''How Did This Get Made?'' (''HDTGM'') is a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

on the

Earwolf Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate comp ...

network. It is hosted by

Paul Scheer Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series ''Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's ''The L ...

June Diane Raphael June Diane Raphael ( ; born January 4, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has starred in TV comedy programs ''Burning Love'', Adult Swim's '' NTSF:SD:SUV::'', and ''Grace and Frankie''. Notable film work includes support ...

and

Jason Mantzoukas Jason Mantzoukas (, el, Ιάσων Μαντζούκας; born December 18, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer and podcaster. He is best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series '' The League'', and as one of the t ...

with occasional substitutes and/or guest hosts. Each episode features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.

Format

The hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads "second opinions" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...

users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks. During the show's off week a ".5" episode (also known as a "minisode") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's "explanation hopeline" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying. Some full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original "second opinion" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.

History

The podcast started in 2010 and by 2019 had released over 200 episodes. ''How Did This Get Made?'' began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie '' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps''. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , ''Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'' has never been covered on the podcast.

Awards

In 2019, ''How Did This Get Made?'' won a

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film. In 2020 and 2022, ''How Did This Get Made?'' won an

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHear ...

award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast. In 2022, ''How Did This Get Made?'' won an

Ambie An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

award in the category of Best Comedy Podcast.

Spinoffs

''How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories''

Between February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled ''How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories'', author

Blake J. Harris ''Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation'' is a 2014 non-fiction novel written by Blake J. Harris. It follows businessman Tom Kalinske in his venture as CEO of video game company Sega of America from 1990 to 1 ...

would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

, who served as executive producer on ''

Solarbabies ''Solarbabies'' (also known as ''Solarwarriors'' and ''Solarfighters'') is a 1986 American science fiction film, made by Brooksfilms and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the second and final film directed by Alan Johnson, who is better kno ...

'', and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote ''

Surf Ninjas ''Surf Ninjas'' is a 1993 American family comedy film involving martial arts, directed by Neal Israel and written by Dan Gordon. The film stars Ernie Reyes Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and Leslie Nielsen. ''Surf Ninjas'' follows two teenage ...

''.

''Unspooled''

In May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled '' Unspooled'' that is also devoted to movies. Unlike ''HDTGM?'', however, ''Unspooled'' looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in ''How Did This Get Made?'' by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that ''HDTGM'' covers.

''How Did This Get Played?''

In June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast '' How Did This Get Played?'', hosted by ''Doughboys'' host

Nick Wiger Nicholas Wiger (born August 28, 1980) is an American comedian, improviser, podcast personality, and television writer. He is the co-host (with actor and comedian Mike Mitchell) of the popular weekly podcast ''Doughboys'', which reviews chain r ...

and former ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'' writer

Heather Anne Campbell Heather Anne Campbell is an American writer, comedian, podcast host, and actress. Life and career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Campbell began studying improvisational comedy at iO Theater at the age of fifteen, under the tutelage of Del Clos ...

. The podcast was positioned as the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

equivalent of ''HDTGM?'', where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games. The podcast was later changed to ''Get Played'', focusing on multiple aspects of video games and deviating from the original format.

French adaptation

The program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title ''2 heures de perdues'' ("2 hours wasted"), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style ― mainly focusing on American, French, and British films. The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné, the biggest French-speaking cinema website, or from Amazon.

Danish adaptation

The program was adapted in Denmark in 2014 under the title ''Dårligdommerne'' ("The bad judges"), a podcast in which the hosts Jacob Hinchely, Troels Møller and Christopher “sideburns” Andersen meet to analyze bad films in the same style ― mainly focusing on Danish films.

Episodes

References

External links

*
''How Did This Get Made''
on

{{Authority control Audio podcasts Earwolf Film and television podcasts Comedy and humor podcasts 2010 podcast debuts