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"A Prairie Home Companion" without Garrison Keillor

V

vchimpanzee

I've heard talk of Garrison Keillor retiring, but it hasn't happened yet. But he wasn't there this past Sunday as I drove home from church or as I fixed and ate lunch (WFAE does it live and then after the rerun of "Wait! Wait!"). It just wasn't the same. Without Keillor's voice, it just doesn't seem like the same show. I know it had the funny sound effects and music that may or may not be good depending on my particular taste, but if the man does retire they should just do reruns.

I've never listened to the whole show but I do like what I hear.
 
vchimpanzee said:
I've heard talk of Garrison Keillor retiring, but it hasn't happened yet. But he wasn't there this past Sunday as I drove home from church or as I fixed and ate lunch (WFAE does it live and then after the rerun of "Wait! Wait!"). It just wasn't the same. Without Keillor's voice, it just doesn't seem like the same show. I know it had the funny sound effects and music that may or may not be good depending on my particular taste, but if the man does retire they should just do reruns.

I've never listened to the whole show but I do like what I hear.
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According to this article, it is only the second time he has used a guest host.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/284012921.html

This time it is for two weeks and both guest hosts are members of Nickel Creek.

I'm surprised there haven't been more guest hosts. I thought Keillor had a serious heath problem like a heart attack a few years back. What did he do then?
 
That's an interesting subject. Can a show survive without its founding host? The man around whom the show was created?

The thing about Garrison is he's mainly a story teller, not a musician. When they've used musicians as fill-in hosts, the character of the show changes. So using Sara Wadkins or Chris Thiele as fill-in hosts is not necessarily a good idea. What they need to find is a story-teller who's also a musician. There are quite a few who can do that, but they probably don't live in St. Paul.

Garrison keeps talking about retiring. He mentioned it a couple years ago. The problem with building a show around a dominant host is that when that host leave, the core of the show is gone. Consider "Seinfeld" without Jerry. There are lots of interesting characters, but he was the focus. So they could do a show like PHC, as they did in the late 80s when Garrison left the first time. They started a show called "Good Evening," which I think may have been hosted by Noah Adams. Like Garrison, Noah was a story-teller. He was best known to the NPR audience as the host of All Things Considered, but he loved music, and made a good host for a couple years, until Garrison came back. So it's really a challenge for the show and the staff at this point. But I'd recommend that if they want a musician as a host, to find someone a little older, and with more of a story to tell. Chris & Sara are to focused around their music.
 
In Keillor's case in particular, yes the show is in trouble without him because the show is so centered around his talents. I suspect they'll try and replace him, and it might work out OK. But it seems more likely that it would fail.

Most other shows are not nearly so dependent on their hosts. You might think about Diane Rehm and Terry Gross, but I think Susan Page and Dave Davies do a very good job when they substitute.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
I suspect they'll try and replace him, and it might work out OK. But it seems more likely that it would fail.
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Some shows can survive a change in host. All Things Considered and Morning Edition have. This show is different. The part that might be hardest to retain in the character that being in Minnesota brings. It's core to Garrison, and it's felt in the show. When they take it on the road, it's a different show. So they may try to replace Garrison, but I imagine they'll still need to do the show in St. Paul. Even with a different name, as they did with "Good Evening." It might be a good idea for them to launch another show to get folks prepared for the next phase. Just my two cents as an outsider.
 
ANYTHING without Garrison Keillor would be an improvement over what's there now. I would rather listen to dead air. He is the living definition and patron saint of self-absorbed twits.
 
There's another show that was built around a man named Garrison but a funny thing happened: He left and about 60 years later, the show's still going strong!
 
Don't remember anybody named Garrison from 60 years ago. Are you thinking about Dave Garroway? He was one of the early hosts of the Today Show.

It survived because it wasn't "built around him." He was just the host. He made it an interesting show for sure, but so did those who came after him.
 
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JimTexBell said:
Don't remember anybody named Garrison from 60 years ago. Are you thinking about Dave Garroway? He was one of the early hosts of the Today Show.

It survived because it wasn't "built around him." He was just the host. He made it an interesting show for sure, but so did those who came after him.
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AACKK! I wanted it so bad, I just had to make it happen. I really liked it too. It's the story of my life(not frozen). I get a notion in my head and the facts refuse to get in the way. Of course it's Dave Garroway, which starts with "G" that rhymes with "T" and that stands for trouble!
 
JimTexBell said:
Don't remember anybody named Garrison from 60 years ago. Are you thinking about Dave Garroway? He was one of the early hosts of the Today Show.

It survived because it wasn't "built around him." He was just the host. He made it an interesting show for sure, but so did those who came after him.
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Actually, it was built around him. It survived because it was later built around somebody and something else. And it took a while. Well into the 60s, Today didn't have much of an audience and NBC couldn't give away time on the show. For various reasons, a lot of people stopped listening to radio in the morning (before getting in their cars) and started watching TV. That's when Today started to build.
 
Keillor says he's sure: He's retiring from 'Prairie Home'

Garrison Keillor, creator and longtime host of the popular "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show, says he means it this time: He's retiring.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Keillor said he plans to step down as host after next season — following four decades of entertaining listeners with his baritone voice and folksy comedy sketches about Lake Wobegon, his mythical Minnesota hometown "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

Keillor said he tapped musician Chris Thile of the bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek to succeed him full-time as host in September 2016, following guest-hosting spots. He said Thile — a mandolin whiz — will help return "Prairie Home" to its roots as a music show.

Keillor will end his tenure as show host with performances at some of his favorite outdoor venues, including Wolf Trap near Washington, D.C., Ravinia near Chicago and Tanglewood in Massachusetts, according to "A Prairie Home Companion" spokesman David O'Neill. The location of Keillor's final show as host, in July 2016, has not been determined yet, O'Neill said.
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http://www.scnow.com/entertainment/wire/article_03cc3560-51e1-5901-8549-acd32b94485f.html
 
Not sure it will be the same without Mr. Keillor at the helm. That being said, I'm not surprised he chose Mr. Thile to succeed him as host.

I thought he did a better than average job the two weeks he subbed as host earlier this year.
 
Depends...they see the show's roots as a music show. But Garrison was a story teller, not a musician. Chris is a nice guy, and a great musician, but he's not a storyteller. He's also about half the age of the majority of listeners.
 
I wish Garrison the best in his retirement. Wow, what a loss to NPR! He was on A Prairie Home Companion forever, and was hilarious. Not sure how Chris will do in Sep 2016 when he replaces Mr. Keillor.
They were just at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery not that long ago, in Woodinville WA (near Seattle). Too bad I'm on the other side of the Cascades. Maybe Garrison can do a show at one of the practically two or three dozen Yakima Valley wineries.

-crainbebo
 
Lake Wobegon and its characters are Garrison Keillor's creation and are integral to the show. Without them, APHC would be indistinguishable from "Mountain Stage" -- a weekly eclectic live music show. "Mountain Stage" wouldn't miss a beat without its longtime host, Larry Groce, because (a) West Virginia is a real place, not a figment of Groce's imagination and (b) its audience doesn't tune in for -- or expect -- long, wistful stories about West Virginia. Keillor should wrap up the Wobegon saga and take the town and its people with him into retirement.
 
I don't listen to the entire show but it's on in my car and at home on Sundays after "Car Talk". It just won't be the same without him. Some, but not all, the music is good. But I enjoy Guy Noir and The Cowboys more than anything else, and they can't do them (at least not as well) without him.

Plus if I'm home my canned biscuits are usually ready to come out of the oven at the time of the Powdermilk jingle.
 
I agree. Prairie Home Companion will evolve. In much the same way the Tonight Show evolved after Johnny Carson retired and Jay Leno took over, the show will continues as an evolved show, hopefully with the same success.

Prairie Home Companion has several facets of income by arrangement of some great CPAs. The 'household name' aspect and the aftermarket for the show makes it a significant program. An earlier post tended to say the show is unknown and not making money. I find that hard to believe. I haven't come across something that brings in 21 million and is known so universally that is insignificant and simply not worth doing. You just don't have that name recognition and such gross receipts by being unknown and unpopular.

The future will certainly disclose whether the show can evolve and maintain what it has built. Risky? Sure, but risk is everywhere. It might not be a smooth transition but I suspect it will not fail.
 
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