I remember distinctly where I was when I heard Phil announce that he was retiring from the airwaves in an effort to direct his energies towards tv. It sounded fake to me, because he knows better than all that his brilliance is best served in the medium of radio.
Not tv.
Not that he doesn't do tv well, either. It's just that there's NO way to impersonate Phil's Bobby Dooley as she gloats about the topiary in their front yard made lovingly into a replica of her breasts, a'la Steve, her "wildly successful landscaper" husband.
Despite the flurry of projects he's worked on for tv/film, he was finally given more 3-d exposure in NBC's Teachers, which aired in the winter of 06. The pilot came with 5 more episodes, yet didn't get picked up. It was good, I thought. I wanted it to succeed only because of Phil, and probably judge it with a bias.
However, it was the short-lived series' final show that exposed just how good Phil is for radio. He translated himself on the tv set, going into one of his impersonations as he ducked out of view of the person who was the butt of the stunt. It was cute, but for me, I was less treated to the rich tapestry the radio allows for, compared to seeing Phil duck behind a door in a dark sweater as he 'loses' himself in character.
On radio, when Phil did these "characters", he took the time to set them up. He would talk with them for upwards of 30 minutes, then turning it over to the caller. That's when the brilliance of Phil's art really shines--when the improvisation starts.
And that's how tv, as a medium, sucks for those of us with an attention span a little longer than 3 and a half minutes. Plus, with tv, there's no improvisation. No real chance to fall. Everything is shot, re-shot, triple-shot, etc. Sometimes even in front of a live audience, but still, to us millions of consumers out there, it was scripted and edited for best airing.
Radio isn't like that.
When Phil came back a year later, that's when it became increasingly clear what had taken place: Phil is now with Talk Radio Network, which is a different syndicator than Phil had for many years, Premiere Radio Networks. When you break a contract as a jock in Clear Channel, Cumulus, etc, where one must sign a non-compete contract to get work, then you have to sit out that time period according to the contract.
When I worked for Clear Channel, the non-compete was for 2 years, 200 miles radius from where your voice was heard. Phil was able to negotiate a much better contract than did I or any of my other on-air personnel. He only had to sit out one year.
Now that he's back, a couple of things have changed. He isn't afraid to spend most of the hour pontificating about politics. He was getting more political from 01-06, but it was only for a few minutes that he might praise our troops or openly give sincere credit to President Bush for committing us to the War On Terrorism and the Iraqi War...and then it was back into the next character for the rest of the hour.
Nowadays it mostly monologue, some political guests, and the rarer stop-by's from Chris Putay, Larry Grover, Steve Bosell, RC Collins, Skippy & Frank, Bob Green, Chris Norton, etc.
And the other thing that has changed is that he doesn't take calls during his short bits anymore. That was the deepest of laughs for me every day, listening to my downloaded mp3 on the way to work. Hell, I've sent songs out to Bobby Dooley from Naples who called in for that James Taylor song, sometimes even to Lloyd Bonafide out in Bonita Springs. The joke was broadcast to thousands of people, but shared by only the few who might know these radio characters well.
*sigh*
We see too little of em', Phil.
Not tv.
Not that he doesn't do tv well, either. It's just that there's NO way to impersonate Phil's Bobby Dooley as she gloats about the topiary in their front yard made lovingly into a replica of her breasts, a'la Steve, her "wildly successful landscaper" husband.
Despite the flurry of projects he's worked on for tv/film, he was finally given more 3-d exposure in NBC's Teachers, which aired in the winter of 06. The pilot came with 5 more episodes, yet didn't get picked up. It was good, I thought. I wanted it to succeed only because of Phil, and probably judge it with a bias.
However, it was the short-lived series' final show that exposed just how good Phil is for radio. He translated himself on the tv set, going into one of his impersonations as he ducked out of view of the person who was the butt of the stunt. It was cute, but for me, I was less treated to the rich tapestry the radio allows for, compared to seeing Phil duck behind a door in a dark sweater as he 'loses' himself in character.
On radio, when Phil did these "characters", he took the time to set them up. He would talk with them for upwards of 30 minutes, then turning it over to the caller. That's when the brilliance of Phil's art really shines--when the improvisation starts.
And that's how tv, as a medium, sucks for those of us with an attention span a little longer than 3 and a half minutes. Plus, with tv, there's no improvisation. No real chance to fall. Everything is shot, re-shot, triple-shot, etc. Sometimes even in front of a live audience, but still, to us millions of consumers out there, it was scripted and edited for best airing.
Radio isn't like that.
When Phil came back a year later, that's when it became increasingly clear what had taken place: Phil is now with Talk Radio Network, which is a different syndicator than Phil had for many years, Premiere Radio Networks. When you break a contract as a jock in Clear Channel, Cumulus, etc, where one must sign a non-compete contract to get work, then you have to sit out that time period according to the contract.
When I worked for Clear Channel, the non-compete was for 2 years, 200 miles radius from where your voice was heard. Phil was able to negotiate a much better contract than did I or any of my other on-air personnel. He only had to sit out one year.
Now that he's back, a couple of things have changed. He isn't afraid to spend most of the hour pontificating about politics. He was getting more political from 01-06, but it was only for a few minutes that he might praise our troops or openly give sincere credit to President Bush for committing us to the War On Terrorism and the Iraqi War...and then it was back into the next character for the rest of the hour.
Nowadays it mostly monologue, some political guests, and the rarer stop-by's from Chris Putay, Larry Grover, Steve Bosell, RC Collins, Skippy & Frank, Bob Green, Chris Norton, etc.
And the other thing that has changed is that he doesn't take calls during his short bits anymore. That was the deepest of laughs for me every day, listening to my downloaded mp3 on the way to work. Hell, I've sent songs out to Bobby Dooley from Naples who called in for that James Taylor song, sometimes even to Lloyd Bonafide out in Bonita Springs. The joke was broadcast to thousands of people, but shared by only the few who might know these radio characters well.
*sigh*
We see too little of em', Phil.
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