Genre TV & Film, comedy Updates Weekly | Language English Length 90-120 minutes | |
Hosted by Kevin Smith
Ralph Garman Production Kevin Smith
Ralph Garman
Josh Roush | ||
Hollywood Babble-On is a weekly podcast featuring filmmaker Kevin Smith and radio personality/actor/voice over artist Ralph Garman. Released each Monday, the show is Smith and Garman discussing the week's celebrity and movie news.
Contents
Show history
Kevin Smith is a frequent guest on the Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ-FM, and suggested to Ralph Garman they do a show on the station. They recorded two pilots, which were passed on. The show was called The Showbiz Beat (after Garman's regular spot on the Kevin and Bean Show) and was released in 2012 as Hollywood Babble-On #91. In August 2010, Garman and Smith started recording Hollywood Babble-On at Smith's SModcastle theater; the podcast was subsequently moved to the larger capacity Jon Lovitz Comedy Club & Podcast Theatre, formerly known as the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club. The show also tours, but this is limited due to Garman's day job. On April 22, 2013, Smith announced through Twitter that the podcast would no longer be recorded at the Lovitz after a falling out with Lovitz. He announced on April 25 that the show's new regular home will be The Hollywood Improv from May 24 onwards. Said comments and a further explanation on the falling-out with Lovitz were addressed at the beginning of Episode #126 of the podcast (recorded on May 4, 2013).
Format
The show discusses current events happening in Hollywood, and includes segments (of variable frequency) such as:
Each segment is preceded by a characteristic lead-in introduction song.
Recurring segments discuss actress Lindsay Lohan, singer Miley Cyrus, "singer" Justin Bieber, pornographic actress Kim Kardashian, reality star Farrah Abraham, and actress Amanda Bynes, during which Ralph and Kevin discuss the latest exploits of these persons. Some of these segments have been retired through the show's six year history.
When discussing current events with Smith, Garman will also perform impressions of famous actors such as Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Charlton Heston, Adam West, Truman Capote, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ed Wynn, and Sylvester Stallone. Fans of the show have created an informal drinking game (mostly centered on Garman's phrase "How dare you, sir?" and Smith's overuse of the word "whatnot"), which the hosts have mentioned approvingly.
Hollywood Babble-On guests
While the show is primarily hosted by Smith and Garman, there have been several occasions when Smith was unable to record, and his place was filled by a guest.
Hollywood Babble-On Comic Con Theater
Smith has had all three issues of his comic series Batman: Cacophony "dramatized" during three special episodes of his podcast, entitled Hollywood Babble-On Comic Con Theater. Primarily performed by his co-host Ralph Garman, who used several of his better-known impressions to represent the main characters, both episodes were essentially a read-through of one of the issues of the story. Garman's voicing of the main characters included the "voices" of Adam West as Batman, Ed Wynn as the Joker (initially, this was Garman's impression of Cesar Romero's Joker, but Smith suggested using Wynn's voice instead), Sean Connery as Commissioner Gordon, and Al Pacino as Maxie Zeus. Smith acted as the "omnipotent narrator" and voice of Onomatopoeia in both episodes. In the first episode (podcast #43), an audience member was brought up to cover several other minor character roles; in the second episode (podcast #65), Smith brought in voice-over actor/announcer Kyle Hebert to voice Alfred (which he did in a cockney accent somewhat reminiscent of Michael Caine, who played Alfred in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) and others, and cohort Jason Mewes to voice most of the female characters. (Smith and Hebert also voiced two of Zeus' henchmen, as well as other characters in the second episode.)
Smith's other comic Batman: The Widening Gyre, which is a six-part series, is also being "dramatized" on Hollywood Babble-On Comic Con Theater.
Garman and Smith also acted out their collaborative comic series special issues where Batman (Adam West's version) and Green Hornet (Van Williams' version) met again to take on General Gumm (Roger C. Carmel's Colonel Gumm with a higher ranking) and The Joker (Cesar Romero's version). The comic series is significant for being the first crossover between the 1966 Batman series and The Green Hornet series since the 1967's episode "Batman's Satisfaction" (with guest stars from The Green Hornet Van Williams and Bruce Lee).
TV show
In July 2012 Smith and Garman announced they were in negotiations with an unnamed network about a Hollywood Babble-On TV show. They revealed in February 2013 that it would not be going ahead as the network wanted them to stop the podcast as a part of the deal and other network negotiation/communication issues.
In November 2013 the duo revealed that AMC had shown interest in a TV show and in March 2014 The Hollywood Reporter confirmed AMC have ordered a pilot which will be filmed on Sunday August 3 following an August 2 rehearsal.
On October 10, 2014, AMC announced that they have decided not to continue its line of Unscripted Television shows except for Comic Book Men and Talking Dead. The Hollywood Babble-On TV Show will not be picked up.
Awards and recognition
In 2010, the podcast was placed upon iTunes' Best Podcasts of 2010 and won the 2012 Stitcher award for Best Film & TV podcast. It then won the Best Entertainment + Pop Culture podcast at the 2013 Stitcher awards.