PNWS (Tanis, The Black Tapes, Etc.)

Well, I figured that Tanis and The Black Tapes needed a discussion thread. And whatever shows appear next, if those get made.

I'm not so great at starting conversations, but Tanis seems to be slowly gearing up to something and TBT started its second season.

Hello again.

Well, The Black Tape's second season started off kind of weak, I though, but this Episode 206 has really picked up in quality. More of the mystery is unveiled, we learn more about Dr. Strand's family (his dad sounds like a total douche now) and an unexpected character returns.

Giving this thread a bump to note that there's a new series out now to go along with The Black Tapes and TANIS. It's under Public Radio Alliance rather than Pacific Northwest Stories, but still listed with Minnow Beats Whale.

It's called RABBITS and is about host Carly Parker's investigation into the disappearance of her childhood friend Yumiko and its connection to an Alternate Reality Game that is confirmed to go back to the late fifties and possibly centuries, or even millennia, father than that.

Also, last week TANIS started its third season.

edited 28th Feb '17 10:58:43 AM by sgamer82

I immediately subscribed to it, not gonna lie. I've been enjoying their work, so far.

I got into them recently, courtesy a plug on another Podcast (can't remember if it was Night Vale, Kakos, or How Did This Get Made) and went through TANIS then The Black Tapes.

Gotta say, I'm craving more of The Black Tapes. Seems like they're pouring their focus into Tanis currently.

And now they've got a third show in Rabbits, to boot.

Doesn't seem like it's entirely the same crew in that case. They seem to share an executive producer.

Actually I'm not sure about whether or not writers are shared between shows.

Can someone explain what these shows are please

The Black Tapes: Radio journalist Alex Regan works with paranormal investigator Dr. Richard Strand on the titular "black tapes", records of cases that Strand was unable to debunk to his satisfaction. An example from the first episode includes a shadowy figure that appears in a home movie of a little boy's fifth birthday and again in a man's wedding video, with the twist being that boy and man are the same person.

TANIS: Black Tapes producer Nic Silver, feeling that the internet age has taken a sense of mystery away from the human experience, begins studying an ancient proto-myth called Tanis, which depending on who you ask could be a creature, a place, or something else entirely. The main constants are it moves around every few centuries, currently in the Pacific Northwest United States, and that strange things happen around it and to people who get too close. With his hacker ally Meerkatnip, Nic waded through weird occurrences and conspiracies to learn the truth.

RABBITS: While investigating the disappearance of a childhood friend, Carly Parker comes across her involvement in an Alternate Reality Game known only as Rabbits, which goes back at least decades, maybe centuries, and possibly even millennia.

edited 11th Mar '17 8:30:15 AM by sgamer82

Neat, USA Today did a piece on Rabbits

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/03/19/podcast-rabbits-tanis/99357196/

According to a tweet, this year will be The Black Tapes final season.

https://twitter.com/blacktapespod/status/862816244197490689

edited 13th May '17 6:50:55 AM by sgamer82

Oh my god finally. I've been waiting for more of this show. Yaaaassssssss.

Man, I feel like I should just binge the first two seasons to prepare myself.

Four days until season 3 of The Black Tapes starts up. Who's excited?!!!!!

I'd forgotten it was coming, to be honest. I've been neglecting PWNS/PRA shows since recently getting hooked on The Last Podcast on the Left.

Listened to the episode today. It's a bit tricky for me to get back into things after not listening to it for a while but I didn't have too much trouble after I remembered who was who.

Looks like this season will focus some on Strand's father.

edited 29th Aug '17 8:57:46 PM by sgamer82

I was singing the praises of TANIS something like 4 months ago while I was binging it only to have my opinion do a 180 pretty quickly. That show is worse than Lost in terms of meandering bullshit and this last season has been absolutely wretched. It's little more than Nic having his surreal therapy sessions, Alex reading some random Native American story and a bunch of twists that are quickly dropped (Geoff Van Sant was Karl all along! ...and apparently just uses his real name now and no one cares). Rabbits had the same problem to a lesser extent and I'm actually HOPING it doesn't get further seasons. The Rabbits Season 1 finale was a perfect ending.

Also, anyone else annoyed by their "this is REAL" kayfabe-ish act? I'm sorry, but if you're going through that sort of trouble, then it's kind of ruined by not only your characters doing a bunch of stuff that would change society forever (i.e. "Hey, guess what? I decoded the goddamn VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT") but those dopey ass ads (yes Nic, tell me again about how much Bombas Socks, Squarespace and friggin UNIQLO help you in your fight against the supernatural).

Sorry, just needed a place to rant.

edited 30th Aug '17 3:23:13 PM by Psyclone

TANIS does seem to have gone Kudzu Plot. I'm behind a few episodes but I can't really dispute what you're saying. That said, I did like Nic getting uppity with Cameron Ellis about being vague and mysterious in at least one episode.

I listened to the newest Black Tapes today. At first I didn't make anything of its ending, just taking it for another cliffhanger. Then I discovered that was the finale. The first two seasons had 12 episodes so I didn't know that was it until I saw it posted elsewhere. That's bad enough, but this was the last season. That was the series finale, and it turns the whole series into a "Shaggy Dog" Story with no resolution whatsoever.

I feel cheated...

For reference, the ending features Alex and Strand fearing going to Geneva would be a trap and Alex proposing they just run off somewhere else altogether, even going so far as to get plane tickets. The series ends with them agreeing to sleep on it, go to the airport, and decide which plane board...

edited 7th Nov '17 10:29:40 PM by sgamer82

An unexpected little surprise, the first episode of TANIS, season four, "The Russian Breach" just released.

In spite of the hot mess I regard The Black Tapes's finale as and the feeling that TANIS is increasingly becoming a Kudzu Plot, I'm going to give it a listen.

edited 28th Feb '18 10:50:24 AM by sgamer82

The Public Radio Alliance has just come out with The Last Movie, a TANIS spinoff in which Nic and Meerkatnip seek out a movie said to kill those who view it.

http://www.publicradioalliance.com/the-last-movie/

Rather than wait for each episode, however, for this one they released all six episodes in one go. I think that's the full series but as I've yet to listen I cannot say.

Also there was a brief little update to The Black Tapes called "they know". I listened to it when it dropped but forgot to mention it so I'd have to listen again to provide any info on it. That said, maybe TBT isn't as done as I thought.

edited 27th Mar '18 12:02:42 PM by sgamer82

I had wondered about that, but then thought it was something to do with The Last Movie. Needless to say, I was kind of confused about it?

I hadn't linked it to The Last Movie, so that never occurred to me. That said, it was vague.

The Black Tapes's ending soured me some on when might come of Tanis though so far I'm liking the new season. I feel like the plot's actually progressing a little bit so it feels less slide the Kudzu Plot I regard last season as, where there were points I wasn't entirely sure what they were doing.

Well, I mean, it came out the same day as The Last Movie announcement, so that's why I made that connection. But now I'm not sure!

Anyway I'm probably going to binge The Last Movie all at once because I can't control myself.

Ok double post, but I went and checked out the reddit. Apparently the beeping at the end is morse code that translates out to "It was never the end."

So. Guess we're getting more Black Tapes.

Something I thought might be interesting in light of recent events on Tanis, another podcast I like, The Last Podcast on the Left, came out with a new episode today and it's the first in a series on Grigori Rasputin.

If you're not familiar with Last Podcast, they discuss a lot of the same topics you might see in Public Radio Alliance shows (serial killers, cults, conspiracies, aliens, hauntings, etc) but with a Black Comedic bent and all the reverence you'd expect out of Meerkatnip.

That said, the episodes are usually informative and interesting, to me anyway.

Also, did anyone catch the reference to the Father meeting followers of Pyhtagora in the last Tanis ep?

edited 30th Mar '18 11:34:01 AM by sgamer82