The Terrifying Tale of Tom Foolery

"**The Terrifying Tale of Tom Foolery**" is the sixth episode of the first season of *The Unexpected Podcast*. It aired on April 2nd, 2018 to rave reviews after the return of fan-favorite Zach Marion and the inclusion of the show's first female actor, Lauren Haven.

Co-creator Erik Bergstrom wrote the script from a treatment provided by creator Andrew Soucek. The concept was visualized after the two joked about someone with an unfortunate name snapping and going on a murder spree.

As of current day, it is the most-downloaded first-day episode of *The Unexpected Podcast*.

## Plot

Original Description: *Things are about to get serious...deathly serious...after Joe calls the wrong number for a man with a unique name.*

The story is narrated in the first-person by a man named Joe. It is unclear where he's narrating from, or to whom, only that his story begins in "the 80s". After setting the scene with some cultural references, Joe gets into his plight: his inability, as an older associate, to close sales on the small amount of leads he owns. After watching a young up-and-comer named Brad steal the spotlight and becoming his boss, Mr. Roybanski's, favorite new associate, Joe becomes determined to do anything he can to make more sales.

Joe's closest allies in the office, Dirk and Blaine, enjoy picking on Joe for his age and ineptitude. However, seeing how much the inner conflict pains Joe, and after hearing rumors of his shaky employment status, Blaine offers to give him a few of his "premium" leads. Joe gets to work right away on contacting the leads, until he reaches one that gives him pause. The voice on the answering machine belongs to a man named "Tom Foolery", though the serious tone of the man, along with his straightforward message, forces Joe to spend hours contemplating Tom's life and how he's been able to cope with such a strange name.

Soon, Joe's obsession with the name takes over and he calls back. He's shocked when the message he hears has changed slightly to address him directly and offer to help him with some of the problems in his life, which includes a tense relationship with his ex-wife, Shae Lynn. He becomes haunted by this, trying to understand if it's merely a practical joke or something worse. Later, while meeting with Shae Lynn, they have an argument about her new mustard business. She gives him her new phone number to call when things have settled, which happens to be the same number as Tom Foolery. When Joe calls the number, Tom instructs him to murder Shae Lynn, while also offering to clean up the mess and pin the murder on her new boyfriend, Rick Tony.

Having gotten away with the killing, Joe is filled with a new confidence to defeat Brad in sales for the quarter. Later, when Brad provokes Joe in the office break room, Joe decides to call Tom Foolery for instruction on how to get rid of Brad. Instead, he gets Shae Lynn's voice, who's now going by the name "Shae Nanigans". Despite the surprise, Joe gets the same instruction from her and murders Brad, convinced the problem will clear itself up. Unfortunately for Joe, it becomes clear he was set up by Shae Nanigans as part of her revenge, and he's captured by police and later convicted. At the end of the episode, it's revealed Joe's been telling his story from the electric chair just before his execution, finally admitting his crimes and offering a warning to those listening to beware the name "Joe Kinround", his full name, should they come across it on an answering machine.

## Commercial

A commercial for Tony's All Day Buffet appears during the break, featuring a dialogue between a father and his son, Billy, about where to eat. After a tense discussion that reveals a long history of the father's resentment and the son's legitimacy, Billy is able to convince his dad to check out the all-new Tony's All Day Buffet, the proclaimed "Greatest Buffet in the State" for its spread of fish, pasta, a salad bar, ice cream, and chicken wings. The solution provides a chance for the two to finally bond.

The commercial is historical for calling out a location in the primary show, "Let's Get Mustarded", which is the mustard company owned and operated by Shae Lynn.

## Production

The story treatment for "The Terrifying Tale of Tom Foolery" was written by Andrew Soucek after brainstorming the idea with Erik Bergstrom. He also wrote the first scene in the script featuring Brad's award ceremony before handing off writing duties to Bergstrom when other obligations came up. Bergstrom finished the script after receiving direction to use the film *Glengarry Glen Ross* as an example, especially with the use of the term "premium leads".

Bergstrom took on a more diminished role in the acting, despite taking on the title character, while Soucek sat out on a performance altogether for the first time in *The Unexpected Podcast*'s history (outside of providing the voice for the Old Man). The goal, revealed by Bergstrom in a news interview, was to provide a larger platform for new acting talent and local Minneapolis improv stars Lauren Haven and Aric McKeown. Zach Marion was counted on once again to act in the lead role as Joe Kinround.

   The episode instantly claimed historical status for being the first to include a woman actor. Haven, who played Shae Lynn, was called "an instant upgrade" by many podcast review sites. McKeown, known publicly as one half of *The Mustache Rangers* (named the Best Podcast of 2011 by Mpls St. Paul Magazine) was also considered "decent" in his role as Blaine.

For the first time in the show's history, visual artist Dustin Riccio was commissioned to create "alternate artwork" for the episode's marketing efforts. Along with the standard poster art featuring a bloody answering machine and a hot-pink "80s" font, Riccio found a way to mimic a classic Atari advertisement to draw in more listeners, playing off a need to satisfy a nostalgia that's known to run rampant among podcast listeners. The campaign proved to be a success, bringing in the most downloads for a day-one release in the history of *The Unexpected Podcast.* The decision to use non-standard poster artwork led to the freedom to use multiple formats, as seen in the future episode, "This American Knife".

## In-Universe References

The name "Tony" is used once again as part of the business name of the episode's commercial. "Tim" is brought back as a character name for the minor role of Officer Tim, the man who arrests Joe Kinround and is present on the day of his execution.

Mustard plays a crucial role in the episode—not only as a prop, but as the product sold by Shae Lynn for her business, "Let's Get Mustarded". The business itself becomes a contentious part of Shae Lynn and Joe's relationship, and can be said to have played a role in Joe's murder of Shae Lynn.

The phrase "Just to recap..." returns when Dirk explains Joe's own predicament to him. "If I'm being honest..." appears three times out of the mouth of Joe, twice during his narration and once during an honest moment with Shae Lynn. Shae Lynn also utters the line once her voice reappears on an answering machine as Shae Lynn, while Blaine can also be heard saying it when telling Joe about rumors of his firing.

A new phrase to appear in future episodes, "Maybe, just maybe..." is used for the first time when Joe is questioning his ability to make it in "the fast-paced world of real estate".

Huckleberry pie reappears for the first time after its introduction in the previous episode, "My Mayor is a Monster!", when Joe steals the knife Brad was using in the office break room to cut a slice of Janice in accounting's pie.

The character of Rick Tony, who only appears in dialogue, is introduced as a brother of Dick & Mick Tony. Up until this point, the Tony brothers were only known in the Unexpected universe as part of the commercial from the episode "Truth or Dare...or Death!"

South Miller Avenue, the location of the mysterious house in "The Strange Music of Derrick Zugg", is also where Cynthia in accounting lives, as claimed by Blaine.

## Memorable Quotes

*"It was the ‘80s. 1988 to be exact. The good ol’ US of A was riding high on the stock market. Rain Man was the biggest theatrical hit of the year. On TV, Who’s the Boss starring Tony Danza was in the middle of its fourth incredible season, and then, there was me, an overweight, balding, 42-year-old real estate salesman with nothing but a bunch of lousy leads."* - Joe Kinround

*"Coffee's for closers. Now how about we get you to crack open this bottle of bubbly for ol’ Brad here?"* - Mr. Roybanski

*"Come on, guys. As that actor from that new television show says “Cut. It. Out.” How do you expect me to do that? You got some premium leads or something?"* - Joe

*"I was feeling more and more like Tony on that episode of Who’s the Boss when he found out his late wife might’ve been having an affair with a painter."* - Joe

*"Oh, hello there Joe. Calling back again, I see? Sorry I wasn’t able to answer last night. I know I should be there for you more these days. Especially with everything that’s happening at home and at work. Perhaps one day, we can do something about it. Unfortunately for now, I’ve gotta run."* - Tom Foolery

*"It’s my new business line Rick Tony helped me set up. He’s good with things of that nature. He’s good with...well, with quite a few things, if you know what I mean. To put it in plain English, I’m talking about sex things."* - Shae Lynn

*"The whole cockadoodie thing is strange! And it’s all because of Tom Foolery!"* - Joe

*"But just like Tony in that episode of Who’s the Boss where he has to buy his daughter’s first bra, I just couldn’t figure out how to get out of a bad situation gracefully."* - Joe

*"Like I said, Joe. No. Freaking. Way. Mark my words. If you thought Rick Tony stealing and murdering your ex-wife was bad, just wait ‘til you see what I do with you on the sales floor."* - Brad

*"You have a right to Jack Squat! But if you must know, let’s just say we got a pretty good...lead...from a young lady named Ms. Nanigans!"* - Officer Tim

*"I wanted everyone here to learn something today. I wanted everyone to know the importance of dialing the right number. Because if you don’t, you just mind end up on the wrong side of someone who’s...Joe Kinround!"* - Joe