The End of the Greatest Radio Show of All Time
April 28th, 2006 at 8:52 am by Preston Taylor Holmes
Image stolen from sweetfeatheryjesus.com
member Vernon Dozier
At least Drudge covered it. Phil Hendrie to quit radio, give television a shot.
For 16 years, Hendrie has taken the traditional talk format and turned it on its ear, with scores of characters that call in as if they were real listeners. “It’s time for me to take them from behind the microphone and present them in front of the camera,” said Hendrie.
Froggy told me about Phil Hendrie quite a while before I got an XM radio and started listening to him last fall. When I finally got it, I realized that I’d been wasting my time with every other freakin’ radio talk show I’ve ever listened to.
Phil bills the show as a satire of talk radio – a send-up of the medium. It’s a little hard to explain, but Phil is the show’s host, and he’s the guest (who that guest is varies, depending on the hour, character and premise). Usually, there is a premise that his guest sets up by telling some oddball story that gets more and more outrageous and offensive as it goes along. The only callers that get through are the ones who don’t know it’s a setup. It’s the most creative and hilarious radio I’ve ever heard, and I’ve listened to a lot of radio crap. If you want issue oriented, politically-themed talk radio, there are about 4 billion shows you can tune into. If you want something creative and unique, Phil is/was it.
Better than trying to describe the show or its characters, what you need to do is go to Phil’s website, buy a backstage pass (about $6 a month), and start downloading all the MP3s you can of shows from the last few months and classic clips. If it’s new to you, it will be well worth your while. If you don’t have a twisted sense of humor, do it anyway. Maybe it will help you.
He’s got several webcasts archived and available, which you should watch for an inside look at the show. I recommend wearing an adult diaper when watching these. Also, I believe they give free backstage passes out if you’re active military, so check with them on that.
Other good resources are Phil’s Wikipedia entry, the SweetFeatheryJesus.com forums, and the Wikiquotes, which has a bunch of character quotes and information.
Phil is the only funny part of a fairly horrible TV pilot called “Teachers” on NBC – it’s about to end its first and only run as a mid-season replacement. Despite the likely death of that particular sitcom, it seems like Phil has some type of deal with NBC that will allow him to do something different via the medium of television. I’m still holding out hope that he’ll find a spot on satellite radio, but no matter. Hopefully he’ll find some success in TV, or satellite radio, or whatever.
Thanks for the milk-out-the-nose laughter, Phil. Good luck.
April 28th, 2006 at 11:56 am
R.I.P.
Best. Show. Ever.
April 28th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
R.I.P. Bobbi Dooley
April 28th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
I hope Phil comes to Sirius and joins legends like Howard Stern, Bubba, & Ferrell. He won’t be able to rid himself of the radio career no matter what becomes of his TV career.
April 28th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
The local station dropped it, so I haven’t been able to listen lately. Now I feel like such a putz. Why didn’t I find a way?!?
April 28th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Best moments:
* Driving refresher course for old folks that involved sitting them in a laz-y-boy, having them steer with a dinner plate, and then yelling and throwing things at them to simulate driving emergencies.
* Cats making loud noises in Bobby Dooley’s backyard, which turned into a tomcat gang rape of a rutting female, complete with feline oral sex and “oh, baby”‘s executed in half cat / half human voice.
* Author who penned book on ‘LA shortuts’– all of them disasterously wrong– who took calls from the audience, including a woman late for the airport who Phil mercilessly sent on a 60+ minute detour.
I can’t see how TV will be able to bottle his magic.
April 29th, 2006 at 11:04 am
So many great moments, a4g. And especially great quotes.
Vernon Dozier: “Why am I the black guy in the Green Mile with no water for the sponge?”
Bud Dickman: “And now, on account of we got a lot of angry islams out there, here’s some music what’ll calm you down.”
Too many to mention. Dammit.
April 29th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
When I was living in Georgia, Phil moved to Atlanta and was a talker on WSB awhile. He had lost just about everything, was having a hard time financially. He did some serious political stuff in addition the funny stuff but didn’t stay long. People in Atlanta didn’t really “get” him. I remember he was alarmed by the sound of the cicadas.