact, you know, with their personality, with, you know…
Eric: There’s something very special with what we still have, as far as dynamic goes, that is unmatched, I think. It’s very unique and it’s why people like us!
Andrew: And lastly, Matt and Elysa, as two of the relatively newcomers, but you’ve always been involved with us someway. What do you guys have to say?
Micah: They’re both crying right now.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Elysa laughs]
Laura: We’re all going to hang up the Skype call and just burst into tears.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Well, I have to say that this show has done nothing but great things for me, first of all. Ever since I started working for this show, I have had the best times of my life, and all I have to do is thank MuggleCast for that. And there has never been a second while doing anything related to this show that I have never had a blast doing. And I am super excited for the next chapter in this show, because I’m always so super excited for each weekly episode and just the delay between each episode – it’s just going to intensify my excitement for each one, so…
Andrew: It’s going to kill me too.
Micah: You didn’t thank me for hiring you.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Hey, Micah, thank me for hiring you.
Eric: Oooo.
Micah: Yeah, thanks, Andrew.
Eric: Jamie and I were there before all of you.
Jamie: Yeah, it’s true.
Andrew: I know.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Show off.
[Jamie laughs]
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Good thing Ben isn’t here, because…
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: …he would make me thank him for hiring me.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Worked out pretty well for me.
Micah: For waiting online for an instant message. You told that story in Philly.
Andrew: Yeah. He’s very sad he couldn’t make the show, by the way. And Elysa? Last but not least.
Elysa: Yeah, I just want to say that, when I first got on this show, a lot of my friends, who were huge MuggleCast fans, asked me, “Do you have any idea how luck you are to be on this show?” And they were just, you know, visibly jealous and very happy for me, and I just want to say that yes, I understand exactly how lucky I am. I feel incredibly privileged to have been brought on, especially, you know, relatively late. I’m the resident newb around here, and I totally recognize that, but all of you guys, and especially the fans, have been so welcoming and so great about having me on, and, you know, just thank you. Just thank you to everyone, you know, I do agree with Andrew, though, that – and Laura – that there’s going to be some great shows to come, and I just look forward to those.
Eric: Yeah.
Laura: Well said.
Andrew: Well, thank you.
Matt: This is sad! I don’t want to talk about this anymore! Can we say something else?
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Well, I think that’s all there is really to say.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: And this has been a very long recording.
Eric: Episode 157. Geez!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I think we’ll wrap it up!
Matt: I think a two-parter, maybe?
Andrew: No, not a two-parter!
Eric: No. Oh please.
Andrew: Ain’t doing that. We’re not milking it. All right, well, I want to definitely thank everyone for being on the show for such a long time. I’m not talking about this episode, I’m just talking about the show as a whole…
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: …and definitely thank you to the listeners. I mean, of course, we’d be nowhere without them, so thank you all. Thank you all for listening, thank you all for coming out to the live shows, thank you all for supporting us via t-shirts and PicklePack…
Eric: PicklePack
Andrew: …all that really makes a difference with us, and of course, you know, this is a huge part of our lives. So I – like I said, you know, MuggleCast isn’t over and we’ll be back before you know it, so…
Matt: We already got new segments lined up!
Andrew: Yeah, well, I actually have an idea for a new segment that we’ll kick off with the next episode, you know, sort of freshen up the show, so…
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: So I think that’s it.
Jamie: Excellent.
Matt: All right!
Jamie: Sounds awesome.
Andrew: Let’s wrap it up.
Jamie: Can I give a last piece of advice quickly?
Andrew: Yeah!
Jamie: Well, I just want to tell everyone that if you aren’t good, if you do bad things, if you don’t follow rules then Will Smith will come and water ball your ass.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Is that an Old English proverb?
Jamie: Yeah, it’s been around for hundreds of years, seriously, because Will Smith is eternal.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: So yeah, be good.
Eric: Hancock.
Jamie: Be good.
Matt: Are we going to have to do the Dumbledore/Will Smith jokes now?
Jamie: Oh man, we should! [laughs]
Contact Information
Andrew: All right, well, as always, it’s time to remind everybody about our contact information. Laura, what is the P.O. Box?
Laura: P.O. Box is P.O. Box 3151, Cumming, Georgia, 30028. Send anything you want except pickles. Pickles are banned forever.
Andrew: You can also call the MuggleCast hotline to leave us a message, question, comment, whatever you want. If you’re in the United States you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC. If you’re in the United Kingdom you can dial 020-8144-0677, and if you’re in Australia you can dial 028-003-5668. You can also Skype the username MuggleCast, just remember no matter how you call us just remember to keep your message under sixty seconds and eliminate as much background noise as possible.
[Show music begins]Andrew: Normally I’d also promote the feedback form but right now it’s not working, so just e-mail any one of us at our first names at staff dot mugglenet dot com. You can ‘cc’ all of us if you want to get it to all of us too.
Eric: Also…
Andrew: So that’s that. And also visit MuggleCast.com for our handy feedback form. No, what am I saying? You can also visit MuggleCast.com for a variety of community outlets, including MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Frappr, Last.FM, and the fanlisting and the fan forums over at MuggleCastFan.net. You can also follow us on Twitter.com/MuggleCast, Digg the show at Digg.com, and vote for us once a month at Podcast Alley.
Eric: And all the past episodes of MuggleCast are available as well right at MuggleCast.com. So…
Micah: With transcripts.
Show Close
Andrew: All right. And also, just a quick plug, don’t forget Teddy Bears for Hope. We’re still raising money for that charity effort, so thank you. And with that I think that wraps up Episode 157, our final weekly episode!
Eric: Ooh!
Matt: Woo!
Laura: Oh my gosh!
Andrew: So we will do the fine-offs – the fine-offs? The sign-offs one last time.
Matt: For every week.
Andrew: Thank you, everyone, for listening once again.
Jamie: Thank you.
Andrew: I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: Thanks! I’m Eric Scull.
Jamie: I am Jamie Lawrence.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: I am Matthew Britton.
Elysa: And I’m Elysa Montfort.
Andrew: We will see you next time for Episode 158. See what I did there? I didn’t say next week.
Matt: Yeah, next time!
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: It’s false advertising now.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Next time.
Micah: Until WB releases some other information that causes us to have to do a show.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: We’ll see you next time! We’ll see you next time! That sounds so much more radio-like. We should have done that…
Matt: We’ll see you next time!
Andrew: We’ll see you next time – we’ll see you next time for Episode 158. Buh-bye!
Jamie: Watch out for Will Smith.
Everyone: Bye
Laura: Thanks, guys.
[Show music ends]
Blooper 1
Andrew: All right, well, we got a lot to get into this week, of course, so I am Andrew Sims.
Kevin: What order are we doing?
Matt: Yeah, what order are we doing?
Andrew: We’ll do Andrew, Kevin, Jamie, Laura, Micah, Elysa, Matt.
Eric: Um, you know…
Laura: Eric goes before me though.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Aw, thanks, Laura, somebody with principal.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Jamie: I didn’t say anything yet.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: How come Jamie never went?
Jamie: Sorry.
Laura: Okay, do you want to start over?
Andrew: Just say it. Just say it, Jamie. I’ll just fix it.
Micah: Can’t we just go through them again?
Andrew: Sure, all right.
Jamie: Andrew, I love it when you do this, when I think it’s going to be a huge thing but I just say, “And I’m Jamie Lawrence.” And then you just fix it all.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. We’ll just do it again.
Blooper 2
Andrew: John Noe has actually been sitting here in the studio with us for a few minutes. I feel like he wants to comment on something. Do you want to get on the mic for a second?
John: I don’t know what to say.
Eric: John Noe!
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I just saw you, John!
John: Oh my gosh, who’s over here? Oh my god.
Andrew: Do you have any comment?
John: Comment? I don’t know. We’re talking all about this too.
Jamie: John!
[Andrew and John laugh]
John: Actually, I just finished recording talking about this. No, I think Andrew, and Matt, and Me, and Bre, and Mason are going to dress up in Harry Potter costumes and go down and have a sit-in in Burbank…
Jamie: What the hells a sit-in?
John: …on the front lawn of Warner Bros. Until they change the release date.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: And we’re going to get arrested too.
John: [laughs] Yes, just like all those Disney employees.
[Everyone laughs
Eric: John, I have one more question for you. John.
Matt: Oh, Eric has a question for you.
John: What’s the question?
Eric: Did you enjoy Terminus as much as I did?
John: Oh, Terminus was amazing.
Eric: Excellent.
John: I had an awesome time at Terminus, as all of my Facebook friends could find out.
Jamie: I had an awesome time too, John. Thanks for saying you had a good time.
John: No, I don’t want to promote that. Please don’t do that. Anybody.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: All right, and we’ll just pause for editing. And okay.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: No, I’m kidding. What was I going to say? Speaking of that…
Blooper 3
Matt: Oh my God. So Half-Blood Prince is going to be released in July. Four months later Deathly Hallows Part I is released?
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: That’s insane.
Eric: Exactly, exactly. There’s no mystery.
Jamie: That’s horrible.
Andrew: Four months?
Matt: Yeah: July, August, September, October, November, four months.
Eric: There’s no mystery.
Laura: Wait.
Jamie: That’s clever.
Andrew: No.
Laura: I thought Deathly Hallows was 2010, 2011.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s 2010
Matt: Oh, shoot. Okay, a year and four months. Still…
Jamie: Andrew, you should probably take out where we all just agreed with Matt.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Matt: Yeah, just take out my entire theory because I just made us all look like idiots.
Jamie: Me too as well.
Andrew: You look like an idiot. [laughs]
Matt: Yeah, nevermind.