Three years ago, my wife Tina and I produced a program called “THE RESTAURANT FUEL / I LIKE SEAMONSTERS PODCAST,” which focused on the experiences we had during the months leading up to the birth of our twin daughters. Despite the “by-the-seat-of-our-pants” production and format, “RFSM” gained a dedicated following, was featured in the WASHINGTON POST and on television, and continues to be successful, with about 1,000 downloads a month of the old episodes. Naturally, we tried to continue the podcast after the girls were born, but given our lack of free time, we only manged to produce one proper show.

However, both of us love the podcasting format — and we missed doing RFSM. And being avid podcast listeners, we came to the mutual conclusion that there are few proper general-interest shows about television. Sure, there are lots of show-specific podcasts for programs like LOST, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, DOCTOR WHO and all the rest, but nothing that covered all genre television. So it occurred to us that maybe we should consider doing one — we sure talked enough about television both together and with our friends. Why not just record those conversations?

This new podcast, we agreed, would be called “TELEVISION ZOMBIES,” which both hints at the the type of television we would discuss and makes fun of people who deride the medium and its fans. They think television is stupid, that people who get excited about tv shows are crazy, mindless dorks who should spend their time pursuing more worthwhile hobbies, such as running triathalons or some such nonesense. All I can say is that those poor saps and their iron man compeitions are nothing compared to John Locke, LOST’s mysterious and slightly unhinged island man.

A couple of weeks later, I ordered a bunch of audio gear on Amazon — a mixer, microphones, headphones, the proper cables, etc. If we were going to do a podcast, this time we would do it right. No more huddling around my iBook, the two of us speaking into the tiny built-in mic — this time, we would each have our own mics, with actual independent level control! We would be … gasp … semi-professional! And if we started to drag our feet about producing new shows, we would have the spector of a modest financial investment hanging over our heads to spur us forward.

So here we are — our first episode is available, and we’re currently planning the second. We hope you like it and join us for our continuing discussion about the state of good television.