Prairie Home Companion

Tonight was the last show with Garrison Keillor.

He got an on air phone call from the Prez.

I've hated that show for years. Pandering bull*****.  Boring, MOR, claptrap to bring  subscribers to public radio. 

A big fat SNORE. 

Only thing worse on public radio is Jonathan Schwartz. Don't get me started. 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I've hated that show for years. Pandering bull*****.  Boring, MOR, claptrap to bring  subscribers to public radio. 

A big far SNORE. 

Only thing worse on public radio is Jonathan Schwartz. Don't get me started. 

If you don't like him, maybe this isn't the thread for you.  I will miss him, even though I wasn't a steady customer 

I will miss it.

FilmCarp said:
If you don't like him, maybe this isn't the thread for you. 

+1

Will miss him greatly - not so sure yet of his replacement.

FilmCarp said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I've hated that show for years. Pandering bull*****.  Boring, MOR, claptrap to bring  subscribers to public radio. 

A big far SNORE. 

Only thing worse on public radio is Jonathan Schwartz. Don't get me started. 

If you don't like him, maybe this isn't the thread for you.  I will miss him, even though I wasn't a steady customer 

Fair enough. 

We saw him live a few times. He is a remarkable story teller. I recall when I first started hearing him in the early 80's. I was confused..."wait...What? Powder Milk Biscuits?" He poked fun of pretentiousness, which I found a welcome relief, struggling with my own struggles of dealing with the world that is Manhattan at the time. And a few years later my husband, whom I was dating at the time, and I would catch his show on the car radio and sit and listen before we'd go to out to eat or on our way back into the City from a day out  

Obama said that he often listened to his show in the car back in the days when he was driving back and forth to the state senate in Illinois, and that GK's show brought back a sense of sanity. 

GK was interviewed on CBS Sunday morning last week. GK diagnosed himself as having Asperger's. I think this is probably true. A brilliant, talented man. 

I don't see the show surviving without him.  The whole feel and concept of the show is so much about his time and place, and not just the Lake  Wobegon segment.  I don't see how a young host carries it forward.  I hope some kind of radio variety show survives (are there any others?) but it won't be PHC.

I never partook except in the early days, but it is the passing of an era. 

That conversation with the O was nice...they sure complimented each other.   Will miss him lots. actually both of them...they are both fine human beings.

I think one of the main ideas was to be a counterpoint to contemporary popular culture with its its loudness and hype and self-importance.  When you listened, or went to the show, it felt like an intimate small town experience, even when big name musical performers occasionally came on.  And it was not all hokey and aw shucks stuff either.  Some of the PHC segments could turn on a dime and punch you in the gut with feelings of loss and regret.            

bub said:

I think one of the main ideas was to be a counterpoint to contemporary popular culture with its its loudness and hype and self-importance.  When you listened, or went to the show, it felt like an intimate small town experience, even when big name musical performers occasionally came on.  And it was not all hokey and aw shucks stuff either.  Some of the PHC segments could turn on a dime and punch you in the gut with feelings of loss and regret.            

+1 (and politcal statements as well)

Love his books. Went to see him when he had a book signing at out local "Words" bookstore some years ago. As I stood in line to have him sign my copy of "Wobegon Boy" I wondered what I would call him. I thought "Garrison' somehow just sounds odd to say and 'Gary' would be ridiculous".

So as he signed my book I said "Thank you Sire". He winked at me. Funny guy.

I went to several of the live N.Y.C. shows. And it wasn't just Garrison who wasn't full of himself. I was in the front row for several of the shows and the cast would give out copies of the scripts and talk and autograph them. 

Sue Scott is particularly nice.

Diane Rehm is also packing it in shortly.

bub well put.  He definitely could verge on the saccharine, and just as I would be growing wary, he would have an observation or insight that was so pointed that it would catch me off guard and I would blurt out loud with surprise and delighted laughter. 

gerryl said:

bub well put.  He definitely could verge on the saccharine, and just as I would be growing wary, he would have an observation or insight that was so pointed that it would catch me off guard and I would blurt out loud with surprise and delighted laughter. 

+1  I wish this site had a "like" button....so true.

Delightfully unassuming, in spite of the call from BHO. I loved it that he used his usual closer, 'that's our show for tonight,' as if there would be another one next Saturday. 

Back when I was an electrician I worked on Garrison Keillor's coop in NYC. At the completion of the job, when asked what he thought he responded, "I'm going to be the envy of everyone at the Chatterbox Cafe."

I am going to miss PHC so much

His replacement, Chris Thile, is a really interesting guy. Brilliant mandolin player (he was a Macarthur Genius award winner!) and a member of Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers. He was also part of thr fantastic Goat Rodeo Sessions. My husband and I saw his solo show at Mayo Performing Arts Center last fall and not only enjoyed the music, but his storyteling as well. It's not every performer who can command the stage completely solo, but he did. 

I'm going to miss Keillor. I've listened to that show since about 1979. When I discovered it, I thought they must have been joking when they said it was live. How could they put all that stuff on live?

I've been listening to it in recent years as well. And in doing so, I've been missing the quality the show used to have. I really think it has slipped or gotten boring. Or maybe my taste has changed

Still, Keillor is a national treasure, as my father put it a few years ago. He's given us so much.

If the new host is the guy I heard last year or so, he gives me hope. He's a better singer, which isn't hard, because Keillor's singing can be called mediocre at best. The new guy has great energy. I can't predict if the show will last, but I'm open minded.

Chris Thile is an extremely talented man, but there's going to be a lot more to keeping this show alive than just plain old raw talent. My hope is that he can find a way to somehow make the show his own, distinct from Keillor's, while at the same time not straying too far away from the signature vibe that we're all familiar with. It's a tall order. I hope he can pull it off.