Victor (primary host) provides some occasionally interesting insight into the funeral business, but the level of truly deep analysis of SFU itself is usually lacking. The reviews of the earlier seasons are a little better, as there is a rotating cast of guests/co-hosts who are sometimes able to provide some decent analysis of their own. However, by the time the format changes to include a permanent co-host (for the final few seasons), the already average podcast drops in quality precipitously. The co-host is Victor’s co-worker and contributes very little, mostly due to her obvious apathy/disinterest for the show. An intelligent, critical voice that was actually engaged in the show would have been welcome, as at least some interest might have been on display. But she doesn’t understand most of the program and, furthermore, seems to care next to nothing for it, either. The saving grace is that the two of them are having fun with one another during the podcasts.
When there is some actual insight, as opposed to a simple recap of a given episode (a very common occurrence), it is often plagiarized from the AV Club’s excellent John Teti, who truly understands and analyzes the show about as well as I’ve ever read or heard. The host occasionally credits Teti, but more often just uses Teti’s critiques nearly word-for-word in order to give the impression of understanding/analyzing better than he can on his own. It is all too obvious...but I suppose it’s better than solely relying on his own abilities, as he just doesn’t possess the skills to dive into the show as much as it deserves.
Still, since I love SFU so much, and love to dive into it wherever I can, the podcast is just barely entertaining enough to stick it out through the full run.
Schrödinger’s Cat
