Easy Allies Podcast

* Studio (2022)
* Studio ('19-'22)
* Garage

The **Easy Allies Podcast** is a weekly podcast where Daniel Bloodworth alongside a panel of Allies and Isla Hinck, Don Casanova, and Gabby Montoute in the Control Room, discuss various gaming-related news, respond to Patron-submitted questions, and play some fun silly games. It is the successor to GameTrailers' podcast GT Time, from which it borrowed its general vibe along with many of its segments.

The podcast used to be recorded on Tuesdays after Group Stream Night and released on Wednesdays for Patrons and Fridays on YouTube for the public. After the August 2019 Phase 4 announcements, the podcast started recording on Thursday nights and releasing on Fridays for Patrons and Sundays for the public in order to make the podcast more timely with big news drops. Patrons were also given access to extended ad-free versions of the Podcast as well.

## History

The podcast premiered on March 23, 2016 with moderator Kyle Bosman and Brandon Jones alongside a rotating panel and later with Isla Hinck in the Control Room.

On January 30, 2019 the Easy Allies Podcast premiered a new logo, graphics, and presentation for the podcast in the first episode filmed in the studio.

On March 13, 2020, Kyle announced via Patreon post that he would be departing from Easy Allies the following month, citing that he needed to find his life's "main thing." In the same post, he mentioned that Jones would be taking over as moderator of the Podcast. Shortly after announcing his departure, the podcast shifted to remote filming over Zoom due to the global pandemic. Kyle's final episode as moderator was Easy Allies Podcast #211 - 4/24/20 where he discussed the podcast's future with Jones who finally digivolved into the host.

Easy Allies Podcast #212 - 5/01/20 was the first official Jones moderated podcast with Daniel Bloodworth as his new co-host and Isla Hinck as the anchor in the Control Room. Jones introduced some new wrinkles in the podcast's format along with new betting teams but kept much of the structure the same.

On September 17, 2020, Easy Allies announced that as part of their partnership with Roost, some of their series were launching on RoosterTeeth.com. Starting October 21, recent episodes of the Easy Allies Podcast, Frame Trap, Box Peek, Achieve It Yourself!, and Mysterious Monsters would be featured on the site. These shows were selected to serve as an introduction to Easy Allies and for the overall fit with Rooster Teeth's audiences. New episodes will still be posted around the same schedule on the Easy Allies YouTube channel and podcast feeds.

Starting with Easy Allies Podcast #233 - September 25, 2020, the podcast became a four-person panel while shooting remotely as Isla was added to the rotating panel of Allies. This was done to add a more robust panelist rotation between the Allies and because Isla no longer had control room responsibilities for remote podcasts.

A special Love & Respect bonus episode of the Podcast was featured on October 23, 2020 to celebrate the week-long Patron Party 2020 event. The entire episode included Love & Respect questions and games from patrons in the $5 and up tier on Patreon.

On February 5, 2021, Easy Allies began releasing extended versions of the podcast exclusively for Patrons. Starting with Easy Allies Podcast #252, $5 and up patrons gain access to an extended Love & Respect segment in the podcast on Fridays while $1 patrons gain access on Sundays. The regular version of the podcast is still released to the public on Sundays as well.

Easy Allies officially returned to The Studio as a group on June 10, 2021. The date coincided with all of the Allies being fully vaccinated and COVID-cleared as well as the first day of E3. Easy Allies Podcast #270 - June 11, 2021 was the first Studio podcast moderated by Brandon Jones since he took over hosting duties from Kyle Bosman. The Podcast returned to the traditional five-person panel with Isla back in the control room full-time.

Kyle was a special guest on Easy Allies Podcast #296 since he was in town for The Game Awards.

On February 21, 2022, Brandon Jones announced on Cup of Jones and Twitter that he was taking a leave of absence from Easy Allies to support his family following his son, Milo being hospitalized. He revealed that his day-to-day involvement would be sporadic while productions like the Easy Allies Podcast and Community Showcase would be hosted by Bloodworth and Damiani, respectively.

It was revealed during EZX 2022 that Bloodworth was now the permanent host of the Podcast after Jones announced he was retiring from Easy Allies and games journalism. They teased future changes to the format of the Podcast including removing the set rotation of Allies and pulling in specific panelists to discuss that week's news or pick stories most tailored to the panel's interests to ensure more passion and expertise in the discourse. Podcast updates include episodes being titled with the main news topics alongside new thumbnails. A new podcast logo and design featuring the updated palette is also being developed. The updated podcast graphics officially made its debut in Episode 320 with credit given to Chris Leroux.

While Bloodworth went on a two-week vacation in July 2022, both Brad and Isla took a turn at hosting the Easy Allies Podcast in his absence. In Brad's episode, Isla returned to the desk as a panelist for the first time since taking over the Control Room. Don ran the switcher in Isla's place for both episodes. Upon Bloodworth's return, he added Isla back into the podcast panel rotation to provide more opportunity for Isla to discuss the week's news while also giving Don additional experience at the Switcher and to provide his input. During the Time for Bets segment, Don was also declared the Wild Card instead of being put into a specific betting team. Upon a win, he gets to choose which team gets the point in addition to the other responsibilities.

## Format

### Current Segments

* **Corrections:** A selection of YouTube comments from the previous episode that make corrections and clarifications to things the panel has said.
* **News:** Report on the week's highlights and upcoming events. The discussion was sometimes guided by one of Kyle's games, though his favorite way to start the podcast are game announcements, if there are any. Brandon's favorite way to start the podcast are game trailers.
* **A Word From Our Sponsor:** A break during the conversation that allows Brandon to present the Easy Allies sponsors for the current month. Previously known as **Podcast Halftime**.
* **Also This Week**: A quick rundown of other noteworthy headlines worth mentioning from the week's news.
* **Let's Play a Game:** The panel plays a random game submitted by patrons. Used to be part of the **Love & Respect** segment.
* **Love & Respect:** A segment in which the panel responds to emails sent by Patrons, usually involving heavy discussion topics, questions for the panel or just casual shout-outs, depending on their mood at the time. Used to include random games submitted by patrons.
* **Time for Bets:** Predictions for the week, where each Ally represents a different betting team for which they earn points each time they win a bet, and the team with the most points by the end of the year is crowned the champion of the season.
* **Closing:** Whoever sits in the previous bet winner's seat earns the right and responsibility to share their Twitter handle with the world, promote any Easy Allies video they would like to promote, have a final word on anything they disagree with or just want to reiterate, and sign-off the podcast with their trademark sign-off. In Brandon's first official podcast as moderator, the Twitter handle was retired as one of the rights and responsibilities.

### Past Segments

* **Podcast Halftime:** A break during the conversation that allows Brandon to present the Easy Allies sponsors for the current month. It is often called upon by Kyle when someone is about to say something, claiming that he can hear it coming.
* **Help Us Out, Hoeg!:** Kyle reaches out to long-time patron Richard Hoeg for an attorney's view on various game industry related topics for the panel to discuss.
* **Oh, I Just Can't Wait for the Switch:**
* **Is This News?:**
* **Kyle Apologizes for Something:**
* **What's in Damiani's Mug?:**
* **Desire Index:**
* **When's Next Gen?:** The panel discusses next generation consoles after they've been publicly announced, and speculate on what to expect from them.
* **Tell Me About the Future!:** The moderator asks the panel to make predictions for a year in the future and recap previous predictions.
* **Shouldn'ta Done That:**
* **This Week in Joker News:**
* **This Week in Austin Powers News:**
* **Kyle's Hot Fresh Hot Take Latte:**
* **Silver Lining:** Good news happening around the video game industry submitted by Patrons.
* **Madden Facts:** Interesting facts are submitted by Patrons about John Madden and his impact on both football and the video game industry.

### Recurrent Games

* **Monthly NPDs:** The panel has to predict the top selling video games of the previous month according to NPD sales data.
* **Underdogs and Undercooked:** The panel discusses a list of upcoming games from the next quarter and they each have to pick two games; one they think people should be hyped for, and one they think people should be wary of, calling one an "underdog" and the other "undercooked" respectively. Formerly known as "**Pop-Tarts and Toaster Strudels",** "**Pre-Order or Disorder**", "**That's It! or Wait A Bit..."** and **"Gimme or Shimmy"**.
* **Or Wars:** The moderator asks each Ally to pick one of two random things. Whoever gives the best answer earns the podcast's Closing rights and responsibilities.
* **Rank the Significance:** The panel has to rank the significance of a series of items, typically game announcements or trailers at a conference or event.

### Past Games

* **Prove-It Ticket:** If someone makes a controversial statement, whoever has the ticket can hand it to them to ask for proof to their claims. If the ticket is left unused by the end of the podcast, it levels up for the following episode, in which they can use one of the ticket's effects (shown below). With the addition of new introductory games, the ticket was made available for anyone to use, but only with its original effect.
	+ **Level 2 - Take It Back:** When an Ally makes a statement that the ticket holder disagrees with, they can pass the ticket to them and make them retract their words.
	+ **Level 3 - Back Me Up:** The holder is able to make any statement they want, followed by the rest of the Allies chanting in unison a short "oh-hoo!", and it cannot be challenged or corrected for the remainder of the podcast.
	+ **Level 4 - Like Potato:** If an Ally uses the word 'like' as a filler and not with its proper meaning, the ticket holder may pass it up to them. Whoever has the ticket at the end of the podcast loses a point for their betting team.
* **Games with Gold vs PlayStation Plus:**
* **Word of the Day:** Kyle picks an uncommon word and the panel must properly include it in a sentence. Whoever does it first earns some werehogs.
* **I'm Thinking About a Number Between:** Kyle thinks about a random number and asks the panel to guess which number it is. Whoever wins earns the Prove-It Ticket.
* **Four-Sided Die:** A member from the panel rolls a four-sided die, each number representing the Allies from left to right. Whoever wins earns the Prove-It Ticket.
* **The Challenge of Nephthys:** A nonsense game designed to re-earn the points lost by the Level 4 Prove-It Ticket. Kyle asks a series of random questions and would accept any answer as correct.
* **Goals:** Each Ally states a goal for themselves to achieve by the end of the podcast. They win nothing as it is intended for personal growth.
* **Objective:** Similar to the Goals segment, but sent by Patrons and directed to the whole panel. Each Ally decides if they want to partake on it, and have to fulfill the challenge by the end of the podcast to earn an imaginary (but cool) prize.
* **And For That Reason:**
* **Recruit Me:** The panel is presented with an original RPG-like character and they must decide if they join the party. At the end of the podcast Kyle rolls a die to see if they survive, and those who do will either join or become an enemy, depending on the Allies' choice.
* **Pro Strats Only:**
* **Glinny's Cauldron:** A witch named Glinny wants to create the most vile video game of all time and is trusting the panel to collect the ingredients. Each week they're presented with two vile video game mechanics, of which they must unanimously choose one.
* **Ship It or Skip It:**
* **The Gaming Game:** Isla Hinck is presented with three potential games to play represented by the three panelists. Each game is asked questions and then a final choice/prediction is made on which game to spend time with.
* **Santa's Video Game Advisory Board:**
* **Tough Bouncers:**
* **Best Last Lines:**
* **Gaming Gladiators:** Brandon started a video game arena that pits video game characters against each other. Patrons pick the cards and asks the Allies to place bets on the match-ups.
* **Starring Role:** The film industry asked the panel to recast a role in a movie with a video game character following the original actor backing out of the film.
* **Who-Gamed-It?**: The Easy Allies Detective Agency has to solve the murder of a video game character.
* **Work Out Buddies / The Adventures of Dawn Romantica:** The panel has to choose work out buddies from other video game characters to train with their created character, Dawn Romantica. After leveling up and gearing up, they have to embark on a quest.

## Love & Respect Podcast Specials

* Easy Allies Podcast #36 - November 23rd 2016
* Easy Allies Podcast #40 - December 21st 2016
* Easy Allies Podcast #52 - March 22nd 2017
* Easy Allies Podcast #69 - July 19th 2017
* Easy Allies Podcast #194 - All L&R Special - 12/27/19
* Easy Allies Podcast - 2020 Patron Party - L&R Bonus Episode - Oct 23, 2020
* Easy Allies Podcast #246 - December 25, 2020
* Easy Allies Podcast #298 - December 24, 2021
* Love & Respect Special - Easy Allies Podcast #350 - Dec 23, 2022

## Betting Teams

 Red Eagles | Kyle, Jones
 Green Lizards | Rotating panel

 Red Eagles | Kyle, Jones
 Purple Platypi | Rotating panel

 Red Grouse | Jones
 Droopy Eagles | Kyle
 Gorgeous Gorillas | Rotating panel
 Switcher Snakes | Isla
 Golden Vultures | Special guests

 Scrappy Little Pigs | Kyle, Jones
 Gorgeous Gorillas | Rotating panel,Control room

 Sick Owls | Kyle, Jones
 Gorgeous Gorillas | Rotating panel,Control room

 Astonished Scorpions | Jones, Bloodworth
 Jovial Penguins | Rotating panel,Control room

 Vociferous Beavers | Jones, Bloodworth
 Jovial Penguins | Rotating panel,Control room

 Massive Chubs | Bloodworth, Isla, Jones (Retired)
 Malodorous Sea Lions | Rotating panel,
Control room (Former)

 Garrulous Ducks | Bloodworth, Isla, Don

## Easy Allies Podcast Raps

* Easy Allies Podcast Episode 100 Rap
* Easy Allies Podcast Episode 200 Rap
* Upside That Frown (Easy Allies Podcast Episode 300 Rap)

## Trivia

* In the first episode, the panel had to come up with a special sign-off as there were no previous bet winners. Each Ally had to pick one word, resulting in *"Kick Some Cheese Tonight"* (by Jones, Ben, Blood and Kyle, respectively).

## References

1. ↑ "GT Time Playlist" on YouTube
2. ↑ "Phase 4 Announcements" on Patreon
3. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #147 - 1/30/19" on YouTube
4. ↑ "Bad News: An Announcement from Kyle" on Patreon
5. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #211 - 4/24/20" on YouTube
6. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #212 - 5/01/20" on YouTube
7. ↑ "Easy Allies Videos Coming to RoosterTeeth.com" on Patreon
8. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #233 - September 25, 2020" on YouTube
9. ↑ Easy Allies on Twitter
10. ↑ "Back to the Studio!" on Patreon
11. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #270 - June 11, 2021" on YouTube
12. ↑ "Easy Allies Podcast #296 - December 10, 2021" on YouTube
13. ↑ Cup of Jones - February 21, 2022
14. ↑ Brandon Jones on Twitter
15. ↑ "Welcome to Easy Allies Phase Infinity" on Patreon