Post by $heriff Tom on Feb 8, 2008 15:18:33 GMT -5
Eh, I may give this one a shot tonight, due to premise and decent enough reviews. Balls, you should watch it simply cause that idiot you adored from Joe Schmoe is on the show.
FREE RADIO. Friday at 9:30. VH1.
It's ironic that radio provides such rich fodder for television comedy, being that TV at one time was supposed to kill radio.
But radio didn't die, and Friday, in the tradition of "WKRP," "News Radio" and "Remember WENN," it delivers another boxful of solid television laughs.
Hey, TV, no hard feelings.
"Free Radio," like its predecessors, portrays radio as a nest of neurotics and borderline lunatics. It's not an original concept for TV comedy, but with the right neurotics and lunatics, which it has here, it works.
The star of VH1's "Free Radio," which is billed as improv, is Lance Krall from "The Joe Schmo Show" and "The Lance Krall Show."
Lance is an intern at KBOM (K-Bomb) when the show's controversial morning host abruptly quits to go to satellite radio. Panicked, station manager James (Brian Huskey) decides that, until he can hire a real replacement, he'll put Lance on the air with traffic girl Anna (Anna Vocino).
She knows what she's doing, which in a way makes her role harder to play, and Vocino handles it wonderfully. But Lance is clueless, not to mention self-centered and just not very bright.
Naturally, he's a hit. The owner of the station also likes the idea of a low-paid host, so James is forced to give Lance the job. "Moron in the Morning," the show is called, and Lance ensures that's not a hollow promise.
"Free Radio" does rely heavily on the gimmick of bringing in real-life stars as show "guests" and forcing them to remain professional while they figure out what this blockhead is up to.
That wouldn't hold up forever, but it should last for the nine weeks "Free Radio" is scheduled to run. It's also probably a fun gig for Kiefer Sutherland, Tony Shalhoub, Bob Saget, Jeff Corwin and the rest, since every real-life celebrity has had to endure questions from real-life interviewers who have no idea what they're talking about and are focused more on themselves.
In the second episode of "Free Radio," Lance learns the station has put his picture on a billboard. So when that day's show starts and callers want to speak with guest Jack Coleman of "Heroes," Lance cuts them off. "We're bored with Jack," he says, announcing he will only take calls about his billboard.
When comedian Luis Guzman calls in, Lance says Guzman was great in "Ghost." Guzman says he wasn't in it.
"No, you were," says Lance. "You must have forgotten. Rent it and watch yourself."
As this suggests, "Free Radio" isn't going for the easy laughs of explicit content. Lance owes more to Ted Baxter than Howard Stern, and Krall finds every annoying and maddening nuance.
All the jokes don't work. But plenty do, and Vocino is a nicely subtle spark for Krall's gasoline.
Score another one for radio.
FREE RADIO. Friday at 9:30. VH1.
It's ironic that radio provides such rich fodder for television comedy, being that TV at one time was supposed to kill radio.
But radio didn't die, and Friday, in the tradition of "WKRP," "News Radio" and "Remember WENN," it delivers another boxful of solid television laughs.
Hey, TV, no hard feelings.
"Free Radio," like its predecessors, portrays radio as a nest of neurotics and borderline lunatics. It's not an original concept for TV comedy, but with the right neurotics and lunatics, which it has here, it works.
The star of VH1's "Free Radio," which is billed as improv, is Lance Krall from "The Joe Schmo Show" and "The Lance Krall Show."
Lance is an intern at KBOM (K-Bomb) when the show's controversial morning host abruptly quits to go to satellite radio. Panicked, station manager James (Brian Huskey) decides that, until he can hire a real replacement, he'll put Lance on the air with traffic girl Anna (Anna Vocino).
She knows what she's doing, which in a way makes her role harder to play, and Vocino handles it wonderfully. But Lance is clueless, not to mention self-centered and just not very bright.
Naturally, he's a hit. The owner of the station also likes the idea of a low-paid host, so James is forced to give Lance the job. "Moron in the Morning," the show is called, and Lance ensures that's not a hollow promise.
"Free Radio" does rely heavily on the gimmick of bringing in real-life stars as show "guests" and forcing them to remain professional while they figure out what this blockhead is up to.
That wouldn't hold up forever, but it should last for the nine weeks "Free Radio" is scheduled to run. It's also probably a fun gig for Kiefer Sutherland, Tony Shalhoub, Bob Saget, Jeff Corwin and the rest, since every real-life celebrity has had to endure questions from real-life interviewers who have no idea what they're talking about and are focused more on themselves.
In the second episode of "Free Radio," Lance learns the station has put his picture on a billboard. So when that day's show starts and callers want to speak with guest Jack Coleman of "Heroes," Lance cuts them off. "We're bored with Jack," he says, announcing he will only take calls about his billboard.
When comedian Luis Guzman calls in, Lance says Guzman was great in "Ghost." Guzman says he wasn't in it.
"No, you were," says Lance. "You must have forgotten. Rent it and watch yourself."
As this suggests, "Free Radio" isn't going for the easy laughs of explicit content. Lance owes more to Ted Baxter than Howard Stern, and Krall finds every annoying and maddening nuance.
All the jokes don't work. But plenty do, and Vocino is a nicely subtle spark for Krall's gasoline.
Score another one for radio.
