Marc Maron launches new WTF series of unused material

Marc Maron has never been one to hold much back. Over the years, his podcast, WTF With Marc Maron, has become popular for its candid interviews with everyone from Louis C.K. to President Barack Obama. On Friday, however, Maron revealed that he had (unintentionally) been keeping something from his audience: Maron’s producer Brendan McDonald recently found a box full of old recordings, so he and Maron plan on releasing one of them each Friday until the end of the year under the WTF Uncovered banner (think of it as a WTF riff on Kanye West’s old GOOD Fridays).

The first episode, released this week, was recorded in 2006 and features a test show for a planned L.A. radio show. Jim Earl plays Maron’s sidekick, and Patton Oswalt is the guest. In typical Oswalt fashion, the nerd-fluent comedian riffs on comic books — like the then-ongoing Captain America run by Ed Brubaker (later the inspiration for the 2014 Marvel Studios film Captain America: The Winter Soldier) — and reveals the surprises of watching early ’90s movies on high-definition TVs.

“Here’s a fun thing to do if you have a high-def TV: Watch A Few Good Men,” Oswalt said. “Because in the early ’90s, there was this technique they were trying that they’ve long since stopped doing, where they would put your makeup on and they would put dark makeup on your chin where you start to get a waddle like I have now. Watch Jack Nicholson in that movie on a high-def TV. It looks like he is a mime, like there’s the light makeup and then this obvious dark brown makeup. It’s so obvious when you watch it high-def, it’s a little unnerving.”

The first WTF Uncovered installment is now live on Maron’s website, with more to come in following weeks.