We're Here to Help
Jake Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop) don't feel qualified to give strangers good advice. Most of their friendship over the last 15 years has been based around dumb bits, but they do (for better or worse) want to try to help people out. Like your friendly local bartender or your tipsy uncle at a family gathering, Jake and Gareth are on the caller's side and trying to help. Each episode, the guys make several pitches to callers (whose questions range from trivial to serious) with their best attempts of advice. They can't promise their suggestions will be perfect, but it will be the best they've got. Jake and Gareth also occasionally bring on a friend, peer or even an expert to help along the way.
Want to call in? Email your question to helpfulpod@gmail.com.
Our Editor's Take
The podcast We're Here to Help might be an advice call-in show, but the hosts make no guarantees. As actors and non-professional therapists, they understand that they might provide bad suggestions. They're going to try anyway. The more serious the call, the less likely they are to be of help. With trivial and ridiculous problems, they have a lot to say.
Most people might know podcast hosts Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds from their comedy careers. Jake had a memorable and funny role as Nick Miller on Fox's New Girl. He is also the main character in the comedy series Minx and has guest-starred on many other shows. Gareth is the cohost of the amusing US history podcast The Dollop. He wrote for successful shows like Arrested Development. Some might also recognize him from the YouTube series he created with his mom during lockdowns called Pandemic.
It is no surprise that the pair can't stop cracking jokes as comedians. They do attempt to solve the listeners' problems in each We're Here to Help episode. Yet they often go on tangents. They like to ask questions and make irrelevant clarifications. Sometimes, they interrupt before the caller gets the whole question out. In other episodes, celebrity guests like Damon Wayans Jr. share their own thoughts as well.
Once callers ask for advice, the podcast hosts are relentless with their thoughts. For instance, one listener called to ask how she might be able to connect to a reserved coworker. The hosts began with a proposal for her to change offices. They continued with a recommendation for her to match his energy. They progressed into making a full presentation with props. That's the nature of this entertaining, absurd advice show.
Each episode of We're Here to Help is about 30 minutes. The hosts answer no more than two questions. They enjoy exploring every option and going back and forth until the caller is happy with the result. It is a charming, lighthearted podcast that only wishes to do good and make people laugh in the process. New episodes drop several times each week.
Episodes