I am increasingly convinced that DNR jumped the shark (http://www.jumptheshark.com/) when they added that Webb segment...

I stopped listening. Granted, it takes no useful time to listen while I'm commuting, but I have to take the time to actually download it and copy it to my PocketPC. I just don't think it justifies 5 minutes of my productive time anymore.

I do think they may have Jumped the Shark (great reference btw!) but I think that Kirk Webb is pretty funny. He's not arrogant, kind of self-depricating, all around funny and likable person...

I think they may have jumped the shark when they started drinking $50 Scotch in the studio... Man, I remember when I could afford $50 Scotch. Maybe I'm just jealous ;)

$50 Scotch is highly overrated. Here's the good stuff:

http://www.rock103.com/drakeandzeke/images/md2020.jpg

Hey Brendan,

For anyone who knows Rory, if he calls you an asshole, it's a term of endearment. :-)

He certainly doesn't mean it. He actually called me an asshole in the .NET Rocks! movie. :-)

In fact, you want to see some good reading, check out this exchange we had on his weblog:

http://neopoleon.com/blog/posts/3944.aspx

All in good fun

Hi Carl.

We don't really know Rory, and that's probably part of the problem. I can tell you from the point of view of a listener like the one who wrote in, who dreams of hanging out with the likes of you, Rory, Chris Sells, etc. etc. It's not all that funny to be called an asshole.

In fact, it really comes off kind of snobby, and condescending elitism.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I too quickly had respect for you all, and feel kind of shat upon. If you all are calling each other dickheads, it's one thing, but when you start calling us assholes, it just seems different... especially when the same guy practically drools over someone like Sells or Petzold, and then calls one of us an asshole.. You've got to realize that we look up to you all.

-Brendan

I honestly drop listening to the show. I just don't see what value Rory brings. I used to like the other guy that was there before, a least he was more decent and his technical skills where A+.

Good feedback. Really. I appreciate it.

I think if you consider the context of his response it's not offensive.

I read the email messages at the beginning of the show which come from real listeners expressing real opinions, questions, etc. I would never EVER put down people who write the show with real questions.

Rory's question, on the other hand, was read within the context of a humorous segment called Ask Rory, in which Rory pretends to be an advice columnist for topics which he knows nothing about. It's not meant to inform, educate, or otherwise provide anything but a laugh. People write him silly questions on purpose, and he replies with a silly answer. Nobody expects a real answer.

Have you heard some of the other questions? How about the one that roughly went: "I met this girl and we hit it off and things seemed to be going rather well. We went back to my place and I ate her body. What should I do with the severed body parts?" Obviously, nobody expects this to be real. He answered in earnest: "You might want to get yourself a nice big freezer, and chop up the pieces into meal-sized baggies so whenever you're feeling a little peckish you can just nuke up a hand or an earlobe and go to town..." or something like that.

I hope this helps.

Carl

Carl,

Just want you to know that I think Rory can be hilariously funny. I personally know a lot of people who tuned in just to hear Google Weirdos. I do appreciate his sense of humor.

You never asked me for my advise, which is the stange thing about this blogging stuff. I realize that I'm being a bit of a jerk here too. I can just post something like this, having invested nothing more into your monumental effort with DNR than listening once a week.

But, now that I have your ear. ;) In many ways you all have the classic straight-man, funny-man formula that is time tested and proven. You're a great host. Really. You're able to guide the conversation well, and ask good questions, and keep the focus on the topic and interviewer. You're likable and people who listen on some level consider you a friend.

If you look at other interview format shows like Letterman, Conan, Regis or whatever... they make a point not to aleinate their viewers. Letterman never talks about his personal life for this reason... All the good comics make fun of themselves (or people they bring on the show) first, and never the audience. It's just sort of a basic rule that seemed to me was broken..

Man. Can you tell I love the show and have thought about it too much? ;)

Anyhow. Cheers, and keep up the great work.

"For anyone who knows Rory, if he calls you an asshole, it's a term of endearment. :-)"
This comment doesn't really justify it.

I mean, is the show for Rory's friends or is the show for all the listeners that choose to tune in?

I've heard this a couple of times on the show and I really think is not a professional behaviour. The format of the show is OK, the guests are great, but the hosts somehow are loosing they're professionalism.

I'm with you Brenden ... Rory's response to that letter, even though I "know" it was supposed to be in fun, I'm quite sure made the writer of the "question" feel like crap. I'm betting he or she didn't laugh.

I know that if Rory answered my "Ask Rory" e-mail that way, I'd never listen to DNR again. In fact, I consider myself lucky now, as he did read my letter "on the air" (it was the rather lengthly one about all the ones and zeros that MS sells) and I thought his reply was off the wall hilarious.

Had he called me "an asshole", however, I would have been quite offended, especially knowing that I probably had friends listening. And becuase I did take an evening out of my life to write the stupid thing. So I feel badly for the person who was atacked like that. I would have felt badly if it were me.

Rory can be and is quite funny. I think he still has a bit of maturing to do though ... actually, I'm quite sure of that. Hopefully he can do that without loosing too much of his good humor.

Roy

Brenden,

Another thought and on the other hand...

I think it was the same show (#83) where, as Carl Franklin points out, Rory answered a letter sent in by someone who suggested that he cannibalized his evening's date and was wondering what to do with the remains.

Part of Rory's answer, as I recall, was "You sick fxxx!!".

Now for that answer, I'm with Rory whole heartedly and feel he used good judgement in coming up with that cerebral answer. Go figure ...

So, sometimes, but in rare cases, I think it's OK for Rory making insulting remarks about the writer.

We can only hope that the guy writing that "Ask Rory" question was indeed joking. We'll never know.

Roy