Podcasts have developed as a major media force in the last few years.
With the success of the true-crime podcast “Serial,” podcasts have been pushed out of a niche market and into the mainstream. While there are few podcast hosts who have become famous due to their medium, the three hosts of “My Brother My Brother And Me” may do just that as the first season of their podcast-based TV show was released on Seeso TV.
“My Brother My Brother and Me” is a comedy-advice podcast starring the three McElroy brothers: Justin, Travis and Griffin. With an hour-long runtime, the brothers answer both listener-submitted questions, as well as questions posted on Yahoo! Answers. Rarely is any actual helpful advice given. Instead, the brothers go on unrelated tangents or just tell the question asker to leave town.
They also sprinkle in original bits, such as Haunted Doll Watch, in which Justin tells the brothers about supposed haunted dolls that are listed on eBay, and Farm Wisdom, in which the brothers discuss user submitted facts about the livelihood of farmers.
After starting in 2010, “MBMBaM” has formed into a fully-fledged podcast empire, with each brother having formed their own podcasts with friends and spouses, as well as a Dungeons and Dragons podcast with the three brothers and their father.
The podcast made the leap to TV Feb. 23, releasing the six episodes of the first season on Seeso TV. This makes “MBMBaM” one of the flagship original shows for Seeso, which is a new online-streaming service under the NBC umbrella.
The show is based in their hometown of Huntington, West Virginia and sticks with the basic premise of the original podcast: a listener submits a question to the brothers, and they do their best to answer. The results are outlandish, hilarious and almost never actually helpful.
While focusing on the brothers, their father and the actual mayor of Huntington also feature heavily. There are also a few celebrity cameos, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Jonathan and Drew Scott (of “Property Brothers” fame).
Huntington itself is a co-star of sorts, as all episodes are filmed on site and heavily feature the city, such as a pro-tarantula parade through the town center, a roller skating rink where the brothers host a meeting for their newly formed secret society and Marshall University, where the brothers convert a normal dorm room into a “haunted” dorm room.
Perhaps the funniest aspect of the show is how unpolished it is. The show focuses on what would normally occur behind the scenes, such as deciding on cold opens, debating if what they’re talking about is actually funny and calling possible guests. The complete unprofessionalism brings an amount of earnest hilarity to the show.
While somewhat scripted, a fair share of the show is just the brothers reacting to each other and other real life citizens in Huntington. The nonsensical way in which the brothers address the episode’s questions is always both convoluted and off-kilter. For instance, when asked how to better spruce up a resume, the brothers attempt to hold multiple jobs at once, including being the mayor and the sheriff. Griffin also upgrades his physical resume, by using a scrolling LED sign that says he’s “horny for work.”
While a certain amount of the show is based on inside jokes from the podcast, the show can be enjoyed by non-listeners as well. Jumping mediums can be difficult, but the McElroy brothers seamlessly make the transition without compromising their goofy composure. If you’re a fan of the show, the brothers still run their podcasts, and there are nearly 350 episodes of the “My Brother My Brother and Me” podcast. Be sure to add the good goofs of the McElroy brothers to your next Seeso-and-chill session.