User:Therealdantheman/WhatIsJoppa.com

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Image:Joppa Title.jpg
Joppa title screen (season 3)

Joppa (also known as WhatIsJoppa.com) is a widely popular internet comedy show featuring the acting talents of Mike Mooney, Thom W. Neff, Ben Therrien, and Ben M. Watts. Generally, the show is about the four tie-wearing buddies asking each other questions. The show mainly takes place in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Much of the humor comes from them laughing at, but mostly panning, each other’s off-beat attempts to be funny. Joppa is made by independent film group FM Crew. Thousands of viewers have enjoyed watching the show, and Joppa fansites are starting to pop up on the internet. New episodes are uploaded to the website weekly, late on Sunday nights.

Contents

[edit] Characters

The four main characters in the show actually play caricatures of their real-life selves. They refer to themselves as Joppans.

[edit] Thom Neff

Neff grew up in Newburyport, where he currently lives. He acts as the unappointed leader of the group and is also the most frequent writer/director of the show. Thom Neff appears to be fluent in Spanish.

[edit] Ben M. Watts

Watts also lives in Newburyport. He plays the "nay-sayer" and is known to lie more often than the rest of the group. Watts doesn't consider himself a "cat person," though he is considering getting a dog.

[edit] Ben Therrien

In Joppa, Ben Therrien lives in Salem, Massachusetts. He is perhaps the most cynical of the group. Ben Therrien also appears to have a close relationship with his grandma, although she makes no appearance in the show.

[edit] Mike Mooney

Mooney lives in Dover, New Hampshire. He plays the "dummy" in the group, though he occasionally shows off a more intelligent side. He is also the only classicaly trained actor of the Joppans. Originally, Mooney was hesitant to join in the "quest for answers concerning Joppa and otherwise," however he eagerly began after Thom offered him five million dollars. He has yet to receive five million dollars, but continues to happily search for the answers to Joppa. Mooney's catchphrase is "Don't follow?".

[edit] Recurring Characters

  • The Large Orange Ball
  • The French Tree
  • The Small Stone Pig
  • Small British Man
  • Dr. Dunbar
  • Joker Smooham
  • Dr. Hawkeye
  • Rick Rueben
  • Earl Grey
  • Tom
  • Chinaman

[edit] Episode list

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Season One

Each of the first season’s episodes begin at a crumbling park bench. They begin with a question and by the end of the episode, turn up a new question as a cliffhanger for the next episode.

  1. What Does Joppa Mean?
  2. Where Am I Going To Get Ten Million Dollars?
  3. Did You Ever Consider Just Buying a Cat?
  4. Isn't That Where the Coat Factory Came From?
  5. Isn't the Lupus Like A Giant Rabbit?
  6. Do You Enjoy the Yogalates?
  7. Is Jive a Language?
  8. What Idea Was That?
  9. What the Hell is Hyperbole?
  10. Didn't They Change it to Freedom?
  11. Didn't They Change it to Freedom? (reprise)
  12. Am I Being Interviewed?
  13. What Plans Are Those?
  14. How Much Is That In Hands?
  15. How Does It End?

[edit] Season Two

Season two is similar to the first in that the opening of the episode is related to the last statement of the previous episode. This season also introduces the use of original film score.

  1. Salmon
  2. China
  3. Tiger
  4. Abacus
  5. Poacher
  6. Peaches (WAJE)
  7. Throwback
  8. Farfalle
  9. Vietnam
  10. Duck
  11. Joppa

[edit] Season Three

In Season Three, the group goes through the recently discovered book, The Guidelines to Joppa: A Deeper Look Into Joppans as We Know and Love, by Dr. Dunbar and Joker Smooham, one chapter at a time. The orange ball, abducted late in season two, remains missing through the third season. Season Three is more dramatic and also contains more extra characters than in previous seasons.

  • Chapter 1: The Return of Thom Neff
  • Chapter 2: All The Lying
  • Chapter 3: Dr. Ben M. Watts, M.D.
  • Chapter 4: The Misinformation Super-Highway
  • Chapter 5: Breaking the Fourth Wall
  • Chapter 6: The Future Specific
  • Chapter 7: Joppa's Wild Kingdom
  • Chapter 8: Opposite Day (WAJE)
  • Chapter 9: Throwing Punchlines
  • Chapter 10: The Disappearance of Joppa Characters

[edit] Joppa: The Podcast

During season three the team also produced a series of shorter episodes for iPods.

  • Pre-Season: In Like Flynne
    In which Thom and Watts discuss the origins of a catchphrase.
  • Pre-Season: You're So Vain
    In which Thom and Mike discuss the work of Warren Beatty.
  • Pre-Season: Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
    In which Ben Therrien refuses the gifts of Michael.
  • Pre-Season: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
    In which Watts and Ben Therrien discuss city-planning.
  • 1: Legally Blind
    In which Thom prepares a Thanksgiving feast. Featuring Aquinnah Casey as the turkey.
  • 2: Everyone's In JFK
    In which Thom and Ben Therrien attend film class.
  • 3: Speaker Phone
    In which Mike learns how to communicate.
  • 4: Previously On Joppa?
    In which fans of Joppa show their love.
  • 5: The Slapping Duel
    In which Mooney buys a new hat.
  • 6: Reading Into Submissions
    In which the boys sit down and judge the WAJE competition.

[edit] Who Shot Ben Therrien?

Recently Joppa has begun work on a new series called "Who Shot Ben Therrien?" (Sometimes referred to as Season 3.5, WSBT, or The Search for Season Four.) This season begins with Ben Therrien being shot by an unknown culprit, his last words being "I knew a man, Bojangles, and he danced for you." The remaining Joppa crew thus begins their search for Ben Therrien's killer. The main differences between this season and the other three are that it is in black and white and has a wide variety of guest roles, as well as a more somber mood to it. This season also fetures a crossover with the webseries Hero Envy. Short introductions to the episodes are given by Joppa fans, including Nate Corddry. So far, the episodes include:

  1. Prologue
    In which everything you know is wrong....
  2. The Pirate
    In which Thom, Mike, and Ben deal with Gordon Lightfoot, Native Americans, and Elton John.
  3. Switzerland
    In which Thom, Mike, and Ben visit an old friend, discuss finances, and the color Red.
  4. Ruebens
    In which a well-known name is "produced," and the notion of "steak" is discussed.
  5. Ice Cream
    In which Joppa "smacks down" on the disabled, and Mooney ruins a good shirt.
  6. The Spanish
    In which an old Native saves the day, and a New Mexican speaks in riddles.
  7. Sandwiches
    In which a great secret is revealed, and Joppa starts to think... outside the box...
  8. Brothers
    In which Moon-Man gets an art education, and a revelation "may" have occured...
  9. The Chinaman
    In which Hero Envy and Joppa cross streams...
  10. The Sixties
    In which everything is set-up for the final conclusion to Who Shot Ben Therrien...
  11. Who Shot Ben Therrien
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Music

The Joppans appear to be proud of their music taste, and use an eclectic selection of music to back up the show. They also make several musical references, including reciting Elton John lyrics, and discussing Yanni and La Bamba.

Songs featured on Joppa include:

[edit] Press Coverage

Recently, the Joppa team were interviewed by The Wire for a cover story, there are also upcoming articles in the Newburyport Daily News (delivered to 14,000 homes) and have been interviewed by The Boston Globe and Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

During it's run, the Joppa podcast held a place in the top five iTunes podcasts and was listed as "New and Notable". Joppa is to be MySpace's featured comedian on the 6th of September 2006.

[edit] External links


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