karl pilkington

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E02) In the very beginning of this episode, we saw David Brent showing a hot, new, female employee (whom we'd later know as Donna) around his office. To work his humor, he pretended to throw his office answering machine out the window, jokingly frustrated with all the messages. As he started to set it back down, the machine slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor, clattering next to the trash can. The sheer seamlessness of this brief moment (and Brent's frantic mumbling) still throws me into hysterics. I love it when a moment looks so organic that I can't tell if it was improvised, accidental, or geniusly scripted.

You're gonna have to, if you want to hear it. When Ricky and his comedian buddies Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington (aka "The Village Idiot") launched their hilarious podcast in December, they flew to the top of the iTunes Top 100 list. Their first twelve episodes were sponsored by the Guardian, and therefore free to all of us. This time, their "second season" is going to be through Audible and the monthly subscription will cost at least $7 for four half-hour shows. You'll still be able to get the podcast through iTunes, you'll just have to pay for it the same way you pay for other Audible content like NPR'S This American Life and Fresh Air. By the way, there's a preview of the new season over at Gervais' website.

Obviously, this is a very big deal. This is the first podcast in iTunes to charge a subscription. While other podcasts are sponsored or get donations from listeners, this one will be the first to answer the question that so many business people want to know: will people pay for podcasts?

So... will you pay for Ricky Gervais' podcast?

[Thanks for the tip, Doc!]