What’s Wrong With Some Friendly Competition?
Tim Monet and Barry Tesh are both newscasters who tend to overshare, but with the spare studio at stake, Paul DaFoe challenges them to produce their best stories. Can these two new friends face off in a friendly competition without ruining the friendship?
All that, plus alternative journalist Brent Arnold makes a startling discovery in the control room, in the fourth chapter of The Fakist: One Last Day, a standalone story set in the world of The Fakist.
When I started The Fakist I worked in TV news. One of my big coffee break obsessions was a site called FTVLive. Think TMZ for TV newsers. The guy who runs the site is a former camera operator/field producer if memory serves. He has a lot of hot takes about the industry.
One of his big pet peeves is the “All About Me TV” trend with talent. Due to the rise of social media, anchors and reporters have to sell themselves throughout their day to stay competitive. This leads to some posts that either harm the reputation of the talent, or the station itself. Sometimes they post about political causes that are important to them, but hurt their image as an objective journalist. They are encouraged to get personal, but there is a line.
Tim Monet doesn’t have a line. If he’s thinking about it, or if he’s experienced it, he’s talking about it. He’s voiced by Peter Price, a former listener of our Legends of Gotham podcast who used to leave voicemails as various characters, most notably Jerome. He’s voiced many characters on The Fakist, including the AI Bot/Producer Computer who is way more important than you’d think.
When I decided to build an episode in Season 2 based around the “All About Me TV” trope, Tim Monet was a natural to include. To highlight journalists who use their station’s social channels as a megaphone for their own beliefs, I came up with Barry Tesh, a “naturist” who uses any platform he can find to push his own “Naturist” agenda. I’m not making fun of naturists/nudists… I wish I had that confidence! He’s voiced by Shawn Taylor, a friendly Canadian comedian who joined our ranks in Season 2.
In this episode, Ron Joliver quits The Fakist, leaving his studio up for grabs. Paul DaFoe challenges Barry and Tim to a contest: They each produce a killer package, and the winner gets to the spare studio, if the show doesn’t get canceled first.
This episode also includes another new theme song, a poppy little jam on a ukelele called “Barry & Tim.” I was watching a lot of HBO Danny McBride shows while writing this (Eastbound & Down, Vice Principles, The Righteous Gemstones), so you’ll probably smell a little influence.
I hope you enjoy Wannabe!