As of January 2020, there were 850,000 active podcasts and more than 30 million podcast episodes available to be downloaded at a click of a button, or more aptly a tap of a screen. There are many more now as you can imagine what with people having a little more time (and sanitiser) on their hands this year, including ELIMINATION podcast in Strood.
One Strood-based family are certainly responsible for one fine new addition to the plethora of podcasts that are out there. Robert Rivett is one of Medway’s funny men and you may recall reading about his sitcom The Dump and his Herculean efforts to make a show with no budget but sheer willpower and perhaps a shade of madness. His love for television’s arguably greatest artform, the sitcom, is shared by his brother Mike and father Dave, and they’ve spent their lockdown together as a family unit having heated debates and comical chats about the greatest sitcoms of all time. They’ve recorded it thankfully in neat 20-25-minute episodes and structured their debates into a knockout competition. Hosted brilliant by Bob as he umpires his father’s and brother’s opinion as they all debate the qualities of opposing sitcoms.
So, what inspired the podcast?
It was always going to be a debate show but we wanted to be original, give the audience something new. Dave came up with the process of elimination until one winner is decided, to randomly select sitcoms as the season one genre but with only two of us there is the possibility of a draw so that’s where Mike came in, and the name ELIMINATION was chosen and off we went.
The reaction to the podcast has been very positive, hasn’t it?
We are all amazed at the number of downloads and being in the top 10% of Buzzsprout platform which holds over 66,000 podcasts is amazing, but the most mind-blowing part is being listened to in 22 countries around the world from Spain to Netherlands and even as far afield as Hong Kong.
If you could each only choose one boxset for the pending ‘second lockdown’ what would it be and why?
Dave – If I had to choose one sitcom it would be One Foot in the Grave, the UK has produced so many gems. The latter stages of ELIMINATION are going to be very difficult.
Bob – My favourite UK sitcom is The Office and Ricky Gervais is a hero of mine but if it was opened up to US sitcoms too I would choose It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, not only is it funny but it’s also not PC, in a world that’s gone PC mad it throws the rule book out the window.
Mike – Red Dwarf all day long, there are so many episodes and it doesn’t matter how many times I watch them it always makes me laugh.
Why should readers consider subscribing to ELIMINATION?
Dave – Because it’s a laugh and unlike other podcasts there is a final outcome.
Bob – I do not edit the episodes so if you want to listen to 3 working class idiots making mistakes, stumbling around in the dark and mostly having a laugh then come join us.
Mike – Because if you don’t then you are missing out!
With Christmas pending please tell me you’re going to do a Christmas special? Also what sitcom Christmas special takes precedence? (I’d tune in for that 100 percent)
We do have plans for a Christmas special and for season 2, no spoilers. Keep listening!
You can subscribe to the podcast on multiple platforms, including the aforementioned Buzzsprout website, and keep up to date with the lads on Facebook via their ELIMINATION Podcast group.