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Dr. MaddVibe's "Let's Pile On Air America As They Circle The Drain" Thread
From the AJC.............
By MARLON MANUEL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/01/04
Comedian Al Franken, in his radio debut Wednesday as the self-proclaimed voice for liberals everywhere, pretended to lock Ann Coulter in a studio waiting room.
Comedian Al Franken's first radio show featured a sketch pretending to lock conservative commentator Ann Coulter, an obscure figure to most, in a waiting room.
If you don't think that's funny — or don't recognize Coulter as the political commentator who dismissed the heroism of Vietnam veteran Max Cleland and once said she regretted that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh "did not go to the New York Times Building" — then you begin to understand why some doubt the show's chances for long-term success.
"There were some rough spots," said Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers magazine, a radio trade publication. "It sounded like a hodgepodge. I don't think that Ann Coulter is important enough a public figure to be relevant. They better have more than Ann Coulter jokes if they're going to be the self-anointed" voice for liberals.
In the first 30 minutes of his show, dubbed "The O'Franken Factor" in a jab at conservative Bill O'Reilly's "O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian also retreaded material skewering President Bush that he had used in recent weeks on "The Daily Show" ("By the time we get done with him, he won't be able to use anything from 9/11. The only footage he'll be able to use is him clearing brush.")
Trying to cross-pollinate the Comedy Central shtick with some DNA from National Public Radio, he conducted a phone interview with Al Gore and played host to 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey and moviemaker Michael Moore. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is scheduled for today.
Giving national Democratic figures an unfiltered voice, he emulated the role Rush Limbaugh has played for Republicans since 1988.
But Limbaugh has an estimated 14.5 million weekly listeners, while Franken's three-hour show, anchoring the lineup of the new Air America network, opened on fewer than 10 stations, including outlets in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. It was unavailable in Atlanta except through the Internet or XM Satellite Radio.
Limbaugh had a guest host Wednesday and did not address Franken's debut.
Eric Seidel, former station manager for WGST, the Atlanta home for Limbaugh, didn't hear Franken's show but had read accounts of his efforts.
Seidel doubted the viability of the Air America network, since it seems more bent on changing the political philosophies of listeners than establishing a product that would enrich and entertain.
"It sounds like there was some entertainment," Seidel said. "But the comedy sounds trite when you see it in print."
Franken didn't hide his broader ambitions. As he introduced the show — "broadcasting from an underground bunker 3,500 feet below Dick Cheney's bunker" — his voice deepened, as though he were opening "War of the Worlds," Orson Welles' classic radioplay.
"Today is both an ending and a beginning. An end to the right-wing dominance of talk radio, a beginning of a battle for truth, a battle for justice, indeed, for America itself — not to be . . . grandiose."
By MARLON MANUEL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/01/04
Comedian Al Franken, in his radio debut Wednesday as the self-proclaimed voice for liberals everywhere, pretended to lock Ann Coulter in a studio waiting room.
Comedian Al Franken's first radio show featured a sketch pretending to lock conservative commentator Ann Coulter, an obscure figure to most, in a waiting room.
If you don't think that's funny — or don't recognize Coulter as the political commentator who dismissed the heroism of Vietnam veteran Max Cleland and once said she regretted that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh "did not go to the New York Times Building" — then you begin to understand why some doubt the show's chances for long-term success.
"There were some rough spots," said Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers magazine, a radio trade publication. "It sounded like a hodgepodge. I don't think that Ann Coulter is important enough a public figure to be relevant. They better have more than Ann Coulter jokes if they're going to be the self-anointed" voice for liberals.
In the first 30 minutes of his show, dubbed "The O'Franken Factor" in a jab at conservative Bill O'Reilly's "O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian also retreaded material skewering President Bush that he had used in recent weeks on "The Daily Show" ("By the time we get done with him, he won't be able to use anything from 9/11. The only footage he'll be able to use is him clearing brush.")
Trying to cross-pollinate the Comedy Central shtick with some DNA from National Public Radio, he conducted a phone interview with Al Gore and played host to 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey and moviemaker Michael Moore. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is scheduled for today.
Giving national Democratic figures an unfiltered voice, he emulated the role Rush Limbaugh has played for Republicans since 1988.
But Limbaugh has an estimated 14.5 million weekly listeners, while Franken's three-hour show, anchoring the lineup of the new Air America network, opened on fewer than 10 stations, including outlets in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. It was unavailable in Atlanta except through the Internet or XM Satellite Radio.
Limbaugh had a guest host Wednesday and did not address Franken's debut.
Eric Seidel, former station manager for WGST, the Atlanta home for Limbaugh, didn't hear Franken's show but had read accounts of his efforts.
Seidel doubted the viability of the Air America network, since it seems more bent on changing the political philosophies of listeners than establishing a product that would enrich and entertain.
"It sounds like there was some entertainment," Seidel said. "But the comedy sounds trite when you see it in print."
Franken didn't hide his broader ambitions. As he introduced the show — "broadcasting from an underground bunker 3,500 feet below Dick Cheney's bunker" — his voice deepened, as though he were opening "War of the Worlds," Orson Welles' classic radioplay.
"Today is both an ending and a beginning. An end to the right-wing dominance of talk radio, a beginning of a battle for truth, a battle for justice, indeed, for America itself — not to be . . . grandiose."
. Can't take a streaming audio feed around the building, unfortunately.
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