When I first heard about this idea, I said, “YES. That is the part John Hodgman was born to play.” Hodgman’s cult following know that the stuffy, Solomonic persona comes naturally to him, and that he is a sharply witty improviser with a knack for succinct and precise descriptions that highlight the unique oddities of any given situation. Fans of Hodgman’s pieces on This American Life also know what a good interviewer he is. He is a careful, alert listener who always manages to interject at a key moment with a brief but extremely specific follow-up question that zeroes in on the most bizarre, illuminating, juicy details. And like all the best Supreme Court justices, Hodgman ends each case with an eloquent closing statement drawing in all the aspects of the case and tying them to the larger issues they represent.
Maximum Fun creator Jesse Thorn is an excellent bailiff, funny in his own right and delightfully amused by the proceedings, and the occasional guest witnesses culled from John Hodgman's friends include all your favorite small-time celebrities.
Key Episodes
8. To Tree or Not To Tree (December 20, 2010) - A wife wants to put up a Christmas tree on the first of December, but her husband objects, with an increasingly bizarre theological argument concerning the solemnity of Advent. Judge John Hodgman’s creative solution to this problem is inspired. (Updates at the end of the December 22, 2011 episode; the 2013 Holiday Special; and the 2014 holiday episode)
38. Pepperoni Pauper (October 19, 2011) - A girlfriend is embarrassed by her boyfriend’s habit of picking the trash for unused sweepstakes tickets at an unnamed Toronto pizza chain (I KNOW WHICH ONE!!). This episode is notable not so much for the dispute but for its origination of Judge Hodgman’s hypothetical restaurant Canadian House of Pizza and Garbage, which went on to spark a t-shirt and a jingle.
54. Die Flederhaus (April 4, 2012) - Judge John Hodgman and Bailiff Jesse Thorn can’t keep it together when questioning two brothers about their decision to live in a bat-infested shell of a house. (Update in the 2013 Holiday Special)
Bonus Episodes
5. The Long-Necked Custody Battle (November 29, 2010) - Two best friends and former roommates argue over which one should take possession of a joint-owned robotic giraffe. In a reverse of the classic Solomon case, each friend argues vociferously in favor of the other. (Update in the 2013 Holiday Special)
9. The Parenthetical Petition (January 3, 2011) - A couple argues over whether authors should be allowed to use parentheses in fiction, a matter which seems abstract but turns personal very quickly. This energetic live recording is MC'd by guest bailiff Elna Baker (author of The Tenth Annual Regional Mormon Halloween Dance, and that great This American Life piece about working the Lee Middleton Doll Collection at Christmas.)
9. The Parenthetical Petition (January 3, 2011) - A couple argues over whether authors should be allowed to use parentheses in fiction, a matter which seems abstract but turns personal very quickly. This energetic live recording is MC'd by guest bailiff Elna Baker (author of The Tenth Annual Regional Mormon Halloween Dance, and that great This American Life piece about working the Lee Middleton Doll Collection at Christmas.)
10. A Cone-Tractual Dispute (January 21, 2011) - A fairly straightforward dispute over payment for services rendered is plagued with bizarre details about waffle cones and ironic basements, which an aggrieved John Hodgman attributes to the guests’ hometown of Portland, Oregon.
22. Tips, Tricks, and Justice (April 29, 2011) - Morgan Webb of Xplay is a guest expert in an argument about whether using a video game strategy guide constitutes cheating. Judge Hodgman describes George Plimpton’s Video Falconry.
40. The Abuse of Flower Power (November 2, 2011) - Judge Hodgman requires a lot of backstory to rule on the garden dispute of a pair of lesbians who live in a storage unit.
73. Gavelbangers Ball (August 30, 2012) - John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is an expert witness as a boyfriend tries to convince his girlfriend to like metal. Given that Hodgman has a strong stance on convincing people to like things (he doesn’t), this seems like it should be an open-and-shut case, but the episode provides the judge, the girlfriend, and the listener at home a startlingly convincing case for the band Merciful Fate.
105. To The Victor Goes the Spoiled (April 10, 2013) - Alton Brown of Good Eats is a well-informed and sharply witty guest expert ruling on the acceptability of eating moldy, spoiled food. (This is Brown’s second appearance; he also appeared episode 53, Cannery Row, about a mother/daughter relationship torn asunder by differing home canning practices.) This episode was written up on Food Republic.
137. Six Feet Plunder (December 4, 2013) - A woman wishes her friend would stop calling her a grave robber, just because she steals miniature Christmas trees from cemeteries. This was my first episode of JJHO, and it holds a special place in my heart, but I also maintain that it's a great episode. It's one of those stories that immediately unfolds to reveal layers and depths far beyond the original scope of the problem as presented. Both guests are weird and charming and unaware of how weird and charming they are. John Hodgman gets to the heart of matters with laserlike focus, while allowing plenty of time to explore side avenues and give us a glimpse of a sweet friendship in the bizarre world of professional watch repair.
166. My Legal Pony (June 25, 2014) - A woman and her friend disagree on whether her Shetland ponies are ill-mannered or not.
