What Radio People Binge Watch on Vacation

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Online VideoThe Radio Agency President/CEO Mark Lipsky has a list that will be of interest to radio professionals who find they have a little time to spend relaxing in front of the television set over the holiday season.


What Radio People Binge Watch on Vacation
By Mark Lipsky, President/CEO, The Radio Agency

Radio never closes. So it’s hard for radio people to shut down, even on Christmas vacation. Here’s a short list of feature films and TV series featuring and starring RADIO for my friends who don’t want to stray too far from the medium over the holiday weekend.

Good Morning Vietnam – The perfect Robin Williams movie, casting Williams as Adrian Cronauer, the Armed Forces DJ who entertained the troops (but not the officers) in Saigon during the Vietnam War.

WKRP in Cincinnati – TV sitcom that chronicled the wacky days and nights of a fictitious rock station in Cincinnati. Dr. Johnny Fever. Les Nessman. Venus Flytrap. And Loni Anderson. (Spoiler Alert: Turkeys can’t fly.)

Private Parts – Surprisingly charming Howard Stern bio-pic that balances shock jock humor with the touching love story of a struggling DJ and his tolerant wife. Say it with me: “w NNnnNN b c”

Radio Days – Woody Allen’s tribute to the glory days of radio during World War II, tying a series of radio vignettes to the lives of a working class family in Rockaway Beach, NY.
Frasier – Long-running TV sitcom starring Kelsey Grammar as a pompous yet flawed Seattle radio psychologist. Intelligent comedy with an outstanding supporting cast.
Talk to Me – Underrated screen gem starring Don Cheadle as real-life DJ Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene, Jr., an iconic radio personality who ruffled feathers in the nation’s capital for “telling it like it is” in the turbulent 60s.

NewsRadio – A strong ensemble cast powered this NBC sitcom about the politics and personal relationships of workers at New York’s #2 rated news radio station.
A Prairie Home Companion – Lily Tomlin, Meryl Streep and Woody Harrelson join Garrison Keillor for the big-screen adaptation of his long-running public radio showcase.

Play Misty for Me – Clint Eastwood is a California DJ. Eastwood has a groupie. The groupie becomes a crazed stalker, played by Jessica Walter, the mocking matriarch from TV’s Arrested Development. Need we say more?

Pirate Radio – Phillip Seymour Hoffman leads a cast of rogue DJs aboard a floating radio station in the North Sea, illegally broadcasting 60s rock and pop to faithful fans in the U.K.

Hello, Larry – Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sitcom that lured McLean Stevenson away from his iconic role as Henry Blake in M*A*S*H. Worth watching for 10 minutes or as long as it takes to make you ask aloud, “What the heck were you thinking, McLean?”

What did I miss?

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO, The Radio Agency, 610-892-7300 x108

RBR-TVBR observation: What did you forget? How about Warriors, the cult film about a rough night for gangs in which the action is influenced and reported by an all-night radio personality? Anybody going with that format these days?

Readers, maybe you can think of a few more! Feel free to use our comment box to chime in.

1 COMMENT

  1. “Good Morning, World” was a late-’60s sitcom about the two morning-drive DJs at a station in L.A. Even though it only lasted a single season, it did pop up in cable reruns in the ’80s–and was issued on DVD.

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