{"id":628,"date":"2007-03-26T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2007-03-26T18:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php\/index.php\/2007\/03\/26\/i-dont-wanna-go-off-on-a-rant-here-but\/"},"modified":"2007-03-26T12:06:29","modified_gmt":"2007-03-26T18:06:29","slug":"i-dont-wanna-go-off-on-a-rant-here-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=628","title":{"rendered":"I Don’t Wanna Go Off On A Rant, Here, But…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dennis Miller – one of my five all-time favorite comics – starts his latest venture, a radio talk show, today (coincidentally, just in time for the re-christening of AM1570<\/a>, the Patriot’s sister station, as the “Talk of the West Metro”.\u00a0 Miller appears from 9-noon on 1570).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good news?<\/p>\n

Maybe.\u00a0 I’ve commented in the past<\/a> about how standup comics and talk radio really don’t mix.\u00a0 Much of Air America’s initial, ballyhooed lineup was former standups – Marc Maron, Janeane Garofalo, Lizzzzzz Winstead,\u00a0Al Franken, Sam Seder.\u00a0 Let’s give credit where it’s due – all of them but Seder were quite successful at comedy.\u00a0 The qualifier – they were successful in their element,<\/em>\u00a0working on a stage in front of a crowd, giving them instant feedback (or, in Franken’s case, as a writer, which is another medium entirely).\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, like most comics who try to do talk radio – a very different medium requiring a very different energy and focus – all of them were disastrous flops on the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Miller is one of the best at what he does – blazingly-literate, funny-in-a-byzantine-intricate-way commentary about people and events.\u00a0 He’s vastly better at comedy that could<\/em>\u00a0 translate to talk radio than Franken, Garofalo or Maron.\u00a0 And he’s been edging closer to the radio medium – via his great HBO series and his failed stabs at Monday Night Football and his CNBC show – for most of a decade, now.\u00a0\u00a0 If there were <\/em>a standup comic who could do talk radio – who might have learned how to make the transition from talking to a room full of people to talking to a microphone and a slate of phone callers and an audience that one must imagine rather than see – it could be Miller.<\/p>\n

And he’s a libertarian conservative.\u00a0 That’s going to help, of course; liberal talk was and remains DOA, while conservative talk promises to surge as the next election cycle approaches.\u00a0 Miller should be in his element.<\/p>\n

Brian Maloney<\/a> on the challenges Miller faces:<\/p>\n

<\/a> An astounding glut<\/span> of syndicated weekday fare, with far more programs than the market can support.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

True, but that’s been the case for years, and is hardly a reason not to give it a try.\u00a0 I mean, it’s only money, right?<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/a> A curious time slot<\/span> choice, 10am – 1pm ET, which will have him up against Rush Limbaugh and many other successful mid- morning shows.<\/font><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is, indeed, a strange choice.\u00a0 Far better, I’d think, to run Miller either in the morning slot, against the likes of Laura Ingraham and Bill Bennett, or perhaps as an alternative in the afternoon to Sean Hannity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/a> Though 80 stations<\/span> signed up for his debut, quite a decent number, most are tiny, including a number of Salem Communications- owned outlets.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

True – including here in the Twin Cities; 1570 is a smaller, more niche-oriented signal (albeit much better-placed now than during its years as “the Patriot II”, broadcasting shows that didn’t quite make the cut for AM1280).\u00a0 Maloney correctly notes that these small stations are notorious for tape-delaying shows, making it impossible for people in their markets to call in and participate (and accordingly lowering listenership).\u00a0 AM1570 will be running the show live in the Twin Cities, which is a very good thing – but 1570 is, at best, a very new project (as in, on its first day today!), and is a smaller, weaker signal than even AM1280.<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/a> Miller brings baggage<\/span> to the radio, including his failed CNBC show, where his performance was lackluster. Does he have a real passion for the issues? Can he develop a topic?<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We’ll see! As I noted above, Miller might<\/em> be a more auspicious candidate for this than the vast majority of comics – indeed, more than any comic I can personally think of at the moment. But having some solid radio experience on his production team will help a lot, too (presuming Miller breaks from traditional standup comic form and can actually listen to their advice…)<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/a> Most of all,<\/span> he simply lacks the experience in talk radio needed to hit the ground running. We’ve repeatedly seen celebrities plucked off the street and given shows, only to fail when they quickly run out of steam.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Always a good point; from Soupy Sales to James Hightower to Al Franken, the radio landscape is littered with the carcasses of celebs who were “the next big thing” (or more recently “the alternative to Limbaugh”). But I think Miller has paid more applicable dues in the business than any of the others; he’s in the right place (right of center!) and, arguably, at the right time.<\/p>\n

Handicaps aside – and there are some big ones –\u00a0I think Miller stands a chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dennis Miller – one of my five all-time favorite comics – starts his latest venture, a radio talk show, today (coincidentally, just in time for the re-christening of AM1570, the Patriot’s sister station, as the “Talk of the West Metro”.\u00a0 Miller appears from 9-noon on 1570).\u00a0 Good news? Maybe.\u00a0 I’ve commented in the past about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-republicans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}