From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I had forgotten about this sketch. Man, I was ahead of the curve on this one. Back in 2005, it was starting to get more common to refer to your opponent as a "Hitler." This was back when that was considered a bad thing. This is when Godwin's rule of Hitler analogies came into usage. That rule said that if any online discussion continues long enough, someone will almost certainly compare someone else to Hitler. Again, back when this was a bad thing. So what would be more natural that turning that concept into a TV reality game show? They were very popular at the time. It's a quick bit, get in, get out and I think it makes a point. Not sure if this was the first or the second of the two sketches I submitted, but neither made the cut. I figure this must have been the first idea, and then the Independence Day idea make itself known.
0 Comments
From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Here's a sketch about a problem that that didn't go away. Back in 2005, people were complaining about how the amount of time between a movie's theatrical run and its appearance on home video was shrinking. Theater owners were mad because this was cutting into their profits. Studios were concerned because the DVD goldmine was just about mined out as VOD was launching. And this was all beyond streaming was a glint in Blockbuster's eye. Hollywood still hasn't figured it out. The sketch is pretty good, but there's a lot of pop culture references to it (which GK wasn't fond of) and a lot of references to TV, which seems counter-productive for a radio show. What can I say? It was original. It was snappy. It was topical. But it didn't get selected. Now ShowingFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... What can I say, there used to be commercials for the Chubb Institute for work skills. What could be more natural than to add the "y" and still present it as a training institute and weight center. Again, a short bit as the season was winding down and I wasn't fully engaged at this point. It had been months since I had a piece up. And even longer since there was any true contact with me. Or acknowledgment of me. My heart wasn't in it, but I still felt compelled to keep submitting material. Oh, well. The Chubby InstituteFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... This week's was a quickie, a silly idea that's probably been kicked around before. I wrote it up but there wasn't much to it and I didn't have the gumption to try and build it up beyond the slight idea it was. But it was treated like a heftier sketch, rejected. Ikea MotorsFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Back in 2005, a long held secret was finally revealed. FBI guy Mark Felt was outted as the character "Deep Throat" who guided The Washington Post through the ins and outs of the Watergate scandal. Many were shocked, others not so much (like writer Dawna Kaufmann, who reported on Felt ages before anyone else). Now the trick becomes, how does one make comedy of it? With a 1950's Doo-Wop song parody, of course. Slipped in another jab at GW Bush, just because he usually deserved one. Deep ThroatFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... You all remember George W. Bush, right? He was the former holder of the title "Worst President" until present circumstances happened. I mean, he didn't seem like a bad guy, but he never struck anyone as the sharpest crayon in the box. He always looked like he was in over his head, and the fact that his vice president, the self-appointed Dick Cheney, seemed to be running the show didn't help that impression. Also, he supported terrible policies, but had sense enough to not to push too hard. He allowed a terrorist attack but then signed a big corporate tax cut and that seemed to even things out. He had a folksy charm and was in the habit of handing out nicknames to members of the press. This is a short sketch, practically a black out, where I just took that sole idea and ran with it. PHC did to political humor and W was one of his running targets. Cast member Tim Russell did a good impression of W and he often popped up in bits. I occasionally submitted Bush skits, so I kind of figured this might give me a leg up on getting picked. It did not. Bush Press ConferenceFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Ah, yes, homonyms. I've actually written about this sketch before, here. It was a silly idea that just came together. I thought the wordplay would naturally work for PHC. They passed. Later on, I pulled it out again to my other radio outlets. They passed as well. As I wrote on the blog, one place was a maybe, then the same-titled sketch appeared on the show 30 Rock. That pretty much pulled the rug out from this bit. Here it is, the PHC version: Homonyms!From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Back before GPS, the big development was OnStar, a direct connect to roadside assistance. You pushed a button and you were speaking with someone who could help. I had done a couple of OnStar parodies, especially after GPS systems began offering character and celebrity voice options. I wrote this one up special for PHC, for their voice guy, Tim Russell. Same goofy premise, you turn on the service and some celebrity pipes in to guide you along. I thought it was a clever bit and a natural for the show. Maybe I should have padded it out a bit and inserted the voices full names in each. They didn't pick it. So, here it is, long passed its "sell-by" date: GuestStarFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Rereading this after all these years I now realize this bit is short, it's based on an old red carpet show trope and it was a TV show parody, which means it never stood a chance of getting picked to go on air. Fashion week in NY was usually around April and maybe that's what inspired me to write it up. I can imagine that I saw no reason to try and punch it up or make it longer, so I went with short and sweet. After all, who needed yet another Law & Order parody back in 2005? Law & Order: Fashion PoliceFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Granted, I've done these "Olympic" sketches before, coming up with wacky events, but I have no recollection of this particular one. After a hiatus, The PHC troupe was back in New York City. They news at the time was the city was making a bid to host the 2012 Olympics (spoiler alert: They didn't). It was a very bizarre time. The mayor was pushing for it. But, frankly the citizens didn't want it to happen. It would have actually been a tri-state Olympics, with events spilling over into NJ, CT, upstate NY and even Staten Island. It was the perfect bit for radio; ridiculous visuals that you couldn't possibly do, sound effects galore and a steady patter of jokes. Funny bit. They didn't use it. Maybe that's why NYC lost its bid... NYC Olympics |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
Blog Roll |