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Revision as of 08:44, 18 February 2009
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| File:Too Beautiful to Live-Podcast Logo.JPG | |
| Other names | TBTL |
|---|---|
| Genre | Variety Talk Show |
| Running time | approximately 2 hours 3 hours with commercials & news |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | AM 710 KIRO: Greater Puget Sound area, Washington |
| Syndicates | FM 97.3 KIRO |
| Hosted by | Luke Burbank Jennifer Andrews Sean De Tore |
| Created by | Luke Burbank |
| Produced by | Jennifer Andrews |
| Recording studio | 97.3 KIRO-FM Headquarters Seattle, Washington 47°38′8″N 122°19′29″W / 47.63556°N 122.32472°W |
| Original release | January 7, 2008 – Present |
| Audio format | Monaural Sound (Mono) |
| Opening theme | "Catch My Disease" by Ben Lee |
| Ending theme | "Words" by Doves |
| Website | www.mynorthwest.com/tbtl |
| Podcast | RSS Feed iTunes Audio Podcast |
Too Beautiful to Live (often abbreviated to TBTL) is a low-rated local radio show broadcasting in Seattle, Washington. It airs on 710 KIRO AM / 97.3 KIRO FM from 7:00-10:00 pm (Pacific Time) weeknights and at the same time on Saturdays for the “Best Of”, which includes clips from the past week’s shows. The program is unrelated to other radio show's carrying the same name.
The show is an attempt by KIRO and Bonneville to draw a younger audience to KIRO, which has an aging listener base like many talk radio stations. The show was rated 16th in its time slot in the Seattle-Tacoma market in winter 2008, making it the only radio show on KIRO not rated 1st. Coupled with stagnant audience growth and critical derision, this has caused some to question the program's future.
Format
The show begins with the song "Catch My Disease" by Ben Lee, and humorous sound clips accumulated throughout the show’s run thus far are played over the music. Host Luke Burbank welcomes the listeners and starts the show by revealing his weight and commenting on it, followed by a questioning of his on-air partners, producer Jennifer Andrews and engineer Sean De Tore. They reveal their weights and compare it to the previous show’s total and often recount their activities their previous night or weekend if the show is a Monday. Luke then announces the upcoming stories and segments to be discussed through the next three hours.
The show ends each night with the song "Words" by Doves. Often, Luke will try to squeeze in one of the many topics they often do not get to during the show and then promises to talk about the topics on the next show. This is ironic because he often states that he doesn't have enough to talk about at the beginning of the show.
Fans of the show are often referred to as "The Tens" or simply "tens", stemming from an early episode where Luke would mention how they only have "tens" of listeners, rather than "hundreds" or "thousands". Some critics of the show have referred to fans as the "two-point-twos" in reference to the program's audience share.
Hosts and Related Persons
Luke Burbank
Luke is the host of TBTL. Despite his age, he self-deprecatingly describes himself as a hipster with musical tastes in indie rock and hip-hop.
Jennifer Andrews
Andrews is the producer of TBTL.
Sean De Tore
De Tore is the engineer.
Jamie Griswold
Griswold is a former intern for TBTL. She was one of the youngest persons to appear on the show regularly.
She left the show on July 17, 2008 but has returned from time to time to sing karaoke songs.
Nick Larzalere
Larzalere is a former intern for TBTL. He was with the show for a short time, starting in June 2008. He was referred to as “the quiet man” and “silent Nick” by Luke because of his shyness. He was mentioned on the show prior to becoming an intern because of a poster he designed for the aforementioned push-up contest (see Sean's bio.)
His exit interview was on September 11, 2008, although his final show as intern was on September 19, and his going-away party was on September 22.
Robin "Turner" Kierstein
Kierstein is the third and current TBTL intern, following Jamie and Nick. Her first show was on September 30, 2008. Though her surname is not Turner, she has been using "Turner" in blog posts on the TBTL website.
Controversies
"Gay" and Criticism for Perceived Hate Speech
Burbank has been criticized by listeners[1] to the show for using the word "gay" to describe things he dislikes. Burbank has addressed the charges and defended his use of the pejorative during on-air monologues by noting that only "rednecks" would consider his use of "gay" as a pejorative and that he had frequently been accused of homosexuality himself[2]. Despite vowing to continue to use the word "gay" pejoratively, he later - in the face of mounting protest - recanted and said he would substitute the word "Fogelberg" for "gay" moving forward, a reference to musician Dan Fogelberg who had recently died of prostate cancer.
Many listeners considered Burbank's repeated use of "gay" to be innocent, however, critics noted that Burbank's show replaced that of noted Seattle gay talk-show host Mike Webb, who was killed in a brutal axe murder prior to the debut of Burbank's program. Additionally, incidences possibly indicative of institutional homophobia at KIRO-AM have been reported on Seattle radio blogs with gay staff reporting that they sometimes felt uncomfortable working at the station. [3]
"Operagate"
In an apparent departure from the talent's expressed musical tastes in indie rock and Broadway musicals, the January 22, 2009 episode featured an interview with Speight Jenkins, General-Director of the Seattle Opera. Almost immediately thereafter, banner ads for the Seattle Opera began running in continuous rotation on the TBTL portion of KIRO-AM website mynorthwest.com. This led to a contention by program observers that the KIRO-AM sales department had become directly involved in producing the show to mitigate the effects of declining ad buys during the program. The allegations have not been substantiated.
Relationship with Dori Monson
Burbank's relationship with KIRO cornerstone host Dori Monson has reportedly been contentious with Monson criticizing KIRO management on-air for giving the program a Saturday night replay in lieu of his own, which enjoys significantly better ratings.
The day after the January 29 episode of Burbank's show, which featured an in-studio cooking demonstration, Monson - whose studio space Burbank shares - opened his show by referring to the poor job cleaning the studio Burbank had done, without specifying Burbank or TBTL by name.
You know the co-worker that puts something in the microwave and it just explodes and then they walk away from it and don't clean it up? That's a horrible person. A horrible, horrible person. But the nice part about that is, if the microwave's a mess, you just walk away from it. But, when they turn the talk studio into little Auschwitz here ... [mimicking a Valley Girl] "oh we're so funny, we're so cute, we're so cutting-edge, we're going to make the studio stink, hee hee" ... That's really cutting-edge. It's really hip. They're a bunch of freakin' pigs. [4]
The following day Burbank required producer Jenn Andrews to make an on-air apology to KIRO co-workers, though Monson was not addressed by name.
Segments
Regular
AwesomeNotAwesome
A run-down of some news stories, both serious and humorous. If a story is “awesome”, a soundbite of Luke's girlfriend saying “Rawr!” (a nonsensical word used as an interjection) is played. If a story is “not awesome”, a soundbite of Will Arnett as G.O.B. Bluth saying “Come on!” is played. The topic of the stories discussed are often: politics, music, movies, television, internet sites, videos, and ephemera. The theme song to this segment is "A-W-E-S-O-M-E" by Reel Big Fish. The idea for this segment may have come from an unrelated blog called "Awesome/Not Awesome" that started a month before the program went on-air.[dubious – discuss] Host Burbank has yet to acknowledge this connection.
Listener Mail
Luke read e-mails (and the occasional letter) aloud, and discusses them with Jennifer and Sean. These emails are usually related to various topics delivered on the show, while some address things listeners want to hear about, or to critique Luke if he has made an erroneous statement. Contrary to other KIRO radio programs, only letters and e-mails praising the show are read; correspondence of a critical nature is generally not acknowledged.
Why It Mattered
The hosts discuss a topic, usually a movie or TV show, and recalls their experience with said topic. Examples include: Pulp Fiction, Waiting for Guffman, and "Little House on the Prairie". Other topics have included the Oscars, the Olympics and Elton John. These usually have variations on the title ("Why It Matters" and "Why He Matters"). Prior to the discussion, the "TBTL Players" join the show for a dramatic reading of a scene or to recite lyrics. Luke often claims that the TBTL Players are actors brought in from around the world, but they are really Luke, Jen, Sean, and a guest on occasion.
Call Takers
Despite its format as an AM talk radio show, TBTL does not take calls nightly. Rather, it usually occurs only several nights a month, and only for an hour. The lack of calls taken during the show is due to both Jennifer’s hesitation about obnoxious callers since the calls are not screened and because Luke does not see the need to do so regularly, as they are a show that strives to be different than the standard talk show, though critics have questioned their effectiveness at doing so. However, if Luke notices that someone is calling in, he may take the call if he feels the person is calling about the topic they are discussing at that particular moment.
After Hours
In the third hour of every Friday night, Luke will bring up topics that had not been discussed earlier in the week, and Luke, Jen, and Sean choose songs that they are enjoying for a segment called Music for Your Weekend. The theme music for this segment is saxophone music, which Luke pointed out sounds like "detective music", specifically what you would hear when you read a Mike Hammer novel.
So Who Needs a Movie?
Luke and Jen review a movie they saw over the weekend. It is the newest regular segment, having only two reviews so far. The title of this segment was lifted from a popular internet meme. The movies that have been reviewed are:
- Synecdoche, New York - panned
- Four Christmases - panned
- Frost/Nixon - mixed
Semi-Regular / Occasional
Mystery Solvers
A mystery will be introduced at the beginning of the week, and by Friday, it is sometimes solved. Examples of mysteries solved include: The mysterious disappearance of local restaurant the Twin Teepees and the identity of a girl who played the orphan Annie at the 5th Avenue Theatre in the early 1980s that Jennifer’s husband vaguely remembers. Theme music for this segment comes from the 1980s TV show The Bloodhound Gang.
Blinding You With Science
Luke, Jen and Sean discuss various science-related news, usually of a topic that is interesting to them (e.g., meat grown in a tube).
Web Gems
Luke reports on a new website or various items of interest he found on the internet. Such items are usually posted on the show’s website, which is where Luke directs the listeners to go if they want to read for themselves.
I Love You Chunk
A new segment where a listener is invited to call the show and "convince us to love something as much as he or she does".[5] The first time this segment aired was to discuss the TV show Whale Wars. Other topics for this segment have included union suits and Russian spas. The title for the segment comes from the movie The Goonies, during which the character named Sloth professes his feeling for another character named Chunk Working titles including: "You Like This, You Really Really Like This" (Luke's idea) and "Convince Me" (Jen's idea).
This Day in TBTL History
This segment usually airs towards the end of the show, and features a humorous clip from the episode that aired exactly one year earlier.
Irregular / Retired
What Up Dog with Darby Reed
KIRO’s promotions manager Darby Reed will come onto the show every Thursday and give Seattle listeners information about concerts, restaurants, movies, and other events occurring over the upcoming weekend.
Wednesdays with Gary
Created following actor Gary Busey’s strange behavior toward Jennifer Garner and Ryan Seacrest at the 2008 Oscars, Wednesdays with Gary is a segment usually incorporating audio of Busey from a film role or interview. At first, a clip from said sources was played with humorous comments interjected by Luke and Jennifer. Lately, the segment has become rarer, and is usually just audio from an interview with Busey that is played, and then paused so that Luke can “ask” a question. Also, the segment can be a reason to discuss new stories that include Busey’s often bizarre public behavior.
The segment was ended shortly after a poster on the program's message board accused the show of stealing the idea for the segment from Los Angeles radio station KLOS-FM. At the time, host Burbank was visiting Los Angeles frequently on personal business but denied having borrowed the idea for the segment from KLOS-FM.
Book Club
TBTL also has a book club where listeners and the hosts get together to discuss a particular book. The idea for this segment was lifted from a similarly named segment originated on the defunct NPR program The Bryant Park Project. Past book club selections include Alan Moore's Watchmen and Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
References
- ^ http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2008/05/0517200811257.mp3
- ^ http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2008/05/0517200811257.mp3
- ^ http://blatherwatch.blogs.com/talk_radio/2008/11/kiro-gays-nervous-about-homophobia.html
- ^ http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2009/01/p_Dori_Monson_Show_20090130_12pm.mp3
- ^ http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=78&sid=109242
External links
- Official website
- YouTube channel
- iMix of music played during the show, Part 1 (iTunes) and Part 2
- Live Video Stream (7:00-10:00pm Pacific) (Inactive)