Line #17 Radio/TheDPad


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dpadtvtropes_7526.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"And this... is ''[[TitleDrop The D-Pad]]''." Cue music.]]
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4	''The D-Pad'' is a weekly hour-long video game [[{{Radio}} web radio show]] (formerly a {{podcast}}) starring [[ChallengeGamer Rick]] [[TheLeader Desilets]], [[CoolTeacher John]] [[OnlySaneMan Selig]], and [[LargeHam CJ]] [[DeadpanSnarker Haley]]. [[{{Hipster}} Nick]] [[CloudCuckoolander Bebel]] was the original "Player 3" until an unexpected hiatus in the summer of 2013, and [[TheSixthRanger Ian]] [[BigLittleBrother Selig]] was briefly added during this time. Recurring guests have included [[GamerChick Holly Fletcher]], [[StarvingArtist Meghan Zaremba]], and [[TheMovieBuff Dan Suitor]].
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6	While the show is primarily geared toward video games, it also spends time on movies, television, music, and pop culture in general. Considered a complete reboot, the original podcast is rarely mentioned at all on-air. Original fans of the show are often referred to as [[FanCommunityNicknames "The Threes"]], while fans of the live show are referred to as [[FanCommunityNicknames "The Goombas"]].
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8	There have been several segments on both the website and the show, including:
9	* ''Ouya, Oh No'': the latest unfortunate {{Ouya}} news
10	* ''R-Rated'': uncensored movie reviews
11	* ''Bebel's Short List'': video game reviews
12	* ''Live from the Brown Carpet'': live blogging of awards shows
13	* ''Good News, Bad News'': big announcements with significant pros and cons
14	* ''Game Over'': articles calling out individuals or groups
15	* ''Putting Our Guests to the Test'': subjecting guests to setting track times in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart''
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17	A special event called ''Sonic Week'' was held the week of June 19-26, 2011 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise. The June 19 and 26 episodes of the show were Sonic-focused, and the team released {{LetsPlay}}s of six ''Sonic'' games on their website, making 12 hours of content over eight days. Afterwards, they decided to get into Let's Plays outside of events, playing ''[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos 5 Days a Stranger]]'', ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', and more. In August 2013, they began a long-term video series called ''The Legendary Let's Play'', pledging to play every ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' game. The team has put out over 230 videos totaling 65 hours of playtime, and a [[LetsPlay/TheDPad Let's Play page]] is in progress.
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20	!! Provides examples of:
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22	* AdBumpers: The podcast featured bumpers for ''Open Lounge'', while from 2012-2013 it featured ads for [=UNregular Radio=] instead.
23	* AsYouKnow: Turns up anytime the hosts want to convey news to the audience which they already know themselves.
24	* BeginnersLuck: Rick had never put together a March Madness bracket before 2011, then proceeds to beat the rest of the pack ''by a mile''. Naturally, when it came time for Fantasy Football, he took dead last.
25	* BerserkButton: The Platform/{{Wii}} is '''''not''''' two [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCubes]] taped together.
26	* BonusEpisode: Early on, an extra episode was marked as a "Bonus Stage" which featured Rick and Nick enduring a [[MasochistsMeal one-hour cake race]].
27	* BonusMaterial: ''R-Rated'', ''Game Over'', and ''Live from the Brown Carpet''. Also ''The D-Pad: Let's Play'', which seems to be [[MorePopularSpinoff taking on a life of its own]].
28	* BoozeBasedBuff: Somehow, Rick's [[DrunkDriver drunk lap]] of Mario Circuit 2 gave him the fastest times on the show, even though he wasn't exclusively in first sober.
29	* ButtMonkey: Rick made the mistake of saying in an early episode that he used a Google spreadsheet to keep track of his progress in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Pokémon Black Version]]''. The other hosts have reminded him about this in nearly ''[[RunningGag every episode since]]''.
30	* CatchPhrase: '''''IT'S THE C-PAD!!'''''
31	** Ouya?
32	*** Oh no.
33	* CityShoutOuts: To Worcester, Boston, and Somerville, where the show has been recorded over the years. Also occasionally to Providence, RI and New Haven, CT.
34	* ContinuityNod: [[Literature/OldYeller Shooting the puppy.]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext And spreadsheets.]] [[CallBack Callbacks]] to the original podcast with no in-show explanation thus far.
35	* CrossOver: Once upon a time, the hosts of ''Open Lounge'' appeared on ''The D-Pad'', and vice versa.
36	* DocumentaryEpisode: [[http://dpadup.com/2011/08/safe-haven/ "Safe Haven"]] followed Creator/TwoBitPictures through the 48 Hour Film Project in New Haven, CT.
37	* DrinkingGame: Every tenth episode of the podcast featured a drinking game [[AudienceParticipation you can play with the hosts]]. The hosts usually have a drink or three while recording, but these specials usually crank it up to eleven.
38	** Episode 10: [[http://dpadup.com/2011/06/highway-to-the-danger-zone/ "Highway to the Danger Zone"]] invites the audience to join the hosts in a [[SchmuckBait Power Hour]].
39	** Episode 20: [[http://dpadup.com/2011/08/volume-up/ "Volume Up"]] has the hosts volume-chugging from two-liter fishbowls.
40	** Episode 30: [[http://dpadup.com/2011/10/waddle-dre/ "Waddle Dre"]] was played a bit looser, as the group had been drinking heavily already (see MissingEpisode below).
41	** Episode 40: [[http://dpadup.com/2012/05/thors-hammered/ "Thor's Hammered"]] features a game of Edward Fortyhands. Followed by [[DrunkDriver a drunk lap]] in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart''.
42	* DrunkenMaster: Rick claims to be good at video games sober, but substantially better when drunk.
43	* ExplicitContent: [[HoYay No, not like that.]] The show has always been uncensored, both on [=UNregular Radio=] and independently.
44	* FanCommunityNicknames: The hosts referred to their (questionably existent) fanbase originally as their "threes upon threes of fans", now better known as simply "The Threes".
45	** Fans of the live show are usually called "Goombas".
46	* GagCensor: In the (increasingly rare) event that something needs to be censored, it's often replaced by a sound effect from a classic 8-bit game.
47	* HeterosexualLifePartners: The hosts, most prominently Rick and Nick, and John and CJ.
48	* HeyItsThatSound: When a podcast episode goes to its [[{{Intermission}} musical break]], a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario coin]] sound effect is heard.
49	* {{Intermission}}: Every episode features a few-minute "pause break" with musical interlude.
50	* LetsPlay: Originally just a bonus while the podcast celebrated [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Week]] in June 2011, it soon became a staple of the group's online presence. Over 230 videos and 65 hours have been produced so far.
51	* LiveEpisode: Every episode since its reboot in September 2012, but the podcast also had [[http://dpadup.com/2011/05/were-doing-it-live/ "We're Doing It Live!"]], a half-hour episode recorded with a live audience at [=ImprovBoston=]'s Geek Week Festival.
52	* {{Mascot}}: For a brief time Nick's chinchilla, Zooey, was an unofficial mascot of the podcast.
53	* MultiPartEpisode: ''Sonic Week'' consists of [[http://dpadup.com/2011/06/sonic-week-act-1/ Act 1]], [[http://dpadup.com/2011/06/sonic-week-act-2/ Act 2]], and six Let's Plays in-between.
54	* OnceAnEpisode: '''''IT'S THE C-PAD!!'''''
55	** Every episode is [[{{Dedication}} dedicated]] to someone, and "Ouya, Oh No" has been a particularly popular segment as well.
56	* OurSloganIsTerrible: Somehow, the show always seems to end with one of the hosts suggesting it's time to "[[Literature/OldYeller shoot the dog]]".[[labelnote:*]]Not to be confused with [[ShootTheDog Shooting the Dog]].[[/labelnote]]
57	** Thankfully, their actual slogan is the much more appropriate "[[Series/CashCab You game?]]"
58	* PleaseSubscribeToOurChannel: At the start and end of most episodes.
59	-->'''Nick:''' ''[[Film/{{Aliens}} It's game over, man! Game over!]] Now go level up at Podsmiths.com."
60	* PowerTrio: The hosts, in various forms:
61	** BigThinShortTrio: Rick is Big, John is Thin, Nick is Short.
62	** ChromaticArrangement: Rick is green, John is red, Nick (and later [=CJ=]) is blue. A subtle ShoutOut to ''Something Remote'', a movie/webseries featuring Rick, John, and [=CJ=] as a chromatically-arranged ComicTrio.
63	* RightOnTheTick: Every new episode is online at exactly 12 noon. Even when it didn't.
64	* RunningGag: Plenty.
65	** Most episodes begin with Rick giving the audience a tired "Heyyyyy, everybody." [[LampshadeHanging The others noticed.]]
66	** Likewise, episodes usually end with someone saying it's time to [[Literature/OldYeller "shoot the dog"]].
67	** [[ButtMonkey Rick and his spreadsheets.]]
68	* SequelEpisode: [[http://dpadup.com/2011/04/retcon-and-cats/ "Retcon + Cats"]] featured guest Christopher Osborn talking about the book he was working on. A few months later, he returned in [[http://dpadup.com/2011/08/a-gran-grimoire/ "A Gran Grimoire"]] to plug the now-completed ''[[http://chrisoverzero.com/book/ Easily-Distracted Tales]]''.
69	* ShoutOut: Quite a few, including about a ''month'' of references to WebVideo/BenDrowned after Rick showed it to the others.
70	** The show's ad bumper on ''Open Lounge'' ends with Rick asking [[Series/CashCab "You game?"]]
71	** The show's intro always ends with "and [[Series/TheColbertReport this... is The D-Pad]]".
72	** Most episodes end with the hosts [[Film/OldYeller "shooting the dog"]].
73	** At the start of the show's second season, Rick mentioned that the podcast is in the same spirit as (and in many ways inspired by) ''Series/TopGearUK''.
74	*** The "Putting Our Guest to the Test" segment was an homage to "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car".
75	* SignificantReferenceDate: The podcast began the day after Rick's 24th birthday.
76	** The following year, the show "rebooted" with a more structured format, and the addition of ''Good News, Bad News'', ''Bebel's Short List'', and ''Putting Our Guests to the Test'' as official segments of the show.
77	* SoundToScreenAdaptation: WordOfGod states this is the ultimate goal of the show. ''The D-Pad: Let's Play'' is a checkpoint.
78	* StealthPun: The D-Pad's website is dpad'''up'''.com. Every other account? '''downright'''dpad.
79	** The site's logo (both the full and short versions) uses a stylized [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] [[ShapedLikeItself d-pad]].
80	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Obviously Rick and Nick were chugging 40s during the podcast's 40th episode special and not just an equivalent volume and alcohol content. [[SoundDefect What do you mean, a forty doesn't sound like that?]]
81	* TitleDrop: Inverted. Most episodes take their titles from a particularly funny quote from the audio itself.
82	* TwoActStructure: Early on, the first act was more structured and the second act was played more loosely.
83	** In the live show, the first act is mostly news and commentary, while the second act is more opinion and debate.
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85	'''''[[{{Stinger}} I AM JOHN MOTHERFUCKING GODDAMN SELIG]]'''''

Context Radio / TheDPad