Monday, November 19, 2012

Why Karel can't guest-host Ronn/KGO

Karel is an unmitigated disaster, an audio Titanic that is only on KGO because he's like the old vacuum cleaner: you keep it around even if it's sputtering because once and awhile, you'll need it.

As for Karel being a guest host for Ronn? No, doesn't happen for a reason. Owens, even in his waning days, has say on who will host. Karel ain't on the list. Why? Have you heard this misfit? The schmuck that told his 15 listeners he was going to walk his own red carpet. The bubkin that repeats his same inane pet updates. The guy who tells people he's an "entertainer."

Right. And I'm Kafka.

Karel is broke. Again. Karel mused poor on Sunday night on his show that he's only got $200 to spend for Christmas gifts. And on top of this, Karel suddenly became a Middle East expert because he knows some Internet soul in Tel Aviv. Yeah, the male Golda Meir.

Karel...the gift that keeps on giving. Buffoonery on the weekend. Cumulus bitch at work. And enjoy the after-dinner mints, Gloompus.

16 comments:

  1. their weekend lineup of monty, finny, pat thurston, candace, Karel, and the wwfny is terrible. is karel the smartest kid in the special ed class? maybe. copie and thurston are listenable but the others are just poor. anyone know the ratings?

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  2. I really enjoy and learn a lot from Finney, don't mind Thurston is small doses because she is smart and I like and respect her although often I don't agree with her, Candace's show is kind of interesting in a strange way.
    I like Copie especially the segment with the comedians and the news; also on Sunday a.m. John Hamilton's travel show is good and I try to catch the first hour. I can't take Monte because he is so boring despite the fact that I often agree with his opinions. It's his presentation that I find unbearable.
    This past Saturday, there was a horrid guy on substituting for Maureen Langdon on Saturday night, and he had the worst, most unlikeable personality. They should never, ever, have him on again.
    Karel I don't listen to, but I don't hate him.

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  3. Hey Rich, what about "your unwritten rule" in the business that you never rip the talent? Only applies to others?

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    1. Referring to Karel as "talent" is a stretch.

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  4. The hideous David Weintraub filled in for the NY witch. It is tough to be worse than the ”comedian” but this Weintraub character takes the cake. As for Karel, it must burn his ass that Montemanure is ahead of him in Ronnnnnn's depth chart. How bad of a host are you if Montemanure gets the call before you do!!??

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  5. I find either KGO's Copeland or Thurston a palatable alternative to what I believe are often fraudulent, misleading, or just plain crappy infomercials that are running on weekends on our other two "local talkers."

    I also appreciate that both of these KGO hosts do their homework in advance and basically stick to a well-chosen topic for long enough to attract some callers. On the other shows, including Ronn's, I find that the subjects that are up for discussion seem to keep changing faster than a listener can dial eight-zero-eight-zero-eight-ten. I suspect that this schizophrenic inability to stick with and develop a topic isn't related to the show host, but rather to the show's overzealous producer. It's gotta be tough to make a talk show seem viable, when you only get a small number of callers on any given topic, during an hour of air time.

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    1. Good points. I no longer tune in to Gil Gross exactly because of the ADD brand of radio he has adopted. I could no longer stand his dumb jokes, extra long sighs and five topics per hour. Good try 910am, I'm done with you...

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    2. I totally agree with Anonymous 11:11 in regards to Gil. It is a shame because I actually missed Gil during his break from KGO. What was I thinking?

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  6. There are +'s and -'s with Karel. I especially enjoy Karel when he talks national politics. I think he's got some real insight on that topic. He's proved by the election results he is in tune with what Americans are thinking. And he's especially good with politics when he has an expert guest who knows DC daily politics. He asks tough questions others don't or wouldn't. I'd enjoy to hear him chat it up with James Carville or Nate Silver for example.

    Karel likes to talk about the entertainment industry as he's a part of it, and sometimes trends toward offbeat "fortune teller" stuff, both of which aren't my cup of tea, so I hope he might discontinue or reduce those segments.

    One suggestion for Karel would be to pick topics more carefully, make sure they are interesting and/or provocative, then stay with the topic longer, even the full hour, to allow more callers to have their say. A good guest can easily take the whole hour, or even two hours if people keep calling in. I think KGO listeners are more intersted in wha the callers say than what the hosts say anyway. We listeners can already pretty much predict what the hosts are going to say. And the callers' opinions, that's the point of talk radio isn't it?

    The low point on Karel's KGO show is when he talks about hot web site links with that gentlemen in Israel. Who cares about what somebody in Israel thinks is a hot web site? Web site links are like muffin recipes. They are boring, anybody can come up with one, they are easy to find, you don't need nobody in Israel helping you find one, and rarely need in any event. That hot web links segment is a big waste of time and I expect hurts his show's ratings.

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    1. I agree with anonymous. Pluses and minuses with him. America'x demograhics are changing. You only have to look at the election results. The Republicans are not an inclusive party and their traditional base of WASPS are shrinking.

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  7. unlikeable?!?! the most? c'mon, I mean, there HAS TO BE SOMEONE LESS LIKEABLE!!!

    no? just me. well, okay then. actually, i'm universally disliked. it's part of my charm. the good thing is people have always loved Imus, Stern, Rush, Levin, Rhodes, Savage, Beck, Rogers and countless others before me. i can only hope to be so disliked.

    and...AND...

    you've only begun to dislike me... just wait. it gets worse. trust me, i have to live with me, day in, day out.

    and by the way, y'all should take this less serious. for reasons unbeknownst to me, co-workers tell me (btw, they all hate me too) "people are bashing you on that blog." so i come on over, take a gander from time to time, and man oh man, were they right. they're always right.

    my favorite part about "that blog" is how the same people who tell me to come look, or who act like they don't read it, are the very ones who are making these posts. trust me, it gets read. we have nothing else to do! We are all sycophantic delusional narcissists, no matter how good/bad we are! oh, this and the fact that people leave their histories up on the web browsers, and from time to time i'm wont to double back, often landing on this here comments page. go figure?

    anyway...i appreciate you listening, and giving me some REAL DETAILED CRITIQUE(s). Truly.

    i know you love it. people love to be crapped on. there's an entire porn industry devoted to it. in fact, over 80% of porn scenes involve some type of abuse, be it verbal or physical. I think it's closer to 90% so you can shit on me all day long because at the end of the day, like porn, i know you'll secretly be taking it all in, and there's nothing quite like a cleveland steamer or a golden shower.

    as for maureen, who many of you have taken to calling nasty things (this includes you, ricardo), she's a wonderful person. couldn't be nicer. in fact, of all the people i've had the chance of meeting at the station, she's probably the nicest one. well, her and brian pelletier, karel's producer. he's pretty dang nice too.

    happy thanksgiving.

    hit me up at kgodavid@gmail.com if you really want to engage. i'm even more insightful via email.

    Rich, good luck with your own thang. I know it ain't easy. I know the people who comment here believe otherwise, but this shite takes work.

    Cheers.

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  8. It's times like now that I really miss Gene Burns. He could develop a topic, sometimes carrying it for 2 to 3 hours, engage callers by really listening- not talking over or yelling- and then responding and debating intelligently and respectfully, unless the caller was a total loon, and in that case no one could phrase a put down more eloquently than Mr. Burns.

    I miss his cookie exchange, too, his stories of growing up poor in upstate NY, which almost harken to A Child's Christmas in Wales, and his Christmas reading of The Gift of the Magi. He is a unique talent, and, of course, we don't appreciate that till he is gone from the air (but not from our thoughts). Happy thanksgiving, Gene Burns, for all that you have given us.



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    1. I'll second the post at 6:29am.
      Gene Burns was far superior to what you hear on KGO now.
      Intelligent and a balanced view point made his show enjoyable.

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    2. 6:29 has it right on. Nobody matches Gene!

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    3. Right on, the way Gene developed a subject, laid out the argument, deal with his callers, was superior and just so interesting, John Rothman was a close second and on some subjects I preferred John, Ronn is good especially when he is interviewing someone. Monte, Karel and the disaster on Sunday nite has a very, very long way to go to get close to Gene and John and Ronn as well, Frankly I don't think they have the intelligence to do it. I know Karel didn't sit in for Ronn last week, but when Karel was fired from KGO a few years back, Ronn was openly supporting him, and said he liked him. So I don't know if it is that Ronn don't want Karel sitting in for him, or Karel couldn't do it. I don't think Monte is any better than Karel, often worse. At least Karel has a little edge to his show. Monte is milktoast.

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  9. Karel will be fired soon, he always is. Yes and he is broke and begging again only that he lives in luxury, spending so much on himself and leaching off of others. Now he is on a "white hate" and "Christian hate" spiel. Wow, he is so hated in Northern California but now I guess he wants even less listeners. No one can stand the guy. KGO must be so desperate now. An "entertainer" what is his talent? Who knows?

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