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There doesn't seem to be a Mission to Zyxx thread in this forum, and only a few search hits in places like the serialized fiction thread. With the show beginning its third season it feels like time to change that. MISSION TO ZYXX is a radio comedy/drama podcast produced by a bunch of alumni from the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theatre in NYC. It tells the story of a misfit crew on a diplomatic tour of the rear end-end of the galaxy to "discover their heroic destinies and meet weird bug creatures and stuff". Every week the cast (plus a special comedian/celebrity guest) record an episode of improv, which is then meticulously remixed and edited with sound effects and music. The end result is somewhere between a scripted serial and a live roleplay recording--it tempers the more focused narrative of the former with the goofy freeform of the latter. Overall it's a fun little adventure that produces some good laughs.  THE CAST: Alden Ford is Pleck Decksetter, the ship's ambassador and nominal leader. Pleck is a farmboy jumped up to command ranks with a real gee-whiz attitude about the universe. He's got a good heart but can be incredibly naive. Most of the unfamiliar elements of the setting are introduced to the audience by explaining them to Pleck. Jeremy Bent is C-53, the protocol and diplomatic relations droid. (Yes, there's a running Star Wars parody theme in this show. It's not too strong, until sometimes it is.) C-53 has a dry, weary humor and seems to take joy in misinterpreting commands. Allie Kokesh is Dar, the security officer. Dar is a former smuggler who was strong-armed into straightening up and joining the ship's mission. They are described as huge and intimidating, with an alien array of bodily orifices, chutes, and flaps. I've always pictured them as somewhat arachnoid. Moujan Zolfaghari is the Bargerean Jade (aka Bargie), the AI who runs the ship. Bargie was a movie star in her youth (it's established in-universe that there's a whole genre of romance/action movies about ships, literally the ships themselves) and is now a bit washed-up and starved for glory. Seth Lind is Nermut Bundaloy, the missions operations manager who dispatches the crew from afar. He desperately wants to climb the corporate ladder and prove himself by managing the best diplomatic team in the fleet in the most exciting quadrant of the galaxy. Possibly the only character more naive than Pleck. Winston Noel plays many background voices and secondary characters, but the most recurring are the CLINTs, or clone light infantry nomadic troopers. (Again with the Star Wars parody.) CLINTs are the belligerent enforcers of galactic order but are prone to infighting and petty bickering. Shane O'Connell doesn't have a character but he does all the sound engineering and deserves recognition. Every episode gets many hours of audio treatment to add sound effects and music or just to edit out the rough patches and laughs between improv scenes. The end of each episode includes an unedited outtake, which really gives a good look at how much work goes into those scenes. Find episodes at https://missiontozyxx.space/ or on the Maximum Fun network, where it just started its third season.
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Mar 28, 2019 18:49
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Now taking applications for a better thread title.
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Mar 28, 2019 18:49
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Just came to post about how I still occasionally chuckle about Paul F. Tompkins naming his character Rip Seeso.
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Mar 31, 2019 18:17
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This really quickly became one of my favorite podcasts, and I hope enough people showed support in the drive to keep them going. I really love this dumb show and everyone on it.
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Mar 31, 2019 21:36
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Very much enjoyed this week's episode with the increasingly specific perverts at the library.
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Apr 6, 2019 23:04
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I was surprised by how much I ended up loving this. One of the few podcasts that has actually made me laugh out loud while out walking in public. Between this and Hello From The Magic Tavern (which seems to be in a really awesome pace after a while of middling episodes) I'm really loving produced improv fantasy/sci-fi podcasts - a genre that didn't even exist a few years ago. =D I'm also not ashamed to say I find C-53's pelvis party song to be incredibly catchy for how simple it is.
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Apr 8, 2019 23:24
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Does the pelvis say "let's party" or "juck party"? I've never been sure, sometimes it sounds like one and sometimes the other.
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Apr 9, 2019 00:06
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wizzardstaff posted:Does the pelvis say "let's party" or "juck party"? I've never been sure, sometimes it sounds like one and sometimes the other. Let's Party! Let's Party! Let-Let-Let-Let-Let's Party!
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Apr 9, 2019 01:18
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I feel like we're due for a C-53-focused episode. He's been mainly in the background a lot lately.
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Apr 9, 2019 01:51
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wizzardstaff posted:Does the pelvis say "let's party" or "juck party"? I've never been sure, sometimes it sounds like one and sometimes the other. It's "Let's Party". One neat thing about being a MaxFun donor, and I assume what was previously cool about being a Patreon backer, it's that they have some songs for download and for ringtones, and that's one of them. I've already switched my notification tone to the incoming transmission noise.
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Apr 9, 2019 05:56
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SpacePig posted:It's "Let's Party". One neat thing about being a MaxFun donor, and I assume what was previously cool about being a Patreon backer, it's that they have some songs for download and for ringtones, and that's one of them. Oh nice, I knew they had songs on the donation rewards but I hadn’t gotten to them yet. I listened to the live shows though and they are very good.
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Apr 9, 2019 05:58
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FYI, if you're a Max Fun donor, check your email--there's an invite to the Discord for the show where the cast members hang out. 
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Apr 18, 2019 20:19
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The tube sound from this episode (306) is another sound of this podcast I unironically love.
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Apr 24, 2019 15:18
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Lor posted:The tube sound from this episode (306) is another sound of this podcast I unironically love. Basically every dumb little noise that Moujan makes off hand is incredibly funny. She's probably my favorite cast member just for that stuff.
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Apr 25, 2019 02:27
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AJ has been an excellent addition to the show. (the stupid tube made me laugh out loud so many times in this one)
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Apr 25, 2019 03:51
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And they said AJ wouldn't have fans...
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Apr 26, 2019 05:19
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Beano, now, I'm not sad to miss. He had some good moments but was a real acquired taste.
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May 2, 2019 15:12
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Is the sound mixing on the early episodes kind of iffy, or is it just the headphones I'm using? I listened to the first episode, and only understand about half of what Bargie and C-53 were saying. I'm using some bone conduction headphones I originally bought mostly for running, for the simple reason my main headphones snapped a few weeks ago and I haven't bought new ones yet; so it's possible the relatively low level sound transfer on them is responsible but Pleck, Dar and Nermut were all fairly clear and easy to understand so I'm curious. I did find the sound and/or background sound was occasionally distractingly loud compared to the voices as well though. Is it a thing and does it get better if it is?
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May 2, 2019 15:22
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tsob posted:Is the sound mixing on the early episodes kind of iffy, or is it just the headphones I'm using? I listened to the first episode, and only understand about half of what Bargie and C-53 were saying. I'm using some bone conduction headphones I originally bought mostly for running, for the simple reason my main headphones snapped a few weeks ago and I haven't bought new ones yet; so it's possible the relatively low level sound transfer on them is responsible but Pleck, Dar and Nermut were all fairly clear and easy to understand so I'm curious. I did find the sound and/or background sound was occasionally distractingly loud compared to the voices as well though. Is it a thing and does it get better if it is? I just went back and listened to the first episode on my desktop work computer and while I wouldn't rule out the sound quality getting better over time, I'm not hearing the differences you describe. Bargie and C-53 sound fine and the background noise isn't distracting.
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May 2, 2019 17:03
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I figured there was a good chance it was just my headphones, yeah. They're grand for listening to music while running, or a podcast that's just regular folks chatting but even a large truck normally results in me hitting the pause button as it's approaching if I'm listening to any kind of talk based one because the sounds levels aren't great. I imagine the effect on those two voices is just too much for the sound setup, so I'll wait till I get some new, proper headphones and try it again at some point. Thanks.
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May 2, 2019 23:57
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Stroop There It Is posted:Just came to post about how I still occasionally chuckle about Paul F. Tompkins naming his character Rip Seeso. Same. It took me a while to realize what it meant but it made me laff when I did.
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May 3, 2019 18:26
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Love the podcast so far. Just finished season one. Question though, does C53 ever keep a consistent voice? The accents and tones due to his frame throw me off.
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May 6, 2019 18:42
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Sexual Aluminum posted:Love the podcast so far. Just finished season one. The cockney voice only lasts for a while.
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May 6, 2019 19:41
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wizzardstaff posted:Beano, now, I'm not sad to miss. He had some good moments but was a real acquired taste. I’m still catching up in season 2, but the first time I heard the foley sounds of Beano just walking around I couldn’t stop laughing, it’s amazing sound design work.
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Sep 11, 2019 16:29
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Entropic posted:I’m still catching up in season 2, but the first time I heard the foley sounds of Beano just walking around I couldn’t stop laughing, it’s amazing sound design work. Especially with headphones as he runs from side to side. (Is that in my imagination? I don't think so; pretty sure the sound design is in stereo and that just makes it even better.)
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Sep 11, 2019 17:17
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I'm just finishing up season 1, and this poo poo is EXCELLENT. I got some strange looks on the subway as I desperately tried to not belly-laugh at "operation 6".
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Sep 22, 2019 15:26
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They released a bonus episode last week of Bargie and C-53's podcast spinoff from the finale. The voices started out a little grating but grew on me over time. I liked the rapid-fire nature of it. There's also apparently a bonus episode on the Maximum Fun but I haven't bothered to look that up yet.
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Nov 4, 2019 18:15
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And we're now in a new season. So far I still think my favorite episode was The New Norm. Winston Noel was absolutely hilarious improving a Hutt-like language and the hotdog conversations were amazing.
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Feb 22, 2020 02:24
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I liked Dependents Day a lot. Maybe just because of the song. But I felt like it was a great example of their improv world-building process. Also I am never sad to hear a Grower Mind episode. Incidentally I'm really glad they recapped the finale because I found it kind of incomprehensible when I listened to it six months ago.
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Feb 22, 2020 04:58
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Just gonna leave this here: http://beanoknew.space/homepage/index.html
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Aug 10, 2020 22:54
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Juntawa?
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Aug 10, 2020 23:04
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So season 5 has been announced as the last Zyxx season. The group plan to stay together for new projects but feel it's best this one gets a proper ending.
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Apr 14, 2021 23:03
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It's always good when a creative work gets to end on its own terms. I hope they keep the same format for future projects though.
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Apr 14, 2021 23:11
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I decided to check this out after I saw this thread and almost gave up before I realised its listed in seasons and 404 means ep 4 of season 4, not that it was the 404th episode It's pretty good so far? I like it. It doesn't actually feel like improv at all
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Apr 16, 2021 01:23
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some plague rats posted:I decided to check this out after I saw this thread and almost gave up before I realised its listed in seasons and 404 means ep 4 of season 4, not that it was the 404th episode They do improvise the script but from what I've heard of their process they usually come up with a rough idea of what the premise of the episode is gonna be beforehand and maybe some rough story beats and if they have a guest star they figure out what their character is going to be beforehand, but they do a fair bit of editing to cut out dead bits and stuff that doesn't work and they'll sometimes do re-takes of things. You can hear a bit of this in the out-takes they put at the end of the episodes.
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Apr 16, 2021 01:44
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It's basically like Curb Your Enthusiasm's early seasons where each episode has a plot or idea and they improv everything else to get somewhere.
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Apr 16, 2021 02:19
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Entropic posted:They do improvise the script but from what I've heard of their process they usually come up with a rough idea of what the premise of the episode is gonna be beforehand and maybe some rough story beats and if they have a guest star they figure out what their character is going to be beforehand, but they do a fair bit of editing to cut out dead bits and stuff that doesn't work and they'll sometimes do re-takes of things. You can hear a bit of this in the out-takes they put at the end of the episodes. It took a big to get used to, but I'm fully into it now. The adjustment was from other improv-based shows, like the the best podcast ever (rude tales of magic) where some of the funniest bits are when someone is audibly caught out and is desperately improvising their reaction. This one is so tightly edited it sounds scripted, which is amazing work
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Apr 16, 2021 03:16
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As the seasons go on, they start leaving in a few more of those moments where they obviously break, or have trouble dealing with a curveball. It's just enough to be endearing without completely disrupting the flow.
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Apr 16, 2021 03:59
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The live performance recordings also show that they are pretty good at stringing together a scene without editing. Not to mention doing sound/voice effects on the fly. (Or am I dumb for not realizing those get post production work too?)
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Apr 16, 2021 04:19
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Paul F Tompkins playing a character called Rip Seeso is so good.
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Apr 21, 2021 13:34
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