Morning Sedition
Encyclopedia
Morning Sedition was a three-hour radio
program that premiered April 1, 2004 and ran until December 16, 2005, in the United States
. It was hosted by comedian Marc Maron
and New York
radio veteran Mark Riley. Prior to June 2004, the show was also hosted by radio and television journalist Sue Ellicott
. The show combined live interview, call-in and commentary with a liberal
slant. The name is a parody of the popular NPR
program Morning Edition
.
The show aired from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM Eastern Time from Monday to Friday, with a "Best of Morning Sedition" on Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM Eastern Time on Air America Radio
. It was available via Internet
streaming through Windows Media Player
or the RealPlayer
. The show was also available in MP3
podcast
format for use with iTunes
and the iPod
.
Co-hosts Marc Maron and Mark Riley (AKA Marc and Mark), mixed a fast paced dialogue with discussion and interviews. With Mark Riley playing straight man to Marc Maron, serious political issues were framed by comedy.
Rachel Maddow
and Wayne Gilman split news reader chairs at the top of the hour.
The show was produced by current Doing Time with Ron Kuby
producer Dan Pashman.
writers.
Morning Sedition was replaced with a four-hour program, Air America Mornings, with Riley hosting the first two hours (5-7 AM) and Maddow hosting the second two hours (7-9 AM), in an effort to bolster Air America's ratings for its morning programming. Maron had a new show, The Marc Maron Show, that debuted February 28, 2006. The show was broadcast from Burbank, California
, on KTLK, Progressive Talk 1150 AM. Its time slot was 10:00 - 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, and the show included several sketches that had previously appeared on Morning Sedition.
There was a great outpouring from Morning Sedition fans, including thousands of e-mails to Goldberg, other AAR hosts, and AAR board members. Additionally, over 6,300 fans signed an online petition calling for the renewal of Maron's contract and the Morning Sedition program.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
program that premiered April 1, 2004 and ran until December 16, 2005, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was hosted by comedian Marc Maron
Marc Maron
Marc Maron is an American stand-up comedian and podcast host.He has been host of The Marc Maron Show, and co-host of both Morning Sedition, and Breakroom Live, all politically-oriented shows, produced under the auspices of Air America Media. He was also the host of Comedy Central's Short Attention...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
radio veteran Mark Riley. Prior to June 2004, the show was also hosted by radio and television journalist Sue Ellicott
Sue Ellicott
Sue Ellicott is a former television correspondent for the BBC and political writer for The Times in Washington, DC. Ellicott has appeared on CNN, ABC News, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Ellicott is one of the recurring guest panelists on the NPR radio news quiz show Wait Wait.....
. The show combined live interview, call-in and commentary with a liberal
Liberalism in the United States
Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...
slant. The name is a parody of the popular NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
program Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
.
The show aired from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM Eastern Time from Monday to Friday, with a "Best of Morning Sedition" on Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM Eastern Time on Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
. It was available via Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
streaming through Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
or the RealPlayer
RealPlayer
RealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
. The show was also available in MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
format for use with iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and the iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
.
Co-hosts Marc Maron and Mark Riley (AKA Marc and Mark), mixed a fast paced dialogue with discussion and interviews. With Mark Riley playing straight man to Marc Maron, serious political issues were framed by comedy.
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Anne Maddow is an American television host and political commentator. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio...
and Wayne Gilman split news reader chairs at the top of the hour.
The show was produced by current Doing Time with Ron Kuby
Ron Kuby
Ronald L. Kuby is a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host and TV commentator. He has hosted radio programs on WABC Radio in New York and Air America Radio.-Beginnings:...
producer Dan Pashman.
Recurring sketches
Morning Sedition featured daily comedic skits by former Daily ShowThe Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
writers.
- "INews 5000 WiFi Headline Translator", Marc cranked up this high tech gizmo daily. It translates headlines to get to the truth behind the headlines.
- "Recovery Corner", which was an "advice" column to "recovering alcoholic George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
." (This routine was retired in advance of the show's cancellation.) - "Liberal Confessional", in which callers sought atonement from the hosts for transgressions they've committed against the liberal philosophy.
- "Palm Pilot", which was the official schedule of Washington politicos that a page, Ramon, brought in. (This routine was retired in advance of the show's cancellation.)
- "Marc's Dream Diary" in which Maron detailed the haunting, sometimes surreal dreams he has, all usually involving right-wing reactionaries lurking in his slumber.
- "Marc, the Shark" in which a call-in from right winger "Ted from Nebraska" triggered Marc's Jekyll and Hyde transformation into gravelly-voiced Marc, "the Shark" Maron on a radio show entitled "Right-and-Early" from Radio Halliburton. It included his famous opening "Good Morning Neo-cons!"
- "Planet Bush correspondent Lawton Smalls." Occasionally Marc would call 'Lawton Smalls' - the 'Planet Bush Correspondent.' (played by Kent Jones) Typically Marc Maron introduced premises to Lawton, and then Lawton responded with an extreme right-wing Christian response. Lawton would then break down into tears after several premises, and he appeared to accept what Marc Maron had said. However, after a bout of strong coughing, Lawton would return to his original explanations.
- "Morning Sedition Radio Theater", Marc Maron battled the forces of evil in each action-adventure radio play the show held. Performances included "The Shadow Government" and "Marc Maron and the Temple of DoomMarc Maron and the Temple of DoomMarc Maron and the Temple of Doom is a radio drama that was played on the liberal radio talk show Morning Sedition, hosted by Marc Maron and Mark Riley.It is played similar to radio dramas of the 1930s and 40's...
". - "The Liberal Agenda", a parody of liberal marching orders from "The StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
Compound." - "Morning Edition CliffsNotesCliffsNotesCliffsNotes are a series of student study guides available primarily in the United States. The guides present and explain literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors of the study guides claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature...
", a wry recap of the news and guest interviews from earlier in the show. - "Rapture Watch", where 'Milf Cardinal Milfington' (staff writer Jim EarlJim EarlJim Earl is a stage and radio comedian, comedy writer, musician and cartoonist from California.Earl received a degree in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984, and then he began his comedy career in the stand-up comedy team of "Lank and Earl" with his high school friend...
), with florid pseudo-religious gobbledegook (including tongues), cited actual events that portend the End of Days. - "Weekly Remembrance", where 'Mort Mortenson' (staff writer Jim Earl) tearfully (although he claimed he had allergies, and was NOT crying) presented wry obituaries for the recently deceased.
- "War on Brains", where 'Mort Milfington' (staff writer Jim Earl) methodically dissected anti-environmental, anti-science, and anti-education trends of the Bush administration.
- "Sammy the Stem Cell", played by Jim Earl in a squeaky voice, was occasionally brought into the studio to clear up the issue of stem cell research, but proceeded to berate everything in sight. He ordinarily excused his behavior with the claim that he was sacred life.
- "Future Marc". Marc Maron from the far future regularly phoned in with sage advice for Marc. Says Marc, "I love that guy!"
- "Angus McFahrquar" (Kent Jones) traveled the world to report from forefront civil disruptions. Unfortunately, Angus had a tendency to get carried away with things, often contributing to and even inciting the violence.
- "Johnny K-Street", Morning Sedition's very own odds maker, often dropped in to give everybody the morning line on things political. Played by comedy writer Mike Ferrucci, with the verve of someone who writes lines for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
- "Pendejo, the Revolutionary". A routine sadly retired from the show (in retrospect, an early retirement since everything else since has been a forced retirement). Played by comedy writer Tom Johnson.
- "The Stalker". An anonymous annoying guy (writer Tom Johnson) in desperate need of attention.
- "Todd Brad", Morning Sedition's Bush policy analyst, with a particular scorn (and appetite!) for babies. Played by Jim Earl. Who else? "Is there a baby in here?"
- "Bruce Cherry's Pitch of the Week", The earnest staff-writer without a recurring character to play. He relentlessly pitched his ideas weekly, never gaining a foothold with any of them. Played by staff writer "Bruce Cherry".
- "Slander Minute", The incompetent investigative journalist "Ted Fields" lies, distorts, and libels everything he touches, thereby performing admirably compared to 99% of the mainstream media. Played by staff writer Barry Lank.
- "Iraq, Birth of a Nation", Marc Maron would address Iraq as a whole, offering his advice to the fledgling nation only to be answered by expressive gunfire.
- "Al Jazeera's Morning Zoo", Two dudes from the Al JazeeraAl JazeeraAl Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
network do the morning zoo routine. Played by Mike Ferucci and Barry Lank. - Polluck, the conspiracy guy, played by Bruce Cherry.
Cancellation
On Monday, November 28, 2005, Marc Maron announced that Morning Sedition would last air on December 16, at which point Mark Riley would host a new morning show of his own.Morning Sedition was replaced with a four-hour program, Air America Mornings, with Riley hosting the first two hours (5-7 AM) and Maddow hosting the second two hours (7-9 AM), in an effort to bolster Air America's ratings for its morning programming. Maron had a new show, The Marc Maron Show, that debuted February 28, 2006. The show was broadcast from Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, on KTLK, Progressive Talk 1150 AM. Its time slot was 10:00 - 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, and the show included several sketches that had previously appeared on Morning Sedition.
There was a great outpouring from Morning Sedition fans, including thousands of e-mails to Goldberg, other AAR hosts, and AAR board members. Additionally, over 6,300 fans signed an online petition calling for the renewal of Maron's contract and the Morning Sedition program.
