About

This is information about the podcast Blank Check with Griffin and David. It has a brief history of the show's name and which miniseries belong to which era, as well as a listing of various articles that have reviewed the show.

For more information on the specific miniseries entries, and the episode categories, see the Episodes page. For a complete list of all the films ever covered, see List of Films Covered on the Podcast.

## Griffin and David Present (2015)

The podcast originally started as a vehicle to discuss the 1999 movie *Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace*. (See The Phantom Podcast miniseries page for details on the founding of the show.) It eventually evolved into a ten episode discussion of each installation of the Star Wars "prequel trilogy" under the premise that each was the final work made in the series, with episodes discussing non-Star Wars movies functioning as an intermission between the ten episode groupings of the miniseries'.

Upon finishing that trilogy they covered the "sequel trilogy" (Griffin's in-universe name for the original-three Star Wars trilogy) and *The Force Awakens* (twice), as well as other Star Wars works.

Each of the first four miniseries, which were Star Wars-focused, can be considered to be under the "Griffin and David Present" banner. However, in terms of individual episodes #039 The Podcast Reawakens is the final episode recorded before switching to the new theme song and re-branding the show with a new name.

The podcast was produced and hosted by UCB Comedy podcast network.

## Blank Check with Griffin and David (2016-2020)

Upon completing the episodes relating to the Phantom Menace trilogy, the podcast was re-christened in order to rebrand with a name more suitable for the re-focused theme of the show. Despite the very marketable suggestion of 'Griffel and Simsbert' from Producer Ben, the hosts decided to go with 'Blank Check with Griffin and David' to highlight how the show is fascinated by directors who have a huge massive success early on and then are given a so-called blank check to work on whatever passion project they want. Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce, babyyyy! Premise established.

The Blank Check name took effect with episode #40, Praying With Anger/Wide Awake. All of the director-centric miniseries and every standalone episode that came afterward are part of the Blank Check branding.

The podcast continued to be produced by UCB Comedy until 2017 when they joined Audioboom.

## Independent Era (2021-present)

Beginning in 2021, in large part due to the success of the Patreon, Blank Check became an independent production. The theme song was re-recorded by Layne Montgomery and the podcast art was updated slightly. The friends still retain the rights to the entire catalog of content.  In the fall of 2022 the success of the podcast enabled the show to obtain a physical location - *Blank Check Studios* in which to watch films and record in-person episodes.

## Hey, Did You See, We Got A Good Review!

The show has been the subject of many articles and reviews in media, and has been included in several variants of "Best Podcast" lists in various publications. Here's a few of them in roughly chronological order:

* **The AV Club:** weekly "Podmass" feature (several times but here's one early appearance)
* **Decider:** "The Movie Podcast You Should Be Listening To"
* **The Comeback:** "Movie podcast Blank Check with Griffin & David" (a 'Should I Listen To This?' feature)
* **Paste Magazine:** "The 10 Best Movie Podcasts of 2016" (number 1!)
* **TIME Magazine:** "The 50 Best Podcasts Right Now"
* **Thrillist:** "Best Podcasts of 2017"
* **Indiewire:** "10 Must-Listen Film Podcasts for Beginners and Fans Alike"
* **Crossfader Magazine:** "Podcast of the Week: Blank Check"
* **Buzzfeed:** "25 Podcasts You Need To Listen To in 2018"
* **Paste Magazine:** "Blank Check and the Intersection of Comedy and Criticism"
* **Indiewire:** "The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2018 (So Far)"
* **The Hollywood Reporter:** "8 Podcasts About Film History"
* **Indiewire:** "The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2018" (full year)
* **Esquire:** "The 21 Best Podcasts of 2018: What to Listen to Now That We're in the Golden Age of Podcasting"
* **Entertainment Weekly:** in the top 10 'Must List' of hot items for the week
* **San Francisco Gate:** Podcasts To Listen To On Your Commute
* **Paste Magazine:** The 30 Best Podcasts of the 2010s
* **TIME Magazine:** "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2019"
* **Indiewire:** "The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2019"
* **Looper:** "25 Best Movie And TV Podcasts In 2021"

## References

1. ↑ u/grifflightning, Comment on "Ads in the backlog." reddit. Retrieved October 5, 2021.