So I’ve been having problems tuning in WLIB 1190 on my truck’s stereo lately. This is a problem because I love listening to Air America on the way to work every weekday. Morning Sedition is a daily favorite for me. Heck, Mark Riley let me comment on the air a week or so ago about a buddy of mine who is heading to Iraq. Anyway…
WLIB isn’t coming in clearly anymore, and I decide to go out and get XM for my truck so I can tune in. After taking apart my dash (again), getting the damned thing hooked up and activating my one-year subscription, all is well once again. Except this morning, Marc Maron announced that Morning Sedition is no longer (as we know it, anyway).
No more sketch comedy. No more characters. No more Maron. It’s all going away after 12/15. (Well, Mark Riley will stay on, but no one knows what the new show will be like.)
This isn’t anything new. Rumors have been floating around for months about AAR not renewing Maron’s contract. And Maron has been discussing the failure to renew his contract on air for weeks. But that doesn’t change the fact that this whole situation sucks donkey balls.
No more sketch comedy? Does that mean we’ve heard the last from Sammy the Stem Cell and Cardinal Milfington? Say it ain’t so, man.
AAR has fucked with the only duo in its lineup that actually had a decent dynamic. Maron and Riley could riff off of one another and make the experience both educating and funny. I have no idea why they would do this. But now I’m pissed. I know I’ll end up listening to whatever Riley broadcasts, but it ain’t gonna be the same.
Yeah, I know it’s not one of my usual rants where I fling accusations of goat felching around willy-nilly, but hey - it still sucks.
I’m not up early enough to listen to the whole show, but I’ve enjoyed the bits of Mark ‘n’ Marc that I’ve heard. Perhaps Maron will get the gig on the West Coast that he was talking about. I could sure use some relief from Randi–she’s a bit too shrill for me.
“Morning Sedition” and Al Franken’s show (which I believe is called “The Al Franken Show”) are the only two things I listen to regularly on Air America. (Randi Rhodes is too hysterical, everything else is inconveniently scheduled, and there are only so many ads for scams like “The International Star Registry” that I can listen to).
Marc and Mark have great chemistry, and the comedy pieces occasionally approach brilliance (I’ve especially enjoyed the “Future Marc” segments). Also, Cardinal Milfington made fun of me by name once following a nitpicking email I sent, which made my day.
Maron is a troubled, passionate, occasionally inspired guy; I hope we haven’t heard the last of him.
Dunno about other markets, but out here in El Lay, “Morning Sedition” gets replaced with “The Stephanie Miller Show.” And from what I remember of MS when I caught it, Stephanie deserves as wide of an audience as she can get.
I rarely get to hear Randi, mainly cuz she comes on LONG before I get home from work. More often I’m listening to Mike Malloy on the drive home. I’d characterize his show as 95 percent psychotic raving and 5 percent interesting stuff that makes you think. Yet, he appears to be escaping the axe.
I like Randi, but she does wig me out. She’s obviously smart, but her accent grates on me like a dozen screeching rhesus monkeys scraping their nails across a chalkboard.
I love Randi. I only recently started listenting as D.C. just got an Air America affiliate maybe a few months ago, and I only learned about in a cab ride home two weeks ago. I probably listen a total of half an hour every week though – I’m not in my car very much except on weekends. I really enjoyed the bits of the Stephanie Miller show I heard on Friday though. Funny.