Close your eyes for a moment...Now picture Al Franken's dry and boring

[BackDoorMan]

delivery for three hours a day. Don't get me wrong I love Franken's books and kicking ass of O'Reilly, on SNL, on C-SPAN, his stand-up, etc...but at the expense of making the new purposed liberal radio network…

They must rethink their desperately wanting or believing they need “personalities” to make the network work.

You tell me who would be more interesting, colorful, knowledgeable and entertaining for three hours a day… Mike Malloy or Al Franken????

Al Gore for three hours, boring everyone to death or Bernie Ward or Peter Werbe?

I cringe thinking about Franken’s dry delivery for hours and hours is that going to keep listeners tuned in? (Or the sponsors happy.) No, I don't think so.

The pigman Limbaugh was (and still is) a know nothing slob, certainly not a personality, back when he started to get noticed in Sacramento.

The downfall of this new liberal network is thinking they MUST have “well known personalities” philosophy. And that will be sad as it will inevitably fail and the right-wing saying, we told you so, liberals can’t make a go of talk radio. And it will be a long time before anything else comes the lefts way.

If they simply have knowledgeable, entertaining liberals, like Malloy, Peter Werbe, perhaps Randi Rhodes and Bernie Ward as daily hosts…the audience will find them and they will find an audience, hence, they will make lots of money for the sponsors…(the bottom line)

If they must have “known personalities” like Franken, etc…give them a guest spot or segment each day, or week-ends, etc.

But Franken, Gore and the like, everyday for three hours will be worst than Chinese water-torture.

[Cleita]

1. Like three hours of stupid Rush platitudes isn't?

I think he will find his audience.

[BackDoorMan]

2. Rush is entertaining to his audience...but Franken is fucking slow,

methodical, and dry….

Again, I ask you who would be more entertaining Malloy or Franken?

[Cleita]

11. I like dry wit. It makes you think.

Franken, definitely.

[Forkboy]

3. I'd listen

:shrug:

[LuminousX]

22. Me Too... I like his delivery

[SlavesandBulldozers]

4. Al

Franken's actually pretty hilarious and always informative. I could definitely take 3 hours of Al.

[BackDoorMan]

7. I could listen to Franken for three hours...but not day after day

after day and week and months to make a network a success.

[buycitgo]

13. seeing as how, if he gets on, he'll be your only sane choice, who the

hell would you listen to instead of him?

Hannity?

OReilly

Medved?

Boortz

sort of like the radio version of ABB

and, as for his 'dry' presentation, when have you seen him hold forth for that long?

longest I saw was in Missouri, for an hour and a half/two hours, and he did a very creditable job.....there were some lulls, but, remember, he's the one responsible (along with Jim Downey....credit where credit's due, even though he's a wingnut) for the BEST skits through the years at SNL.....the ones that stand up....the political ones.

he's smarter than any of his competition, and genuinely funny.

course that's just one opinion.

only course of action, duh, is to see how he does, assuming he gets the chance. I'll be listening; that's for sure

[BackDoorMan]

18. Shit, if in the same time slot...I'd be listening to Randi Rhodes.

[bearfartinthewoods]

33. music...................n/t

[KissMyAsscroft]

5. I guess you really have to see his format first...

If he can make it combative and exciting, like a more aggressive Daily Show, it will work.

He will mostly ridicule the right which will be funny to me.

[Gloria]

6. I tend to agree...when Franken was on with Russert and Tucker

Carlson (I think it was Carlson) he just wasn't very good fending off the jibes. He's OK cracking a joke, but he doesn't seem fast enough on his feet with spur of the moment situations. I am not convinced he would wear all that well for 3 hours every day.

It takes a certain talent to be a talk show host. Malloy definitely has the talent, as does Randi Rhodes.

[buycitgo]

17. I saw that, too

they tag teamed him, for one thing. he wasn't quite ready for that.

PLUS, Carlson LIED his ass off all through, and fatboy didn't let Franken respond, most of the time, conveniently 'going to commercial'

carlson was insanely shrill, and Franken was very subdued in his response. I thought TC came off looking like he had missed his rabies shot, and fatbolus was clearly letting the bowtiedburkabutt have his way.

really disgusting example of always having an insane loon on whenever someone like Moore, Franken, Conason appears.

did you see the show with Conason vs. bad clown Bernie Goldberg?

even with Russert on the attack, Conason made both of them look like the blowhard liars they always are.

[BackDoorMan]

19. Yes, Joe Conason would be another great choice.

[seventhson]

8. Karl? Is that you?

Mark McKinnon? Karl?

PSI?


Hi! Your worst nightmare here.

I saw what you did.


Franken, by the way, will be better than anything PSI can come up with EVER!!!

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scott Lee]

9. Fact about Radio:

If you are not entertaining, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are. You'll sink like a chunk of lead.

This is what bugs me so about NPR. What fucking dull radio.

wait wait dont tell me....bleh.

[tameszu]

23. Hey, I like NPR!

It's also more entertaining when you listen to it imagining the NPR parodies on SNL.

Also, I heard that the O'Reilly Fresh Air segment, when he just loses it and leaves is pretty damned entertaining.

[joefree1]

26. I listen to NPR six or seven hours a day

Maybe more. It keeps the left side of my brain busy while the right side creates.

"It's not over 'till Arnold gropes the fat lady" —Bill Press, on MSNBC

http://www.recallarnoldwatch.org

[tkmorris]

41. I disagree

I LIKE "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me". It's an intelligent show, full of wit and some very creative people.

I am tired of entertainment venues that pander exclusively to the lowest common denominator. Being entertaining to me does not mean being the loudest, the rudest, or taking the greatest possible liberties with the FCC rules. I realize this places me in the minority; the success of ridiculous morning radio fare like Howard Stern and that idiot Greaseman among others prove that such antics are popular.

If Al is dry and rather quiet I can take that. As long as he is intelligent and funny. And he will be. Will that be enough? It will for me, though maybe not for anyone else. We'll see.

[dpibel]

12. You are aware, aren't you

That Franken got his start doing comedy on Saturday Night Live when it was actually funny?

He might conceivably be better than you think.

[TheWebHead]

14. agreed

his delivery is way too slow for tv or radio for that matter. I think AM talk radio has more frequent commercials than any media format. He's going to need a quick witted co-host with a cattle-prod... Franken should be a show's 'color' guy, not play-by-play.

[BackDoorMan]

15. Absolutely, well put!

[Eric J in MN]

16. It won't be a one-man show.

I'm sure that Franken will have guests.

Maybe he'll also have someone who introduces news stories.

I've heard Franken interviewed on the radio and it was good.

Give it a chance.

on edit:

Regarding Al Gore, he is helping to organize the network, but I haven't seen any plans to give him a show.

Jeanine Garafalo is the person in addition to Al Franken mentioned to be on the air.

[Myra]

20. I don't have to picture it. He was in town recently, and was fantastic.

He was talking to a packed house (whatever capacity is
at Seattle's opera house, thousands for sure)
and people seemed pretty happy. I know I was.

[stevedeshazer]

21. You are quite correct

And before everyone piles on, I am a Franken fan.

To be a successful talk show host takes time and experience. I have listened to talk radio for 40 years. Contrary to popular opinion, it was not invented by Rush Limbaugh.

There are already many experienced and talented talk show hosts who are quite capable of hosting an entertaining show and are not part of the Radical Right. Many here at DU listen to Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, and Peter Werbe. My favorites are Ray Taliaferro and Bernie Ward on KGO in San Francisco, as well as Mike Webb, Dave Ross, and Erin Hart on KIRO in Seattle. Hey, I'm a West Coast guy.

AND HOW CAN WE FORGET OUR OWN GUY JAMES?

Famous names are nice, but they don't mean squat if they don't have the experience. It sounds easy, but it ain't. Limbaugh spent years honing his style in several incarnations, "Jeff Christie" for example. The key is SYNDICATION. Nobody knew Rush from roadkill before he got syndicated. Check some of your favorite opinion writers, for example. They're likely syndicated by a large news organization.

Famous people would do better as guests, in my opinion.

And, I'm really sick of all the talk about a big "left" radio network. I've read about it dozens of times; not only are they going about it all wrong, it's been all hat and no cattle so far. I'll believe it when I see it.

[BackDoorMan]

24. They are only talking about stations on each coasts for start-up.

Chicago must be considered at the start-up, some place geographically in the middle of the country as well, is crucial for success.

[delete_bush]

28. Experience wins out over

celebrity any day, hopefully this will be the new network's choice also. Whoever they select will need a grasp of history, their own style, and the ability to keep it entertaining.

I'm glad to see that Erin Hart is still around! I listened to her in Denver for several years before she was replaced by some syndicated right winger.

[Missy Vixen]

29. Erin Hart

>Mike Webb, Dave Ross, and Erin Hart on KIRO in Seattle<

Stevie, I love Dave Ross and Mike Webb as well (if you listen closely to his intro, you may hear me telling him, "You'd make Sean Hannity cry like a little girl,") but Erin Hart is not a liberal, no matter how many times she claims to be.

If the new network hired Mike Malloy, I would go OUT OF MY WAY to support their advertisers. Same goes for the lovely and talented Randi Rhodes (I can listen to her on the Web; she kicks ass!,) Bernie Ward, and I'd also love to hear BartCop give it a go.

They'll definitely need an overnight person to keep the liberals on their toes; why not simulcast Bernie Ward and Ray Taliaferro from San Francisco?

Julie

[arikara]

25. I think Al Franken is hilarious

It isn't necessary to scream and rant like the pigboy to be entertaining. I like to listen to a bit of dry humor and someone that has some intelligence and who speaks some truth. Its been sorely lacking on the airwaves lately.

:D

Al Franken on Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/11/10/1511221&mode=thread&tid=25

[gmoney]

27. Franken's Books on Tape are great...

I know that they're scripted, but the audiobooks of all four Franken books are really entertaining and a lot of the value is his delivery, especially "Why Not Me?" and "Lies". Definitely worth seeking out. Franken's up for a Grammy for best spoken word album, for what that's worth.

(Why Michael Moore didn't do his own reading on "Dude" I don't know... the guy they got isn't very good at all.)

And three hours of talk radio isn't like sitting and listening to a three hour lecture. Fully 1 hour of that is likely to be commercials and "network news" and the like, if Rush and Sean and the rest are any indication. Then consider he'll have callers and probably guests and might actually let somebody finish a sentance, so Al's probably only responsible for maybe an hour of actual talking, including reading background on stories to comment on them. And with Team Franken doing show prep for him, he should have plenty to talk about and be entertaining.

Do we even know if it's going to be three hour blocks? Maybe they'll have MORE hosts doing 90 minutes or 2 hours each. I also doubt they'll try to fill 24-7 with live content. They could get by with a 6AM - 9AM live block, two hours of filler, an 11-2 live block, two more hours of filler, and a 4-7 live block, then repeat the live blocks from 7 to 4AM, two more hours of filler... the filler could be repeats of previous live blocks, or syndicated content from a variety of sources, or even just some cool music.

The problem is going to be finding advertisers who can afford national radio time that aren't republican-conservative lapdogs. Of course, if "Jumpin' Catfish" can afford it, couldn't just about any medium-size business? I can hear Apple, Powell's/Amazon, Working Assets, and a few others lining up...

And not to mention political ads... or maybe not. They might want the right to refuse to sell ads to Freepers and RNC, so they might have to decline ALL political advertising. Otherwise, the RNC would probably have enough money to flood the network's schedule with nothing but lies and hate speech, effectively neutering it.

My previous guess was that they'd launch in spring with enough money to prop it up through Election Day, even with NO advertisers -- that's all it needs to do. After Election Day, either it will have helped win the election and defeat Bush, or the 4th Reich will shut down all "radical" media outlets.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

30. What is the benefit of killing this idea off before it gets going?

How about waiting til it gets on the air to judge it?

[stevedeshazer]

31. We've already been waiting three years

I'm willing to give it a go, but jeez....

[rman]

32. sorry, I can't imagine Franken 'dry and boring'

-

[UTUSN]

34. Longer-Attention-Span Doesn't Equal "Boring"

Both Al(s) have held me listening for long pieces for an hour, hour-&-a-half and it was REFRESHING. A couple of months ago, right after FRANKEN on C-SPAN for that length, somebody also posted this gripe of "boring". It's not "boringness" that keeps or runs-off listeners. I can monitor LIMBOsevic and O'WHORELY, but cannot TAKE one minute of HANNITY, Oliver NORTH, Gordon LIDDY, or Paul HARVEY, and I submit that none of these dips is "boring". Otoh, chances are I myself tend to listen more to people I disagree with than to fellow choir members.

[Blade]

35. Heck...if Malloy doesn't sign with anyone else...

after his time on ieamerica radio is up, then yeah, I'd listen to Franken at the drop of a hat.

[onecitizen]

36. There's a guy named Ed Schultz...............

who seems really entertaining and is a liberal. Anybody out there heard him? What do ya think about him?

[stevedeshazer]

38. I've heard of him

Never actually heard him, though. He's said to be really good and has been mentioned before on DU.

http://www.kfgo.com/talk/ed/ed.html

[trogdor]

37. They should get Bartcop.

THAT will get people watching. Pay the man a real (big) salary so he can stop begging for loose change at his website. He'd probably have to stop doing his website, and I'd miss that terribly, but it would be worth it if I could tune in for three hours of him every day.

"OK, before we open the phone lines, it was a GREAT weekend in the NFL; the Cowboys lost 63-zip to the Chiefs. The vulgar Pigboy said on yesterday's show (open clip of Pigboy saying something stupid). That has got to be one of the stupidest things I have heard him say in a long time. The Bush administration, in a spectacular 'eff you' to the Establishment Clause, declared today to be 'National Praise Jebus Day.' I now open up the phone lines for your comments. Dave from upstate New York, what's on your mind?"

[NewJeffCT]

39. I agree

I loved "Lying Liars" and "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot", but he is not a good speaker. I saw him on CSPAN at the Univ of Missouri event and it was not very exciting.

I've never heard Mike Malloy or Randi Rhodes, but both seem to get positive notice on here. The only liberal host that I know of is Colin McEnroe on WTIC in Hartford, CT.

[lostnfound]

40. Did they say that? I agree. Will they carry Democracy Now? n/t

[Nlighten1]

42. Laff

Give me Franken ANY day. I love him.

[Plaid Adder]

43. They should hire ME!

I have a face made for radio...and I don't HAVE to cuss all the time!

3 hours of Gore I know I would not sign up for. But I've never heard Franken talk.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[Q]

44. No radio host simply 'talks' for three hours...

...and it's misleading of you to suggest such a thing.

- Try reversing the roles for a moment. Do you think Limbaugh would do well in front of a camera? Hell, no...the guy bombs every time he gets in front of a lens and sweats like a pig. Yet...unlike Limbaugh...some are able to do both.

- I've listened to Franken's audio books and his hour or longer speeches to various literary groups. He's able to keep the audiences attention for a very long time.

- I respect your right to an opinion...but this thread is spreading nothing but misinformation and a distorted view of reality.

[OneTwentyoNine]

45. Hell,I'll take anyone who tells the truth about our Nazi regime...

I don't give a CRAP who it is,right now beggars can't be choosers. We need people on the radio who tell it like it is,and tell the TRUTH--I don't need some Limbaugh light making crap up as we go along just to entice listeners the way Fatass has done with his em..."career".

David