The
Loveline
Companion

I guess it will still be live streamed on lovelineshow.com from 10-midnight Sun-Thurs, but this doesn't seem like very good news for the future of the show.

What an idiot Kevin Weatherly is.

• KROQ Show page

—Anonymous Post

That scares me.
In T.V. when they move a show's time slot, it can be bad news. Not sure if the same goes for radio.

—Sheena

I wouldn't worry too much... probably just not getting great ratings, but I'd doubt it'll go away any time soon.

—anobody

I'm sure that moving it back 2 hours to a time of night when its target audience is in bed won't hurt it at all.

—Mayonnaise

Genius. Or is it genious?

"Loveline--now with more PSA's!"

—bguirk

Maybe they're trying to target people who get up really early on the east coast?

—ZTgeist

"My contract expired Oct. 1st 2004, same as Drew's. We were paid the same rate for the nine years i was there. They offered Drew his same salary for the next 3 years and they offered me less than half of Drew's salary. Drew went ahead and signed his contract and unless they step up in a big way, I'll see you guys on Comedy Central and TLC.

^^^
TLC blast from the past. My guess is that Drew was re-upped for another 3 years in '07 and it expires later this year. They're either trying to save money and get him to quit early, prepping the time slot for fucked out rock, or experimenting to see if they can make more money in the slot w/o Drew. Just buy the man out and let him go elsewhere. Notice to Ace Network--I'd pay at least $100 a year for an Adam and Drew podcast.

—bguirk

Notice to Ace Network--I'd pay at least $100 a year for an Adam and Drew podcast. —bguirk

I like bguirk's plan. Everybody listen to him.

—ZTgeist

I'm sure that moving it back 2 hours to a time of night when its target audience is in bed won't hurt it at all.

I'm not saying it'll help or that I think it's a good idea... I just don't think that it'll kill the show.

—anobody

in the beginning, i know the show only aired on sundays - didn't it start at midnight back then?
taking it back it's roots, to put a positive spin on it.

—plurryho

Anyone remember when LIVE105 in San Francisco moved Loveline to midnight sometime last year because of ratings?

I think Psycho Mike will be introduced as a co-host sometime soon in hopes of boosting ratings.

—nylock10

i can't imagine it will do much for markets where loveline is syndicated.
living in st. louis, i would know nothing of kevin and bean if weren't such a carolla fan.

—plurryho

Yeah...moving a show around never kills it off. Just ask "Andy Richter Controls the Universe."

—Mayonnaise

... because that was destined to survive otherwise.

—anobody

guess there was something to susan's tweet from last month.

—plurryho

^that's what i thought of too

—stellagold

what'd she say ?

—anobody

Talking about this tweet?

"Whenever you out in public, and Loveline is on, have a radio on, and ask eveyone to turn it on too! Use your radio as much as you can."

—nylock10

um so is the show no longer live?
or does drew go in at midnight now?

—000

that would be the tweet.

a far as whether it's taped at 10 or still live, i'm not sure.

—plurryho

Live 105 did the same a while ago.

i remember ace saying that with TACS, they got great ratings everywhere but california. maybe the same is true for loveline, at least the part about getting worse ratings in cali than elsewhere. we do have a lot of... how should i say this, non loveline demographic folks...

—jizzgrenade

we do have a lot of... how should i say this, non loveline demographic folks...

I'll never understand why it is so difficult for the people in charge to see but that really gets to the crux of the problem.

The "loveline demographic" folks will probably (occasionally) listen to whatever lovelinesque show is on, based solely on the subject matter.

Even if you want to advertise to that demographic, just having it on the air will get those ears... it's keeping it on the air that is important, and to do that you really need to build a strong and stable base of consistent listeners.

Adam had senators and actors and doctors and housewives listening, made the show entertaining and still managed to get some good information and wisdom out there. They should really be begging him to come back, or getting someone who could fill that role, not acting like they have no idea what's going on, occasionally panicking and doing stupid shit and, generally, letting the thing slowly die.

—anobody

I don't think this is all that difficult to understand—they've been shitting all over Loveline for half a decade. They gave us the lowest common denominator shittiest cohost that the show has had since Poorman, the guests suck, they took away elements that longtime fans loved (drops) and added stupid shit like match-game (as opposed to gambling which actually underscored a larger point). I'm pretty fed up with the show. Love Drew, tolerate drop-less Anderson, and due to the direction of the show and Adam's stories think Ann should've been fired in 1996. It's sad because Adam + Drew is sustained me longer than any talk format I've ever been into—Letterman, Carson, Daily Show, Talk of the Nation...Loveline has 3-5 years on all of those. It's obvious that as Larry King's permanent cohost, two MTV projects and 3 VH1 shows Drew's energy is elsewhere. I think as he has success elsewhere and is making more money I doubt that he'll be interested in continuing to deal with the just what it takes to get by attitude of Loveline.

While I'm at it—Adam and his broadcasting are headed downhill now too. His attitude for the show has always been that he just shows up and does it—no prep. That's worked really well for a long time and his improv skills are great, but like all improv people he's falling back into repetitive patterns when put into the same environment while giving himself nothing to bounce off of. “buy this show—I tell the story about Ray shooting water out of his ass!” except I have 3 TACS versions and 4 Loveline versions of that story. Do I need to pay $3 to hear it again told while he's got 4 beers in him and a comedy club audience? No thanks. His Wednesday shows with Bryan and Teresa are strong because they actually participate, but I'm finding that if it's not a good guest(s) I'm just not in any more. That makes it 1-2 podcasts a week worth listening to, but if I have to listen to him trade quips with another punch drunk ultimate fighter (gee-I wonder if he'll talk about being a boxing trainer on this episode?) I'm out. Put some fucking effort into getting good guests and maybe prepare a tiny bit—go to the phones if you find yourself repeating the same story for the 30th time in two years.

—bguirk

It seems unlikely to me that they'd actually move the "entire" show to midnight--it seems like if they literally did the show from 12 to 2, it would screw up Drew's schedule even more than it already does (considering that he does rounds at the hospital in the morning in addition to everything else he does). Plus it would force West Coast affiliates to either go on a day delay or shift their programming around as well.

Given both of those things it sounds more like KROQ's broadcast -- and just that station's -- will be shifted two hours later (thus being "taped" for that station, and live otherwise). But I could be wrong of course.

—Nyarlaithotep

Given both of those things it sounds more like KROQ's broadcast -- and just that station's -- will be shifted two hours later (thus being "taped" for that station, and live otherwise). But I could be wrong of course.

I almost hope you're wrong.. given the.. uh... intelligence(?) of the callers, I'm not sure that they could really pull off a time skew, and minus the calls, what is Loveline ?

like all improv people he's falling back into repetitive patterns when put into the same environment while giving himself nothing to bounce off of

It's really an amusing (and semi-depressing) thing to learn about improv that it's mostly regimented and following a set of rules and canned patterns. I mean, I realize that nobody can be that funny and that quick in real time without tricks, and even with training and practice, I couldn't do as well, but it's still almost as disappointing as realizing that George Carlin was ridiculously rehearsed.

His Wednesday shows with Bryan and Teresa are strong because they actually participate, but I'm finding that if it's not a good guest(s) I'm just not in any more

Larry Miller, BB, T and (sorry BG but) Dave (and, of course, Drew, on rare occasion) and I'm in. The callers help, but I can only stand listening to so many people sucking Adam off before I get sick of it and have to say "enough !".

It's such a shame too because, on Loveline, it seemed like the best shows were those with just Adam and Drew were the ones without any guest, when some random caller would set Adam off on a jag.

Maybe that's just nostalgia, or maybe Adam is just older and happier and less hungry, but it really feels real, and when Adam goes back to the show, it really does feel like it's back, which makes me think it's more the situation and environment.

Still, all of that said, I voluntarily pay a dollar a week to Mr Deity, I'd sure as hell pay a dollar a week for Adam's podcast (and, moreso, the Adam and Drew Show).

—anobody

I almost hope you're wrong.. given the.. uh... intelligence(?) of the callers, I'm not sure that they could really pull off a time skew, and minus the calls, what is Loveline ?

It's not everywhere, though. It would (assuming I'm right) just be a problem for areas that get Loveline from KROQ directly. That's not even all of California. It would hardly adds up to "minus the calls". People call the show from all over the country, and sometimes outside the country.
Sure, would-be callers in the local KROQ broadcasting range would be horribly confused, but if that's all then it's not that much of a loss.

—Nyarlaithotep

e tu 1780's douche board? The best part about that thread is the immediate posts that are either making excuses or my favorite which is "I totally agree, but I'm going to keep listening every day." In the immortal words of some SNL writer putting words in William Shatner's mouth "Get a Life!" I just don't get why people would keep listening to anything that they didn't like. We have 10 years of old Lovelines. Drew puts out some decent TV. There are good podcasts out there.

I got a call to go to a toga party last night. That's right, 1983 called and invited me to a toga party. This is the real difference between people with kids and people without. Not so much that I'm now too conservative to go to a toga party, but my free time is more precious than gold and it'll take something more engaging than a toga party to drag my tired ass out of the house. Only people with far too much time on their hands would rather listen to an new but bad mp3 of ace than a vintage good one.

—bguirk

It's not everywhere, though. It would (assuming I'm right) just be a problem for areas that get Loveline from KROQ directly. That's not even all of California.

I'm with you there laith--my concern isn't the callers--it's I don't understand the correlation between the mothership station that hosts the show and the affiliates. No one has adequately explained to me why a morning show that was #1 in 3 top 25 markets (Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas) had to get canceled because the station it was broadcast from decided to change formats. Why didn't Adam head to a shitty CBS AM station or the nearest ISDN line to continue to do shows that were making good coin in other markets? This is my concern for Loveline. KROQ/Weatherly is the KLOS/Jack Silver equivalent and we lose our damaged but still beloved show for no decent reason other than LA demographics (unless it truly is the quality problems I've been railing against). I'm not a huge fan of it's current configuration, but it's a nice blank slate for a talented go-getter to come in and fix it for us.

—bguirk

My favorite was that they paid out the contracts of all the big talent for about 9 months before dissolving. Maybe the support staff and other expenses were really so high that it made sense to do that rather than ride out the contracts or to have not renewed and then dissolve on the 1st of January, but it all seems like retarded business logic to me (feels like that's gotta be political at some point).

—anobody

^^^

in a rare moment of fairness to KLOS I'll just point out that they cleared out all of the talent--who knows what Leykis' schedule or Frosty/Heidi/Frank ect contract situations were and if they were even under contract. Since they were just replaced with a jukebox the HR costs are minimal at least. This is where the mother-station/syndication link has never been made clear because Adam always said he was getting checks from CBS not the local affiliate.

—bguirk

If you want to listen to good radio, may I point you in the direction of Radio 4?

And if you like improv, I recommend this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5dp

—Emma

It's really an amusing (and semi-depressing) thing to learn about improv that it's mostly regimented and following a set of rules and canned patterns. I mean, I realize that nobody can be that funny and that quick in real time without tricks, and even with training and practice, I couldn't do as well, but it's still almost as disappointing as realizing that George Carlin was ridiculously rehearsed.

i worry for you that there was a time when you didn't realize carlin was rehearsed.

why is it so disheartening to know that improv is just a set of rules to follow, techniques you can learn and get good at? i feel like all forms of creative output can be summed up that way - you can learn to be a good artist by studying perspective, depth, contrast, et cetera and then applying what you've learned to your next work. some (like carlin and adam) have a more natural ability to translate that knowledge into appealing content, but just because they used a heavily refined technique does not take away from my enjoyment or the integrity of the finished product.

I just don't get why people would keep listening to anything that they didn't like.

habit. people shoot heroin even though they don't want to, it's a similar drive.

also, you seem to hate the podcast more than anyone here, yet you talk about it way more than anyone here.

i don't really know what my point is, i just find that interesting.

—airking32

This is where the mother-station/syndication link has never been made clear because Adam always said he was getting checks from CBS not the local affiliate.

My understanding is that all of the talent had contracts with / were paid by FreeFM and it was a CBS / corporate decision to kill FreeFM, all of the associated content, and to retool to iTunes on shuffle.

I'm not sure about all the other shows, but I'd be surprised if Leykis, Kevin and Bean and Conway weren't all on contracts with a renewal lined up with New Years (that just seems to be the way they did things).

i worry for you that there was a time when you didn't realize carlin was rehearsed.

I was a little kid when I first saw him.

Even so, I always knew he had prepared material in advance, but I never realized that he practice the timing and sequence of everything with anal attention to detail until I heard him talking about that.

why is it so disheartening to know that improv is just a set of rules to follow, techniques you can learn and get good at?

I just like the idea that someone is actually, genuinely creatively coming up with stuff in real time. Not so much being a factory as doing the engineering and design.

Practice and polish and rules and techniques are great and all, but it'd be nice to think that there was an infinite wellspring of creativity there, rather than just a metal stamp that can make a bunch of slightly different but similar parts over and over again.

It's not really a huge deal and I'm not exactly devastated by it... just a bit disappointed (and even that I'm long since over).

—anobody

seems like all he talks about during his stand up now is cock or incest related.

—plurryho

why is it so disheartening to know that improv is just a set of rules to follow, techniques you can learn and get good at? i feel like all forms of creative output can be summed up that way - you can learn to be a good artist by studying perspective, depth, contrast, et cetera and then applying what you've learned to your next work.

I agree with all of his. Carlin was at heart a writer--he was continually editing until he maximized the impact of his words--I can't fault him for that, bu there are people who can recognize something funny and instantly make it funnier. Different skills, but I enjoy them both.

Kevin and Bean

are on KROQ. Your explanation isn't exactly the satisfying definitive one I'm looking for. I probably could research it, but I'm crazy busy these days. I was sort of hoping that airking had an answer.

—bguirk

I believe in improv.

cock or incest related.

to be fair, sometimes it's both - like when he talked about getting an erection while playing with his son.

—stellagold

(from Loveline's official Facebook)

"Loveline Los Angeles peeps - we are on live Sunday nights at our regular time, but KROQ has moved us back to midnight to 2am the other days of the week. You can contact them and let them know your displeasure with this. But be nice to whoever answers the phone, it's not their decision. phone: 1-800-520-1067 email: likewecare@kroq.com"

—plurry

I guess I was right--it is just an LA/KROQ thing. According to the comments, everybody else will be unaffected by the change. Poor LA fans.

—Nyarlaithotep

Fuck LA.

—Mayonnaise

^iawtc

—Dusty TheHick

Fuck LA.

—Mayonnaise

I know, but still, I feel sorry for the people in the area who like to listen to the show.
They're LL fans first and LA residents second to me.

—Nyarlaithotep

Youre right. Fuck Bakersfield.

—Mayonnaise

From @loveline on Twitter:

@SamLeonLive - we're still on - weve been bumped to midnight on KROQ, mon thru thurs - live on sundays.

Loveline will only be live on Sundays? A part of me just died.

—nylock10

Whoa, it looks like Live 105 has a history of doing this.

i was listening to the october 29 1998 (with dicky from the bosstones) [http://www.sayingmahalo.com/view_ep.php?id=21] episode, and drew mentions that Live 105 had moved loveline to midnight, and that there was an online petition against it.

—jizzgrenade

Repetition compulsion: Not just for humans! Now available for radio stations!

—Nyarlaithotep