#189 Goodbye All

June 23, 2022·51 min·3 clips

John Kassir explains how Kevin Yeager’s puppet and his own voice together created the Crypt Keeper.

1. Reply All #189, “Goodbye All,” centers on Emmanuel Jochi, Alex Goldman, and the end of Reply All after more than seven years. 2. Emmanuel Jochi is the host and narrator for the opening section, Alex Goldman is the co-host who is leaving, and John Kassir and Breakmaster Cylinder matter because their work shaped major parts of the show. 3. The episode asks what a finale can do when Alex Goldman says there is “no way I can encompass the panoply of feelings I have about the show.” 4. Emmanuel describes running the three-and-a-half-mile loop in Prospect Park and noticing a runner he sees “two to three times a week” at about 8:30 a.m. 5. He says the runner always seems to pass him near the “infamous, windy, massive hill,” which makes the rivalry feel personal. 6. Emmanuel starts running every day to find the man and finally catches him after nine miles in the June heat. 7. The runner, Michael, says he is not clocking Emmanuel’s presence and explains that it is awkward to run beside a stranger. 8. Emmanuel realizes he had projected intention onto someone who was simply running his own race. 9. Alex says he has been thinking about what can make a satisfying last episode and concludes that he and the team should “just do our thing with it.” 10. He calls his dad to ask what to do after leaving Reply All, and his father talks about a winery tasting room, retired life, and working three days a week. 11. Alex pitches a TV idea about the Crypt Keeper as a single parent trying to survive in Hollywood, and his father gives him a 5% chance of getting it made. 12. Alex later interviews John Kassir, who identifies himself as “the voice of the Crypt Keeper.” 13. Kassir says the voice came from looking at Kevin Yeager’s puppet and building the character organically from the design. 14. He names Margaret Hamilton and Alfred Hitchcock as influences behind the laugh and punny delivery. 15. Kassir explains that the rights to Tales from the Crypt and the Crypt Keeper are split across companies, which makes a new project difficult. 16. Breakmaster Cylinder describes writing music for Reply All while pulled over on roads, in a Starbucks, at Bed Bath & Beyond, and in a ship. 17. The music conversation includes tracks such as “Drum Corps Deets,” “8-Bit Adventure Time,” “Jupiter,” and “Westwood Bong Hit Dream Version.” 18. The tone moves between comedy, self-doubt, and gratitude, with long conversations and direct references to the show’s own production history. 19. Listeners who know Reply All, podcast production, or behind-the-scenes music will get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for a tightly plotted story with no farewell reflection may skip it.

As heard by us

A loose, funny farewell that turns a Crypt Keeper pitch into a small story about voice, rights, and goodbye.

Reply All says goodbye in a way that feels true to its odd circuitry: Emmanuel Jochi starts with a Prospect Park running grudge, the show swerves through a surreal ad bit, and the middle settles into a funny, oddly sincere pitch about life after Tales from the Crypt.

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Why you'd press play

One last Reply All run through park beef, a Crypt Keeper detour, and a goodbye that hangs around after the credits.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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