#cabin pressure anniversary countdown 2024

[o-uncle-newt]

TEN: it's just really good, y'all

This is a short one because it's Day 1 and I already posted something today, but I mean, Cabin Pressure is fantastic, unbelievable hit rate.

I made this tier chart of the episodes and as you can see, it's a bit sad in terms of how poor a job it does in terms of actually ranking them because I love so many of them so much:

It's not even definitive, I spent so much time fiddling with it! Basically, for me S tier is any episode that I have kind of emotionally imprinted on, A+ is basically just Rotterdam because I do think it's hilarious but it never captured me in quite that way, then there are a few that I think have fun but are a bit more outright flawed, and then the five episodes that I actually actively dislike. But, like, seventeen of twenty seven episodes are SO GOOD that I couldn't get any of them out of my S tier, no matter how much I tried! (And I really, really did!)

It's just crazy to me, because there are very, very few shows that I can think of that have this high of a hit rate for me- and for most shows I like, what I consider D tier here would be considered a mid-range episode of them. The overall level of quality is just remarkable.

But it's crazier because the episodes in my S tier... many of them I have listened to literally dozens of times, if not over a hundred for some of them. I wish I could see stats because as unlikely as it sounds, it wouldn't surprise me at all if I've broken 100 listens on Limerick at least. On one level, I'm a rewatcher/relistener in general and rarely get bored, but to me Cabin Pressure takes it to another level in terms of relistenability. I can listen to pretty much any of my faves at pretty much any time, I never get sick of them, and yet they always feel worn and comfortable like a good pair of slippers. It's so soothing, but I also laugh the same as if the joke had been fresh.

This is just so key to the show's being as much of a comfort listen as it is- it manages to be consistently hilarious despite being familiar. Knowing the expected beats of a joke can sometimes take the zing out of it in future listens, but I can't remember that ever happening for me. Maybe it's the brilliant plotting and characters that keep that from ever happening- but the comedy itself just consistently works for this. It's amazing.

[o-uncle-newt]

I missed CP Advent, here's what I'm doing instead

I had had an Advent plan, but in retrospect I'm actually not sure it was the right idea for this (I may save it for next year!)

Instead, my plan is to do a ten day countdown, ending on the 24th- the day that Zurich Part 2 aired. I'll be listing ten ways that Cabin Pressure has impacted me, one each day. Some might be a bit repetitive of my advent listenthrough last year (you can find that if you search my account for the tag "cabin pressure advent 2023"), but some will be based on some general additional thinking.

I was considering doing another relisten- not necessarily daily, but just going through a few random episodes each day- in order to prep for this, but I decided not to because honestly, I rarely do relisten in order. If you read my listenthrough you'll see that I hadn't listened to Kuala Lumpur since the first time (with the exception of skipping through for the Carolyn and Arthur scenes). Honestly, I'm not even sure I remember listening to Cremona in the first place, though I'm sure I did! So this next ten days I'll be relistening to Cabin Pressure, but not in order and not all of them- I'll be returning to episodes that I love and that bring me joy, the ones that I use to boost me up and to, to be frank, resuscitate me when I need it.

Looking forward- hopefully it will be fun, and please feel free to share how Cabin Pressure has effected you!