When I went to sleep in the wee hours of Friday morning, after staying up too late to hear Lino Rulli and crew do the lock-in show, I told myself that this was the best show they ever did.

The next day, I reeled back those thoughts, thinking that it was based purely on emotion. "Let's wait a few days, then look at the show with a clear conscience and no bias."

As I write this nine days later, I have to say that the lock-in was indeed the best show that Lino, Lou and Maureen have ever put together. The three hours were simply fantastic.

What made the show amazing? The novelty of it was big, but when that wore off, you had a studio full of energy. No sluggishness noticeable on my end of the radio. And despite the lack of phone calls the first hour and a half, Fr. Jim's two students, Glenn and Chelsea, really gave Lino and crew a nice angle to play off of. Both students seemed like naturals on the radio, and I wouldn't be shocked to find out that one of them is pursuing an education in radio.

The segments were fantastic: "Fans wanna know" had some really good questions, the bible study really showcased Lino's theological strengths, and the late-night phone call to Greg Willits might just be the best moment we'll ever hear on the show.

I really hope to hear more lock-in shows in the future, but I'd hate for them to be a scheduled chore. Doing them once every six weeks or so would be amazing, as it gave west-coast listeners and overnight workers a chance to call in (and night owls like myself, Allicia and Kristen, who lovingly live-blogged the entire thing). I think to keep them from being mundane or stale, they need to have big-event status. I'd hate to see a lock-in with just Lino, Lou and Maureen: guests are definitely needed to make the lock-in shows really special and worth staying up late for (not saying LLM can't do it, but a studio full of people late at night is a lot more fun).

Best. Show. Ever.