The tricksy little hobbitses Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd are once again donning the large hairy feet of Merry and Pippin and launching a podcast about The Lord of the Rings. Per an announcement from Deadline, the podcast will be called The Friendship Onion and produced by Kast Media. The hilarious duo will offer inside knowledge into the production, test audience members with trivia and hopefully invite some famous friends along for the adventure.
In an official statement, Monaghan said, “I am contractually obliged to make a glowing comment here in regards to the podcast Billy and I are making together. This is proving difficult as Billy has abducted me and is holding me for ransom to the price of 44 bananas. Please, send bananas.”
Boyd responded, “Dom took a little persuading, it’s true, but this podcast is going to rock. He is such a joker, you have to love Dom. Ha….but you also have to love bananas, so….yes, send bananas.”
Monaghan and Boyd starred as members of the original Fellowship of the Ring in the trilogy, as practical jokers Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck and Peregrin “Pippin” Took respectively. Their on- and off-screen humor, charisma and banter were highlights of the movies and special features, and will certainly translate well into a podcast format.
This past year has been a fruitful one for LOTR fans, as new content and news has consistently rolled in to help fill the gap left by quarantine. This includes Josh Gad’s reunion of the original Lord of the Rings cast, trilogy screenings for the 20th anniversary, as well as the increasingly baffling news about the current production of the Amazon series. Monaghan and Boyd’s podcast is just another bit of news that makes getting into the fandom even more pressing for newcomers, and more enjoyable for longtime fans.
The Friendship Onion will premiere on May 18 on Spotify and other podcast platforms, as well as video episodes available on YouTube.