The Al Franken Show

Last updated
The Al Franken Show
AlFrankenShow.png
Other namesThe O'Franken Factor
Genre Progressive talk
Running time3 hours (12 p.m.–3 p.m. ET)
Country of originUnited States
Language(s) English
Home station WLIB, New York
(2004–2006)
KTNF, Minneapolis
(2006–2007)
Syndicates Air America
Hosted by Al Franken
Katherine Lanpher (2004–05)
Original releaseMarch 31, 2004 (2004-03-31) 
February 14, 2007 (2007-02-14)

The Al Franken Show was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for liberal positions on the issues of the day, and comically poking fun at the George W. Bush Administration. Franken had been a comedian, satirist, and the author of several books, including the 2003 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them . He was a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live , where he usually teamed with fellow writer/performer Tom Davis.

Contents

The show began as The O'Franken Factor on March 31, 2004. Between January 3, 2006, and February 14, 2007, the show was recorded and broadcast from the 28th floor of the historic Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to that date it was based in New York City. The final show was broadcast on February 14, 2007, the day Franken announced his candidacy for the United States Senate election of 2008. Franken's bid for the Senate was successful, with him serving there until resigning in 2018.

History

Show host Al Franken AlFranken2009.JPG
Show host Al Franken

From the show's inception in March 2004 until October 7, 2005, the show was co-hosted by experienced journalist Katherine Lanpher. Lanpher left the show to write Leap Days, a memoir about her experiences moving to New York City. Lanpher did not rejoin the show because she did not wish to move again when Franken relocated to Minnesota. [1] In November 2005, Franken told an audience in Berkeley, California that he would not seek a replacement for Lanpher. [2] Her departure did not substantially change the content of the show.

When the show began, Franken signed a one-year contract. "I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected. I'd be happy if the election of a Democrat ended the show", he said in an interview with The New York Times . Bush won a second term on November 2, 2004, but Franken said that the show would continue whether a Democrat or a Republican was in office.

Beginning on September 7, 2004, Sundance Channel broadcast a one-hour televised version of the show on weekdays. The show aired its last episode in November 2004. The channel inked a new contract with Franken and aired a second season of the show from June 6, 2005, until early November 2005.

On November 15, 2006, Air America affiliate KQKE-AM in San Francisco announced that Franken would leave Air America on December 10, as indicated by an audio clip posted on Whatamockery.com. [3] After December 10, though Franken was still on Air America, KQKE began airing the Thom Hartmann Program in place of the Al Franken Show.

On his January 29, 2007, show, Franken announced that his last show on Air America Radio would be that Valentine's Day. Affiliates who carried the Franken show carried Thom Hartmann after that date, while XM Satellite Radio now carries Ed Schultz in that time slot. [4] [ needs update ] At the end of his final show, Franken announced his intention to run for the United States Senate from Minnesota.

The O'Franken Factor

Until July 12, 2004, the name of the show was The O'Franken Factor. That name was a jibe at Bill O'Reilly and his The O'Reilly Factor . O'Reilly is widely thought to have instigated Fox News Channel's lawsuit against Franken for using their trademarked phrase "fair and balanced", [5] which was thrown out of court in summary judgment, but ended up giving publicity to Franken and his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them . Franken said that he chose the title to "annoy and bait" O'Reilly into suing him again, thus generating additional publicity. That lawsuit never came, and on July 12, 2004, the program was renamed The Al Franken Show.

Franken described his show as taking place in a "Zero Spin Zone" where Franken pledged to tell the truth and there was "no spinning allowed". This was a parody of O'Reilly's characterization of the O'Reilly Factor as a "No-Spin Zone".

Regular guests

The show's regular guests included respected progressive issues and current events analysts: Jonathan Alter, David Brock, Joe Conason, John Dickerson, James Fallows, Howard Fineman, Christy Harvey, Paul Krugman, Thomas Oliphant, Norman Ornstein, George Packer, Melanie Sloan, David Sirota, Bernie Sanders, and Lawrence O'Donnell Jr.

Regular features

In addition to general political discussion, the show featured several recurring comic relief segments. These included:

Wait Wait... Don't Lie To Me!
Every Friday afternoon, Franken hosted a mini-game show with fellow judge Joe Conason. The contestant listened to a series of audio clips from earlier in the week, and was asked to identify whether each statement made is the truth, a lie, or a "weasel" (defined as "a statement that is technically true, but intended to mislead"). The title was based on the National Public Radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Contestants received a copy of The Al Franken Show Party Album regardless of their performance, though Franken referred to the CD as both the prize for winning and consolation prize for losing. In the spirit of the lying theme, Franken frequently stated that the game won ever increasing numbers of Peabody Awards—over one hundred by the end of the show—which itself was a humorous dig at Bill O'Reilly, who incorrectly boasted that his former show, Inside Edition , won two Peabodies. The segment's theme music was the 1987 Fleetwood Mac hit song "Little Lies".
Hate Email of the Day
Franken picked his favorite hate email and read it on the air, often noting spelling and grammatical errors, and usually concluding with "We take your criticisms very seriously."
Boring Correction
Taking great pride in the veracity of the information cited by his program, Franken invited his audience to bring any factual errors to his attention so they could be addressed. Franken would then issue a live on-air "Boring Correction" where, to a jaunty tune and the sound of typewriter in the background, he corrected the error. Most of the time, the "boring correction" addressed a hypertechnicality rather than a substantive error.
"Resident Dittohead" Mark Luther
The show regularly featured a segment with Mark Luther, Franken's childhood friend and self-proclaimed dittohead. Franken would play a clip by Rush Limbaugh, take issue with Limbaugh's facts or logic, and argue about it with Luther.
Good Ribbin'
A correspondent would travel to some of the best southern barbecue hot spots in the country, to talk with people who love barbecue and hate Franken's show. Patrons were invited to tell the audience what they were eating and then argue with Franken.
The Fifteen Second Debunk
An audio clip was played, and then debunked by another audio clip from the same person. Although the two clips were usually less than fifteen seconds, they were preceded by very lengthy introduction and followed by a lengthy outro.
Nigel Chestley
Franken played a BBC correspondent who sometimes reported on international news, and other times simply provided an update on the Queen's long running drum solo.
Senior Moment
Franken played Enid Davenport, a crotchety old woman who offered an extremely confused perspective on the news (she preferred to call the segment "A piece of my mind"). This character was somewhat reminiscent of Gilda Radner's Emily Litella from Saturday Night Live .
The Slide Whistle
Franken played a slide whistle along with the highs and lows of President Bush's approval rating since taking office. The whistle started with a moderate note, raised to a high note to reflect the time period following 9/11, then steadily sunk to lower notes as Bush's popularity decreased (with occasional blips of higher notes in between). This was a popular segment surrounding State of the Union addresses.
Right-Wing Non-Lie of the Day
Franken would play a clip of a conservative telling a "non-lie," which would usually last for about ten seconds. On The Very Best of the O'Franken Factor, featured non-lies included Rush Limbaugh saying he was looking at an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal and Bill O'Reilly reading the definition of the word "conundrum."

Some other skits no longer occurred regularly after Katherine Lanpher left the show. These included:

Swing State Tour

In the run-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the show went on a "Swing State Tour" that included stops in

Music

The show also did musical parody introductions for regular guests:

Staff

The staff of The Al Franken Show:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Franken</span> American comedian and politician (born 1951)

Alan Stuart Franken is an American politician, comedian, writer, actor, and media personality who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. Franken first gained fame as a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he worked for three stints. He first served as a writer for the show from 1975 to 1980, and returned from 1985 to 1995 as a writer and, briefly, a cast member. After decades as an entertainer, he became a prominent liberal political activist, hosting The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio.

<i>Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them</i> 2003 book by Al Franken

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them is a satirical book on American politics by Al Franken, a comedian, political commentator, and politician. It was published in 2003 by Dutton Penguin. Franken had a study group of 14 Harvard graduate students known as "TeamFranken" to help him with the research. The book's subtitle, A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, is a parody of Fox News' tagline "Fair and Balanced." FNC sued Franken over the use of the phrase in a short-lived and unsuccessful lawsuit, which has been credited with increasing the sales of the book, an example of the Streisand effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Colmes</span> American broadcaster (1950–2017)

Alan Samuel Colmes was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He was the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that was broadcast throughout the United States on Fox News Talk on Sirius and XM. From 1996 to 2009, Colmes served as the co-host of Hannity & Colmes, a nightly political debate show on Fox News Channel. Beginning in 2015, Colmes supplied the voice of The Liberal Panel on Fox News Channel's The Greg Gutfeld Show.

Joe Conason is an American journalist, author and liberal political commentator. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of The National Memo, a daily political newsletter and website that features breaking news and commentary. Since 2006, he has served as editor of The Investigative Fund, a nonprofit journalism center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Gross</span> American radio host and producer (born 1951)

Terry Gross is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NPR in 1975, Gross has interviewed thousands of guests.

<i>Hannity & Colmes</i> American live television show on Fox News

Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. The show offered Hannity's conservative views and Colmes's liberal views incorporated into a current news story, or in conjunction with a featured guest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Lanpher</span> American journalist

Katherine Lanpher is an American writer, journalist, broadcaster, and podcaster, who came to national prominence as the co-host of the Air America Radio program The Al Franken Show in 2004 and 2005.

The word "strategery" was used in a Saturday Night Live sketch, written by James Downey, airing October 7, 2000, which satirized the performances of George W. Bush and Al Gore, two candidates for President of the United States, during the first presidential debate for election year 2000. Bush, played by Comedian Will Ferrell, when asked by a mock debate moderator to "sum up, in a single word, the best argument for his candidacy", replied "strategery", satirizing Bush's reputation for mispronouncing words. SNL later released the episode as part of a video tape titled Presidential Bash 2000.

<i>The Rush Limbaugh Show</i> American talk radio show (1988-2021)

The Rush Limbaugh Show was an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, The Rush Limbaugh Show became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At its peak, the show aired on over 650 radio stations nationwide.

Edward J. Klein is an American author and former foreign editor of Newsweek, former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine (1977–1987). He has written about the Kennedys, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Donald Trump.

KNEW is an American biz news radio station licensed to Oakland, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by iHeartMedia and most of the programming comes from Bloomberg Radio. KNEW also carries Oakland Athletics baseball games. The radio studios are located in the SoMa district of San Francisco.

<i>Fox v. Franken</i>

Fox News Network, LLC, v. Penguin Group (USA), Inc., and Alan S. Franken was a civil lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 7, 2003. Fox News Channel, the plaintiff, sought to enjoin Al Franken from using Fox News's trademark phrase "fair & balanced" in the title of his then-forthcoming book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Judge Denny Chin denied Fox's motion for injunction on August 22, and the network dropped the suit three days later.

Media is a recurring theme of satire on The Simpsons. The show is known for its satire of American popular culture and especially television culture, but has since its inception covered all types of media such as animation, journalism, commercials, comic books, movies, internet, and music. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town but the town of Springfield acts as a complete universe. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.

Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as Arnie Arnesen, Michael Brooks, Alan Colmes, Jon Favreau, Al Franken, Brad Friedman, John Fugelsang, Norman Goldman, Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, Kyle Kulinski, Jon Lovett, Rachel Maddow, Mike Malloy, Stephanie Miller, Michael Moore, David Pakman, Mike Papantonio, Dan Pfeiffer, Bill Press, Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz, Sam Seder, Hal Sparks, and Tommy Vietor.

Comedy Central's Indecision 2000 was a series of special episodes featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart spoofing the 2000 Presidential Election. This series covered the primaries leading up to the general election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The series featured "correspondents" at the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican National Convention. At the conventions, the correspondents interviewed many politicians in the comedic style that has made The Daily Show famous. On the first episode after election night, Jon Stewart said that the name was a joke and he had not expected people to take it seriously, referring to the debacle in Florida.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> (season 20) Season of television series

The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.

"The Fool Monty" is the sixth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 2010. In the episode, Bart finds Mr. Burns lying in the forest and takes him home, while Homer decides to get revenge. It was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Michael Price.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 1977, and May 20, 1978, the third season of SNL.

References

  1. News & Reviews Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "FRANKEN COPILOT LEAVING". New York Daily News . 2005-10-03. Archived from the original on 2006-03-08.
  3. What a Mockery!: Al Franken leaving Air America on Valentine's Day Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Al Franken to leave Air America - Radio - nbcnews.com
  5. Stengel, Richard (October 6, 2003). "10 Questions for Bill O'Reilly". Time. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  6. "Cision - Global Cloud-Based Communications and PR Solutions Leader".