Shows
Check Displeasedep. 64 | PB&JIn this episode, tomato and Sekrit discuss first jellies, then peanuts butter, for the full 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 22 seconds.
Read along with us: 3.6 PB&J | Blog
2023-07-251h 23
Check Displeasedep. 63 | 3.5 The After KegsterI cut like 10 minutes of explaining Harvard Law School curricular minutiae out of this, you are so welcome.
Read along with us: 3.5 The After Kegster | Blog
2023-04-181h 50Check Displeasedep. 62 | 3.4 Home OpenerCannot express the self-restraint it took for me not to write a "I hardly know her!" joke in this description, and because of that, I'd like to dedicate this episode to several other restraints (or lack thereof) we discuss herein: Shitty's new 'do; fandom's Fry Guy obsession; and, of course, Jack's cock ca -
Read along with us: 3.4 Home Opener | Blog
2023-04-021h 03Check Displeasedep. 61 | 3.3 Meet the FalconersDo we have to?
Read along with us: 3.3 Meet the Falconers | Blog
2023-02-261h 23Check Displeasedep. 60 | HS 6: Locker RoomIn an unprecedented narrative experiment that absolutely explodes the typical OMGCP comic strip, beloved side characters Ransom and Holster explain the concept of a "locker room," which is a place where people, including hockey players, can get undressed and then dressed for an athletic activity. Jack isn't in this strip but you really have to imagine his giant ass looks outrageous in a jock strap, right. I wonder if there's porn about this? Link me if you know come. ... I meant to type "some," that was a typo.
Read along with us: HS 6: Locker Room | No blog...
2023-02-1941 minCheck Displeasedep 59 | 3.2 Taddy TourSekrit and tomato answer the big questions...who is Tango? (No one.) Why does he matter? (He doesn't.) Did Jack and Bitty fuck in that truck? (Yeah, probably.) Plus the return of crowd-favorite segments Sekrit's Shardo Show and Chowder Infantilization Watch!
Read along with us: 3.2 Taddy Tour | Blog
2023-02-081h 08Check Displeasedep. 58 | 3.1 WAGWE'RE BACK, BABY!!! Sekrit and tomato explore WAGatha Christie and the British tabloid nightmare machine, Mr. Bittle's thousand yard stare straight through the fourth wall, and the logistics of...well, there's no other word for it...truckfuckin'.
Read along with us: 3.1 WAG | Blog
2023-01-291h 38Check Displeasedep. 57 | Is This Podcast Mean?No.
For this extremely special and unnecessary deep-dive, Sekrit and Tomato are joined by queerofcups, the author of a highly recommended fanfic, and one of those smart fandom people whose brain you'd love to pick? We did it, here in this episode. We cover everything from "what is criticism" to "why are some people so unhappy every time someone says Check, Please could be kind of better" -- and if you want to know if we think this podcast is mean (again, no), make sure to listen all the way through.
Transcripts (c/o jovishark...
2021-07-022h 43Check Displeasedep. 56 | 2.19 - Goodbye for the Summer - IIA tale as old as time -
a story full of joy!
Barely even friends,
then somebody bends (ha ha),
when a man kisses a boy.
Read along with us: 2.19 Goodbye for the Summer II | Blog
Transcripts (c/o jovishark) coming soon to a website near you!
P.S. Thanks for waiting
2021-04-221h 15Check Displeasedep. 55 | 2.18 Goodbye for the Summer II can’t believe Jack and Bitty did the thing! WHAT?! -- Ngozi Ukazu
Read along with us: 2.18 Goodbye for the Summer I | Blog
Transcripts (c/o jovishark) coming soon to a website near you!
2021-03-2259 minCheck Displeasedep. 54 | 2.17 GraduationAlicia Zimmermann squeaking towards the Bechdel test finish line, Bad Bob's bangs, Bitty's bow ties, and Angels in America all in one episode? Sekrit and Tomato dive right in, not to mention they discuss one of the most important Check Displeased questions of all time: does Jack really, actually, literally want to fuck his dad?
Read along with us: 2.17 Graduation | Blog
Transcripts (c/o jovishark) coming soon to a website near you!
2021-03-131h 48Check Displeasedep. 53 | 2.16 Kiss the IceA whirlwind tour of the waning days of Bitty's sophomore year: thematic haircuts, major appliance purchases, not involving your agent in major career decisions ... it can't possibly be sanitary to actually like put your mouth there, right? This was definitely written pre-Covid.
Read along with us: 2.16 Kiss the Ice | Blog
Transcripts (c/o jovishark) coming soon to a website near you!
2021-03-021h 31Check Displeasedep. 52 | 2.15 A (That's It. That's The Name Of The Strip.)Here we have it - what we've all been waiting for. At last! At last! The love song of Ransom and Holster! Ransom and Holster would very much dare to eat a peach (if you know what I mean), and that's why Samwell Men's Hockey votes them in as co-alternate captains, despite zero indications that either of them even wanted a new position (if you know what I mean). Most importantly, Ransom and Holster are both taller than Jack, and we meditate on that for a little while.
Read along with us: 2.15 A | Blog
Transcripts (c/o...
2021-02-221h 23Check Displeasedep. 51 | Jack’s DibsJust when this story was getting good, it's time to stop worrying about that and go check on the little matter of who's going to live in Jack's room when he graduates??? Spoiler, it's Chowder. Love his adult braces but not sure what the point of this gesture is? Sekrit and Tomato break down what a "cinnamon roll" is and why it's kinda problematic that Chowder is one. Also, real talk, Jack should have given his dibs to Bitty.
Read along with us: Jack's Dibs
COMING SOON via jovishark: transcripts! [Soon, we promise. It really...
2021-01-1850 minCheck Displeasedep. 50 | 2.14 Post 3: Last GameHere we have it, folks: the very best strip of Check, Please!, right in time for our fiftieth episode! Sekrit and Tomato realize that Jack becomes ever gayer in his melodramatic sensibilities, question whether going into the NHL is the right decision for someone who has to tear off his jersey and cry in secret after a difficult loss, and once again celebrate Ngozi's concise, potent visual storytelling. Then we start to get into the sweet, sweet Check, Please! conspiracy theories.
Read along with us: 2.14 Post 3: Last Game | Blog
COMING SOON via jovishark: transcripts!
2021-01-161h 15Check Displeasedep. 49 | 2.13 Post II: Frozen FourApproaching their last game on Samwell Men's Hockey, ever, Jack and Shitty stare at the ice and wax philosophical about being in the moment, and "competitive fucking horticulture" -- you know, some early-to-mid-20s bullshit like that. Sekrit and Tomato touch on: things that have been tweeted about eight months ago that are only tacitly referenced in the actual comic; if Bitty is so small he could fit into a hockey bag, is he also so small he could fit inside someone's butt?; why nobody ever questions Jack's solid life plans. Also: what is a photo, though, actually?
2021-01-081h 14Check Displeasedep. 48 | 2.11 Post I: RoadieThis one's loose, everybody - and not just because Tomato unknowingly had COVID while recording it, then edited it with one finger in her new oximeter. We start to think about Bitty's relationship to masculinity, fandom id, migratory slash fandom, and general twinkhood while covering two of the most important debates of all time - Pie vs. Crumble and Roaches vs. Attic. Plus, Sekrit explains the Check Please Renaissance. Belated Hanukkah Sameach! And here's to more of Jack's butt in 2021, a resolution I think we can all get behind (ha ha).
Read along with us: 2.11 Post I: R...
2020-12-301h 31Check Displeasedep. 47 | Shitty's DibsIn this diversion from the main story line, we see Shitty give Lardo dibs on his room at the Haus. Bouncing off of that, Sekrit and Tomato explore all things Shitty/Lardo, Lardo's continued lack of relevance and development, and most importantly, which new varieties of gummy candy to seek out. Wouldn't it be nice if this relationship were explored at all? We do it for you, right here in this very podcast.
Read along with us: Shitty's Dibs
COMING SOON via jovishark: transcripts!
2020-12-211h 06Check Displeasedep. 46 | 2.11 Junior ShowAfter a six month hiatus, Check, Please! came roaring back with this comic ostensibly about Lardo's naked dude art but mostly about Shitty getting into extremely unnaked Harvard Law School? Lardo runs from the room crying, Bitty (who's "never considered [himself] much of an intellectual") disdainfully calls the art on display "creative," and Jack climbs into a vagina - but only in subtext, so what does that mean? Plus Sekrit teaches Tomato a little bit about art history and the legacy of naked dude portraiture!
Read along with us: 2.11 Junior Show | Blog Post
COMING SOON via jov...
2020-12-1453 minCheck Displeasedep. 45 | 2.10 ShinnyIn what proved to be the last comic for a while, ushering in a trend of hiatuses for OMGCP, Samwell Men's Hockey goes to practice on a frozen lake. If this were a different kind of story someone would have fallen in, but the most dramatic thing that happens here is Jack understandably hedges his romantic past to Bitty. Sekrit and Tomato chew on this lovely bit of introspection, and perhaps more importantly--what the hell is Bitty wearing in the first panel? Also: some British history for good measure; what exactly is a spoiler?; is this blog post trying...
2020-12-071h 31Check Displeasedep. 44 | The Parse BlogsKent Parson is a ghost. Or: Kent Parson is a trace of what could have been. Or: Kent Parson is innumerable iterations of collective memory. Or: Kent Parson was invented, then reinvented, by each new generation of Check, Please! fans. Or: Kent Parson has anime eyes and is two steps away from a magical girl transformation sequence and, by the way, is overwhelmed by Jack's big butt??? Sekrit and Tomato get to the bottom (or the behind, if you will) of the question: WHO OR WHAT IS KENT PARSON?
P.S. Check out the Kent Parson Collective Me...
2020-11-301h 18Check Displeasedep. 43 | 2.9 Parse - Part IIIThis is the most infamous strip in the entire comic. How do you summarize that? Bye bye Kenny, it's awful hard to bear! GUESS WE'LL ALWAYS CARE.
Read along with us: 2.9 Parse - Part III | Blog
Also, Tomato is offering to write fucking machine PWP fic for listeners who contribute time and volunteering to the Georgia Senate runoff elections -- or should we say "fun-off"? It is when Bitty has a fucking machine.
2020-11-241h 58Check Displeasedep. 42 | 2.8 Parse - Part IIKent Parson...how do we begin to explain Kent Parson? Kent Parson is flawless. He has a Calder, a Cup, and a silver Lexus. I hear his hands are insured for $10,000. I hear he does Canadian Tire commercials...in Canada. His favorite movie is The Mighty Ducks. One time he met a blonde pop idol on a plane, and she told him he was pretty. One time he punched me in the face...and it was awesome.
Okay, so maybe we also talk about why and how people read this character differently, his structural importance within the...
2020-11-191h 17Check Displeasedep. 41 | 2.7 Parse - Part IHey, U.S. listeners! Please vote.
_/ _/ _/
This is the first of three strips that everyone wants to talk about. And why wouldn't they? We get to meet Kent Parson, the character generating so much hooplah. Sekrit and Tomato talk about how the final panels here tell readers to pay attention, speculate on how the narrative being set up here may not have been resolved in the comic, and contemplate the role of Bitty's vlog in shaping the (un)reliable narration. Also, speaking of Bitty? He has a Confederate flag up in his bedroom.
...
2020-10-211h 07Check Displeasedep. 40 | 2.6 WGSS120 / HIST376: Women, Food, & American CultureJack and Bitty––Outstanding Twitter(pated) Piemaking. That's what OTP stands for, right? Tomato and Sekrit unpack Dr. Alice Atley's slightly dubious pedagogical strategy before trying to figure out whether Jack talking about himself to Bitty's rapt silence counts as flirting yet. Meanwhile, there's a hung jury as to whether puffing flour into someone's face is an effective romantic technique. Does Bitty have a parasocial relationship with his YouTube subscribers? Does this comic have anything to say about internet notoriety? Do these dummies really get 40% of their final grade from making a pie? Well, how do I sign up for...
2020-10-161h 33Check Displeasedep. 39 | 2.5 Providence FalconersIn 2.5 we meet Georgia Martin, assistant general manager for the Providence Falconers, a fake hockey team Ngozi made up for Jack to play on. How do we know that? It says so in the blog post. Also in this blog post: a discussion of "hooplah," and the characters who aren't in the comic yet that generate it. What does an NHL GM do, and what would it mean for a woman of color to be in the front office? How do NHL contracts work? What do we expect George is going to do for this story? And isn't it...
2020-10-071h 25Check Displeasedep. 38 | 2.4 HazeapaloozaThis one's a doozy, and I don't say that just because Bitty's wearing jean cutoffs––it's Hazeapalooza, formerly known as Hazestock, a time-honored SMH tradition in which frogs and Zimmermanns are, and I quote from Massachusetts General Law, Part IV, Title I, Chapter 269, Section 17, subjected to "brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical health or safety of any such student or other person, or which subjects such student or other person to extreme mental stress, including extended deprivation of sleep or rest or extended isolation." Seriously, we get into a pretty intense disc...
2020-10-042h 04Check Displeasedep. 37 | 2.3 Meet the FrogsHEY GUYS, we're hosting a Mighty Ducks viewing party on Saturday, October 3 to raise money for Democrats and other left-leaning causes, especially for the US general election in November. Want to join? E-mail proof of your $10+ contribution to sekritomg@gmail.com! More details here, hope you can make it!
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Samwell Men's Hockey has three rookies, or "frogs," which is a colloquialism for "freshmen," because it's their first year on the team, and language is constantly evolving. Already things are strained between them, and Bitty is asked to mediate. In this hot mess of an episode...
2020-09-291h 14Check Displeasedep. 36 | HS 5: Celly + SURPRISE MAILBAG!HEY GUYS, we're hosting a Mighty Ducks viewing party on Saturday, October 3 to raise money for Democrats and other left-leaning causes, especially for the US general election in November. Want to join? E-mail proof of your $10+ contribution to sekritomg@gmail.com! More details here, hope you can make it!
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There was so little to say about Celly that Tomato and Sekrit decided it was a better use of time to answer some of the asks that had fallen to the bottom of their inbox. We talk about NCAA hockey, university sports culture in the...
2020-09-271h 28Check Displeasedep. 35 | 2.2 Square OneHEY GUYS, we're hosting a Mighty Ducks viewing party on Saturday, October 3 to raise money for Democrats and other left-leaning causes, especially for the US general election in November. Want to join? E-mail proof of your $10+ contribution to sekritomg@gmail.com! More details here, hope you can make it!
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Kewpie-eyed naif Eric Bittle faints on the ice again, and might lose his place on the roster if he can't figure it out. Tomato and Sekrit break down the visual parallels in this update to strips both past and future, and dig into the blog post...
2020-09-231h 20Check Displeasedep. 34 | 2.1 Moved-InMuch like the Haus kitchen before it succumbs to Bitty's tender ministrations, this episode is a g.d. mess! We veer in many directions––from our, uhhh, typically incisive analysis of Bitty's passive aggressive instincts to a discussion of Ngozi's role in encouraging the fandom to a surprisingly long conversation about foreskins––but the pièce-de-resistance is Sekrit's observation that Jack spends this strip dramatically reenacting a certain famous shower scene. Cue the violins!
Read along with us: 2.1 Moved-In | Blog
2020-09-181h 13Check Displeasedep. 33 | Intro to OMGCP Discourse IIContinuing a discussion of "weirdest" fandom discourse, Tomato and Sekrit cycle back around to the social and cultural reasons why things in fandom get contentious, and how these particular motivations bear down on Check, Please fandom. Plus: some stuff about real-life NHL players and how their fanfic analogs are configured in the comic, and how the topics hit on in this two-parter could make for their own breakout conversations.
A big thanks to queerofcups for helping us ID some OMGCP discourses as we were planning this conversation! Check out this fucking amazing fanfic.
NB, this...
2020-09-0950 minCheck Displeasedep. 32 | Intro to OMGCP Discourse IHere we goddamn go. Having finished covering all of Year One, Tomato and Sekrit step away from the comic for a minute to talk about the topic that won a recent special-episode poll: Wankorama: FFA/Weirdest Fandom Discourse. Ranging somehow from Michel Foucault's concept of discourse to whether or not it's possible or recommended to knead pie dough, this deep-dive was so long it'll be continued in part two. In this first half: What's the distinction between discourse and wank? What's this "FFA" we keep talking about and why is it relevant to Check, Please? What makes a discourse "...
2020-09-061h 45Check Displeasedep. 31 | 1.23 DibsDeus ex machina? Don't mind if we do––Sekrit and Tomato tackle this tacked-on final strip of Year One, in which the comic's main characters finally hang out in the same panel! We meander past SJWs and Check, Please!'s on-again-off-again critique of toxic hockey culture before discussing the comic's first year in total. What did we like? What would we change? Most importantly: can you believe A Certain Cowlick is only seven strips away?
Read along with us: 1.23 Dibs
2020-09-0258 minCheck Displeasedep. 30 | 1.22 Goodbye for the SummerMen never have to do any emotional labor or apologize for anything -- and because Jack Zimmermann wants to be one of those, he decides not to, either. Bitty's metaphorical boner for him is radically apparent. (Check out the real deal in Huddle 3, available here.) Plus: Can an author be a fan of their own comic? How much of the rest of this story is being telegraphed here? Who the eff else was going to be captain? If your first husband died and you got remarried, who would you be buried next to? What if you could make a...
2020-08-311h 09Check Displeasedep. 29 | 1.21 BanquetThree cheers for Eric Bittle! Three cheers for Jack Zimmermann! Here, here! Oh, wait, is it hear, hear? Anyway, we love these award-winning gay hockey players, and they secretly love each other, or at least that's what this strip really wants us to think. Sekrit provides a close reading of Jack's spectacularly inane acceptance speech, and Tomato makes the brave suggestion that Jack's haircut kind of make him looks like Reagan? Truly the signs of a romance for the ages!
Read along with us: 1.21 Banquet | Blog
2020-08-2659 minCheck Displeasedep. 28 | 1.20 Playoffs - IIIIn one of OMGCP's most iconic set pieces, Bitty has an assist on Jack's GWG -- and is checked into the air, where he gives a sassy little monologue before losing his helmet. Then Jack looks on horror and mutters his nickname for the first time, so, like, true love. Holy shit, this sport is incredibly violent! Maybe none of these characters should be playing it.
Read along with us: 1.20 Playoffs - III | Blog
2020-08-2353 minCheck Displeasedep. 27 | 1.19 Playoffs - IIIs Check, Please! a soap opera? (No.) Is Check, Please! a slash fic? (Kind of?) Will Jack and Bitty ever do more than bonk their helmets together in front of a romantically hazy yellow background? (Please, that ship has sailed - they've bonked a lot more than that!). Tomato and Sekrit dip their collective toe into the turbulent waters of Jack and Bitty's power dynamics and the necessity of accepting violence in a contact sport before spending a fairly brief but still surprising amount of time dishing about Erica Kane?
Read along with us: 1.19 Playoffs - II | Blog...
2020-08-211h 19Check Displeasedep. 26 | 1.18 Playoffs - IThere are a few installments of Check, Please! that are like, oh, it's this strip. Join us as we talk about the widening gulf between the reality of hockey and the "reality" of OMGCP, personified by two sportscasters everyone in the universe of the comic hates because they dare to evaluate Jack Zimmermann on the basis of how the NHL actually, like, is. Don't they know Bitty wins this comic? Also, put on your ugliest Anthropologie sale-rack floor-length cardigan and meet us in 2008 for a deep dive into the tabloid history of gal pals Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson.
2020-08-161h 25Check Displeasedep. 25 | 1.17 TadpolesWho are these amphibians? Why do we care about them? What do they add to the universe-changing love story between Bitty and that other guy? We dive into these very important questions, and more, like what in deep-fried hell this strip's dancing cookies are doing to productively destabilize Check, Please!'s formal conventions. (Nothing.) Plus: Tomato brings up Homestuck again...sorry about that, everyone.
Read along with us: 1.17 Tadpoles | Blog'
And don't forget to let us know what you want our next SPECIAL EPISODE to be about!
2020-08-121h 38Check Displeasedep. 24 | 1.16 LinematesIn 1.16 Bitty gets put on the first line with Jack, and Sekrit and Tomato break down why Jack has such a problem with it -- he wants to fuck his dad, is that what the blog post is suggesting? -- and why Bitty should even care. Join in for a scintillating breakdown of how this strip is structured and what the vlog element is even doing here. We also get back to the comic's foundation myth via references to "Einhardt" and goons, and complain about Senor Bun. Less thematically important but kind of exciting: Jack's cheekbones make their debut...
2020-08-021h 11Check Displeasedep. 23 | SUPER SPECIAL EPISODE! Oppositional Fandom: South Park & Check, Please!Summer's hottest podcast is Check Displeased, and this episode has everything: truly incredible episode guest jovishark, a deep and fascinating dive into fandom ethics and the personal joys and costs of participating in fandom, at least three references to Bill Hader, South Park hockey classic "Stanley's Cup," and Sekrit's so-controversial-and-yet-so-brave suggestion that what really brings Check, Please! and South Park together is their shared libertarian ethos. Seriously––even if you're not a South Park fan, you should listen to this one.
Watch along with us: "Stanley's Cup," South Park season 10, episode 14. Hit us up if you need a link.
2020-07-302h 45Check Displeasedep. 22 | HS 4: ButtsOne comic into the new semester, were you already getting sick of the plot of Check, Please? Come on down to the bottom separatist commune, where Sekrit and Tomato dig into how the pacing of this comic makes no sense, and why the comedy-writing structure is solid but the jokes, not so much. Why are hockey asses so huge? Why are we told over and over again that Jack's ass specifically is very huge ... but it's never drawn like it is? How many ways are there to attempt to say that you think Jack is a bottom without using...
2020-07-261h 07Check Displeasedep. 21 | 1.15 LardoKicking off Bitty's second semester at Samwell, Sekrit and Tomato meet one of Check Please's most important and allegedly bro-iest characters! A rousing discussion about fine art, dicks, identity, Lardo's lack of on-page burping, the comic's use of a notable queer women's haircut ritual in service of gender conformity, and the ironic detachment of hipster fashion (such as it is) follows. Plus, we start thinking about whether Check Please is misogynist - for a certain value of misogyny.
Read along with us: 1.15 Lardo
2020-07-251h 16Check Displeasedep. 20 | Weird OMGCP fanficIt’s Check Displeased, but--! Nearly 60 percent of voters wanted an episode about weird fanfic, so here's our longest episode yet, all about that. Sekrit and Tomato define "weird fanfic" by first defining typical Check, Please! fanfic, then discuss a few of their favorites across the weird Check, Please! fanfic spectrum. Then, even though nobody voted for it at all, they get into some of their own past and future OMGCP fanfic. No ridicule or sporking, just reveling in absurdity. If this episode is bad, it's not our fault.
Read along with us:
Mon Petit Ch...
2020-07-191h 44Check Displeasedep. 19 | 1.14.5 Winter ScrewIs this strip canon? Who's even read this strip? Does this strip count for anything? Based on the amount of time Tomato and Sekrit spend actually discussing what happens in this slightly lackadaisical strip, the answer to all of these questions appear to be "Who cares?" Luckily, there's plenty of other important stuff to chew on: How much does it matter that Jack cosplays as his dad whenever he wears a suit? Will Jack die of CTE before Bitty graduates with his MFA? What have we learned over the past twelve weeks about how to make a podcast?
2020-07-161h 14Check Displeasedep. 18 | 1.14 The Closet Story - IIIn this actual final installment about the first semester of Bitty's freshman year of college -- as opposed to the conceptual last installment, a Kickstarter bonus strip, coming next episode of Check Displeased -- Bitty comes out to Shitty, and Shitty takes it in stride. Shitty, the protagonist of the comic. Three cheers for Shitty! Make love to me, Shitty! How would you like a list of all 10+ Check, Please! coming out arcs? Also, Sekrit and Tomato discuss how this comic is maybe kind of homophobic -- for a certain value of homophobia.
Read along with us: 1.14...
2020-07-121h 27Check Displeasedep. 17 | 1.13 The Closet Story - I
Ransom and Holster want to set Bitty up for the Winter Screw, and they know just who Bitty will love: a lady who bakes! Sekrit and Tomato discuss this strip's visual foreshadowing, Jack's reaction (or lack thereof) to Bitty's obviously gay character design, and the limitations of coming out narratives. Thus begins Check Please's first iconique arc, in which we discover Bitty's greatest secret - that he apparently hovers anxiously over his pies the whole time they're in the oven?
Read along with us: 1.13 The Closet Story - I
Check out this very important oral hi...
2020-07-091h 34Check Displeasedep. 16 | 1.12 Samwell vs. Yale - III
Sometimes your internet cuts off for hours and you wander all over your apartment complex begging for a connection like alms just so you can pretend you updated your podcast on time. Anyway, that's nothing compared to Bitty and Jack's simultaneous suffering in this episode! We also meet Bad Bob in the flesh, dive into cruelty and luck, and discuss the best ways to deal with Jack's sulky baby personality flaw (drugs and/or spanking?).
Read along with us: 1.12 Samwell vs. Yale - III
Check out this very important oral history project about a...
2020-07-0658 minCheck Displeasedep. 15 | 1.11 Samwell vs. Yale - IIWELCOME BACK
After a brief hiatus while winding down the 2019-2020 school year, Tomato and Sekrit are back with an all-new episode, in which Bitty scores a goal in a hockey game, and ... actually, that's pretty much everything that happens. Some nice visuals here, which we get into, along with the background info on the 2013 Yale men's hockey team you've been eagerly anticipating all podcast. Also: Isn't every shot a lucky shot?
Read along with us: 1.11 Samwell vs. Yale - II
Also, help us pick our special episode! Vote **here** until Sunday, until J...
2020-07-0144 minCheck Displeasedep. 14 | 1.10 Samwell vs. Yale - IJack and Bitty start to warm up to each other, as Bitty stumbles onto Jack being emotionally vulnerable in Canadian French and then they awkwardly talk about it for about three panels. Is Bitty overstepping here, and if so, what does that mean? We also discuss Jack's infamous symbolically potent yellow gym shoes and which shounen ai conventions made him so incredibly tsundere. Plus Sekrit drags Beyonce back into it to dig up the metaphorical applications of the fourth single from her third studio album, which we start to see coalescing in this strip.
Read along with...
2020-06-0855 minCheck Displeasedep. 13 | 1.9 Family WeekendBitty's mother is in some ways the most developed female character in Check Please, and with her introduction we finally meet a lady who's not just puking in the background. Is it a problem that we got 13 episodes into this before meeting a woman with a pulse? Also, it's kind of weird that Bitty calls her his "best friend," right? And it's definitely weird that he wants to take her to a frat house he doesn't even live at to bake a pie while naked college students get high in the next room, right? And it's super weird that...
2020-06-0553 minCheck Displeasedep. 12 | HS 3: NicknamesA short episode about a mostly weightless little comic strip, in which Seko and Tomatey learn that hockey bros aren't very creative. We talk about Shitty's actual name, and why Jack doesn't have a nickname at all. Also, wait, why are Nazis funny? Lovers of autofiction, this installment is for you.
Read along with us: HS 3: Nicknames
2020-05-2735 minCheck Displeasedep. 11 | 1.8 Checking ClinicAll positive queer rep starts when you get someone out of bed at 4 in the morning and then drag them to an ice rink to experience repeated trauma, and ends when you propose to them at the site of the very trauma you forcibly inflicted. Maybe that's the moral of this comic? Hard to say! Just one of those things. Sekrit and Tomato discuss that, and also Lucille Ball again, and roller derby again, but it's no one's fault that formulaic sitcom writing and violent contact sports are relevant to this comic, okay. Also, this strip introduces us to...
2020-05-2549 minCheck Displeasedep. 10 | 1.7 Assist!Welcome to the Check Displeased tenth-episode anniversary special, an exploration of a strip where Bitty sits in front of a webcam for the vast majority of it. We get into why the comic doesn't give us any hockey action, and consider how much of Jack's chick-wheeling is a social construction that exists mostly in Ransom and Holster's heads. Actually, we talk about Jack a lot, for someone who's not even in this comic? Also: substance abuse in hockey, and why Bitty wants to play this extremely violent game in the first place.
Read along with us: 1.7 Assist!
2020-05-2045 minCheck Displeasedep. 9 | 1.6 The Hockey Prince (2/2)Sekrit and Tomato continue their look at Jack's backstory, going panel by panel through the strip with a particular eye to how the story's being told. Is there any logic in Jack's circuitous path to the NHL, or is he just a just a bad planner? Was he actually an addict? Really trying to kill himself? How disappointed is his dad, actually? The comic never answers any of those questions, but this strip very much raises them -- and gave OMGCP fandom a ton to chew on in the process. Also, click for some hot content about early-2000s...
2020-05-171h 07Check Displeasedep. 8 | 1.6 The Hockey Prince (1/2)Welcome to the multipart Hockey Prince bonanza. In this installment we learn -- and maybe our hero the Little Shit also learns? -- that Jack is such a bitch because he was a mentally ill teenage drug addict who thought his daddy didn't love him. This hard truth stands in contrast to a beautifully illustrated storybook presentation that draws on genre expectations to do its heavy lifting, and we are so impressed (and maybe still a little excited, you know, sexually?) that we gush about it for hours.
Read along with us: 1.6 The Hockey Prince
2020-05-1344 minCheck Displeasedep. 7 | 1.5 Bad Bob ZimmermannOn this episode we find out that Bitty stans a legend: RKO Pictures chorus girl turned comedienne turned TV mogul Lucille Ball, whose influence penetrates the rest of Check, Please! to a near-inescapable degree. And also we meet the love interest’s dad or something, kind of. Plus we get into some vagaries of money in the US higher education system and do some Beyonce lyrics close reads. This episode is best enjoyed with some weight-loss gum!
Read along with us: 1.5 Bad Bob Zimmermann
2020-05-0748 minCheck Displeasedep. 6 | HS 2: ChirpThis episode really tries our patience because it's standing between the beginning of the podcast and the first great OMGCP strip. After another two installments of what maybe you could call plot, the comic goes back to Ransom and Holster to teach us the meaning of the word “chirp.” Are chirping and flirting variations on the same theme, Bitty? Is Check Please a romcom? Is it a sports narrative? Why is the fat character in this strip the only fat character drawn in the entire comic? Also we talk about Tyler Seguin for some reason.
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2020-05-0346 minCheck Displeasedep. 5 | 1.4 The HausAs Bitty goes to the Haus for the first time, we get into the place of magic realism in the comic, what is or isn't funny about sriracha (opinions are split), and compare way too many things to South Park. What kind of pot do you think Bitty would smoke? Isn't pie actually kind of overrated? But forget about that, because this is the strip where we meet iconic Check, Please! heroes Ollie and Wicky, future husbands, home-improvement buffs, and white collar job-havers. We also cover the symbolism of Bitty's wardrobe and the darkness in Shitty's grandiosity. Get psyched.
2020-04-301h 02Check Displeasedep. 4 | 1.3 The CoachesThe coaches! Boy, did they impact the plot of Check, Please! Technically we meet them in the strip named after them, but as Sekrit and Tomato discuss, it depends on how you define the confusing concepts of "meet" and "them." Also: Is this where the plot begins? What's the difference between meanness and criticism in fandom? Plus we talk about Doonesbury, which is basically the same thing as Check Please, if you think about it. Except, you know, it's not. But we definitely get into it, don't worry, along with the terms "soft hands" and "spinorama."
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2020-04-261h 03Check Displeasedep. 3 | R&H 1: FlowAfter following the main plot for two entire strips, it's time to take a detour into side material that isn't part of the actual comic, or is it? This episode has it all: talk of paratexts, a definition of gesamtkunstwerk, and personal anecdotes from the lives of your podcasters. Neither the protagonist nor the most important character is in this strip, but we find a way to make it worthwhile, maybe. Put on your best worst French-Canadian accent, do or don't wash your hair, and prepare to immerse yourself in the arcane world of hockey culture.
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2020-04-2251 minCheck Displeasedep. 2 | 1.2 The BoysOn the second installment of Check Displeased, Tomato and Sekrit chat a little more about 1.1 in light of recent comic updates, speculate on how many eggs a person should eat, try to figure out who or what is Jonathan Toews, and get super psyched to meet The Boys. Would you Get Married For The Boys? You wouldn't know it from this strip, but, the protagonist of this comic would! To the Most Important Character, no less, who we meet in this very episode!
Read along with us: 1.2 The Boys
2020-04-191h 04Check Displeasedep. 1 | 1.1 Eric BittleOn the first episode of Check Displeased, Tomato and Sekrit give background on the webcomic that's been haunting them for four to seven years, meet the story's protagonist, and start figuring out how to make a podcast.
Read along with us: 1.1 Eric Bittle
2020-04-1539 min