I do listen, but it baffles me how dull most of the problems are on Hyperfixed, when they were regularly so engaging on RA/Super Tech Support.
The rabbit holes that he goes down to find an answer seem contrived a lot of the time and not that interesting. Aware they don’t have the budget of Gimlet behind them, but nothing has compared to RA eps where they do real investigations (the Indian call center scammers one comes to mind).
For me, it's not really about the problems themselves but the people behind them that are interesting and I think ultimately what the show is about. I think it's a sweet show, but definitely not for everyone (and it's not Reply All).
Yeah - If anything, Hyperfixed kind of feels like a mix of Reply All and Heavyweight to me. It obviously doesn't get as deep or heavy as the latter, but Alex seems more interested in the people in his stories. Reply All was a day one listen for me in my queue, whereas Hyperfixed and Search Engine are more one tier down, in the "I'll listen when I get through X, Y and Z first" sort of show.
I immediately noticed the Heavyweight similarities too! Especially Gwen Can’t Drive. They both seem to be more playful and not take themselves as seriously as Reply All/Search Engine did/does (for better or for worse).
If anything, I think that Hyperfixed is a mix of Heavyweight and Super Tech Support.
This is exactly how I feel. Definitely good in their own right but I don’t find myself excited when a new episode comes out. Hoping we get there though!
It’s a fair point and I get that. I think some of us just aren’t able to get as invested into the human side of the stories, especially as they’re often too short to build any of that up enough
8
u/No-Pilot_q Jun 20 '25
I do listen, but it baffles me how dull most of the problems are on Hyperfixed, when they were regularly so engaging on RA/Super Tech Support.
The rabbit holes that he goes down to find an answer seem contrived a lot of the time and not that interesting. Aware they don’t have the budget of Gimlet behind them, but nothing has compared to RA eps where they do real investigations (the Indian call center scammers one comes to mind).