Howard History: Essay- HS Recorded Bits at WNBC & WXRK
The Jon Lovitz Pants Explosion
>From: Ano...@The.Basement.Cave (Anon Guy)
>Date: 12/20/00 6:58 AM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <3a409e49...@news.AnonGuy.edu>
>
>"oldirtycaffrey" asked for an "opinion" piece...
>_________________________________________________________
>Disclaimer- This is only one subjective memory- your recollection
>may vary. This essay is offered only so that new listeners can
>understand what the older listeners are talking about, when they
>say the show has "changed." I'm also asserting that even if you
>hear an NBC-era bit replayed today, you won't hear what made
>the show unique to early listeners. -AG
>__________________________________
<snip excellent essay>
Whoa! ODC did a rain dance and got a friggin' hurricane!
I agree with your opinion that the bits were always secondary. The closest
that Stern has gotten to that old magic in recent years was with the recording
of the Backside Boys material. But only slightly.
- Jello -
Commander Flatulence
headlines for Stern fans, ya big lug), but also smart. A+ for your
insightful commentary.
________________________________________________
Ano...@The.Basement.Cave (Anon Guy) penned:
Disclaimer- This is only one subjective memory- your recollection
may vary. This essay is offered only so that new listeners can
understand what the older listeners are talking about, when they
say the show has "changed." I'm also asserting that even if you
hear an NBC-era bit replayed today, you won't hear what made
the show unique to early listeners. -AG
_________________________________________________________
History on Howard's pre-recorded bits, from WNBC to early WXRK
The old recorded bits weren't sprung on the listeners suddenly, in
finished form. Rather, what was aired were daily updates on a
bit-in-progress.
If Howard got an idea for a recorded bit, he, along with everyone
else, would develop it on the air. (Because they were controlled by an
engineer, everyone's microphones were on, and everyone was often heard
at the same volume level.) Since the bits required considerable work,
the process continued during the daily (now it's weekly) off-air show
writing meetings.
On the next day's show, the audience got filled in on what had
happened in the previous writing session. Who said what, who didn't
contribute, who made an ass of themselves, who ordered smelly food,
how they wasted time and avoided work, how management was worried
about the bit's content, etc., was ALL reported. Even if nobody showed
up when they were supposed to, the process continued: all the excuses
for missing the meeting were evaluated on the air. If required,
witnesses were called, and evidence examined, to verify any and all
excuses offered. The aggressive pursuit of truth often uncovered some
tasty secrets. Much of the personal history of the gang was uncovered
this way. (Back then, Howard was relentless in his pursuit of "Total
honesty on the air," He mocked shows that were afraid to be honest
with the listeners: "Why don't you just tell the truth, it's always
more interesting than your phony show!")
Back to the bit- Every day, at each stage of the bit's completion, the
unfinished tape was aired for comment and analysis. Callers would
chime in with opinions. You would hear a bit in countless different
forms before it was judged finished. For example, different vomiting
sound effects were compared carefully, with listeners choosing the
most sickening, while praising Fred's art. Fred would then proudly
explain how he dumped potatoes into a bucket of water for the desired
sonic results. When you heard the bit's final version, you knew the
story behind the tumbling chunks, and literally everything else.
(This specific example may be from early in the WXRK era.)
All this effort, remember, was for a taped bit that was completely
ridiculous, a silly piece of total nonsense- but one that everyone
would treat as if it was Shakespeare.
The listener was never left out of anything, no matter how trivial (or
personal) on the show. Since nothing was ever repeated(!), you didn't
dare miss a show. If you did, you risked falling behind in this daily
accumulation of insider knowledge, private jokes and obscure
references. This was part of the show's design- callers who asked
about something that they didn't recognize, were told that they
couldn't miss any part of the show. Robin would say: "Hey, it's like
a soap opera." Howard would add: "What do you mean, 'like'?"
Unlike today's show, the finished bit itself was secondary to the
process of its development. When you hear that old bit replayed today,
what you are hearing is a tiny remnant of all the comedy involved in
its creation. Listeners quickly realized that those early bits were
actually a way to bring the audience into "The show behind the show,"
as Howard called it. A tradition of listener involvement (sometimes
going as far as real collaboration) in the show's content was
established.
One of Howard's guests, comparing the show to its competition, used
Penn and Teller as an analogy. The guest pointed out that, after you
had seen Penn and Teller comedically revealing the trick behind sawing
a woman in half, you couldn't watch a traditional magician perform the
same trick seriously. Penn and Teller had spoiled you by taking you
behind the scenes, and then making fun of the show-biz trickery they
revealed. They had rendered the traditional magic unconvincing,
over-hyped, and corny.
After listening to Howard, if you listened to his NYC competitor,
Scott Shannon, playing a bit, your criteria for appreciating bits had
changed. With Shannon, you had no idea where the bit came from, who
wrote it, what went into it, etc. It had no clear relation to Shannon,
or anyone on the show that you knew. It came off as the canned,
pre-packaged content that it was. It sounded like every other
drive-time show. The entire parallel plot of the bit's creation,
always a part of Howard's show, was absent.
As in the Penn and Teller analogy, Howard spoiled you by showing how
much more could be gotten out of the radio format by breaking the
rigid conventions of show business. All the messy, unglamorous
backstage stuff, usually hidden, became the subject of the show's
comedy. Howard didn't leave station politics out of the mix, and his
goal- total honesty- quickly became WNBC management's concern.
Eventually, Howard didn't really need bits at WNBC, as his
relationship with management itself became the ultimate 'bit.'
It's impossible to listen to old those bits today, lifted out of their
context, and get any insight into the earlier show. It would be like
only seeing the climax of a Penn and Teller-deconstructed magic trick.
The overall subject of the early show was the making of the show
itself, and the public's reaction to it. The HS news articles you see
in this newsgroup would have been the daily topic of discussion, no
matter how negative they might seem.
Getting the authors of hate mail and bad reviews on the air to explain
themselves was a top priority. All the topics that this newsgroup
wonders about, would have been part of the process that Howard used to
call: "The show writing itself."
The daily cycle of doing show, then the reaction to it- in the press,
phone calls, letters, memos from management, built up a
self-perpetuating momentum.
Today's syndication and celebrity focus wouldn't allow for all this
messy, very "inside" (but highly entertaining) chaos.
AG