Back in January 2004, I wrote this article about KFI-AM 640 bumping my favorite night-time radio show, Coast to Coast AM, from its regular 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. slot and replacing it with right-wing wacko John Ziegler. Coast to Coast AM was the only KFI show that wasn't hosted by a right wing wacko and even though I wasn't as big a fan of silky-tongued George Noory as the show's original host, Art Bell, I complained that, instead of hearing about alien abductions while nodding off, I'd have to listen to Ziegler ranting about illegal aliens from Mexico. Snore!
Apparently, I spoke too soon. The good news is that KFI quickly came to its senses and put Coast to Coast back in its regular slot. The bad news: the show no longer deserves the favor. Gone are the nights when I could fall asleep to the sound of hell (recorded by Russian scientists who dropped a microphone thousands of feet into the Siberian soil) or enjoy an exclusive interview with the ambassador from Planet Reticuli in Star System Vega. A few months ago, shortly after his wife tragically died from an asthma attack, Bell abandoned his solar-powered compound and broadcasting bunker in Pahrump, Nevada, married a young Filipina woman and moved to Manilla. (After a brief hiatus, Bell's back on the air on weekends.)
Meanwhile, under Noory's direction, Coast to Coast AM has become increasingly indistinguishable from the rest of KFI's lineup. Hardly a week goes by nowadays without Noory interviewing some right-wing nutjob about how illegals are taking over our country or how NAFTA is just a cover-up for the eventual destruction of the almighty American dollar and its replacement with single currency for the entire Western hemisphere. Listening to the enraged rednecks who call the show during open lines predicting a bloodbath if Bush allows Mexican truckers to take over U.S. highways is chillingly reminiscent of the beginning of Hotel Rwanda, when Hutus are told that it is time to "cut the tall trees," i.e. kill all the Tutsis.
Usually, Noory interviews his anti-immigrant, paranoia-spreading guests during the first hour of the show, which typically deals with current events. Fair enough, and I'm not usually listening by then, anyway. But last night, he had Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist (first profiled by Gustavo Arellano here) on for the whole friggin' show. I'd tell you what he said, but I immediately switched over to BBC. Somehow, hearing the latest news of the civilian slaughter in Lebanon is less depressing than three hours of Noory ass-kissing the likes of Gilchrist.
Where are those redneck-abducting spaceships when you need 'em?
July 25, 2006 13:07
I miss the episodes where George would broadcast ghosts talking.
July 25, 2006 13:07
it is what it is, isn't it? i'll not tell them to do their jobs any more then they'll tell me what's really going on in the world.
July 25, 2006 13:07
Tell that to BBC World Service.
July 25, 2006 13:07
The spaceships you long for are busy helping butchers blowing up Israeli children.
July 25, 2006 14:07
Silly liberals. Always whining when a show's on they don't agree with.
July 25, 2006 14:07
I miss the episodes where George talked with a man possessed by Satan himself.
July 25, 2006 14:07
I miss the episodes where George described his time-travel experience.
July 25, 2006 15:07
Gustavo, I think that WAS last night's episode.
July 25, 2006 15:07
John's comment--that liberals are "always whining" about shows they don't agree with--is weird. Hey, John: what do you call when conservatives do the same? A "critique"?
July 25, 2006 15:07
I miss the episodes where George took calls from people who knew the entrances to Earth's inner chambers.
July 25, 2006 15:07
I miss the episodes where George interviewed Howard Stern favorite Riley Martin.
July 25, 2006 21:07
shut up, spic.
July 26, 2006 05:07
I miss the episodes where George talked to a visitor from the future, who graced Earth with his presence to see himself as a child.
July 26, 2006 07:07
I still think the best one was when he had the crazy midwestern weather man on who was shit-fire-sure that the russians and asian triad gangs were using weather weapons to create hurricans in the US.
July 26, 2006 08:07
I miss the episodes where George tried to communicate with the dead.
July 27, 2006 12:07
am radio...? never heard of it.
August 2, 2006 23:08
I think George Noory took the show in his own direction. He knew the fans wanted aliens, bigfoot, and Nostradamus predictions, but George also wanted to make the show more credible at the same time. That is why he focuses on news events and tries to do a bit of "real" journalism, before going to open lines where callers tell stories about ghosts and prediction-type-dreams. The listeners (and the callers) are what makes the show "alive." George is sort of the focus, but the callers and their response to his guests are what make the show.
August 15, 2006 10:08
[...] That result will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed these polls over the years– or listened to the callers on talk radio. And of course, it's not just in the dwarf/justice nexus that adults fail to shine. Turns out, they don't know much about non-comic book science, either. Asked what planet Superman was from, 60% named the fictional planet Krypton, while only 37% knew that Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. [...]
March 4, 2007 21:03
Noory talks as though he is addressing a class of preschoolers. He is so patronizing, it makes me want to puke. Someone should ram a CC-SeaCrane radio up Noory's ass and push him down "Mel's" hole! And you all though Mr. Rogers was dead?
oops gotta run......
March 17, 2007 05:03
I do believe most would pay to bitch-slap John Ziegler.
You know, stick your hand through the radio, grab him
by the collar and pummel the guy. Ha Ha!
March 25, 2007 22:03
I love George Noory, and mp3s of his show have helped me walk off a lot of weight, but I never download the first hour, and I never, ever download Friday's open line shows. Way too many nutjobs out there in radioland.
July 8, 2007 08:36
Hi
I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently.
G'night