Folks, holy cow…it’s an April Fools joke! Or, was it a litmus test in the guise of an April Fools joke? Nobody will ever know, including me.
I’m amazed that anyone over the age of about 16 believes anything they hear on April 1st. That being said, Brian Ibbott of Coverville got me big time. “Safety Dance is a cover? Really? Wow, I didn’t know that!” Yeesh.
No, no, no…fear not, The Bitterest Pill will continue to be free.
However, thanks to everyone for reminding me that nobody wants to pay for something they used to get for free, unless of course it’s cable tv, satellite radio or bottled water.
I know how you feel: I haven’t listened to Howard Stern since the change.
Now, for those of you who just can’t get enough, there will most likely be “Premium Content” in the coming months, available only to “Premium Subscribers:” unedited podcasts or stories from the vaults remastered, live events, video versions, etc. We’ll see. Extra fun stuff for listeners will too much time on their hands.
Coming soon: Podcast from the Big Island. We’re in Hawaii, and will be podcasting from the sunny shores of Kona. And, it’s FREE!
Dan,
First Great show, and for the record the Bitterest Pill is among the few shows that I would gladly pay for. Have fun in Hawaii, and how about some Pill branded Kona for the coffee lovers in the audience.
Tryg
Hej Dan!
I have to admit, you had me fooled! So fooled!!!!
I got kind of disapointed that you were going to charge for the show, but I only read this since I went over here to check out how to subscribe in the new version, so I have to admit that I would be happy to pay. At least for a while. Even if $2 seemed like a steep price, I could live with it!
So you successfully fooled me, and I ´just wanted to let you know.
Take care Dan, and hope to speak to you soon again!
And hope you all get well soon too.
/
Andy
Thank god. The second I first read the description for the show, my first thought was “What the hell?!?” Then I realized what day it was.
Good one Dan. Although I’m pretty sure that the March 31st posting didn’t hurt your chances of fooling people (a pre-April 1 post must surely be illegal in April Fools Rules.. ;))
Dan can I still kill cute kittens?
Love
Lisa
well i didn’t get it til april 2nd so it doesn’t count! doesn’t. count. y’hear?
you’re voice was really strange in this podcast, you sounded dead young!
anyways, keep on truckin and aloha and mahalo!
Hey!!! I didn’t listen till 3 April… but I saw it was 1 April, so I knew something was coming.
You sure got me good!
What a way to start a Monday! I was all angered up and rationalizing how I was going to explain to my wife my need for 2 dollars a month with another child on the way. Sell advertising, gawk cheap merchandise, plug terrible things, but please don’t go pay per listen. Us poor people on the train need something to listen to. Especially since Stern went to Sirius. It is hard enough to pay for bad TV for my stay at home wife….
I really want to say that I wasn’t taken in, but… *sigh*
Hoping everyone has a GREAT time in Hawaii (I’m thinking that the entire Klass clan deserves it)
Mahalo lui loa for excellent yucks in all kinds of ways, my friend!
I hope you’re not stuck on the Kona side the whole time – remember, The Big One manages to contain 7 of the 9 known ecosystems in the world upon its mighty but tidily contained square footage. Rent an SUV! Get around! But pack a lunch – it gets rural as West Virginia down there and I don’t wanna hear you squealin’ like a luau pig.
~ honeybee33 ~
Hey Dan, you got me! Just for the record though. I would have paid for it. I think you have THE BEST podcast out right now. I hope things get easier for you soon. I hope you feel better soon, and I hope your family gets better. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Don
Thanks, Dan. I listened to this today (on Monday) at work and nearly crapped my pants! You are hilarious and only outshined by Hudson. 😉
Looking forward to another year of BP. Thanks for making the work day less mundane.
P.S. When will Melissa make another guest spot on BP? Inquiring fans want to know.
Whew, I was about to cry! I have never written to you but I love your show and I was trying to figure out how to pay for it out of my budget, since if you started going pay-per-show, all the other other podcasters would be sure to follow suit! Between you and Dawn&Drew’s stunt, it’s been a hard 4/1.
Well – I was pretty sure it was a joke – got me worried enough to check this site daily! Still – now the dust is settled – where do i subscribe? I think you shoudl have the paypal button like Twit do – and I fully support the premium content idea. Good luck with it!!
Wow, I can’t believe people fell for this. How does it feel to be “one of those people” suckers? I did think it was really funny though, especially in light of that sweet rant you did in the previous episode about monetizing. That’s going straight for the jugular Danny. And $2.00 a friggin month is steep? Holy crap, it costs $5.00 to rent a 2 hour movie, and most of the time the movie sucks. $2.00 for 2 hours of never-fail entertainment sounds like a bargain to me. Go Dan go.
Ah, Brian Got me bad!!! it didn’t hit me till the banc catputred by the Leosian?
… any way… so, i was ready for you mr. class… fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!
Okay – one of the perils of the podcast is that it’s a time-shifted experience. So, just like, well, NEWS FLASHES!!! don’t play on podcasts, neither do April Fool jokes when they’re heard on April 2nd.
So it’s understandable that my April-Onedar was down when I listened to the most recent Pill and I went through the no-longer-free-podcast version of Kubler-Ross’ Stages of Grief:
DENIAL – This is not happening. This is NOT happening.
ANGER – Stupid Flanders-like Klass! How dare you disrupt my free enjoyment of your freely-produced free podcast!
BARGAINING – I wonder if Dan will just let me buy him something off his Amazon Wishlist….
DEPRESSION – Podcasting has been ruined by money-grubbing podcast-monetizers. I’m going back to AM Talk Radio…
ACCEPTANCE – Actually, TBP is one of the few remaining bright spots in my podcast feed (I’m looking at YOU Adam Curry!) and it’s worth more than the few bucks he’s asking. I’ll pay, though I hope it doesn’t screw too mightily with NetNewsWire (and I hope that Leo Laporte doesn’t get any similar crazy ideas).
So I came here to pay the price. And now I see it’s all a collossal joke.
Well.
Joke’s on you, Klass! You’re out TWO BUCKS!
Ah well. Enjoy your FABULOUS HAWAIIAN VACATION, then get your butt back here and ENTERTAIN US!!!
😉
Seriously, thanks for The Pill. I woulda paid.
He He….
I’m amazed how many people fell for that. Have a great time in Hawaii!
Well, I wasn’t fooled… mostly. I did have to come check the site, just to be sure. So I think this was really just an elaborate scheme to get us to come visit.
Love the show, long-time listener, first-time etc.
“their will most likely be”
just a heads-up, that should be “_there_ will most likely be”
Yeah, yeah, grammar-nazi, blah, blah…
I’ll tell ya dan,
I went through the stages of mourning when I heard.
I’m proud to be a cheap ass!
Dan, dude, you’re right, I am a cheap-ass. And you got me but good. I stewed about it for about five days and then resigned myself to paying for JUST ONE MORE month’s worth of BP, to wean me off my addiction. I even was willing to squander the $2 left on my iTunes gift card I got for my birthday. When I saw on iTunes that BP was still listed as “FREE,” I STILL didn’t get it, and, grumbling, I finally visited your site and found out the truth. The bittersweet, glory-hallelujah, truth. And I’m so relieved I’m not even mad.
I gotta say, Dan, after I heard that podcast, I was TOTALLY ready to head on over to the website and sign up! That’s how good it is, man. The only things I pay for are Web Hosting and candy, so you should be proud 🙂
=Schmee=
Hey Dan, great show, love it. Just wanted to tell you i would have gladly paid for the show, its worth it, but you see, I’m in Mexico and over here $2 is a lot more money that in the states, its still affordable but its not pocket change. Anyway keep the show great and I’ll keep listening, enjoy Hawai!!
Now here’s what I would pay for…
An uber-duel/rant with Melissa speaking the virtues of BMW (based on her ad account), and Dan plugging Toyota/Prius (based on his CSI commercial).
I’m sure BMW would pay to have Melissa go womano-a-mano with her husband to discuss the fineries of “The Ultimate Driving Experience” while Dan tries to defend “The Ultimate Tree Hugging Experience” as he drove around at night with a naked (dead) body in the car. And who knows, maybe Toyota would pay Dan for his part. He IS the actor after all.
Seriously though, you could do the experiential marketing thing to make some coin. I’ve still have super-recall of that furniture buying story/travesty. Would be an interesting experiment.
Oh, and I hope you got the part from your last audition….cold and all.
Pod-on Dan. Love your stuff.
Damn!
You got me!
For the record, I would have paid.
Tim
I hope you decide to pursue the video content. I’d pay for that for sure.
Hey Dan
Ya got me too.
One of the things that no-one seems to have empathised with is how much time and preperation goes into your weekly braoadcasts.
Being a stay at home dad is work enough and trying to get a break in acting as well is time consuming. So, it’s understandable when some shows don’t hit the same heady heights that you set for yourself by doing some really great shows over the course thatr Pill has run.
It also figures that there are times that having a few bucks come in for all your hard work would be rather nice (I’m sure Melissa would appreciate that all the hard work that you put in to the Podcast would help to pay the bills too)
It would be great if the Pill gave you some extra kudos and breaks on the acting front.
There are many of us who feel enriched by many of the tales and real life experiences that you share with us ( I also love Cush’s “Things I Say” podcast for the same reasons). I am here in England and I think that Pill appeals to many UK listeners – so keep up the hard work .
Whatever hapened to George – did i miss an episode?
Hey Dan, you got us too, but you know we’re easy, or I should speak for myself, I know I am an easy mark for stuff like that. But like so many others have said, my immediate reaction was to think, “Good for him!” and to go to iTunes to figure out how to sign up for the $2 and I too didn’t know I’d been fooled until I came here to see what the deal was. Also, you know how far behind we are, we just listened to the one with you and Melissa last weekend on the bus down to DC. So we’re only finding out about all this today (the 8th). Looking forward to hearing all about Hawai’i!
DJC (& GIC)
Ok..I admit.. you got me big time!
I was listening to it on the way to work and almost crashed my car.
However, I would have gladly paid to listen to Hudson!….yeah…and maybe you one in a while. 😉
Keep on truckin’ Dan!
Amelia
dang, that scared me a lot. anyways, we will all be looking for the big one from the Hawaiian islands, and i am VERY relieved that i can continue listening to the great voice of Dan and all his funny stories!
ben
Hello Dan
Love the show; wouldn’t have paid, but thanks nonetheless
I am very glad that this was just a joke! You really had me scared there for a minute! I am a huge fan of the show, and I probably would have still payed anyway though. Keep the shows coming!
Whew! Glad that I checked your web site and learned that the ‘Bitterest Pill’ will continue to be free. Hey, Dan, as a fellow artiste (visual artist — and you thought being an actor was a precarious occupation!) I completely understand that you’d want to earn some $$$ for your efforts. That being said, I still wasn’t prepared to subscribe to a pay-only podcast. Am I a cheap ass? You betcha. Keep up the good work!
Best regards, Jen
You sure got me good!
Try the shareware approach. that might be a good transitional step.
Ok….so I’ve been a bit backed up with my Pill consumption, and I finally got around to the most recent podcast. You little trickster, you got me good! And it’s April 11th!
I felt like your daughter “god damn it!” when I heard the news….but then thought ‘good for you! and bad for me’. I felt like one of those poor bastards whose photo gets run in the onion……the caption under my photo would read…….”April Fools joke still running it’s course on confused locals”.
Ha! Good one Dan. 🙂 Can’t wait for more Pill podcasts!
You got me! I was trying to figure out how I was going to pay for the Pill, moving, and our up coming wedding. Thanks for the free Pills! Mmmm, bitter. D’oh!
Jason from the Half Show
it wasn’t funny. that was way uncool. i have never liked april fools. that sucked.
Well, I guess it should’ve been made obvious at some point before the end of the show that you were making a joke. Or maybe you really were planning to charge a fee before there was such serious backlash. In any event I was glad to find out that the show remains free because I’m used to listening to it.
I know I’m months late to reply to this but I do have to say that eposide really got me going. I considered if I would pay for your podcase and actually that april fool’s episode convinced me that I would be willing to pay to listen to you, even if i have great lapses in time between my episode-listening.
Thanks for sharing
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
Every man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life. Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man , there are two.
Dan, thanks for good stuff! Keep up writing!