The Mens Room (radio show)

The Mens Room

Genre	Comedy, talk, music
Country of origin	United States
Home station	KISW
Hosted by	Steve Hill Miles Montgomery Ted Smith
Produced by	Mike Hawk
Original release	2003

The Mens Room[ sic ] is an afternoon drive-time show airing on KISW (99.9 FM Seattle). The comedy and hot talk program first aired in 2005, and was nationally syndicated from 2017-2020. The show's hosts are Miles Montgomery, Steve "The Thrill" Hill, and "Thee" Ted Smith, and is produced by Mike Hawk. ^[1]

History

The Mens Room radio show began in Baltimore when program director Bill Pasha assembled current hosts Miles Montgomery and Steve Hill for a talk-based radio program called Out To Lunch,^{[ citation needed ]} which ran from 2003-2005 on WXYV-FM with those hosts after Miles replaced Bill Rohland in October 2003. ^[2] The show moved to Seattle in the spring of 2005, and first aired on 100.7 The Buzz. The show then moved to 99.9 KISW, and eventually grew into the highest-rated afternoon show in all of Seattle. ^[3] The show was a nationally syndicated radio program produced by Westwood One from 2017 into June 2020, before being dropped from Westwood One.

The Mens Room radio show is also distributed as four daily podcasts edited to remove local network advertisements and music. ^[4]

Personalities

• Steve "The Thrill" Hill: Host, 2005–present
• Miles Montgomery: Host, 2005–present
• "Thee" Ted Smith: Host, 2005–present
• Ben "The Psycho Muppet" Watts: Producer, 2005-2016
• Mike Hawk: Producer, 2015–present
• Robin Foxx: Producer, 2017-2020

Segments

The show consists of several regular segments on either a daily or weekly basis.

Question of the Day

Episodes often begin with Hill reading one or more news stories that prompt a "question of the day," which serves as a prompt for listeners to call in with a personal story in response. The first two hours of the show typically consist of the hosts taking listener calls and often telling their own stories relative to the day's prompt. On Mondays listeners are asked "random random" questions based on several news articles Hill curates.

Sit and Spin

On Tuesdays, The Daly Migs Show co-hosts Taryn Daly and Steve Migs bring in a list of 10 songs to play based off a topic either chosen by her/the show or pulled from an online article. Counting down from "Ten number ten" all the way to "One number one"

This segment was formerly hosted by KISW personality "Drunk In Charge" Ryan Castle.

Who Sucks Less?

On Wednesday, Thrill presents the other show members with 3 news stories that contain people who are really bad people. It's up to them to decide which of the 3 people "suck the least." The news stories are also abbreviated in a graphic posted to The Mens Room's social media pages for listeners to weigh in on.

Big Dummy

The Mens Room's take on a game show, this Thursday segment replaces the Question of the Day segment. Listeners can call in to the show to participate in the trivia quiz show format, which differs from traditional game shows in that the hosts will continue to ask the contestant questions until they get one question right.

Prior to being asked trivia questions, contestants are asked if they're on Team Sober or Team Not Sober to determine if they're currently intoxicated. They are also asked to answer The Mens Room Poll, whatever it may be that Thursday. The Mens Room Poll is also posted to the show's X (formerly Twitter) account for listeners to vote on. At the start of that day's show, Montgomery announces the results for the X version of the previous Mens Room Poll before introducing that day's poll.

The Biggest Dummy is the contestant who took the most amount of questions to get one right. The Biggest Dummy is reset at the start of each calendar year.

Miles Montgomery hosts a variation of Big Dummy called "Dirty Big Dummy" on the Thursday edition of the Appy Hour. Thrill, Mike Hawk, and Thee Ted Smith (and sometimes guests) compete against each other to answer 10 multiple choice questions about topics of a sexual nature and are asked to come up with the definition of an Urban Dictionary sexual term for the bonus question at the end.

Profile This

A daily segment which invites listeners to call in and participate. The format of the segment sees Hill read a contestant chosen news story omitting one key detail, after which the contestant must choose among multiple options which detail "makes the story, a story." This segment was inspired by an earlier iteration of the segment called "Black, White, Mexi, or Jew," which similarly saw contestants guessing the race of the subject of a story based on the contextual clues presented in the story. Due to the perceived insensitive nature of the original game's name and content, the format was changed to focus less on race and more on other topics.

As of December 2023, Thrill lists some of the following topics of news stories for the contestants to choose from:

Drugs (what drug was the person in the news story on)

Bite Me (what did someone find in their food)

Interior Decorating (what foreign object was found inside someone)

Hit Me With Your Best Shot (what unconventional weapon did someone choose to use as a weapon)

Animalize This (what animal caused the problem)

TV Time with Ted

A daily segment wherein Smith discusses recent and upcoming television programming of note.

Is It Ted or Is It Late Night?

Originating as a sub-segment of TV Time with Ted, this segment sees Smith reading jokes followed by the rest of the hosts guessing whether the jokes were created by Smith himself, or if they were pulled from an actual late night television host's show.

Ted vs. The FCC

A Friday segment which consists of Smith, noted for his challenges with reading and pronunciation, attempting to read a listener-submitted tongue twister. These tongue twisters are written in such a way that the expected slip-up would result in Smith saying a word or words that are banned from radio airwaves, thus getting him in trouble with the FCC, the agency that oversees radio communication standards in the United States.

Ted's Meat and Potatoes

During this Thursday segment, Smith, appearing as his alter ego "Head Chef of the Mens Room" Thee Ted Nougat, recites food facts, results of food-related surveys, or other food related topics, often themed to the time of year or nearby holidays. Sometimes Smith brings food from the segment's topic in to the studio for the others to try.

If Smith is absent from the show on Thursday, "Sous Chef" Mike Hawk fills in for him.

Shot of the Day

Segment where Thrill makes a toast to something from a recent news story, or a specific person or persons on a special occasion (such as toasting donors on a charity drive day or toasting listeners on a milestone episode or for attending a KISW event)

Bad Choice Friday

On Friday, the show puts out a poll on the show's X (formerly Twitter) account asking listeners to pick between two songs that are normally not played on KISW. Which ever song wins, is played after the Shot of the Day replacing that day's Profile This segment.

Other media

The Mens Room hosts have also created other media properties distributed as standalone podcasts or live streaming internet radio.

The Mens Room Appy Hour

Appy Hour is daily twenty-minute show available only as a live stream via the Audacy app immediately following the conclusion of the daily Mens Room show on live terrestrial radio. The show is hosted by the same quartet as the regular daily show. Due to being streamed exclusively over the internet rather than terrestrial radio, the show is uncensored and features discussions of topics that would not normally be "suitable for the airwaves."

The Greatest Story Never Told

From October 2019 to July 2021, Montgomery and Hill distributed a weekly podcast through Audacy. ^[5] This show allowed the hosts to dive more deeply into some of the greatest stories of their past, and would occasionally feature other personalities, such as Smith. The show is also produced by Mike Hawk. The show was discontinued after July 2021 when it was replaced by The Mens Room Appy Hour.

Thee Podcast

Since September 2013, Thee Ted Smith has hosted a weekly podcast also distributed through Audacy. The show has featured other hosts, often personal friends of Smith, and covers topics such as current goings-on in their respective lives, as well as events in the greater Seattle area where the hosts live.

The MegaCast

A weekly podcast hosted by Smith and fellow KISW personality Steve Migs.

Products and philanthropy

Mens Room Original Red is a beer brewed by Elysian Brewing Company ^[6] of which a portion of profits are donated to the Pacific Northwest's Fisher House. ^[7] Men's Room Sausage is produced by Uli's Sausage of Seattle, is made with Mens Room Original Red beer, and also contributes a portion of profits to the Fisher House. Elysian also brews Mens Room Original Ale, Mens Room Gold and Mens Room Black seasonally with the same arrangement of Fisher House donations.

In addition, San Juan Salsa of Arlington, Washington also produces a salsa branded for the show based largely on roasted tomatoes and other vegetables; like the beers and the sausage above, proceeds are donated to the Fisher House.

References

1. "The Mens Room". KISW. 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
2. "News Archive - January 2003 to December 2003". Archived from the original on 2021-01-17.
3. "KISW's the Men's Room Sets First Syndication Affilliates[sic]". 31 May 2017.
4. "The Mens Room Daily Podcast". KISW. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
5. "Greatest Story Never Told". KISW. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
6. "Elysian Brewing Company - Seattle, Washington". www.elysianbrewing.com. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
7. "KISW Mens Room Original Red Marks Milestone Donation to Fisher House". fisherhouse.org. Retrieved 2020-07-18.