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Date Posted: 15:40:47 04/03/03 Thu
Author: Pseudonyms Uck, but I still use mine.
Subject: There’s No Fool Like An April Fool!

I am not now nor have I ever been a Michael Smerconish fan. I find him self-serving, self-promoting and now…self-destructive.

Michael staged a Phil Hendrie-like April fool’s prank. Not having Hendrie-like talent, he used another person as the “phony voice.” Someone pretended to be a U.S. Senator who was supporting a ludicrous bill to make people plug up one nostril to save the planet’s oxygen. Insipid, but innocuous enough, until…

The next day he accused his listeners of being stupid for not realizing that it was an April Fool’s prank. He went on and on about how he thought his audience was smarter than that. He wasn’t kidding this time; he took some real digs at his audience. Way to boost that 2.9 into the stratosphere, Mike! Yeah, yeah, the trends are up, welcome to wartime talk radio.

It’s interesting to note that after Michael’s show, Jeff Katz sounded embarrassed when he said he wasn’t doing a April Fool’s bit because of the “tone of the times.” It sounded like he was embarrassed at Michael’s version of Hendrie Light.

It was a bad bit followed the next day by a thoughtless assessment of Michael’s audience. As someone with current inside contacts, I can tell you he is pretty universally disliked among most ‘PHT employees, along with his “overqualified intern,” for acting better than everyone. Pity, he could have been a great leader of a great talk team. Maybe he’ll go to CNN full time.

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Replies:

[> Very insightful and well-written post. I wish these stupid April Fools gags would go away, except radio personalities keep doing them (rather unsuccessfully I might add). It's the one day of the year non-funny radio personalities try to be humorous, and the unfunny streak remains unbroken. Katz got it right. Maybe the "Coalition to Ban Rich Now" can re-group and focus their energies on abolishing stupid attempts at April Fools humor. -- Jay, 17:50:34 04/03/03 Thu


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[> [> The Coaltion to Ban Rich Now believes that Rich was fooled by the joke, yet still insists he was just playing along when his friends and family ridicule him. -- Paid for by the Coalition To Ban Rich Now, 02:43:15 04/04/03 Fri


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[> [> [> The Coaltion to Ban Rich Now cannot claim nor does it confirm that he has friends. -- Paid for by the Coalition To Ban Rich Now, 02:46:39 04/04/03 Fri


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[> You guys do know that Irv Homer did that same bit several years ago. My wife recongnized it before Michael even launched into the full premise. I guess stealing bits that work is standard. Nothing new under the sun. What is disturbing is not that some didn't realize it was a joke, but that based on some of the stuff that comes out of Congress, it is so easily believed. -- SurveyGuy, 09:49:46 04/04/03 Fri


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[> Why is that everytime P.U. posts I shudder and wonder, "Oh no, what now?" I'd like to remind people posters are responsible for their own posts and do not always reflect the opinions of the Board Moderators. Having said that let me say I didn't hear the bit but the aftermath / audiance critique made me squirm in discomfort. -- Surf - Can I take the tissue out of my nose now?, 14:50:07 04/04/03 Fri


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[> I must add that the "joke" was soooo un-funny. The more I listen to MAS the more conceited he sounds. I half expect that he has a hand imprint on his shirt so he knows where to pat himself on the back. -- Jason, 18:41:28 04/04/03 Fri


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[> I have also noticed how MAS and Katz do not speak to each other in the croos-over between their shows. Katz and Dom G do. MAS and Katz must really despise each other. -- Jason, 18:45:32 04/04/03 Fri


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[> [> Wrong...several times MAS and Katz have done the crossover. Can you blame Katz for being jealous, he was only spanked by MAS, booted to a lesser spot! -- J. Mostel, tired of these lame posts, 11:35:46 04/05/03 Sat


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[> Perhaps if the lifespan of a PHT employee was longer than 9.3 months, they could get to know Smerconish better. Don't try to turn him into an IMUS tyrant, the shoe just doesn't fit. -- J. Mostel, 11:38:29 04/05/03 Sat


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[> [> Josh, the people I know inside WPHT have worked there for much longer. than 9.3 months. Michael isn't IMUS, he's just not a nice person. And the last "crossover" between Jeff and Michael was almost a year ago.Jeff spanked? Not at all. Michael was at the right place at the right time. He "left" because he refused to settle a lawsuit. Viacom management was wrong (according to the ratings) when they brought him back. -- Pseudonyms Uck, 11:53:50 04/05/03 Sat


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[> [> [> mas -- Mark--He used to be great entertainment, TWO years ago., 18:08:43 04/05/03 Sat


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[> [> [> [> inside scoop -- henry, 12:13:54 04/08/03 Tue

without any comments on the on air products, the truth is pretty simple. dom and jeff are nice guys who people like and mas is not. dom is a hard worker who spend lots of time at the station and is well liked by everyone there (except maybe the pd). jeff is a guy who jokes and laughs with everyone at the station and is liked by everyone (except maybe the pd). mas is universally despised by everyone at the station (except maybe the pd). that's the real story from deep inside.


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[> [> [> [> [> That's pretty incredible stuff. That place sure sounds dysfunctional- please post more!Is the situation similar at KYW where mas does his commentaries? Sure would like to hear from a KYW insider. -- Jay, 15:20:13 04/08/03 Tue


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[> [> [> there are 4....only 4 (and one may be quitting soon) who have been there more than 18 months..... -- sick-to-my-stomach, 08:53:41 04/07/03 Mon


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[> [> Mostel gets zero right -- henry, 13:15:20 04/08/03 Tue

from inside pal, its a whole different world. it does not matter how long someone is at pht, the fact is that smeroconish just is not a nice guy. that does not mean that his show is bad (although with a 2.9 that is trending down, draw your own conclusion), just that people at the station actually like dom and jeff because they are nice guys and mas treats other staffers quite poorly. and i think jeff is just counting the days until he can leave.


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[> April Fools -- Gerry, 15:19:09 04/05/03 Sat

Cong. Schwarbitz is a very old running joke on Philadelphia talk radio. Joel A. Spivack used to have the "Congressman" on his show in the late '60's. The best bit I remembered was the Congressman's Trans-American Canal. Whenever a caller spoke with the Congressman the caller was asked where he or she was calling from (this was in the days before the caller's location was disclosed). The Congressman then informed the caller that the Canal was going to run across their street or in their front yard or in their back yard. The callers were so incensed, even though it ran through almost every neighborhood in the Philadelphia region. It was great!!!


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