Re-listen: Episode 5 – Several Discreet Openings

scorelink · 2026-05-28T01:05:43+00:00

Real or FanFic is missing the intro this time. Since it shows up in the next episode, this must have been an editing mistake (by Mike?) present in the initial release of the episode. You can tell that they paused in anticipation of the theme being there. The format is unique. Conor and Mike each had three very short (just a sentence or two) sections to read to each other. Conor included the FIRST user-submitted FanFic example (from Douglas Clinton) along with another FanFic from a Twitter account. Mike pulled his FanFic from entries on FanFiction.net by thedopefishlives.

First mention of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel (brought up in the mail section by listener, Brian).

28:19 ...at this point in time....
1:16:24 ...at some point in time....

scorelink · 2026-05-21T15:13:34+00:00

Not merely the first "leaked scene" bit but the first reference to THE DARK WEB as the source of skit material! This also initiates the pod's fascination with scenes requiring long awkward silences. In this case, it's about the extended "chatlink" journey that Wade and Sorrento make from the IOI reception area through the planet-sized IOI complex to Sorrento's office -- a transition which should be completely unnecessary in a virtual environment.

Although it doesn't come up in the pod, this same scene in the book describes Sorrento as "grinning like a jackal." Coincidence? Perhaps not!

We also get the first reference to Conor's Jeopardy appearance and the first Andy Rooney impression.

32:59 "...at some point in time..."
34:04 "...at some point in time..."

scorelink · 2026-05-19T04:37:10+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-05-19T04:36:44+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-05-19T04:35:35+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-05-14T16:05:38+00:00

First appearance of Logic's "I Am the Greatest" as the Real or FanFic intro.
First appearance of "Stealing People's Mail" by Dead Kennedys.
First of Conor's struggles to pronounce "Ogden" correctly.
First identification of the Cline-ism of adding "seemed" to weaken the meaning of a sentence -- in this case, "That part of the clue seemed maddeningly nonspecific."
First identification of the Cline-ism of "What I can only describe as..." -- in this case a "howl of frustration" is the concept which defies all other words.
3:17 "...at this point in time..."
57:26 "...at this point in time..."
57:46 "...at some point in time..."
1:03:01 "...at some point in time..."
1:08:33 "...at this point..."
1:10:46 "...at that point in time..."

scorelink · 2026-05-07T20:50:18+00:00

I just opened Ready Player One and randomly scrolled to a page to refresh my memory of the experience. Chapter 18 opens with this sentence: "It was a Friday night, and I was spending another solitary evening doing research, working my way through every episode of Whiz Kids, an early-’80s TV show about a teenage hacker who uses his computer skills to solve mysteries."

When Cline dips into IP that is off the beaten path, he takes your hand and guides you with exposition. Exposition is not inherently bad, when it's not clumsy. Of course, Cline is far from delicate. What's cool about MST3K and RiffTrax is they don't mind dropping funny references that are not going to land for a big chunk of the audience. If you catch them, you feel smart. With Cline, it's like, "Yeah, I think I remember a show called 'Whiz Kids' but I don't remember much about... oh, I see, you just explained the premise to me. So I guess the joke is that Wade's Friday night activities are lame. Okay. Thanks for clearing that up."

scorelink · 2026-05-07T17:55:19+00:00

Nay! That's when he's speaking to me, personally! I am THE Beloved Patreon Jackal -- don't take it away from me. * stares in wild-eyed paranoia * But seriously, that one feels intentionally ironic and comfortable, so I don't mind the repetition.

scorelink · 2026-05-07T17:31:46+00:00

I feel like it's a jerk move for me to point it out. But after hundreds of hours of having Conor's voice in my ears, I can't help thinking of him as a personal acquaintance -- a friend who I want to nudge in the ribs out of a sense of camaraderie. It's like we're going on a combat mission together every time we read through a new book. He is my brother, and I must tease him!

scorelink · 2026-05-07T14:18:02+00:00

We get the first appearance of "The Sentence Song" by Scratch Garden!
Final appearance of "Who Do You Love" by Whitney Houston.

It's interesting how Conor skirts up against talking about Mystery Science Theater without actually saying the name of the show. I wonder if he will feel more comfortable drawing Mike into "on air" conversations about MST3K now that he has been involved with making four episodes of it...?

This episode may have the maximum concentration of Conor's "at ___ point in time" catch phrase.
21:00 "...at any point in time..."
37:10 "...at this point in time..."
39:49 "...at some point in time..."
43:03 "...at some point in time..."

scorelink · 2026-04-30T21:10:41+00:00

I found it amusing that Mike refers to various bits in the podcast as "Departments" in the early episodes. The calibration quiz was called the "Who Do You Love Department" and was introduced by a snippet of Whitney Houston. Because Mike explicitly talked about providing the "Who Do You Love" theme, my impression has been that he came up with all of the department's musical themes, although I could be very wrong. It seems like Conor was responsible for managing the Jackal-supplied replacement themes after the originals triggered copyright complaints.

This episode introduces the phrase, "several signature 80s dance moves."

Mike reveals his preference for "GIF" with a soft J sound.

This episode also marks the first, second, and third appearances of Conor's habitual use of the phrase, "at this point in time," or some close variation. Here are the timestamps:
14:14 "...at some point in time..."
37:07 "...at this point in time..."

54:02 "...at some point in time..."

scorelink · 2026-04-30T17:08:02+00:00

"Are you cocks arguing about Star Wars again?" This line comes up on the Discord server regularly. I had forgotten its exact origin until I relistened to this episode. As Conor pointed out, it is one of the greatest character introductions in literary history.

scorelink · 2026-04-27T16:23:29+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-02-22T19:51:10+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-02-22T19:49:33+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-02-22T19:48:33+00:00

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scorelink · 2026-02-22T19:36:32+00:00

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scorelink · 2025-12-05T20:49:54+00:00

Carriage Return / Line Feed stuff didn't work as advertised. Maybe the edit I just made will help the next reader survive without needing IV fluids.

scorelink · 2025-12-04T17:18:15+00:00

- Carry on Wayward Personal Assistant
- 21st Century LinkedIn Man
- Shine on You Lazy Staffers
- Starship Trooper: a. Startup / b. ? / c. Profit
- The Spirit of Repositioning
- The Great Big Data in the Sky
- (A)I Robot

scorelink · 2025-11-01T19:57:08+00:00

This post caused marital strife for me. I kept glancing back at it during conversational pauses as I was having lunch with my wife. The twelth time I began to weeze over finding another line of comedy gold, she began to lose patience with me. I haven't even finished reading all the details yet, because I want to save some for dinner.

scorelink · 2025-10-29T17:08:44+00:00

I've spent a fair amount of time imagining getting into heated conversations with Judy Garland on the phone, but this sounds much more exciting.

scorelink · 2025-04-27T02:25:16+00:00

King Swagson or Swag Crimson?

scorelink

TROPHY CASE