Syndie talkers you'd like to hear in Boston

[Mark Laurence]

On Feb 15, 2005, at 4:20 PM, Dan Strassberg wrote:

> BTW, I vote for Hendrie. I'm not sure whether his schtick wears well, 
> but
> it's a hoot if you listen only occasionally.

The first time I heard Phil Hendrie, I could hardly believe my ears.  
His show segments started out sounding fairly normal, but then you'd 
hear the guest say something that sounded completely off-base, and then 
he'd become so outrageous you'd think this was hardly possible.  
Meanwhile Hendrie was trying to play the outraged host and the callers 
were screaming with indignation at the whole event.  Then I discovered 
his tricks and his true talent.  I was in LA at the time, and when I 
got back home to Boston I found his show online and listened every day 
for months.

Fortunately that was before September 11, when the show was 
consistently funny and creative.  After that, Phil decided he could no 
longer make constant fun of talk radio.  Instead he had to become 
"normal" talk radio and take on serious topics in between the skits.  
The problem is, he's not very good at it, and I have yet to find a 
single fan in his message boards who doesn't agree.  He's styled 
himself into a blue-collar Everyman who used to be liberal, until the 
World Trade Center attack, and now he wants to blow things up in 
response.

Unlike good talk show hosts, Hendrie doesn't have any facts to back up 
his opinions.  He just spouts off with a "you know I'm right" attitude 
and yells at callers who disagree.  It's quite tiresome, and he 
sometimes does it for hours at a time, leaving one or two quick 
segments for his creative bits.  Then you can hear what got him his 
national network gig, for 15 minutes or so.  After that, he goes back 
to being the angry and boring straight guy.  What a shame.

Mark