# Garrison Keillor Says He Is Stepping Down As Host Of 'A Prairie Home Companion' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753 "2015-07-21T05:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/21 "2015-07-23T13:17:36Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Is your station playing [Ask Me Another](http://www.npr.org/programs/ask-me-another/)? It’s at least as good as WWDTM. I only heard of this show a few weeks ago–they don’t seem to carry it here in Chicago, but you can stream it online and there’s a good selection of shows. I don’t find it anywhere near as funny as WWDTM, but it’s a good show. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/22 "2015-07-23T13:38:57Z")
I didn’t know he was still alive. My grandmother used to enjoy his show many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/23 "2015-07-23T14:25:43Z")
Keillor is happy to get his NPR (taxpayer funded) grant checks. his product is pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/24 "2015-07-23T14:44:37Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Yeah-one of the brothers is dead-and they have the 20 year old show still being played. People are talking about cars that have been junked for decades. Wooosh. NPR is welcome to as much of my tax money they want. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/25 "2015-07-23T17:06:01Z")
He was going to quit four or five years ago and had even picked out a new host. Toward the end of his “last” season, he even had her do a whole show on her own, while he watched in the wings. I can’t remember her name but IMHO, she did a good job, true to the PHC spirit. I was only listening every now and then by that time and was surprised (though not too much, since he’d quit before) to hear him still on the air the next season. I bet this will be another false alarm, too. While I like Dusty and Lefty and Guy Noir, I wish he’d introduce some new regular characters now and then and retire others. You know, I was just thinking…I’m betting the main reason people tune in is for The News from Lake Woebegon, just like **Qadgop.** If Garrison is really serous about quitting this time, perhaps he’d allow a half-hour show re-airing two NfLW segments at a time. They might have to be edited a little to make them fit into a half hour, but I think this would be a good idea, yes? Or re-air one segment along with some music and some of the funnier short bits. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/26 "2015-07-23T18:02:45Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > You know, I was just thinking…I’m betting the main reason people tune in is for The News from Lake Woebegon, just like **Qadgop.** If Garrison is really serous about quitting this time, perhaps he’d allow a half-hour show re-airing two NfLW segments at a time. They might have to be edited a little to make them fit into a half hour, but I think this would be a good idea, yes? Or re-air one segment along with some music and some of the funnier short bits. What do you think? What do I think? As much as NfLW is as comfy as a very old pair of well broken in slippers and just as sentimentally significant, I think it’s time to realize that when it comes down to it, it sort of stinks now. And it’s time to move on. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/27 "2015-07-23T18:20:38Z")
Are we in the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/28 "2015-07-23T18:36:46Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > NPR is welcome to as much of my tax money they want. Good! You can pay my share, too. 🙂 –Ulf, good solid liberal Democrat who finds little to no value in NPR ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/29 "2015-07-23T22:26:42Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Good! You can pay my share, too. 🙂 > > –Ulf, good solid liberal Democrat who finds little to no value in NPR I’m with ITD, I love NPR and would miss it terribly if it went away. I should contribute more. I listen to PHC almost every Saturday night. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/30 "2015-07-24T17:04:05Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I’m with ITD, I love NPR and would miss it terribly if it went away. I should contribute more. NPR is pretty much the only terrestrial radio station I listen to anymore, and has been for several years. Nothing gets me through a drive better than an episode of “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” or “Filmspotting” or “Whaddaya Know” (although is that still on anymore? They don’t seem to carry it on Chicago Public Radio, but they used to.) Hell, I don’t even really watch movies, but I love listening to the Chicago Public Radio guys talk about it. > [@](#): > > I listen to PHC almost every Saturday night. I don’t know what it is about this show. I don’t really find myself laughing at it; I don’t have a history of growing up with it (I only started listening to it maybe ten years ago) But there’s something old-timey and grandfatherly about it. It’s as comfortable as an old pair of loafers. I actually kind of hate how Garrison Keilor feels the need to sing along to most of the songs. Yet I still listen. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/31 "2015-07-24T21:06:49Z")
He’s my least favorite NPR personality. I suppose his schtick would be more tolerable if he didn’t come across in interviews as such an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/32 "2015-07-25T00:49:59Z")
This guy made an entire radio career out of making people listen to him inhale and exhale through a dense forest of nasal hair. Good for a chuckle now and again. Frequently superb local ( to that week’s broadcast ) musical guests. Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/33 "2015-07-25T01:16:23Z")
It was an alternative to L&O,SVU reruns for washing dishes and folding laundry, but a few years ago when he was old-man-crushing on Heather Masse it became too embarrassing. Really, though, I’m a big fan of average people poignancy stories. _The Last Picture Show_ and _Smoke_ and the like. But the Lake Wobegone stories seldom rose to that. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/34 "2015-07-25T06:35:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Agree-all of the shows sound the same. Frankly, not funny and very boring to listen to. This is about it. I listened about 3 years ago, and it sucked regularly. It had been sucking off and on for a few years prior, also. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/35 "2015-07-25T15:06:11Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I’m betting the main reason people tune in is for The News from Lake Woebegon, just like **Qadgop.** If Garrison is really serous about quitting this time, perhaps he’d allow a half-hour show re-airing two NfLW segments at a time. For some time now, tNfLW (by itself) has been available as a podcast. I still listen to and enjoy that occasionally, though I’ve never been a listener of PHC in its entirety. For a guy who has the reputation of being folksy and old-timey, Keillor’s humor relies on fart jokes more often than you’d think. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/36 "2015-07-25T20:31:44Z")
Some people think that an inferior product (APHC) is good because it is on NPR. the guy is a 3rd-rate talent (at best)-if not, why doesn’t he sell the show to commercial radio? simple-nobody wants it. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753/37 "2015-07-26T12:44:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Some people think that an inferior product (APHC) is good because it is on NPR. the guy is a 3rd-rate talent (at best)-if not, why doesn’t he sell the show to commercial radio? simple-nobody wants it. OK, we all regret that One Direction broke up, but don’t take it out on NPR. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garrison-keillor-says-he-is-stepping-down-as-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion/725753.md?page=1)