The Adam Carolla Show
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The Adam Carolla Show is a syndicated morning radio program. It began airing on January 3, 2006. The show is produced by CBS Radio as part of its Free FM format, and is based out of KLSX in Los Angeles. The show replaced Howard Stern's show in many of its west coast markets following Stern's move from the FM dial to Sirius Satellite Radio at the end of 2005. Host Adam Carolla was previously best-known as the co-host of Loveline and The Man Show, and recently hosted The Adam Carolla Project on TLC.
The Adam Carolla Show features Carolla, former Man Show and The Jimmy Kimmel Show writer Dave Dameshek on sports, and former While You Were Out host Teresa Strasser reading news. Supporting cast includes executive producer Jimmy Brusca, producer Angie Fitzsimmons, sound engineer Mike Lynch, and former Kevin and Bean contributor Big Tad. The recurring cast of characters includes Carolla's former construction co-worker Oswaldo Castillo, Deaf Frat Guy, and the Drunken Tree Mascot. Adam’s former partner from The Man Show, Jimmy Kimmel, serves as a creative consultant and occasional guest. Kimmel also hosted the show on June 7 and June 8, 2006 because Carolla's wife Lynette Paradise gave birth to twins. [link]
Carolla's show was one of four shows used to replace The Howard Stern Show on CBS Radio stations nationwide, with Carolla's show on the West Coast, The David Lee Roth Show on most of the East Coast, The Junkies in Washington D.C and Baltimore, and Rover's Morning Glory in the Midwest.
Former MuchMusic and VH1 VJ Rachel Perry served as the original news reader on the show. In early April 2006, the show noted that Perry was absent for a few days to work on a TV pilot (a show titled Beyond). However, a few days stretched into a few weeks, during which the show featured several fill-ins, including Strasser, former MSNBC anchor Claudia DiFolco, and actress Tracy Metro. The show also had guests and a few of their recurring characters fill in. In late April, Perry's pictures and bio were removed from the show's website. Finally, on May 1, Carolla announced that the show had taken the opportunity to use Perry's absence to drop her from the show, as they felt that the chemistry wasn't quite there. On May 8, Strasser was named as Perry's official replacement.
Carolla's morning show became the subject of controversy in its first few weeks. On January 24, the show aired several Dameshek-produced segments spoofing the Asian Excellence Awards where all of the dialogue consisted of repeated use of the phrase "ching-chong". Contrary to the segment, the actual awards, which honor the achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in entertainment and science, are conducted in English. Branding the segment as demeaning and racist, several Asian American organizations threatened to ask advertisers to withdraw their support from the show if the station did not issue an apology. Donald Young, Interim Executive Director of the Center for Asian American Media wrote, "Clearly Mr. Carolla found the rare example of the celebration of Asian American achievement an easy target. While he does have the right to express his humor, doing so with racial epithets is unconsionable [sic]. Mr. Carolla should be held accountable for his derogatory antics." [link] Notably, six of the cities that carry The Adam Carolla Show are in the top ten US cities with the highest proportion of Asian Americans (according to the 2000 Census). Carolla issued an on-air apology for the segment on February 22: "We do a show here that is a little irreverent, and, sometimes, we cross the line, and we definitely crossed it this time. It was not meant to offend, it did, and, for that, we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community."
Though it is still early to get a grasp of the show's success thus far, according to a Bridge Ratings Industry survey, a significant percentage of Howard Stern's listeners have been lost with the show change on almost all of the stations on which The Adam Carolla Show is broadcasted. In the city of Los Angeles, The Adam Carolla Show attracted a 0.7 share in January, making KLSX the lowest-rated full-signal commercial FM in the market during morning drive for the month. Stern's lowest monthly finish was in March 2005, when his program attracted a 2.9 share. Among listeners 18-34, Carolla's program debuted with a 1.5 share in January, and earned a 1.2 share in January among listeners 25-54. [link] In June 2005, Strasser said the show is the top-rated talk radio show in Las Vegas.
Recurring characters
- Deaf Frat Guy. Also goes by the nickname "Maverick". Deaf Frat Guy originally started his Greek membership as a Tau Kappa Epsilon at the University of Southern California. In May 2006, Deaf Frat Guy was removed from the fraternity, and decided to start his own, called "Delta Fu Gamma". He created the fake Greek letter "Fu" because he believed that all possible Greek names had been used. The initials "DFG" also refer to "Deaf Frat Guy". [link] Deaf Frat Guy is believed to be voiced by comedian Josh Gardner, but there has been no official confirmation by the show. The character first appeared on January 24, 2006. [link]
- Drunken Tree Mascot. Brought onto the show after being fired as for being drunk while serving as the Stanford University tree mascot. The character regularly shows up drunk and hits on Carolla and other people in the studio. According to his MySpace account, comedian Jeff Richards voices the character, reprising a similar role he has as Drunk Girl on Saturday Night Live. [link] The character is loosely based on an actual woman, Erin Lashnits, who was fired for drinking while serving as the Stanford mascot. [link] The character first appeared on February 19, 2006. [link]
Recurring bits
- The Jerk Report. Dameshek lists people who he believes were jerks because of their behavior in the previous week. Callers, guests, and forum posters are also encouraged to nominate jerks. The jerks are normally celebrities, athletes, or people associated with the show. Each name is accompanied by a Star Wars laser shot sound effect. The segment culminates with the naming of the Creep of the Week, who was San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds for thirteen straight weeks. Bonds is now enshrined in Jerk Report Hall of Fame. The report is also known for frequently going long, as one week it lasted twenty-two minutes. The first report was on March 14, 2006. [link]
- Oswaldo's Movie Review. Each weekend, the show sends Castillo to review a new movie. His reviews are typically difficult to understand because of Castillo's heavy Nicaraguan accent, so Carolla stands in as his "interpreter". Castillo upset several listeners in June of 2006 by revealing several character deaths in . Castillo's first review was of Brokeback Mountain on January 17, 2006. [link]
- What Can't Adam Complain About. Started after Carolla spent an entire segment on February 21, 2006 complaining about his weekend being ruined because a Ferrari he purchased off of eBay was delivered late. [link] Callers provide Carolla with things they do not think he can complain about, such as girls jumping on trampolines, and he responds with complaints.
- Rich Man Poor Man. This is a phone-in game in which callers suggest things that are characteristic of the upper class (i.e. the rich) and the lower class (i.e. the poor), but not of the middle class. Adam usually cites his example of the outdoor shower. A wealthy person might have outdoor showering facilities beside the pool or beachhouse, while the poor person simply cannot afford a real shower and must use a garden hose.
- Ass-Kiss Rodeo. In this bit, callers or show guests must attempt to shower Adam with praise (i.e. kiss his ass), while he tries to throw them off by contradicting himself. The better the player is able to adapt to his rapid, drastic, and contradictory changes in opinion by continuing to shower him with praise, the better the score. The analogy is that Adam acts a rodeo bull trying to buck off a rider. For example: Adam: "I love sushi." Caller: "Sushi is great and so are you, Adam." Adam: "I hate sushi." Caller: "But sushi is highly overrated...", etc.
Syndication
The Adam Carolla Show can be heard on the following stations (broadcast weekdays from 6:00am-10:00am PT):
- Los Angeles, CA - 97.1 Free FM
- Phoenix, AZ - 101.5 Free FM
- San Francisco, CA - 106.9 Free FM
- Portland, OR - 101.1 KUFO FM
- San Diego, CA - 103.7 Free FM
- Las Vegas, NV - 107.5 KXTE FM
- Sacramento, CA – 106.5 KWOD
- Seattle, WA – 107.7 KNDD
- Reno, NV – 100.9 KRZQ
- Fresno, CA – 104.1 KFRR
- Palm Springs, CA - 99.5 KMRJ
External links
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