Infinite Monkeys

Keep Your Ear on the Sparrow

Howard Kurtz reports on Air America: Day 1 in the Washington Post this morning, and USA Today carries a pretty decent summary from the Associated Press. I listened to Janeane Garafalo and Sam Seder on XM last night, and heard "Unfiltered" with Chuck D and friends on the way to work this morning. I'm willing my way through Franken now. (The Real Audio feed is holding... for now.)

Let me get the technical gripes out of the way first: Every show sounds terrible. I have to believe that the engineers are either stone deaf or saddled with surplus Soviet-era transmitters. The hosts are overmodulated (most of the time) or barely audible (the rest of the time). Memo to money men Mark Walsh and Evan Cohen: this is what happens when you try to buy a network on the cheap. More people may listen longer if their ears aren't bleeding. Pony up for better equipment.

OK, on with the shows...

• "The O'Franken Factor": If you've heard Al Franken's political schtick once, you've heard it a thousand times. He's essentially a vicious bastard, the Michael Savage of Democratic Party. Thank God for Katherine Lanpher. She's not at all amusing, but she isn't too annoying either, and she keeps Franken from going completely off the rails. (Although, as St. Paul points out, that isn't saying much.) The comedy bits are hit and miss. The problem with Franken, I think, is that he sounds...sad. Sad and angry. Whatever happened to the happy warrior? The show is very unstructured, so it comes off as a kind of meandering, juvenile mess. But give it time. I've no doubt that in a few weeks, it will be well-ordered, if no less juvenile.

• "The Majority Report": Janeane Garafalo makes Al Franken sound like Michael-freakin-Jackson. On the plus side, this show finally answers that nagging question: Could anyone be more painfully unfunny than Garafalo? Yes. An argument could be made that that sidekick/co-host Sam Seder is the unfunniest man alive. Check that: he's the unfunniest man who ever lived. Francisco Franco may be still dead, but he's still more funny than Sam Seder. Emmanuel Kant is funnier in the original German! John Kerry is a comic genius by comparison. Every joke falls flat. Every punchline lands with a sickening thud. Every utterance sounds smarmy and smug and lame. Memo to Sam Seder: leave the comedy to your co-host. She may be bad, but at least she's a pro. You're just embarrassing.

• Unfiltered: To be honest, I found Lizz Winstead, Chuck D, and Rachel Maddow to be the most listenable of what I've heard so far. The fake news (a la "The Daily Show") was a groaner, but the hosts didn't sound amateurish and the guests I heard (John Mellencamp, hip-hop journo Davey D) were at least interesting, if generally wrong. I'll probably stick with Laura Ingraham, but I'll tune into "Unfiltered" when she gets too annoying... which should be every other day.

I haven't heard Randi Rhodes, but reports are she's even more savage than Savage. I haven't heard any of the other shows.

Overarching themes: mockery of religion; differentiating between "genuine" conservatives and "radical" conservatives; anti-corporate; taking the argument for granted.

Mocking religion is a gamble. If it's true that most Americans are religious (if not necessarily regular church-goers), then it seems to me Air America runs the risk of alienating a large portion of its audience. But it's not clear to me who, exactly, that audience is supposed to be or how large it is. It's usually said of conservative talk radio that the hosts are simply preaching to the converted. From what I've heard so far, that is precisely what Franken, Garafalo, et. al. are doing. The very best conservative talkers—e.g., Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, even Michael Medved—make an argument. They bring their sources to bear. The rhetorical hyperbole is kept to a minimum.

Without actually deploying the phrase "everybody knows," the general tone of Air America rests on the assumption that no argument is required. Everybody knows that W. stole the 2000 election. Everybody knows that deposing Saddam Hussein was a distraction from the important fight against al Qaeda. Everybody knows that the "liberal media" is a right-wing myth. Everybody knows that Bush's tax cuts only helped the rich. (If that's true, then I'm John D. Rockefeller.) Everybody knows that the Republicans are trying to undo the Great Society and the New Deal... and on and on. Everybody knows this. And if you don't know it, you're probably just an ignorant dittohead.

Over all, it's an uneven start for Air America. If the network can't grow, I can't imagine it will last longer than a couple of years. But I won't predict its doom just yet. Give it time. Dennis Miller's new show had a bumpy start, but has gotten better in the last few weeks. I'll keep listening for awhile. Let's see how the election goes.

Update: Bovious gives Franken, et. al. six months. "I'll be surprised if they make it to the election." He echoes my assessment of the network's generally smug and self-assured tone: "These people have a certain set of cultural and intellectual touchpoints beyond which no exploration is necessary."

Mitch Berg claims he hasn't heard a minute of Air America because he has a job. Where does he work, a Guatemalan sweat shop? Mitch did point me to this piece by Steve Gigl, who writes: "Basically they're doing exactly what liberals have always accused conservative talk radio hosts of doing: preaching to the converted." I swear I read his post after I wrote mine. I also swear that no GOP talking points were consulted in writing this item, or subsequent updates. But if anybody knows how to get me on that distribution list, drop me a line.

Posted by Ben at April 1, 2004 11:51 AM | TrackBack