Pacific Coast Hellway

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Pacific Coast Hellway is an adult-themed podcast hosted by author, screenwriter Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff from Los Angeles, California. Featuring uncensored comedy and rants, Nemcoff records the show each weekday inside of his self described BMW "3-series studio" during his commute to work along Southern California's famed Pacific Coast Highway to his office in Venice Beach, CA. Pacfic Coast Hellway boasts a team of eight writers writing their scripts for each show.

Contents

[edit] History

In May 2005, Nemcoff launched Pacific Coast Hellway as a one-man operation but the demands of doing five shows a week led Mark to bring aboard additional comedy writers to help contribute in the beginning of August 2005. In September 2005, Pacific Coast Hellway added more writers to its staff and a troupe of actors known as the "Pacific Coast Hellplayers".

In November 2005, Pacific Coast Hellway made its debut on Sirius Satellite Radio when Adam Curry added the show to his PodSquad. In addition to its daily downloadable podcast, Pacific Coast Hellway also appears on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 102 in the timeslot immediately after Adam Curry's Daily Source Code.

Citing creative differences, the original Hellplayers and some of the additional writers departed the show during early 2006 [1]. Although sketches featuring a new cast of Hellplayers are played, sketches featuring the originals have been occasionally repeated on the show as recently as August 2006. Shortly after their departure, the original Hellplayers formed a new podcast entitled The Monkey Box.

In 2006, Nemcoff assisted in the launch and operation (as Director of New Content) of PodShow L.A. and is the creator of the Podshow dramatic series "Shadow Falls" and the upcoming game show "Boned". Shadow Falls, touted as "podcasting's first professionally-produced drama series"[citation needed] made it's network debut in the summer of 2006.

The current PCH writing staff consists of Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff, TV writer Mike Goldberg who is now a producer on the show, along with Michael Yusi, Barry Schnell, Kim Costello, Adam Raimer, "Jersey" Todd Wachtel, Scott Taylor, Matt Snodgrass, and Dave Kawalec.

[edit] Controversy

In July 2006, it was discovered that Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff included text within his website in the purpose of gaining traffic ("keyword spamming") using popular search terms relating to podcasting and other podcasters. The keywords included words of a sexual nature and the names of more popular podcasts such as Keith and the Girl and Diggnation. [2]

Once discovered by fans of Keith and The Girl, Nemcoff altered the text, adding:

Hey Keith and the Girl listeners... if you're looking here, guess what... you've been Punk'd, bitches. The way search engines work is they pick up even the tiny words hidden on your page, so when I put this on my site, whenever someone searches for "Keith and the Girl", "Diggnation" or any of the other terms hidden in black, including the words "hidden" "in" and "black", somewhere in that search will come up "Pacific Coast Hellway"... LOL.[3]

In the same month of July 2006, Nemcoff ranted on a podcast about Keith Malley, specifically claiming that he should "bring a fucking knife" to any ensuing meeting between the two.[4]

On August 3, 2006 the PCH message board was hacked in retaliation.[citation needed] By August 8, the hacked forms had been replaced with the message “The Boards will return soon...” “I promise the new ones will be loads of fun...” along with a Photoshopped pornographic image satirising Chemda of Keith and The Girl. Since November 14, 2006, the message boards are back online.

In addition to criticism and verbal attacks against Nemcoff, members of the Keith and The Girl forums also posted Nemcoff's personal information, including his address, phone number, photos of family members, and satellite pictures of his home. Nemcoff reported receiving threats by telephone. Nemcoff, through his attorney, finally spoke to and sent a letter to Keith Malley asking for Malley's assistance is calming the situation.

[edit] Criticism

Although clearly angry that he had dared to personally attack Malley and Chemda Khalili, many of the Keith and The Girl message board posters also expressed criticisms regarding Nemcoff's vocal style, his cheerleading for Podshow and its media properties, and his comedic style (which some said was an imitation of comedian Dennis Miller). The iTunes podcast listener reviews also show a mixed-bag of feelings for PCH and Nemcoff, with a polarity between those who love the show and those who hate it. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] Hellplayers quit PCH
  2. ^ Google Cache "Use of Keyword Spam" on Pacific Coast Hellway Webpage; accessed August 2, 2006.
  3. ^ Website - Google Cache "Keyword Spam - Extended" on Pacific Coast Hellway Webpage; accessed August 2, 2006.
  4. ^ Podcast "Morally Inappropriate..." on Pacific Coast Hellway Podcast; accessed August 2, 2006.
  5. ^ [2] Pacific Coast Hellway iTunes page

[edit] External links

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