Episode 200! Fun Pod History & Best Episodes Over the Years

In honor of the podcast's 200th episode, Matt looks at some fun podcast history stats and goes through his favorite episodes for each month over the years! 

Let us know what your favorite episode of the pod is in the comments!

Don't forget to Subscribe, Like, and Share!

Time Codes:
00:00 - Opening Act: Episode 200!
04:23 - Fun Pod History Stats
08:01 - Best Episodes by Month Over the Years
23:44 - Curtain Call

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#best #milestone #history #200 #downoncemorepod

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everyone? Welcome to another episode of Down Once More. I'm your host, Matt, and welcome to what is officially the 200th episode of the podcast. There have been a few extra stragglers on YouTube, Love Island reviews individually instead of grouped together, but this is episode 200 on audio platforms. And I'll be honest, uh when this started, I wasn't sure that we would get here. Now, if you are tuning in on YouTube, uh apologies for the jump scare. As I am clean-shaven for the first time in like 11 years uh due to an accident initially, and uh it was a mistake. I look like I am 12. And it like it's bad. My Windows hello on my computer did not recognize me, so I had to use my actual password to log in. And so that was just been a nightmare. But thank you for tuning in, whichever way you're listening. Plug, subscribe, follow, share, all that fun stuff. I'm getting that out of the way at the beginning. For this week's episode, since it is the 200th one, um, I thought what I would do is go back because we're about to enter our fourth year of the podcast as well. The first episode came out February 1st, 2022. So we're nearing that milestone. It was a big year in the podcast. I did a recap of kind of my favorite episodes from each month a while back, and so I thought, you know what? For the 200th episode, I wanted to look back at not just the year, but the entire history of the podcast. I'm not gonna break down how it got started, everything like that. I've done that before. You can tune in, uh, got everything tagged nicely, got some fun playlists over on YouTube. You can check it out that way. Um, but I went through and I put together, like looked at all the years, all the episodes that we've done, and picked my favorite episode from each month. There's a couple that have uh an honorable mention thrown in there as well, but thought I'd give a few other highlights. I I think it's fun, it's interesting, always seeing what kind of milestones people hit, and also just because I haven't had time to watch or prepare any new fun drafts or get guests on an interview. Um, some developments I have talked about in here, personal life's been throwing a wrench in things, not that you care, but hopefully by the end of February things will calm down a bit and I'll be able to ramp up what kind of my vision for the year has been and start to actually get that kicked in. Uh, I will be seeing Hades Town as well, so that will be the review for this month coming out in a couple weeks. So the national tour, I'm excited about it. So make sure to subscribe so you're notified when that goes live. Uh, I mentioned the first episode of the podcast was published on February 1st, 2022. I was in Jamaica at the time, so it was my first kind of out-of-the-country trip, too. So I was like, I thankfully there's not a big time difference, but I was checking, making sure everything went live from my phone, the the resort Wi-Fi, and so it was a little bit hectic, but it was very exciting at the same time. Our very first episode was Rayleigh and I reviewing Phantom of the Opera. Uh musical that kind of one of the ones that connected us and kind of brought us together, and is what gave the show its actual its name, right? Down once more at the towards the end of the second act. And Phantoms bring Christine down to his lair after he's been revealed on stage. And so that's kind of where the name came from. And so we're like, well, it'd only be right if that's our very first review. And so the title of the first episode was The Phantom, creator of the first sex doll. And uh, you'd have to tune in to find out. Now that was before some audio things were recording on Zoom back in the day, it didn't have as nice of a mic, camera, all that fun stuff. So it is a little nostalgia if you listen to it. So bear with those earlier one had some technical things that wasn't quite as polished. Not that this is a full grade all of the way out there now, but it's kind of cool to see how the podcast cast has progressed over time. Recently, though, in podcast news, my I mentioned it the past week, my Love Island USA this past season, episode 32, the Viva Las Villa episode. That recap episode has gotten over 1.3 thousand views in the last two days. And it is now the second most viewed episode of the podcast ever. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because the new season of Love Island All Stars with the UK is starting up, so people are searching Love Island. Not sure how that got to be uh the top one up there that people are grabbing to, but hey, gotten us a few new subs. Hopefully, if you're here from that and you're expecting Love Island content, you enjoy the pod and stick around. I thought I would mention before I get into my favorite episodes, uh a few things. Like I mentioned, this episode, the Viva Las Villa episode had 1.3,000 views in the last two days. It does bring it, it was already sitting there, but it's now in the 1,000 views, 1,000 plus views club of the podcast. Only have a few episodes that have hit that mark. Um, the next to normal Pro Shot review when we reviewed it back when it aired on PBS originally. That one's sitting at 1.1,000. The last of a season two finale has 1.2000. That Love Island USA episode 32 is the Nicolandria one where I said we need to talk. That's when I was over that couple before they eventually won me over. That one has 1.3,000 views. My House of the Dragons season two finale recap has 1.8,000 views, which we got a new season of House of the Dragon coming out this month this year, as well as the Knight of the Seven Kingdom series premieres at the end of this month. Um, and then the Viva Las Villa Bove Island episode 33 is what it was of the last USA season. That has 3.2,000 views now, and then my Shrek National Tour Review one has 4.6,000 views. So that's the 1,000 plus views club, a very uh pristine and distinguished list that the Viva Laws Villa episode of Love Island, which I don't even think is one of my best episodes of the Love Island recaps, is on there. The Nickelandria one, that one, I I cooked with that one. And so that one I'm proud of. I also hate that really, really hate that I just say I said I cooked with it. But uh I do my podcast publishing through Buzz Sprout. Um I it's been really good platform, really easy to use. I can upload it one place, pushes it to all the podcast feeds. Lovely, love it. Uh they publish stats for your podcast, they send them to you at the end of the year. So I thought I'd share a few fun notes from that. Uh published 79 episodes in 2025, which made it our biggest year yet. Have over a third of the episodes coming out in 2025. So that was huge. Uh, we total on the podcast. There were in 2025, there were 3,185 minutes podcasting that we published to our feed. So you've got lots of stuff to check out. There were downloads because that's the only thing the audio can really track, not streams, but it tracks downloads. How many people actually download your podcast? But it was downloaded down once more was in 46 different countries this past year. Uh probably shout out VPNs a little bit there. And we grew our downloads by over 100% from 2024 to 2025. So that was also a really exciting stat to see that I was very proud of. But now, a little bit because 200 episodes is a lot. And I know when I first started listening to podcasts, some of my favorite podcasts that I got into had such a huge backlog of episodes that I didn't know where to start and how to kind of get caught up. Now it's always best. And what I did uh when I could was try to go back to the beginning and start and go from there. And it was cool, really cool to see the kind of progression and the growth that podcasts have. Hopefully, you'd see that with here. But I thought I would go through, look at the history, and pick out my favorites from the month, like I said. So let's go through that. My favorite episodes, there's two, I couldn't narrow it down that we've published in January. The first one came out January 11th of 2023. So that 2023 was the first year that we started doing a podcast episode a week. And the initial setup was I would do two solo episodes, and Rayleigh and I would do two episodes together. We'd have one that was just kind of random BS, and then one that was the actual musical review one. So the one on January 11th was our kind of random BS one. The title is You Can Keep Your Nipples, I'll Keep My Ice. Um, this one we did some random topics and we did a draft of what you would want to take with you if you're stranded on a desert island. And so you'll have to tune in to see where the title comes from. But we had a lot of fun with that. It's a little chaos starting out the new year, and really enjoy that one. And then one from just last year, 2025, was on January 29th. Brad and I reviewed Kneecap, the kind of true, mostly true biopic of the Irish language rap group uh Kneecap, where they star as themselves in the movie. And that episode's titled Snubbed: The Oscars Hate Irish Rap. And we had a lot of fun with that one. It was a great movie to kick off the new year. That movie has so much energy, it's wild, it's crazy over the top. Uh, check it out if you haven't already, and then check out Brad and I's review of it. For February, um, my favorite episodes that we've done was in 2023, we reviewed the Dear Evan Hansen movie adaptation. That episode's title, Hold Holy Sadness, Batman. And Rayleigh and I reviewed it together. You'll have to I've talked about it at length on here, so if you've been a longtime listener, you know my feelings about the Dear Evan Hansen movie adaptation. But the musical itself is one that was near and dear to me. So I broke down some of the differences between Broadway and the movie and talked about some of the powerful, impactful statements they try to make with this musical and how some of them hit and some of them don't. But I just there is some beautiful music in that show, so I really like that review that we did. And then from 2024 uh was on February 14th, so Valentine's Day was our top five musical love songs, Valentine's Day draft. That was actually my brother Brad and I did that draft of what we think some of the best love songs from musicals are. Had a lot of fun with it, so check that one out, too. Going over to March, uh, a couple ones here as well. I I said I had one from each month. There's only two months where I only picked one episode. Every other one, I'm like, ah, there's two, and I can't narrow it down between these two. Uh, March was a musical songs draft. Rayleigh and I did a 10-round draft on March 8th, 2023, and really had a lot of fun with that. I did something similar with Sage, except we did favorite cover-to-cover musical albums recently, just a couple months ago. And I love, like I said, most of my playlist is comprised of songs from musicals. So I like talking about what they mean to me and why they impact me. If you've been with the pod for a while, you know when it comes to musicals, I am by no means a musical theory expert. Uh, I am not a gifted singer or talented anyway, whatsoever. But what I judge and base musicals off of is does it elicit a response and a feeling of emotion in me? A feeling of emotion, a little bit of a hat and a hat, but uh does it make me feel something? That's what I look for in a musical. And the ones that elicit the most emotion and the biggest reaction out of me, that's kind of where I tend to gravitate, and that's why I love musical songs because they're telling a story, and I feel like I'm able to connect with the characters and where they're at in that moment, and I like being transported to there and just listening to that when I have time to throw some music on. And then the other one was on March 6, 2024, was the Shrek the Musical, the my review of the 2024 revamped national tour. I saw it at the second stop in the tour, and that review took off, had uh comments and some interactions with the musical director, uh Nicholas Hambrook, who played Shrek, um, and a couple of the other actors from the cast commented on it, and so that was really cool to see. And some sharing it to their Instagram. The musical director shared it to his as well. Just really cool to see that response. And that was the first one I had really seen like that in the podcast since it came out. Moving on to April. On April 26, 2023, I really enjoyed Rayleigh and I's review of Sweeney Todd. That episode is titled Fingers in the Meat Pie. Um, and then I also really liked a solo one that I did this year back on April 9th, uh 2025. And that was the top 20 Broadway songs that hit you in the feels. Uh, like I just said, those are the songs that make up the majority of my playlist. So I really enjoy going through and sharing some of my favorites and why they are my favorites, and hopefully they will be something that resonates with you as well. Moving on to May, on May 24th, 2023, our episode Our Love is God, our Heather's the Musical Review. Uh, that was when Rayleigh and I did together. The Pro Shop was on Roku. They did a pro shot of the West End production. It is no longer on Roku anymore, even though it was a Roku original. And it I it's not streaming anywhere, and you can't buy or rent it anywhere, which is disappointing. Someone has uploaded the full thing, it is on YouTube. I was able to see, but Heather's the Musical is one of my favorite musicals. So having a ProShot version of it to discuss, um, and this was before it was revived just um off Broadway, and it was announced that they are gonna be doing a national tour, which I believe kicks off in 2027, either the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027 is when that slated to kick off. So I'm excited, may have the opportunity to actually see Heathers, but until then, check out the review. It was one that Rayleigh was unfamiliar with, but it had been one of my favorites, the cast recording for a while. So I was excited to talk about it. Then on May 8th, 2024, Brad joined and we did a draft of parent-approved songs. It was our parent-approved songs draft, which was it was cool to kind of reflect on growing up. We strike you listen to Christian music. And so talking about what that looked like, how we would find workarounds, and what was kind of our our favorites from that era and that time period of our life was kind of neat to be nostalgic and reflect a bit with Brad. So had a lot of fun with that draft. For June, uh June or week month of the podcast. Uh, my favorite one was from June 14th, 2023. It was a random uh mini episode with Rayleigh and I. Uh and it was called The Supposedly Dilemma. And it was where we did a draft, which at the time we just called them we called them set list. I was trying to make everything music related in the different segments. And so we did a set list of pet peeves. So, what our top pet peeves were. So we had fun with that one, just a little bit of random. I enjoy those moments as well. Uh, in July. On July 26, 2023, uh, Brad and I did a book-to-movie adaptations draft, and we had different rules with that. It was primarily just movies, but we had to have one musical in there as well, and then we had some pretty substantial honorable mentions list. Brad snaked some of my top draft picks in there, but we had a lot of fun with it, and I think you would enjoy checking it out as well. On that note, this weekend I binged the new Netflix series, His and Hers with John Burndhal and Tessa Thompson. This is an adaptation of the Alice Feeney novel of the same name, which I didn't know before I started the series, but it's a six-episode limited series. It was fantastic. I binged it in one day. I could not stop watching it. Highly recommend you check it out. Fantastic performances across the board in it, really enjoyable, a great mystery thriller. So that's a good booked TV adaptation that I would highly recommend. Moving on to August for the pod. Uh, two episodes here as well. On August 23rd, 2023, uh Rayleigh and I reviewed Cyrino, and that episode's titled, Is Peter Dinklage Too Hot? And the answer may surprise you. Tune into the episode. Uh, but Cyrano is one of those musicals that I didn't know a ton before I saw the movie adaptation, and it is one of the most beautifully shot musicals that I have ever seen. The cinematography is amazing, and the performances are actually really strong in it as well. It was one that on my first watch, I didn't wasn't really sure how I felt about it. It's not usually my vibe, it's a little bit more of a slower and orchestral uh musical note, more than a lot of the more contemporary pop, rock, rock operas that I appreciate and usually gravitate towards. But this one, a more traditional kind of score to it, it is beautiful. I absolutely love it, and this musical is one that has grown in appreciation for me over time, but it is a little bit of a downer, so I hesitate when I recommend it to people. Um, but also one that I would recommend is from 2024, and that's our August 14th episode, which was our hundredth episode of the podcast. And Brad joined and we did a draft of the best musical opening numbers and had a lot of fun with that one. On September 13th, 2023 was our 50th episode, and Rayleigh and I did a draft of Deserted Island Disney Companions. So we had fun with that one. Who, if you had to choose a Disney character to be stuck on a desert island with, who would it be? And so that one, there's a little bit of ridiculousness in that, and I cannot be holding held accountable for the things I said in 2023, but it was fun. On September 24th, 2025 was another one of my favorites, and that's when Brad and I reviewed Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic, Robbie Williams biopic that I've talked about at length on here as well. Um, the episode's titled Let Me Entertain You. It's a review. Check out Better Man, it is so good, even if you don't know who Robbie Williams is. I didn't before I went into it, and I was sold on this movie. So check that out. For October, October 3rd, 2022. So our first year of the podcast, when we just did one episode a month, uh, was titled This May Have Ended the Podcast. And that was Rayleigh and I reviewed Moulin Rouge, Boz Lerman's classic movie, and had very differing opinions on it. So it was a little bit contentious. Rayleigh had had some technical issues, so I had to I was working with support. This is when we were on Riverside, we still are, um, to recover the files. And so videos low quality if you watch on YouTube, and the audio from Rayleigh is a little eh, but it is such a fun episode and very contentious. One of the first times we uh fought on the podcast, so check that one out. Moving on to November. On November 8th, 2023, we had an episode titled Matt and Rayleigh Get Probed. It was one of our random episodes, and basically it was we each came up with 10 probing questions for each other. We didn't know what the questions were gonna be ahead of time, and we got into it. Uh, a lot of fun, a lot of things were revealed. Uh I'll be honest, I did not really listen to these, so I do not remember what all was revealed, but I remember that got a little real at some times, but not in like a scary way, but like in a fun way and an open and honest way. So I think that one is a good one to check out as well. And then in 2024, on November 13th, Brad and I reviewed Muppet Treasure Island. That episode's titled Puppeteering and Pirateering. That was a movie that was a staple of our childhood, and so getting to re-watch that after what had been years and discuss it together was a lot of fun. For December, so closing out the year now, on December 6, 2023, uh was the episode titled That Escalated Quickly. Now, this episode we there was a period of time where I am like, okay, what's a different segment we can throw in here? And I always like Finish the lyrics games, and that's when there was, I think on Fox there was one that was going on, and so I'm like, we should do something like that, but don't want to play copyrighted music, so came up with a game and we titled it Shut the Fuck Up or STFU if you want to be appropriate, where each of us would curate a playlist of about 10 songs and then send it to the other person. That person would then choose a random song, go to a certain point in the song, say a line of a lyric, and then you had to finish it. So it was banking on how well you knew the songs. Uh there was points, the points became a little convoluted as it went on. But on this episode, December 6th, was our holiday edition. So it was our favorite uh Christmas, winter themed songs, and we went back and forth on that. It got contentious, but we had a lot of fun with it. Uh, lots of laughs were shared. I think it's a fun one to check out. And then in 2024, we had our episode, The Wednesday fell on Christmas. So it was our Christmas spectacular. And it was basically two episodes that we merged together in a massive one. So Rayleigh and I reviewed the ridiculously cheesy Netflix Christmas movie, The Merry Gentleman. And then Brad and I did a draft of the best Christmas movies, but somehow we managed to kind of come up with the worst list of best Christmas movies ever. But um, it was a lot of fun. That's like a mega episode. I think it's almost two hours long. A really good time. If you're looking for a watch over the holidays or a listen, check that out. And then that kind of brings it to the end of the things. I wanted to talk about this episode. I'll get a little bit mushy and sentimental. Uh I know this year has not kicked off podcast-wise how I wanted it to. And last year didn't finish like it. Um, real life's crazy, and social media, online, entertainment, things like that all exist. Um, sometimes you need to take a step back and realize what's actually important, and that's the things around you, the people you love, family, friends, all that sort of thing. Uh, sometimes you need to just disconnect from a while and take a little break. Uh, things can be heavy, and so those of you that choose to listen or watch this podcast to unwind or for a break from everything else, for some entertainment, for some laughs, hopefully, I really appreciate all of you over the years. Uh seeing the podcast grow, those of you that I've had conversations with, either in the YouTube comments, Instagram DMs, um, over time has been awesome to get to know some of you. Uh I have a few of you on the podcast with Sage Rayleigh. Not Rayleigh, Sage, uh, Amy, and um just it's been a lot of fun. It has been a wild four years. Uh, a lot of work goes into doing a podcast, and so I feel like I am like kind of giving of myself every time that I'm doing it, just um putting the energy into something, and so you gotta have some enjoyment for it yourself. Um we said from the very beginning when Rayleigh and I started it, ultimately the views, the subscribers, the likes, the fans like that doesn't matter. The reason we initially started it was a way to connect over a shared love for musicals and just the power that they have. And that is still what the podcast is at the core. Uh, me trying to share my passion, connect with other people, it's moved into passion for other just music as a whole, movies, TV, things like that. Just share my passions and try to connect with people on a similar wavelength, bring people together, and I've really enjoyed that. So, those of you who choose in the limited free time you have with how busy life is to listen, watch, subscribe, comment, interact, all that stuff means the world to me. I really appreciate all of you. Um, slide in the Instagram DMs, drop a YouTube comment, what you want to see in 2026. Do you have a favorite podcast episode of ours? Uh, drop that in the comments as well. Share it with other people. Uh, do you agree with my list? Did my list inspire you to go check out another one? If it did, if you're on YouTube, drop a comment on that video. Let us know that this video sent you there. Otherwise, like I said, let us know on Instagram. I love hearing from you guys what you enjoy, what you want to see more of. So appreciate you all. Hopefully, you're having a great start to the new year. Hopefully, the 2026 is the best year yet. Here we go. Love y'all. Thank y'all. Don't forget to go down once more. Later.