The Howie Carr Show

Infobox Radio Show
show_name = The Howie Carr Show


imagesize = 200px
caption =
format = Current affairs
home_station = WRKO AM 680
runtime = 4 hours
creator =
writer =
executive_producer = Nancy "Sandy" Shack
starring = Howie Carr
announcer =
opentheme = "Who Do You Love?" by George Thorogood with an audio montage
endtheme =
country = USA
first_aired = 1994
last_aired = present (on WRKO)
num_episodes =
website = [http://wrko.com/pages/681308.php HowieCarr.com]
podcast =

"The Howie Carr Show" is an American radio talk-show presented by award-winning journalist and "New York Times" best-selling author Howie Carr. Its home station is WRKO AM 680, based in Boston, Massachusetts, on which the show airs every weekday between 3 and 7 PM,fn|1 and is heard throughout northern and central New England and northeastern New York, but is available to a worldwide audience via live streaming on [http://wrko.com/pages/681308.php Carr's official website] .

On July 9, 2007, it was announced that Carr was terminating his relationship with WRKO when his contract expired in September 2007 and would begin hosting his show weekdays 5:30 to 9 AM on competitor WTKK. [ [http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1010440 "Carr Wars: Legal fight brews as Carr leaves WRKO in radio daze"] - "Boston Herald"] [ [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/09/talk_show_host_howie_carr_prepares_to_move_to_wtkk/ "Talk show host prepares move to rival"] - Boston.com] On September 19, 2007, the show went on hiatus, due to the expiration of Carr's contract with WRKO and a court ruling barring him from moving to WTKK. [ [http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1032693 "Ruling leaves Howie Carr in limbo"] - "Boston Herald"] However, on November 16, Carr returned to hosting on WRKO, under a contract expiring in 2012.

Background

Carr has had a radio talk-show since the 1980s, first at WHDH-AM 850, then (when WHDH became WEEI in 1994) at WRKO-AM 680 in Boston, Massachusetts. He took over the afternoon drive-time slot from Jerry Williams, on whose show Carr often made appearances, originally during a segment called "The Governors," with Jerry and Barbara Anderson. The show's first producer was Kevin Straley, known on-air as "Little Al". The name was derived from a ruse about the then-program director Al Mayers ("Big Al"). Straley is presently a Vice President at XM Radio; Mayers is the General Manager of Bloomberg Radio in New York City. The show's present producer is Nancy "Sandy" Shack, who was Dick Syatt’s producer during his dating show. Doug ("Virgin Boy" or "VB") Goudie was Carr's former producer, and left to be an on-air personality for the "Fox 25 Morning News" on WFXT. Carr's primary substitute hosts include Colonel David Hunt, Massachusetts State Senator Bob Hedlund, and fellow WRKO hosts, Avi Nelson, Reese Hopkins, and Todd Feinberg.

yndication

In September 1996, the show experimented with local syndication, sending the show out via ISDN connections to a group of stations around New England. The local experiment was such a success that, in January 1998, ABC Radio Today started syndicating the show nationally. The show did not sustain a large nationwide following and syndication was handed over to SupeRadio. In 2005, WRKO corporate owner Entercom Communications took over syndication and the show was only offered to New England stations.

how features

A large portion of each show is set aside for phone calls from listeners. Carr introduces each caller with the line: " [Name] ", you're on "The Howie Carr Show" with Howie Carr, go ahead."

Other features of the show are listed below.

The "Chump Line"

Listeners can call Carr's "Chump Line" ([phone]) and leave message "at any time of the day or night" which "may or may not be played" in the third hour of the show (starting at 5:07 pm) each day. Carr often remarks how others have copied his format, alluding to the The Whiner Line on WRKO's sister station, WEEI. The Chump Line is available as a [http://wrko.com/Audio-Vault/344028 download from WRKO's website] . The last message is always followed by a "Thank you for calling Howie Carr -- you chump!" recorded sign-off.

J. Max Robins

J. Max Robins, of the website [http://www.mediazulu.com MediaZulu] and vice president of the Paley Center for Media, guests every Monday after "Chump Line" to answer listeners' questions on television programming.

Illegal-immigrant driver roll call

Carr has a frequent segment in which those traffic violators with Hispanic names are read from police blotters. The name of the offender is read in an exaggerated Spanish-accented English, along with the offender's traffic violation, typically including driving without a valid license, driving without proof of insurance, and/or driving without valid registration. After each name is read, the first few bars of "La Cucaracha" is played in a car-horn rendition. The segment is usually bookended around Carr's opinions on the dangers of illegal immigrants. The segment was introduced in August 2006, when the question of in-state drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants was a controversial issue among Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates.

Wizard of Uhs" & "Mumbles" Menino

The show also features other contests in which prizes - usually of low expense - are given out. In the "Celebrity Death Pool," callers choose which celebrity they believe will die next. In the "Wizard of Uhs" segment, Carr plays a clip, usually thirty seconds or so in duration, of the senior Massachusetts Senator, Ted Kennedy. Listeners have to count the number of "uh"s that Kennedy says. " [http://fatboy.cc/thewizardofuhhs.htm Wizard of Uhs] " was originally crafted for Joe Kennedy's ramblings, but it has evolved to include Ted Kennedy. In all cases, final decisions as to the actual number of "uh"s heard in the segment are left to the judge, namely Carr.

Another special feature is "Mumbles" - named in honor of Thomas M. Menino, the current mayor of Boston - in which Carr tries to decipher what Menino is saying.

Who needs a caning?

A segment started after Michael P. Fay, an American, was caned in Singapore on May 5, 1994, for theft and vandalism, despite pleas from the United States government and press for clemency. Callers give the name of a person who should be caned. A sound effect of a cane hitting an object is then played. The segment has evolved to allow for "felony" and "misdemeanor" canings. A "WHACK" sound effect is played three times for felony canings and a "whip" once for misdemeanor canings. A "violation"-level caning features the sound of a cat meowing once, followed by a "swipe."

Voice changer

Callers wishing to relay unsavory or embarrassing details about themselves can request the "voice-changer". In this feature, named by Carr as "the Witness Protection Program of "The Howie Carr Show", the host plays cheesy 1950s sci-fi sound effects (which actually do nothing to obscure the caller's voice, but Carr assures the caller that nobody will recognize their voice while it is in use) while they brag about things they got away with, or disparage popular Boston entities.

Catch phrases

Carr has several catch phrases. These include:

*"I didn't come here to be made sport of."
*"I'm shocked." "(said sarcastically when relaying a news story)"
*"How many more, Mr. Speaker? How many more?" "(also said sarcastically when relaying a news story)"
*" [He/she] won't be down for breakfast." "(Carr's compassionate way of mentioning a person's passing)"
*"No good deed goes unpunished."
*"They're only killing people Americans can't be bothered killing." "(in reference to illegal-alien drivers, a play on the belief that immigrants tend only to take jobs that Americans won't undertake)"
*"Try not to let this destroy your faith in the hip-hop community." "(said when relaying a story in which a rapper is killed or involved in some illicit activities)"

Affiliates

Carr's program is broadcast on nine stations:

— Show is streamed via the internet.

WCRN in Worcester, Massachusetts, previously carried the Howie Carr Show, but dropped it in response to Carr's ongoing legal battle with WRKO. The program was last broadcast on the station on September 14. Since Carr came back to WRKO in late 2007, WCRN has begun to air "The Howie Carr Show" in the 5-7 PM time slot. This allows listeners west of Boston to hear the show as WRKO's signal is reduced after sunset

WATR in Waterbury, Connecticut, also carried the show sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s, but it ended, allegedly due to Carr's outlandish remarks.Fact|date=July 2008

fnb|1 – Some affiliates only broadcast the first three hours of the show if there is a Boston Red Sox game broadcast scheduled. They cut to "the very exciting Red Sox pre-game show" [Carr's sarcastic on-air jibe, July 1, 2008] at 6 PM. The final hour can still be heard online.

References

External links

* [http://www.howiecarr.com HowieCarr.com]
* [http://wrko.podzinger.com/results.jsp?s=PZSID_pods_pod5_8_4_0002;WRKO+-+Howie+Carr&start=0&num=10&col=en-all-pod_wrko-ep&filter=0&dedupe=1&match=query,channel&x=0&y=0&il=en "The Howie Carr Show" Audio Vault at Podzinger.com]
* [http://whiteyworld.com The Brothers Bulger Official Site]
* [http://fatboy.cc/ Howie Carr's Ted Kennedy Website]
* [http://liveshot.cc/ Howie Carr's John Kerry Website]
* [http://mumblesmenino.us/ Howie Carr's Boston Mayor Website]
* [http://coupedeval.com/ Howie Carr's Deval Patrick Website]