Los Angeles to lose its worst talk radio station

We haven't bothered with Adam Carolla's radio show in the past year or so, as it slid from shockingly amateurish and boorish offensiveness (all the worst because it replaced Howard Stern in Los Angeles) to a bland, neutered version of its droning self after its sole saving grace Danny Bonaduce was jettisoned and the show took on a more feminized demeanour in wake of Carolla's Dancing with The Stars appearance. But attention should be paid as it is rumoured that Friday is the show's last day on the air in L.A. Friday is also apparently the final day on the air for the mirthless, forced laughter of the Frosty, Heidi and Frank team, and for Tom Leykis (who sounds too often like his strained voice needs a rest, anyway), because radio station KLSX is switching from talk to an all-music format-- reportedly Top 40. Note that the imminent departure of these talents does not bring the same bemoaning wails of a month ago, when a format change at 103.1 forced the departure of the singular Jonesy's Jukebox.

I know my kid's a star & my sister's a murder victim

Did anyone notice the bizarre cross-promotion on cable television over the weekend? Tru TV's cookie cutter crime series, Missing Persons Unit, ran an episode Saturday night about how DNA technology helped police in New Jersey solve a ten-year-old missing person case, charging Stephen Alfred Vanderbeek with murdering his wife Cynthia Louise Vanderbeek back in 1995.

Appearing on the Tru TV show was Cynthia's sister, who'd reported her missing. Hey, she looked familiar! She was Sandy DiFranco-- who, with her son Gian, was a contestant on I Know My Kid's A Star on VH1-- until she was kicked off last week!

Small world.

(See a clip of Sandy on the Tru TV series here-- and by the way, I Know My Kid's A Star is a great evil show, and host Danny Bonaduce is powerfully effective-- miles away from his own reality seasons).

On the breakup of Conway & Whitman

Don't we know how to pick 'em? Only weeks after we praised Tim Conway Jr. and Brian Whitman's nightly radio show on the creaky KLSX in Los Angeles comes word that Whitman has quit, leaving Conway Jr. and fans in the lurch.

Some of those fans have set up a tribute board (here) to memorialize Whitman, who came on board to replace Conway Jr.'s first partner, cranky old man Doug Steckler, and over the course of two years managed to, as we wrote:

"...settle into a rare, classic talk radio groove... two guys cracking each other up, and in the process, entertaining a wide audience..."

Word is that Whitman's got depression or something, though the resignation comes in wake of the recent and disturbing on-air fantasizing and virtual stalking of Whitman by Frosty Stilwell (right), who plays the celibate eunuch on the station's midday talk show on which he, a raunchy younger male and a recently-announced "lesbian" (collectively "The Triplets") trade mundane insights punctuated by mirthless fake laughter.

We'd hoped that the break-up announcement was the precursor to an April Fool's Day joke, but apparently it's not, and it's all the more disheartening in light of the continued presence of Adam Carolla's failed morning radio show on the same station.

In a last-ditch attempt to boost ratings,management is apparently switching gears and feminizing the boorish, luggish Carolla and aiming his show away from the beer-belching frat boy crowd and toward the LGBT community, with a slant toward queer-friendly guests and topics, a movie collaboration with the star and director of the lesbian romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein, a stint on Dancing with the Stars, and a new gossipy gay bent to the show, like this morning's dishing of Kimora Lee Simmons (Carolla did manage to insert his more familiar racism into the "rant"). And where he once could, if he hadn't been so insecure, bounce off the testosterone-pumped brilliance of Danny Bonaduce, Carolla is now egged on by encouraging one-line squeaks from the wispy, estrogenic voice of someone called "Bald Brian" and and the self-pitying "smartypants" whining of pre-Feminine Mystique-styled "girl" Teresa Strasser. We realize we'd said we probably weren't going to be writing about the passe Carolla any more, but this doesn't count because we're really writing about Conway and Whitman.

Adam Carolla goes gay, explores feminine side

We haven’t done any extended listening to the Adam Carolla Radio Show in a couple of weeks, and we have to admit we haven’t missed the amateurish borefest that two years ago had the misfortune of replacing Howard Stern’s brilliance with its host's solipsism, insecurity and arrogant mediocrity.

We’ll admit, we threw up our hands when Carolla engineered the ouster of the entertaining Danny Bonaduce, whose presence on the show in 2007 saved it from certain cancellation, before Carolla staged a backstabbing coup, just in time for Christmas. Without Bonaduce’s genius crowd appeal, Carolla seems to be on the exit ramp once again, but recent events have shown he’s tap dancing to stay afloat on the rolling log of show business survival. He crossed picket lines to appear on Jay Leno’s show; this week it was announced he’ll join other D-listers competing on Dancing with The Stars; and according to another regular listener, he’s shifting his show focus to appeal to an audience beyond the xenophobic, women-fearing fratboy crowd he was molded to serve.

“Sam V,” like us, was banished from even viewing the Adam Carolla Show Message Board for posting an item that the webmistress found inappropriate (translation: “Not worshipful to Carolla”). In a message to Tablidbaby.com, he offers a different take on the show, which we post, with footnotes:

After being banned from the "Official Adam Carolla Show" board (1) for the fourth time. I thought I would write you with the new direction the show is going.

Since Adam's show will never be a male ratings contender anymore, it seems like Adam is now targeting chicks and gay dudes (nothing wrong with that):

* Adam is now on Dancing with the Stars (2)
* Lynn and Alex America’s favorite gay couple (3)

* First they had Teresa's "fake" wedding

* Now they made a big deal about Teresa's engagement (4) (she even barged into Frosty, Heidi, and Frank (5) to yap about it, who cares?)

I can list dozens more examples, but If the topics aren't gay or female-related they are boring crap like one of this week’s topics:

* "Wedding Songs that you WANT to hear, and Wedding Songs you DON’T want to hear.

* Movie reviews that you can't understand because a guy with a Nicaraguan accent (6) reads them ( I get it, funny the first dozen times).

I don't see how this show can stay on this long.

On the upside, I can’t wait for Adam’s fans to see him wearing spandex doing the tango. I can hear it now: “Is this The Man Show (7) Adam?”

FOOTNOTES:

1 See TabloidBaby.com, January 11, 2008: “Carolla, unfettered! Carolla, unlistenable.”

2 Tabloidbaby.com, February 19, 2008, “Adam Carolla is the new Heather Mills.”

3 A West Hollywood gay couple who competed on The Amazing Race 7, they have gone on to market themselves as stereotypical "gossip queens,” and, like Perez Hilton, have been regular guests, and targets of ridicule, on the Carolla show.

4 A former third-tier cable television presenter and writer affiliated with Carolla mentor Jimmy Kimmel who was recently fired from an on-air role on the inconsequential whitewashed syndicated television version of the corporate porn-pushing website TMZ.com, Teresa Strasser cultivated a “smartypants” image when she joined the show as newsreader, but gradually emerged with a pre-liberation self-pitying, luckless “single girl” persona, whose recent engagement serves to continue the character arc that will surely end in disappointment. Allows Carolla and his jock sidekicks to refer to her “V” and to refer to her as a “Jewish news girl.” Now that Bonaduce is gone from the show, she serves to encourage Carolla’s droning monologues by parroting the end of his sentences. Warning to Carolla: refers to herself as “news girl and co-host” on her MySpace page (where her picture shows off an "engagement" ring-- apparently from a pre-engagment photo session). Tabloidbaby.com, January 8, 2008, “While Carolla gets a third chance to make his radio show work, his ‘news girl’ could use a new photo”; October 5, 2007, “Exclusive! TMZ-Carolla-girl Teresa Strasser nude!”

5 The radio team that follows Carolla’s show in Los Angeles is distinguished by regular injections of forced, fake, mirthless laughter throughout their conversations. Tabloid Baby, December 12, 2006, “Carolla Forced to partner with Danny Bonaduce!”

6 Carolla has regularly humiliated a Nicaraguan construction worker named Ozzy, laughing hysterically and mockingly as he has the man read movie reviews and song lyrics in his thick accent. Carolla excuses the racism by pointing out that he gives Ozzy work and that he is a “close friend.” See Tabloidbaby.com, Adam Carolla search.

7 An old Comedy Central series originally hosted by Carolla and mentor Kimmel, celebrating loutish, racist, sexist males also known as “couch potatoes.”

What's right with Conway & Whitman's radio show illustrates what's so wrong with Adam Carolla's

You should have heard Tim Conway Jr. and Brian Whitman, the night team on KLSX Radio in LA (where Adam Carolla whiles away the mornings) break down Larry King’s Snoop Dogg interview last night. It was a casual radio classic: two guys stopping and starting a tape and riffing on it, cracking each other up, and in the process, entertaining a wide audience.

As we were laughing out loud in the car, we realized that what’s right about these two guys, paired up by management in 2005 after Conway’s partner, old Midwestern comedy writer Dennis Ray Steckler was bounced, demonstrate what’s so wrong about the failed yet highly-paid morning man.

Among other serious deficiencies, Carollas’s got no one to bounce jokes or ideas off. Since he maneuvered the ouster of Danny Bonaduce, a cohost who was more than his equal in experience and charisma (yet who gamely took the second chair), he continues his self-indulgent monotony in a vacuum. His fawning, self-described “news girl” is like a nervous beaten puppy, trying to please her master by parroting the ends of his sentences, while the only other on air voices are those of crew members who act like members of a jock club of which Carolla is president.

In a radio roundup a few years back, weeks before Carolla was handed the microphone, we’d listed Conway & Whitman under “Sad” because of the way they’d simply carried on the Conway-Steckler shtick and bits. In the time since, though, they’ve developed their own chemistry and style, and when they’re doing live shows from bars or casinos, urging women to pull off their shirts, they’ve settled into a rare, classic talk radio groove. Conway has always been one of the driest, most cynical old school wits in radio, more Hollywood Park than Hollywood, and Whitman, a radio impressionist, is quick and very funny, with a very good Rick Dees.

One sour note: We almost didn’t make it to the Larry King bit, thanks to a bit, featuring a woman called “Robin” reading the news in an exaggerated Margaret Dumont voice, that was so annoying we’d switched stations until she went away. Whether she’s a consultant’s addition, someone's wife or another Whitman voice, she needs to go.

You can probably find Conway & Whitman's King-Snoop (and "Robin with the news") segment here.

Bye-byes begin: Carolla loses San Francisco

Adam Carolla's notorious radio show, which has been given a third chance to succeed since the semicomic was unlucky enough to have been given the late Howard Stern's morning timeslot in LA and a few other western cities in January 2006, is on shakier ground than CBS Radio's letting on. As the colossal bore struggles on without sparkplug and attention-competing Danny Bonaduce (aced out by Carolla in a jealous coup last month), he seems happy as a pig in a mud bath in the solo spotlight, with the fawning Teresa Strasser (apparently dumped, as we'd predicted, from her role on the inconsequential whitewashed syndicated television version of the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com, where her tired plainness was no match for the pretty young things who make up Harvey Levin's band of lost boys) and an obsequious amateur called Brian managing to interject occasional encouraging phrases amid his droning monologues and time-killing characters like "The Deaf Frat Guy," the Carolla show has been axed in San Francisco, as The Chronicle's (and Rolling Stone legend) Ben Fong-Torres reports at the bottom of his radio column:

WAKE-UP SHAKE-UPS: Adam Carolla, anointed by CBS Radio to be Howard Stern's replacement in major markets after Stern's move to Sirius satellite, is no longer heard in the Bay Area. He'd been on KIFR (Free FM at 106.9) until CBS ditched the rowdy-talk format last June for lack of ratings, replacing it with the return of KFRC. Because Carolla's contract called for him to have an affiliate in San Francisco, CBS moved him - and other talk shows - to KYCY (1550 AM). That is, until Dec. 31, when the deal expired. Carolla carries on in Los Angeles and a couple of other markets (CBS also dropped Free FM in New York and Philadelphia), but not here. "We just can't afford him," said Stephen Page, program director at KYCY.

Scab: 'Blue collar' Adam Carolla to cross WGA picket lines to pimp his awful radio show on Leno

If you haven't caught his radio show, here's a good enough reason to dislike Adam Carolla, the freeform monotonal "comedian" who's in his third year of attempting to create a listenable, if not successful, radio show in slots once occupied by the late Howard Stern in Los Angeles and a few other unfortunate cities: This morning, he's advertising his appearance tonight on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and offering up ten tickets to listeners who want to sit in the audience to see him go through the motions after crossing the Writers Guild of America picket line. (Remember the days when a ticket to The Tonight Show was a hot commodity? Those were the Carson days.)

Carolla's guest spot is a sign of Leno's difficulty in booking guests during the WGA strike, when most compassionate performers will not cross the line to pimp a product, not to mention Hollywood's disapproval of Leno's decision to continue to write monologues and somehow find scripts for videotaped bits despite his membership in the WGA.

It also indicates that Jimmy Kimmel had his own interests at heart when he created an alliance with Leno against the WGA strike limitations. Kimmel, of course, is Carolla's "rabbi," a CBS radio "comedy" consultant who has been instrumental in keeping Carolla on the air. Now the perennial also-ran is getting his friends and associates on a late night show that actually has some viewers.

As for Carolla? What a hypocrite. The supposed "working stiff," who mocks immigrants on his radio show, Carolla, who last month maneuvered the ouster of co-host Danny Bonaduce after Bonaduce brought the show new life and ratings, plods on toward cancellation with a dull cadre of followerss including the drab Teresa Strasser (who works for the whitewashed syndicated television show based on the corporate porn-pushing gossip site, TMZ.com) and a few other nonpro acolytes.

Shame on the lot of them.

Carolla, unfettered! Carolla, unlistenable!

We've had a chance to listen to the new -- read "old"-- Adam Carolla radio show a few times this week. We tuned in for about forty five minutes to an a hour at a time, between 8 am and 10 am-- as a matter of fact, we're listening right now (Carolla is "interviewing" "The Deaf Frat Guy," one of the show's time-killing "characters"). This is the third incarnation of the show that replaced Howard Stern in L.A. and some other markets, beginning the season last week without second banana Danny Bonaduce, who was imposed on the show last year, boosted the ratings considerably, and was ceremoniously edged out by a jealous Carolla in December.

Based on our listenings, this third season has been all Carolla, all the time, with no guests save his inhouse lugs and regular peeps and giggles from his servile "news girl," Teresa Strasser-- former plain jane "smartypants" TV hostess and John Fugelsang attachment who's now one of Harvey Levin's drab "co-hosts" on the whitewashed syndicated television show based on the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com.

Carolla continues his anti-art of droning on about mundane subjects, rehashing old comedy bits and stretching what would could be a fifteen second thoughts into a fifteen minute monologues. On the mornings we've listened-- and as we're listening now-- he's droned on about subjects as exciting as fixing flat tires, lame Craig's List ads, Segways and homosexuals; solipistic audience-antagonizing ramblings that are broken only by the occasional ass-kissing of his mentor (and his radio network's "comedy" consultant), Jimmy Kimmel-- as in this morning's gushing appraisal of Kimmel's appearance last night on The Tonight Show:

"I thought Kimmel was excellent!"

Carolla's monotonal nasal bray is joined by his civilian football fan sidekicks and acolytes like "Brian," who were for the most part benched in the Bonaduce era, and fawning interjections by Strasser, who reads poorly-paced news items and chirps in trying to keep up with Carolla's alleged witticisms, like a dumb girlfriend or kid sister out to prove she's up on subjects she has no understanding of or interest in. It's sad to say, but "T" can't keep up. And it shows.

If ever a show needed the brash brilliance and entertaining diversions of the quick-witted Bonaduce-- anything to throw open the blinds and lift the show away from the lint-filled navel-gazing of a radio host who thinks the object of a four-hour radio show is to fill every available second with the sound of his own voice-- it's this one. Carolla is back to square one. He and his beerbong buddies have slammed the door on the outside world and cancellation is surely on the horizon.

A funny aside to all this: two Tabloid Baby contributors found themselves banned from the new, official Carolla Show message board earlier this week-- one for posting a link to a story on this site--the other for questioning the ban. When the first commenter (we'll call here "Goodie") emailed the site administrator to complain, the following, quite colorful, exchange took place:

Goodie: why did you suspend my account?

Adamcarollafan@gmail.com: We simply do not need you cluttering up the forum with ridiculous banter which ultimately is meant to get people to tabloid baby. It didn't work on the Official board, and it won't work here.

You're clearly not interested in discussing the show, rather you want to directly (or indirectly) link to tabloid baby.

Look, I realize you have a website to pimp - but rather than covertly doing it with links to the url, it would have been a bit slicker to actually add to ongoing discussions and build some trust/respect before slapping your site address in posts.

Anyways, if you showed any interest in actually talking about the show we wouldn't have a problem.

Goodie: who the f--- are you to say i cluttered the forum?

I WAS talking about the show.

I'm not pimping anything. I'm bringing up issues that people are talking about beyond the forums.

CLUTTER? With one post?

Ridiculous banter? Discussing Teresa Strasser's image problem?

F--- you .

The link I offered was a legitimate conversation point. You're the reason why the Carolla radio show will fail because you want to keep it all in your own little ass-licking clubhouse.

You're a toadie and a f---ing fool and have no respect for free speech, the exchange of ideas or the Internet. And watch who you call a pimp, because you're nothing more than a whore for Carolla.
What's your name?

Adamcarollafan@gmail.com: Interesting reaction. Level-headed, calm response to you being wrong'd. I like it.

You're right, I'm a whore for Carolla - nothing more, nothing less. I guess I should really whore it up and start a messageboard revolving around him and his show.

Anyways, think what you want about me/us being a whore or a toadie or whatever of me. I'm not into censoring stuff, hell it's one thing that bothered me about the Official board. Give you an awesome example, I hate Dave Dameshek. Well, not hate, but strongly dislike. I think he's obnoxious, loud, and unfunny. For whatever reason(s), he was removed from the show after 1 year. He has a lot of dedicated fans that post on this board -- and while I cannot understand their appreciation of him, I realize that they exist. We have a Dave Dameshek forum. And while I personally believe that Bonaduce is one of the worst personalities in the history of radio, we have a forum for him as well --- and would openly discuss him if he hadn't been removed from the show as well.

Your link would be a legit talking point if you were a member that randomly happened across a story on a quality site - rather, you posted to simply to link to your site (after condemning the messageboard) then continued the discussion "naively").

In any case, thank you for well thought out response, I appreciate the time you took to compose it.

Goodie: f--- you you sophomoric little putz. I never condemned the message board. and its not MY SITE. I added to a thread about teresa strasser. you say youre "not into censoring stuff" yet you censor two comments on a little read thread and then cancel my account? f--- you. are you the same fool who shut down the original board? And what's your name, you nazi f---?

AdamCarollaFan@gmail com: Again, thank you for your reply.

No, not the same guy that shut down the Official board, but thanks for giving me the credit.

Anyways, sorry that we're losing such a quality contributor. But, it's a war out there and you're bound to lose some good men in the heat of battle.

Sig Heil.

We emailed AdamCarollaFan@gmail.com asking them to explain the ban and confirm the exchange. They denied sending the replies, expressed surprise at the banishments and claimed they'd been "hacked."

While Carolla gets a third chance to make his radio show work, his "news girl" could use a new photo

Were you listening this morning? We missed it, but apparently radio blowhard Adam Carolla returned for a third year of turning away listeners from Howard Stern's old radio slot in Los Angeles, but without the benefit of sharp, compelling, relevance-infusing radio veteran Danny Bonaduce (Tabloid Baby's Radio Personality of 2007) to keep things real. That's because Carolla ran a backstabbing campaign to get Bonaduce, whose presence raised the ratings in Carolla's second year (and chance), off the show.

Of course, Carolla has his female "news girl" (as she calls herself) back on board. Teresa Strasser plays the part of the whiny, servile, stereotypically unlucky-at-love "Jewish princess," and her positioning in the ad on the Carolla website (top) shows she definitely knows her place. Strasser also has a minor role in the syndicated television series based on the corporate porn-pushing gossip site, TMZ.com (where she also knows her place), but she apparently only has one air-brushed "sexy picture" that the ad department has to use and re-use every time there's a new ad campaign or change in line-up (above). They flip it and cut it and move it around, but it's the same shot (see yet more versions on her MySpace page here and website here). But that's how Carolla and his very limited dorky male audience like her.  Airbrushed and pretend-sultry-- and way in the background.

Anyway, did you hear the Carolla show? Or Bonaduce's afternoon entry?  Let us know.

The 2007 Tabloid Baby Awards

The Tabloid Baby Person of The Year award has been about as anticipated as Time magazine's copycat honors, but we make it a habit to not necessarily bestow it every twelve months. For us, it all began in 1999, when Steve Dunleavy and Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D. were given the first special Tabloid Baby public service awards, and debate and controversy would follow as honors were handed out in the years to follow. Who could forget the uproar among "serious" journalists when Tabloid Baby alone cited NYPD Blue actress-turned-CNN anchorette Andrea Thompson for her courage and style in the transition from sexy scriptreader to sexy TelePrompter reader and named her Person of The Year in 2001?

And debate still rages after the controversy that erupted when CNN's "anchorman" Anderson Cooper won the honor in 2005 for representing the end of the Hestonian "anchorman" era with his groundbreaking "Brokeback Anchor" style. We saw him as the herald of more than the gay sensibilities of the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com, but the new brand of ironic, unauthoritative newsreaders like Katie Couric and silly, posturing Brian Williams. But neither Katie nor Bri-Bri won the honor for 2007-- not as Tabloid Baby's Person of The Year, nor even its Journalist of The Year for 2007. There are two separate honors this time around. We'll get to them soon enough.

But first... the Tabloid Baby team has come up with others who stood out in the Tabloid Baby universe in 2007 (and notice how we don't make the decisions in November like some people):

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Neil Innes

Neil Innes is the greatest musical satirist of the past fifty years. For most of that half century, he's made a monumental, if deliberately subtle, impact on popular culture, music and comedy. Having made his mark on rock 'n' roll, television, art, publishing, children's programming and philosophy, Innes was hard at work this year, overseeing pristine reissues of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Rutles catalogue, recording and releasing the first new Bonzos album in 35 years (earning four stars in MOJO), and completing filming of the musical documentary about his life and work. Innes set the stage this year for what will surely be a time of recognition and appreciation as Frozen Pictures’ film, The Seventh Python, brings the world up to date on this brilliant artist.

TELEVISION & FILM PERSONALITY
OF THE YEAR
Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D.

After decades as a cult figure thanks to his fascinating pubic access show Mysteries from Beyond The Other Dominion, Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D. finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of Hollywood stardom in a year of mainstream breakout performances on network television, on film, and on the Internet He’s been a regular on The Tom Green Show web phenomenon, done featured acting roles on television series like The Ghost Whisperer, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sunset Tan and Mad Men, appeared in films including Nothing But The Truth and even inspired a character in The Bigfoot Gang, the followup from the creators of Napoleon Dynamite.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
The Hudson Brothers

Twenty five years after they went their separate ways, the Hudson Brothers reunited for their first group photos in twenty years and their first group project, albeit behind the scenes, in producing and supervising the music for The Seventh Python. The Hudsons, an influential rock ‘n’ roll group whose career was elevated yet stymied by success as a network television musical comedy team in the Seventies, is the rare act from that decade that has not cashed in on the VH1-TVLand nostalgia market, but individually blazed new trails in music, television and film. With their classic television series about to be released on DVD and talk of an onstage reunion, we look forward to more Hudson Brothers activities in 2008—as well as a potential boycott of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and its parent, Rolling Stone magazine, if the contribution continues to be ignored.

RADIO PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Danny Bonaduce

Danny Bonaduce may be best known on the national stage as a tabloid trainwreck, a steroid-fueled angerball whose lack of self-control and past addictions to drugs and alcohol had the former childstar on a balls-out death ride on the Highway to Hell. But radio aficionados others know Bonaduce as an experienced, hard-working professional personality whose career reached a welcome pinnacle after he as hired a year ago as co-host of the failing, flailing Adam Carolla Radio Show that was filling Howard Stern’s timeslot. Bonaduce’s forced entrance into the mix of fawning worship of the dullard Carolla injected an adrenalyn shot of relevance and raw-nerved reality that peaked when his wife, known to millions from their reality TV show, announced her intention to divorce. While Bonaduce reached Sternsian levels of greatness, he was quickly muzzled by a jealous Carolla, and recently cut from the show after a six-month on-air backstabbing campaign by Carolla and his acolytes. KLSX, which treasures Bonaduce, has given him an afternoon slot. Watch that show expand in 2008 as Carolla fades from the dial.

OVERLOOKED
INTERNATIONAL NEWS STORY
OF THE YEAR
The Israel Baseball League

The story of the first season of the Israel Baseball League may have been a pleasant footnote in sports history if not for what transpired after the final pitch of the season, when Our Man Elli in Israel (Elli Wohlgelernter to those in the journalism world) wrote an article about what really when on during that season in the sun, uncorking a flood of allegations, outrage, whiles setting off a chain events that included a federal fraud lawsuit against the league’s founder, the resignation of the league’s commissioner and much of its advisory board, the creation of a rival league, and announced plans for a second season in 2008. Remarkably, nearly every step in this incredible international saga of mismanagement, betrayal, intrigue and broken dreams was broken exclusively here, on Tabloidbaby.com, while the mainstream media either followed our lead or ignored the story altogether. While the official spin continues this month with the brief arrival of a IBL booster blog, and a naïve, inaccurate Bleacher Report story naming the IBL’s feelgood PR report of the first season as “The Best Sports Story in 2007,” the behind-the-scenes soap opera is far from over.

His work on the story made Elli Wohlgelernter a candidate for Tabloid Baby’s Journalist of the Year. But was it enough to grab the honor?

Tabloid Baby's Journalist of the Year and Person of the Year for 2007... are ahead...

Commenters on Carolla: Ace Man or Ace Hole?

Our coverage of the Adam Carolla radio fiasco has generated the expected debate but also comments on both sides of the issue that are far more eloquent than our own. And with the new Carolla fan message board already censoring or blocking certain users, Tabloid Baby has become, by default, the clearinghouse for debate on the issue:

Is the man who was given Howard Stern's
morning slot in Los Angeles
a shortsighted, petty, insecure fool
for maneuvering the ouster of his co-host,
the brilliant, relevant radio veteran
Danny Bonaduce, whose forced insertion onto the
on-air team pulled the stultifying, small-minded,
mean-spirited show from failure and guided it
to the high ratings that were cited by management
as the reason for renewal (a period in which,
incredibly, a jealous Carolla muzzled Bonaduce
to regain the spotlight)?

Or:

Did Carolla spare his listeners an annoying distraction, freeing himself to grumble uninterrupted through his meandering "bits" (they can't really be called "rants")
about traffic signals, grout and lazy immigrants,
while opening more airtime to "characters"
like David Alan Grier and the Deaf Frat Guy?

In any case, as we head toward 2008, a year which will surely see Carolla's final months as a radio host and Bonaduce and Jonesey's reign as LA's twin pillars of afternoon radio, we offer this point/ counterpoint sampling of Tabloid Baby readers' opinions, taken from our comments section:

POINT:

Any fan reading this should at least admit that Adam works, with the benefit of an inflated paycheck, BECAUSE OF JIMMY KIMMEL. It's who you know. We can agree to disagree on whether this clown is a misogynist or not.

When I DO listen, I hear the whining self-indulgent, smug, self-entitled, better-than-you ramblings of one very, very lucky guy. Forget those humble beginnings or something? Yeah, figured as much. Ironically, the 5 or so times I tried to listen to Howard's replacement I punched the button mid-rant... before the commercial break.

This jerk's reasoning (bug management to get rid of the person who made the ratings go UP) reminds me of Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin. Both, who were able to keep the comedy going and deal with their differences and incompatibility as best as possible.

In this day and age of downsizing, a mediocre Adam Carolla-type should never be encouraged to spit out tantrums and ultimatums. His ratings (pre-Danny) simply don't warrant it. He just isn't a unique voice or gifted broadcaster. His friends in high places ARE special -- and lucky for this hammer-pounder he's in an air-conditioned studio and not out working some construction project, where verbally gifted A.D.D. dropouts usually end up.

But yeah. Definitely get rid of the guy who made the abysmal ratings go up. Screw Adam's agent; he should send a bonus check straight to Bonaduce... someone who may be frustrating and impossible but at least he's vulnerable... for the benefit of our entertainment.

"Adam spent 12 years doing a show largely dedicated to helping women with issues of sexuality and health in a non-judgemental atmosphere."

Spare us. This show was created and launched by someone else. Filling in on the co-host seat was not difficult.

Let this egotistical buffoon land in the morning show graveyard, the sooner the better.

COUNTERPOINT:

The person writing this column is a loser's loser!!!!!!! Get a life deadbeat.

Carolla fans weren't careful what they wished for...

With word that radio droner Adam Carolla has wrested-- and wrestled-- back control of his morning Los Angeles radio show, Carolla's core group of male fans is literally giddy with a homoerotic glee not seen since the N'Sync farewell tour.

Fan boys and dumb jocks alike have been spreading their wet tears and slobber across the new UN-Official Adam Carolla Show Message Board that they quickly set up to swap spit in their private he-man woman hater's club after-- as we reported exclusively-- CBS Radio suits stupidly shut down the official message board earlier this week because of all the negative comments posted by Carolla boytoys who were worried their hero was about to lose his show to Danny Bonaduce, the former child star and radio veteran who was hired to save the show a year ago.

And here's why Carolla's tantrum
and backstage manipulations
against his cohost
backfired...

Bonaduce's presence in the morning mix is what injected a jolt of real-life vitality that opened it up beyond the small-minded, anti-intellectual, immigrant-hating, woman-fearing, fake macho, blustering blockhead know-it-all hole that Carolla mines-- and did indeed raise ratings and make the show a viable, if tail-dragging morning show.

It was Bonaduce, after all, who was most in demand in 2007, with offers to host a show in Chicago, as well as working more television gigs that will earn him millions.

Carolla's meanspiritness in the past months and his bullying backstabbing of Bonaduce is reflected in the humourless braying of his fanboys, who, as their reaction to these posts can attest, wouldn't know a joke if it bit them on their cottage cheese asses.

It also bodes ill for Carolla's radio future.  While he managed to move his competition to another timeslot, his survival has more to do with his connections to comedy star Jimmy Kimmel and Kimmel's consulting deals with the CBS Radio Group than his own prospects.   Without Bonaduce, and left to his own devices, the Ace Hole is bound to beat the same dead horses morning after morning, to the approving chuckles of his in-studio mopes and his listless, obedient fifties-style "news girl," and be out on his own ass by next December.

Unfortunately, it's looking like the joke is on Carolla's boypen.

Carolla stunt backfires! Cohost Danny Bonaduce gets his own radio show while Carolla is forced to fend for himself in the mornings...

Pouting radio boremeister Adam Carolla's sickout last week from his morning radio show heard in Los Angeles and other markets on the west coast has backfired as his professional cohost Danny Bonaduce has been cut loose from the second banana role and elevated to own afternoon radio show.

Bonaduce's forced entry onto the Carolla team a year ago led to blossoming ratings, new energy and unprecedented relevance for the struggling monotonous replacement for Howard Stern's broadcast. But despite the intelligence and wit Bonaduce brought to the proceedings, Carolla's jealousy has been evident on air in recent months, especially after Bonaduce began to receive rave reviews for his raw-nerved honesty in wake of his divorce, new television deals and public controversy that only raised his own profile while dragging the show along behind him. Last week, Carolla "called in sick," hoping to force his bosses to return creative control and to boost his salary, as they had rewarded Bonaduce.

As a result, the CBS Radio suits showed they've been watching this space, and have done what we'd asked them to do in October-- they've given Bonaduce his own afternoon show, stealing an hour from the mirthless laughfest of Frosty, Heidi and Frank.

Carolla will get one last chance on his own, along with a subservient female "newsreader" and sexual punching bag who also works for the television show based on the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com. While Carolla's firt season was filled with a cast of lowbrow braying buddies and concocted "characters," we'll bet he will again be saddled with a bright professional radio sidekick.

The news release arrived this morning:

CBS RADIO PRESS ROOM

December 21, 2007

CBS RADIO RENEWS "THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW"

Weekday Morning Program Broadcast On Several CBS RADIO Stations Earning Its Best Ratings Ever

Featured Contributor Danny Bonaduce To Host His Own Afternoon Radio Program On KLSX-FM

On the heels of its outstanding summer ratings, CBS RADIO delivered more good news for Adam Carolla. The Company announced today it has signed a multi-year contract extension with Adam that positions the funny-man solidly in the highly competitive Los Angeles market for years to come.

THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW can be heard on its flagship station, 97.1 KLSX-FM, weekday mornings from 6:00-10:00AM, PT, and can also be found on KUFO-FM in Portland and KXTE-FM in Las Vegas. In addition, the show is simulcast on www.adamcarolla.com, as well as the websites of KLSX (www.971freefm.com), KUFO (www.kufo.com), and KXTE (www.xtremeradio.com). THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW is also syndicated through Westwood One in several major markets, including Seattle, Sacramento and Fresno, among others.

“Two years ago morning radio went through a seismic change, one that granted Adam Carolla the opportunity to launch his own unique style of entertainment in a coveted time slot,” said Chris Oliviero, Vice President of Programming, CBS RADIO. “THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW has far exceeded our expectations and proven to be a listener favorite. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Adam, and anticipate even more success for the program in the years to come.”

“I'm incredibly excited to continue my relationship with the fine folks at CBS RADIO,” said Carolla. “Launching a new show is never an easy task, but I feel like the past two years have laid the cement foundation and I'm now ready to throw the house warming party. I'm looking forward to returning to work on January 2, just not at 5:30 in the morning.”

The Adam Carolla Show began broadcasting in January 2005 and has steadily gained listeners to become one of the top shows among its target demographic of Men 25-54. According to Arbitron’s summer ratings, The Adam Carolla Show had its highest morning drive numbers in Los Angeles since the shows debut, and ranked in the top five with Men 18-34 and Men 25-54 General Market. Additionally, the program has gained a loyal following among female listeners.

In a related announcement, contributing show member Danny Bonaduce will relinquish his role on THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW and begin hosting his own program on KLSX. Positioned between the highly rated Frosty, Heidi & Frank Show (10:00AM-2:00PM) and industry icon Tom Leykis’ program (3:00-8:00PM), BROADCASTING BONADUCE: THE DANNY BONADUCE SHOW will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 on-air and online from 2:00-3:00PM, PT. Teresa Strasser will continue to contribute to the station’s morning drive program with Adam Carolla.

“This announcement will maximize Danny’s exposure on the station and the web where he has a national following. He has brought much excitement and entertainment to THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW and we expect him to bring the same enthusiasm to the afternoon time slot,” said Jack Silver, Vice President of Programming, KLSX.

* * *

CBS Radio removes Carolla's message board

The very active Adam Carolla Radio Show message board-- a shrine for fawning Carolla worshippers and gathering place for haters of sidekick Danny Bonaduce-- has apparently been disabled by its sponsors at CBS Radio (and so is the link that was on the Carolla show website). Is this a sign that Carolla is gone, after all?

Exclusive: Adam Carolla fans in a panic

Is Adam Carolla finally leaving morning radio? For once, the monotonous morning radio offender is keeping his trap shut, and the void is being filled by anguished squeals of panic from fans on his message board. Carolla's unusual absence from broadcasts this week— and the unprecedented decision to allow second banana Danny Bonaduce run the show with Carolla’s weepy, depressed newsgirl-- have fueled speculation that the self-proclaimed "genius" is playing a game of chicken with his CBS Radio overlords— a game, sources say, he is about to lose.

Carolla, formerly Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick on the fake-macho Man Show and hero to the overweight, underlaid xenophobic woman-fearing fratboy crowd, was promoted heavily as a “genius” comedian when he was handed Howard Stern’s morning slot in LA and other west coast stations two years ago. But an amateurish, immature and grating presentation resulted in low ratings, and in January 2007, led CBS Radio bosses to yank creative control, fire his on-air staff, and install radio pro, former child star and tabloid figure Bonaduce as co-host.

Bonaduce’s presence, honesty and knack for generating publicity led to a ratings rise, while at the same time an on-air insult and cold shoulder campaign by Carolla and his female newsreader. We reported exclusively in October that Carolla was ready to walk away from the radio show to concentrate on more suitable pursuits and despite refutations from his fans, the story has apparently come to pass.

As speculation intensified this week and the insider site LA Radio.com reported on the possibility that Carolla is out, The Official Adam Carolla Show Message Board, run and censored by CBS Radio, is banning commenters who support Bonaduce or who link to news posts on sites like this one, while other commenters point to indications that Carolla himself is monitoring fan reaction and commenting under a pseudonym.

And today, with no official explanation from their leader, fans are in a real tizzy, as reflected in this post from Carolla fan “Jericho”:

OK people, enough talk. Time for action. It seems quite obvious to me that something is going down and Adam's fans need to show their support. Jack's bosses may or may not be checking out this message board, so we need to take the message straight to management. And don't think this effort would be in vain.

There was a similar situation with Loveline a few years back and it seems like us sploozers over at The Loveline Companion may have actually made a difference...

I'll summarize. Adam was in contract negotiations and many people from the Companion message board contacted the bigwigs at Westwood One and Adam got a raise and stayed with Loveline until he got the morning show. According to reliable sources, the support from the community had at least some influence on the contract extension.

So, I suggest the campaign begins. First, we start doing some research to find e-mail addresses and phone numbers of CBS radio management and post them here. Then everyone writes or phones with their respectful, intelligent support of Ace. If you slam anyone, give well thought out, coherent arguments about why you don't like them. Writing "Adam rulz!! Danny and Jack suck it!!!!" won't help. Put some thought into what you say/write…

Here's a list of e-mail addresses to start with. I think this may get you to some of the top dogs at CBS. Dan Mason is the President and CEO, apparently. E-mail him and cc the others. Hopefully some of you will add more people at CBS as well as sponsors…

(--NOTE: Email addresses omitted--)

Also, the physical address and phone number of corporate HQ:

CBS RADIO
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
212-***-****

Act quickly. Time is of the essence.

Replied a commenter called "mr421":

DONE and DONE. i already got an auto-reply from one of the dudes saying he was not available.

Ironically, our own petition in support of Bonaduce helped convince CBS Radio bosses to keep him from ankling to Chicago, and give him the substantial salary boost and contract extension that has apparently led Carolla to see the writing on the wall.

Stay tuned.

(Carolla's show goes on an ill-advised hiatus beginning Monday. Live broadcasts, with on air staff TBA, won't resume until January 2nd. The Carolla staff massacre took place during last year's hiatus).

Update: Carolla says it's him or Bonaduce

Our wish that Danny Bonaduce be handed the radio slot he now supports under subpar superbore Adam Carolla may be coming true, after all. Industry insider site LA Radio.com reports in its subscription newsletter this morning that Carolla's sickout this week is believed to be a game of chicken in which he's telling his bosses it's a choice between him and the volatile former child star.

The power play may not be the best move for the lowbrow beetle-browed Jimmy Kimmel lieutenant. While Carolla continues to feel his way around the radio game two years after he was handed Howard Stern's morning slot in Los Angeles and a few other cities, Bonaduce's forced arrival eleven months ago has increased ratings while his performance as an unwanted outsider second banana, with his brutal honesty, unleashed id, personal drama and ability to win publicity for himself and the show, has established himself as radio's true and sole heir to the late Stern (while placing him in demand to host his own show elsewhere).

LA Radio.com reports:

Carolla a Go Go

KLSX morning man Adam Carolla has been on sick leave the last few mornings. There is speculation from a number of sources there is a showdown between Adam and management concerning co-host Danny Bonaduce. One source said that Adam was holding out until Danny is gone. “This is news to me,” said KLSX pd Jack Silver. For the past couple of mornings Adam has been a no-show claiming to be sick, but was well enough to be on Dr. Drew Pinsky’s KGIL show on Tuesday for almost an hour.

“I have to take Adam’s word,” said Silver. “When an employee says he's sick, short of going to his house with a doctor, I have to take him on his word.”

The dilemma for management is the fact that the KLSX morning show has been on a steady rise since Danny signed on a year ago. If there is a conflict, will Adam and Danny be able to patch things up? We won’t know until next year because Adam begins his holiday break tomorrow.

In introducing a segment about comfortability in the workplace, Danny offered the following one morning this week: "I've been kidding around the last few days why I hate Adam Carolla, but now it doesn't seem nearly as funny because the poor man is sick. If I know Carolla like I believe I do, to miss work he is very, very ill. So let me rephrase, I don't hate Carolla at all. I admire him greatly, but the man is so quirky and he has put such a spell on certain things you can and cannot feel comfortable about doing at your own workplace."

(A tip of the Tabloid Baby hat to the Carolla show fanboys for keeping us posted.)