Radio Sweethearts

Okay boys and girls: Brooke’s out this week. Which means that this is all Bob, all the time. All dad jokes and no feminine subtlety to break them up. It also means that there’s not much here for us to parse out into our long-running assumption and claim to know that Bob loves Brooke.

Thing is, this episode proves that Bob Garfield is a smart guy, but that he just tries too hard to be funny. I’m pretty sure this is just a ploy to try and get some action – if you’re not super dreamy, might as well try to rely on the smart-and-funny thing – if, you know, you can get both of those down. Bob mostly just gets the smart working for him. Regardless, Brooke is out this week, and the dude has to pick up the slack. Part of picking up the slack, it seems, is dropping much of the schtick. It definitely works for him.

I’m going to elaborate a bit after the jump.

Either the dude is picking up the slack or he’s just not that into being around when Brooke isn’t. I can’t tell. But that said, Brooke’s cute. I’m pretty sure not having her around would make me a little less excited.

That said, when he gets around to the media coverage of the recent bedbug outbreak, he’s back in somewhat prime form… at least as prime as Bob gets. The worst pun I’ve heard so far: “Under the covers, for sure, but also perhaps over-covered.” Seriously, Bob’s having an off day. It took me a while to even realize that there was much of a pun here. Bob has an off day and it’s a damn good thing.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that Brooke’s absence is directly related to the death of Gary Gygax, the dude who invented Dungeons and Dragons. Not that Brooke’s in mourning. Brooke probably straight up evacuated the workplace that day. Bob was all like, “But Gygax changed my life” while shifting his pocket protector and adjusting his taped-together horn-rims, and Brooke just closed her notebook, threw it in her purse and left without even taking her purse.

I’m an avowed nerd. I don’t know much about computer programming, though I learned HTML quickly, and am picking up CSS pretty easily, but I’ve never played D&D more than once my life. I’m sad for Gygax’s family, but mostly because they share the last name “Gygax.” Other than the fact that the dude who invented D&D has a terribly predictable last name, nothing about his death is notable to me.

And yes, I know the game has had a profound impact on today’s popular culture. My favorite episode of “Freaks and Geeks” centers around a game of D&D. Okay, be fair, second favorite episode. The best is the one with the kegger. The point is, I know it’s huge, and “World of Warcraft” would not be as huge without it. Tolkien and D&D owe their continued popularity to each other, and it’s conceivable that Harry Potter does too. Even Weezer’s song “In My Garage” references the 12-sided dice used in the game.

But it’s a stupid game, and the most truly wasted hours of my life are those I spent with my friends Sean in seventh grade playing that and the Star Wars RPG (as a +12 female Wookie). I just didn’t have fun, so we spent rest of the afternoon debating the existence of God and watching James Bond movies featuring Timothy Dalton. I have not since returned to the world of D&D.

But fine, whatever, Bob wants to talk about the profound impact that Gary Gygax has had on culture. If he wants to do that, fine. But I’m with Brooke. I want the hell out.

This recap was posted by Star-Wars-RPG-Playing Total Nerd Matthew, and edited by his smart, funny former-tuba-player special lady friend Kerry.