# The Doctor will no longer be in **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 2, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108 "2025-06-02T15:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/21 "2025-06-02T21:03:25Z")
I dunno, but I say we took a shellackin’ out here. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/22 "2025-06-02T21:26:12Z")
I discovered Dr. Demento at age 10 in 1973 the same week I discovered MAD magazine. The first thing I did when I got a tape recorder was to start collecting episodes. If there was a flaw with the show, it was that it was so infrequently infused with new content. I would stop listening for years or decades and when I would tune in again, he was still playing “Fishheads” and “Frosty the Dopeman”. That said, I’m proud of the 100 or so original verses I have personally composed for "Shaving Cream. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/23 "2025-06-02T21:50:57Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > A good retirement is bittersweet and this is no different. I have a lot of good memories associated with Dr. Demento and I’m glad he’s able to retire on his own terms. Same here, feeling’s shared. Not everyone gets a graceful bow out. In the times when you had to look for and catch programming as it happened, this was quite the discovery when I first explored this media world back all those decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/24 "2025-06-02T22:30:42Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > In the times when you had to look for and catch programming as it happened, this was quite the discovery when I first explored this media world back all those decades ago. Yes! Remember before vcrs, when you had to be home when the programs aired or lose your chance??? One of my sisters told be maybe ten years ago: “DVRs changed my life.” And she was completely serious. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/25 "2025-06-02T23:34:42Z")
OP poster ought to report the OP post to get the title changed to fix “no long be in”. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/26 "2025-06-02T23:39:11Z")
One of my all time favorite skits is “Boot to the head” which I found a live-action remake of on YouTube one year and shared to Facebook. It’s a great memory each year when it comes around. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/27 "2025-06-02T23:54:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Barret Eugene Hansen, radio’s “Dr. Demento”, is retiring. On his weekly show he announced he’s 84 now and he’s decided he’s going to stop doing the show in the future. He’s going to do retrospective and flashback shows through the fall and will do some other specials in the fall as well. Sad to hear but good to know. I have several of his CDs, including ones from his Fan club, along with a special 10" ruler. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > On the Mighty KMET it was a live four hour broadcast (two hours syndicated elsewhere). From “Fishheads” to “Kinko The Clown” to “Shaving Cream” to Alan Sherman to Larry “Wild Man” Fischer to Tom Lehrer to “Weird Al” Yankovic to Barnes and Barnes etc., etc., most delightful etc We also listened to it on KMET , along with the “Fish report with a beat”. > [@crazyjoe](#): > > One of my all time favorite skits is “Boot to the head” There are two- the martial arts school one and the Will. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/28 "2025-06-03T00:00:29Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > As soon as read this, _“We come in Peace! Shoot to Kill!”_ popped into my head. That song is the ultimate earworm. I’ve had _There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow_ stuck in my head for over 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/29 "2025-06-03T00:38:41Z")
I’m shocked he’s just now retiring. I grew up listening to his collections. He is a legend. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’ve had _There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow_ stuck in my head for over 30 years. Dammit, now you got it stuck in **my** head. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/30 "2025-06-03T00:41:59Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Dammit, now you got it stuck in **my** head. - It’s likely we could start a chorus line. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/31 "2025-06-03T01:15:00Z")
_It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it._ ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/32 "2025-06-03T01:38:00Z")
I didn’t realize he was still on the air. It’s been forever since any radio station in these parts has run his show. I first heard him when I was living in St. Louis in 1974. One of the album rock stations ran his show. It was either KSHE (a legendary station that’s still rockin’ after all these years) or the long-defunct KADI. I thought his show was hilarious. Hearing “It’s a Gas” by Alfred E. Neuman on the radio was a cosmic experience indeed. He played goofy but authentic recordings from years past. I kind of lost interest when he began playing songs that seemed to be created just for his show. They just weren’t as funny as “Everybody Likes My Fanny” by the supremely wacky Benny Bell. I’m sorry to hear he’s hanging up the headphones. I respect a guy who took a crazy obsessive hobby and turned it in a long successful and loved way to make a living. It must have been a lot of fun to be Dr. Demento, don’t ya think? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/33 "2025-06-03T03:32:24Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _“We come in Peace! Shoot to Kill!”_ > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > That song is the ultimate earworm. Ye cannae change the laws of physics! Laws of physics! Laws of physics! Arghh! Make it stop! I curse all of you! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/34 "2025-06-03T03:47:53Z")
_It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it. Not as we know it. Not as we know it._ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/35 "2025-06-03T04:26:55Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > I didn’t realize he was still on the air. It’s been forever since any radio station in these parts has run his show. As Czarcasm noted a few posts back, the show ceased running as a syndicated radio program some years ago (2010, if the Doctor’s Wikipedia entry is accurate), and has been online-only since then. So, “still on the air” is relative: he’s still creating new programs, but he hasn’t technically been on the radio for fifteen years. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/36 "2025-06-03T10:40:26Z")
I listened to Dr D every weekend at college - good times ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/37 "2025-06-03T13:04:25Z")
I’ve met Dr. Demento a few times at science fiction conventions. In addition to participating in panels on various topics, he always DJed a music show. Usually with an SF theme so of course this thread’s earworm was one of the songs. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/38 "2025-06-03T16:41:47Z")
I realized last night as I was drifting off to sleep that I’d gotten the KMET jingle wrong. It’s: A little bit of heaven, 94.7, KMET, tweedle dee! I omitted the call letters. Shame on me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/39 "2025-06-03T19:55:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it. > Not as we know it. > Not as we know it. Oddly the voice actors they got for the male cast members are kinda, sorta close, but Uhura is way way off. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108/40 "2025-06-03T20:31:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I discovered the Doctor in the early '80s, I was going to say, I don’t _think_ any central WI stations carried it, so if you heard it in the 70s, it would retroactively make me mad that I missed it. I think Milwaukee carried it, but we couldn’t get those stations. In fact, I’ve never heard the show, ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-will-no-longer-be-in/1019108.md?page=3)