The Adam Carolla Show
Encyclopedia
The Adam Carolla Show was a syndicated morning radio program, which began airing on January 3, 2006 and ended on February 20, 2009. The show was produced by CBS Radio
as part of its Free FM
format, and was based out of KLSX
in Los Angeles
. On February 20, KLSX changed format from hot talk to Top 40 (CHR)
, and The Adam Carolla Show was canceled along with several other programs. The Adam Carolla Show was heard in a number of major metropolitan markets on the West Coast of the United States
.
and Teresa Strasser
.
The supporting cast included sound effects guy Bryan Bishop
, producer Angie Fitzsimmons, writer Mike Lynch, announcer/technical producer Mike Dawson, technical production assistant Mike Cioffi, and board operator Bill Mahoney. Jimmy Kimmel
served as creative consultant in the first year, and hosted the show on June 7 and June 8, 2006, while Carolla was with his wife for the birth of their twins and April 26, 2007, while Carolla was at New York
for the Tribeca Film Festival
to see the premiere of his movie The Hammer
.
to pursue a position in morning radio, replacing Howard Stern
(with Stern's approval) in a number of West Coast markets. Adam's last night on Loveline was November 3, 2005, to allow him to have time to prepare for his morning debut at the beginning of 2006. He stated that he would love to continue to do Loveline, which seemed to fly by while doing it, but the show would not be a possibility. On October 25, Infinity Broadcasting officially announced that it would be replacing Stern with Carolla on several radio stations in the western United States
. On January 3, 2006, Carolla began his new morning radio show, The Adam Carolla Show, on stations in Los Angeles (where the show is based), Phoenix, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Oakland, Reno, Burbank, Fresno and Sacramento.
and VH1
video jockey Rachel Perry
served as the original news reader on the show. On March 27, 2006, the show noted that Perry was absent for a few days to work on a TV pilot
(a show titled Beyond). However, a few days stretched into a few weeks, during which the show featured several fill-ins, including Strasser, former MSNBC
anchor Claudia DiFolco, and actress Tracy Metro. The show also had guests and a few of their recurring characters fill in. In late April, Perry's pictures and bio were removed from the show's website. Finally, on May 1, Carolla announced that the show had taken the opportunity to use Perry's absence to drop her from the show, as they felt that the chemistry wasn't quite there. On May 8, Strasser was named as Perry's official replacement.
wrote that he and the show’s producer Jimmy Brusca had been fired.
Dameshek also wrote that Danny Bonaduce
would be his replacement. Tad Newcomb, also known as Fat Tad or Big Tad, was a regular on-air contributor to the show, and has also confirmed that he was fired via his MySpace
account.
CBS Radio
released a press release on December 21, 2006 announcing Bonaduce as a featured member of the show starting January 2, 2007, but did not confirm or deny any firings.
On December 28, 2006, Carolla posted to the show's message boards and wrote that network executives had wanted to replace Dameshek because of the show's poor performance in Los Angeles
. Carolla said the show's Arbitron
ratings in the city shifted from 1.2 to 3.3 to 0.7, and CBS used this as an excuse to "strip the show". On the January 2nd show, Carolla commented on the firings and confirmed his posting that they were due to low ratings. He said that he had no say in the decision, and while he was upset about the firings he expressed a desire to move on.
Program Director Jack Silver stated, "I have to take Adam’s word. When an employee says he's sick, short of going to his house with a doctor, I have to take him on his word." That afternoon, Adam phoned into Dr. Drew's radio show and re-stated that he was sick, but would see how he would feel the next day before making a decision on whether to go into work or not. Adam proceeded to stay on the phone for over an hour.
Adam's absence continued throughout the end of the week, including missing the 2007 Ace Awards and the live remote broadcast of the yearly "Christmas Carolla" holiday special from the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA.
On December 17, 2007, the Official Adam Carolla Show message board was removed from the website, including all threads related to Adam's illness. The Adam Carolla Show went on scheduled hiatus following the Christmas episode.
On December 21, 2007, CBS Radio issued a press release concerning the future of The Adam Carolla Show and creation of Danny Bonaduce's new show:
"...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 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."
On the September 12, 2008 show Carolla confessed that the reason for him missing the last shows in 2007 was because he had come down with "The Red Flu", referring to being sick of working with the red headed Danny Bonaduce. It was also during Adam's weeklong absence that the show's messageboard became flooded with messages calling for Danny's removal from the show. (Danny had already been unpopular with many listeners, which was reflected in a large number of messageboard messages.) The messageboard thread addressing this quickly gained over 1300 posts, and many people posting were new users who'd never posted a message before. Adam himself (his official screen name) was spotted reading the messageboard several times, but did not post.
shift at the Los Angeles flagship station
(KLSX
) from hot talk to a Top 40 (CHR)
format. The show would continue to be made available via Westwood One
in a 'best-of' format.
(with the 5am hour a "best of" compilation of the previous morning's broadcast), for around a month CBS Radio will provide a "best of format" to give time for the affiliates to fill their morning slot:
Podcast and live internet stream are popular among listeners in markets where show is not broadcasting, which was mentioned on air numerous times.
Listeners have called from Midwest, East coast, Hawaii, Canada, Japan, Spain and England among other areas.
Most of the show was available for download via podcast
through Free FM
. The format varies depending on the station providing the RSS feed.
The segments involved repeated use of the phrase "ching chong
". Contrary to the segments, the actual awards (honoring achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in entertainment and science) are conducted in English. Branding the skit demeaning and racist, the Asian American Justice Center and the Asian American Journalists Association
threatened to pressure advertisers to withdraw support from the show if the station did not issue an apology. Esther Wu, President of the Asian American Journalist Association, wrote "Carolla's childish actions not only demean the work of Asian American actors, directors and producers, but they also insult a large segment of the American population - many of whom listen to your network, sponsor your programs and work for your company. It belittles all Americans of foreign descent. Carolla has done your company a great disservice." Carolla issued an apology for the segment on February 22, 2006: "We do a show here that is a little irreverent, and, sometimes, we cross the line, and we definitely crossed it this time. It was not meant to offend, it did, and, for that, we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community."
Originally recorded nightly at his home, the podcast eventually moved to be recorded in a studio and features conversations with many of the same guests who appeared on the radio show. In the inaugural podcast, Carolla stated that if the venture proved to be successful he would move forward with ambitious plans to expand it commercially upon the expiration of his CBS contract. The show quickly garnered a large audience, as the first episode was downloaded over 250,000 times in the first 24 hours of its being made available on the site. Soon after, the show was made available on iTunes
and in its first week the podcast was downloaded over 1 million times, making it the number one iTunes
podcast in the US and Canada. The broadcast is now known as The Adam Carolla Show
and has been consistently ranked among the top 15 podcasts on iTunes since its inception on the site.
As of June 3, 2010, The Adam Carolla Podcast was renamed The Adam Carolla Show, though it is still only available for download on the internet and is not broadcast. Though Teresa Strasser acted as Carolla's sidekick for a time, she left in August 2010 to join The Peter Tilden Show on KABC (AM)
. Bald Bryan still supplies sound effects, though he's not always on the show. The show has returned to its old radio format, bringing back produced segments and regular phone calls.
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
as part of its Free FM
Free FM
Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air,...
format, and was based out of KLSX
KLSX
KAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. On February 20, KLSX changed format from hot talk to Top 40 (CHR)
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
, and The Adam Carolla Show was canceled along with several other programs. The Adam Carolla Show was heard in a number of major metropolitan markets on the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
.
Overview
The Adam Carolla Show featured Adam CarollaAdam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
and Teresa Strasser
Teresa Strasser
Teresa Lynn Strasser is an American writer and television personality known for hosting the first season of the home makeover show While You Were Out on TLC. She also co-hosted The Adam Carolla Show.-Personal life:...
.
The supporting cast included sound effects guy Bryan Bishop
Bryan Bishop
Bryan Bishop, frequently referred to on broadcasts as Bald Bryan, is an American radio personality best known for his appearances on The Adam Carolla Show podcast and its previous radio version.-Personal life :...
, producer Angie Fitzsimmons, writer Mike Lynch, announcer/technical producer Mike Dawson, technical production assistant Mike Cioffi, and board operator Bill Mahoney. Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
served as creative consultant in the first year, and hosted the show on June 7 and June 8, 2006, while Carolla was with his wife for the birth of their twins and April 26, 2007, while Carolla was at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
to see the premiere of his movie The Hammer
The Hammer (film)
The Hammer is a 2007 comedy film starring Adam Carolla and Heather Juergensen. It was directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld.-Plot:Jerry Ferro is pushing 40 years old and is not what you would call a success. He works part-time in construction as a carpenter and part-time as a boxing instructor at a...
.
History
On August 4, 2005, Carolla announced that he would leave LovelineLoveline
Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
to pursue a position in morning radio, replacing Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
(with Stern's approval) in a number of West Coast markets. Adam's last night on Loveline was November 3, 2005, to allow him to have time to prepare for his morning debut at the beginning of 2006. He stated that he would love to continue to do Loveline, which seemed to fly by while doing it, but the show would not be a possibility. On October 25, Infinity Broadcasting officially announced that it would be replacing Stern with Carolla on several radio stations in the western United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. On January 3, 2006, Carolla began his new morning radio show, The Adam Carolla Show, on stations in Los Angeles (where the show is based), Phoenix, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Oakland, Reno, Burbank, Fresno and Sacramento.
Replacing Perry
Former MuchMusicMuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
video jockey Rachel Perry
Rachel Perry
Rachel Perry is a Canadian TV personality currently working in the United States. The former MuchMusic VJ is the host of All Access on VH1, and is the narrator for Web Junk 20, and the host of "The Stash" on Playboy TV...
served as the original news reader on the show. On March 27, 2006, the show noted that Perry was absent for a few days to work on a TV pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
(a show titled Beyond). However, a few days stretched into a few weeks, during which the show featured several fill-ins, including Strasser, former MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
anchor Claudia DiFolco, and actress Tracy Metro. The show also had guests and a few of their recurring characters fill in. In late April, Perry's pictures and bio were removed from the show's website. Finally, on May 1, Carolla announced that the show had taken the opportunity to use Perry's absence to drop her from the show, as they felt that the chemistry wasn't quite there. On May 8, Strasser was named as Perry's official replacement.
Firing of Dameshek, Brusca, and Newcomb
In a December 17, 2006 message on the Adam Carolla Show message board, sports broadcaster Dave DameshekDave Dameshek
Dr. William "Funny" David Dameshek is an American television writer and radio personality. Dameshek is currently a football analyst and writer for NFL.com, appearing on NFL Fantasy Live and hosting the Dave Dameshek Football Podcast.- Early life :Dameshek received his undergraduate degree in...
wrote that he and the show’s producer Jimmy Brusca had been fired.
Dameshek also wrote that Danny Bonaduce
Danny Bonaduce
Dante Daniel "Danny" Bonaduce is an American radio/television personality, comedian, professional wrestler, and former child actor...
would be his replacement. Tad Newcomb, also known as Fat Tad or Big Tad, was a regular on-air contributor to the show, and has also confirmed that he was fired via his MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account.
CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
released a press release on December 21, 2006 announcing Bonaduce as a featured member of the show starting January 2, 2007, but did not confirm or deny any firings.
On December 28, 2006, Carolla posted to the show's message boards and wrote that network executives had wanted to replace Dameshek because of the show's poor performance in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Carolla said the show's Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings in the city shifted from 1.2 to 3.3 to 0.7, and CBS used this as an excuse to "strip the show". On the January 2nd show, Carolla commented on the firings and confirmed his posting that they were due to low ratings. He said that he had no say in the decision, and while he was upset about the firings he expressed a desire to move on.
Departure of Bonaduce
On December 12, 2007, it was announced on the air that Adam had come down with an illness and would not be coming to host the show. Danny and Teresa continued the show with Bryan taking a more active role as an on-air talent. On-air talent remarked many times that this was an unusual situation and that Adam has attended work while sick many times before and that he would have to be very sick in order to stay home. KLSXKLSX
KAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
Program Director Jack Silver stated, "I have to take Adam’s word. When an employee says he's sick, short of going to his house with a doctor, I have to take him on his word." That afternoon, Adam phoned into Dr. Drew's radio show and re-stated that he was sick, but would see how he would feel the next day before making a decision on whether to go into work or not. Adam proceeded to stay on the phone for over an hour.
Adam's absence continued throughout the end of the week, including missing the 2007 Ace Awards and the live remote broadcast of the yearly "Christmas Carolla" holiday special from the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA.
On December 17, 2007, the Official Adam Carolla Show message board was removed from the website, including all threads related to Adam's illness. The Adam Carolla Show went on scheduled hiatus following the Christmas episode.
On December 21, 2007, CBS Radio issued a press release concerning the future of The Adam Carolla Show and creation of Danny Bonaduce's new show:
"...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 Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis
Thomas Joseph Leykis is an American radio personality. He currently hosts The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis, a weekly lifestyle program dealing with fine food and drink, airing weekends mainly in West Coast markets...
’ 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."
On the September 12, 2008 show Carolla confessed that the reason for him missing the last shows in 2007 was because he had come down with "The Red Flu", referring to being sick of working with the red headed Danny Bonaduce. It was also during Adam's weeklong absence that the show's messageboard became flooded with messages calling for Danny's removal from the show. (Danny had already been unpopular with many listeners, which was reflected in a large number of messageboard messages.) The messageboard thread addressing this quickly gained over 1300 posts, and many people posting were new users who'd never posted a message before. Adam himself (his official screen name) was spotted reading the messageboard several times, but did not post.
Cancellation
Although it was consistently ranked among the top 5 shows in ratings (and #1 in many of its affiliate markets), on February 18, 2009 it was confirmed that The Adam Carolla Show had been canceled and the last show would air on February 20, 2009. The cancellation came in effect of a formatRadio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
shift at the Los Angeles flagship station
Flagship station
In broadcasting, a flagship is the broadcast which originates a television network, or a particular radio show or TV show, primarily in the United States and Canada. This includes both direct network feeds and broadcast syndication, but generally not backhauls...
(KLSX
KLSX
KAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
) from hot talk to a Top 40 (CHR)
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format. The show would continue to be made available via Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
in a 'best-of' format.
Syndication
The Adam Carolla Show was heard on the following stations, and broadcasted weekdays from 5:00am–10:00am PSTPacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
(with the 5am hour a "best of" compilation of the previous morning's broadcast), for around a month CBS Radio will provide a "best of format" to give time for the affiliates to fill their morning slot:
- Los Angeles, CA - 97.1 Free FMKLSXKAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
- San Diego, CA - 103.7 Free FMKLSXKAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
- Portland, OR - 101.1 KUFO
- Las Vegas, NV - 107.5 KXTE FMKXTEKXTE is a modern rock radio station licensed to Pahrump, Nevada owned by CBS Radio. Former calls are KFBI, KUDA, KLVV.-History:...
- Sacramento, CA – 106.5 KWOD
- Seattle, WA – 107.7 KNDDKNDDKNDD , also known as "107.7 The End", is an alternative rock radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is operated by Entercom Communications Its studios are located in the Metropolitan Park West tower between Downtown and South Lake Union in Seattle...
- Reno, NV – 100.9 KRZQ
- Fresno, CA – 104.1 KFRRKFRRKFRR is a commercial modern rock music radio station in Woodlake, California, broadcasting to the Fresno, California area.-History:...
- Palm Springs, CA - 99.5 KMRJKMRJKMRJ is a 3 kw Class A commercial FM radio station licensed in Rancho Mirage, California which broadcasts on 99.5 MHz and serves the greater Coachella Valley and parts of the Morongo Basin and Palo Verde Valley....
- Portland, ME - 970 WZANWZANWZAN is a radio station broadcasting talk radio format. Licensed to Portland, Maine, USA, it serves southern Maine. The station is currently owned by Saga Communications.- History :...
(tape delayed 7-10 PM ET) - Pocatello, ID - 92.1 KEGEKEGE (FM)KEGE is a commercial radio station located in Pocatello, Idaho, broadcasting on 92.1 FM. KEGE airs a news/talk format, simulcasting KID 590 AM. The call letters were changed from KPPC to KEGE on March 7, 2008 to match the station's previous "Edge" branding.-External links:...
- Pullman, WA - KHTR FM 104.3KHTRKHTR is a commercial radio station in Pullman, Washington, broadcasting to the Pullman, Washington-Moscow, Idaho area on 104.3 FM.KHTR airs a classic hits music format branded as "Hit Radio 104-3"....
- Phoenix, AZ - 103.9
- Phoenix, AZ - 101.5KZONKZON is a commercial radio station located in Phoenix, Arizona, broadcasting on 101.5 FM. KZON airs a Rhythmic CHR format branded as "101.5 Jamz".-Before 101.5:In the 1960s the station signed on the air as KHEP-FM and aired a classical music format...
- A San Francisco station (FM 106.9 KIFR) was also a carrier of the show but dropped the program sometime late in the first year as the station changed to an oldies format. It was then carried on AM 1550 KYCY into 2007 but was ultimately dropped partway through the year. In the months after KYCY's cancellation a few different bay area listeners called into the show to voice their dismay and annoyance at the station's decision to drop the show. Adam said that he was also annoyed and felt that the show may have rubbed many overly sensitive KYCY listeners the wrong way.
Podcast and live internet stream are popular among listeners in markets where show is not broadcasting, which was mentioned on air numerous times.
Listeners have called from Midwest, East coast, Hawaii, Canada, Japan, Spain and England among other areas.
Most of the show was available for download via podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
through Free FM
Free FM
Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air,...
. The format varies depending on the station providing the RSS feed.
Frequent guests
- David Alan GrierDavid Alan GrierDavid Alan Grier , also known as "D.A.G." , is an American actor and comedian known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color.-Early life:...
- Eric StromerEric StromerEric Antony Stromer was a co-host for the canceled motoring television series, Top Gear, on NBC. He was raised in Evanston, Illinois....
- Larry MillerLarry Miller (actor)Lawrence J. "Larry" Miller is an American actor, voice artist, comedian, podcaster, and columnist.-Early life:Miller was born in Valley Stream, New York, attended Valley Stream South High School graduating in 1971. He attended Amherst College...
did a weekly segment 'Stupid Beyond Belief'. - Joel McHaleJoel McHaleJoel Edward McHale is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community....
- Dana GouldDana GouldDana John Gould is an American comedian and comedy writer born and raised in Hopedale, Massachusetts. His upbringing and his extended family lent themselves to his stand-up routine, which has been seen on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central, among other places.-Career:After high school, he studied...
Recurring characters
- Deaf Frat Guy. He also goes by the name Jason or the nickname "Maverick", and is played by Josh GardnerJosh Gardner (comedian)Josh Gardner an American comedian and writer, is best known for his role as Gerhard Reinke, a bumbling German backpacker, on Comedy Central's cult-classic Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust. Gardner also wrote for Comedy Central's The Man Show, and the Fox series A Minute With Stan Hooper...
. Deaf Frat Guy originally started his Greek membership as a Tau Kappa EpsilonTau Kappa EpsilonTau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent...
at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. In May 2006, Deaf Frat Guy was removed from the fraternityFraternities and sororitiesFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, and decided to start his own, called Delta Fu Gamma. He created the fake GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
letter "Fu" because he believed that all possible Greek names had been used. The initials "DFG" also refer to "Deaf Frat Guy". Deaf Frat Guy first appeared on January 24, 2006.
- Fake Jack Silver. At the beginning of the second segment of every show, a parody of KLSX Program Director Jack Silver takes place after the commercial break. Fake Jack Silver is voiced by sound effects engineer Bryan Bishop, as mentioned on the December 14, 2006 show. Fake Jack Silver frequently mentions staying "hip" with younger listeners and talks about watching the ratings "needle" drop, or refers to "radio-kryptoniteKryptoniteKryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
" when a boring bit or caller is on the air. Fake Jack Silver's biggest concern is being portrayed as homosexual, and thus the last thing he usually says is, in a stressed voice, "Not gay!" This segment has not appeared since 2008.
- Peanut. This intermittently appearing character (voiced by David Alan GrierDavid Alan GrierDavid Alan Grier , also known as "D.A.G." , is an American actor and comedian known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color.-Early life:...
), is a black woman ostensibly hired to answer the phones at the studios of CBS Radio (the real life networks where the Adam Carolla Show is broadcast). The running gag is that every time Peanut is featured on the show, the phone banks that she is supposed to answer ring constantly, and the calls are often put on hold or disconnected. Peanut's character is disrespectful, possessed of a hair-trigger temper, speaks poor English (once taking the day off for what she called "Mobba Loofin King's Burfday"), and usually ends the sketch by threatening to take off her earrings and flip-flops and challenging Adam to "take it to the parking lot" whenever he makes the slightest suggestion that Peanut is not doing her job.
- The Ed. A frequent contributor in 2006, caller "The" Ed Miller from Las Vegas would often call in as the show's official reviewer of television show Desperate HousewivesDesperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
(which he often referred to as "Separate Housewives". He would also call in to share his opinions on many sports related subjects, particularly horse racing. The Ed stopped making appearances after the show cast changes in 2006, but did go on to follow Dave Dameshek to his other radio projects.
Controversy
On January 24, 2006, the show aired several segments spoofing the Asian Excellence AwardsAsian Excellence Awards
The Asian Excellence Awards is an annual celebration of the outstanding achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in film, television, music, and the performing arts. The Asian Excellence Awards is the only nationally televised event celebrating significant Asian and Asian American achievements in...
The segments involved repeated use of the phrase "ching chong
Ching Chong
Ching chong is a pejorative term sometimes employed by speakers of the English language to mock people of Chinese ancestry, or other Asians who may look Chinese....
". Contrary to the segments, the actual awards (honoring achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in entertainment and science) are conducted in English. Branding the skit demeaning and racist, the Asian American Justice Center and the Asian American Journalists Association
Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association was founded in 1981 by several Asian American journalists who felt a need to support greater participation by Asian Americans in the news media.Its goals are:...
threatened to pressure advertisers to withdraw support from the show if the station did not issue an apology. Esther Wu, President of the Asian American Journalist Association, wrote "Carolla's childish actions not only demean the work of Asian American actors, directors and producers, but they also insult a large segment of the American population - many of whom listen to your network, sponsor your programs and work for your company. It belittles all Americans of foreign descent. Carolla has done your company a great disservice." Carolla issued an apology for the segment on February 22, 2006: "We do a show here that is a little irreverent, and, sometimes, we cross the line, and we definitely crossed it this time. It was not meant to offend, it did, and, for that, we sincerely apologize to the good people of the Asian community."
Future of the show
Carolla remained under contract to CBS Radio until December 2009, and was bound against hosting another radio broadcast program until the contract expired. However, beginning the following weekday after the final broadcast of The Adam Carolla Show, the host started a new incarnation of the show at carollaradio.com as a free daily podcast.Originally recorded nightly at his home, the podcast eventually moved to be recorded in a studio and features conversations with many of the same guests who appeared on the radio show. In the inaugural podcast, Carolla stated that if the venture proved to be successful he would move forward with ambitious plans to expand it commercially upon the expiration of his CBS contract. The show quickly garnered a large audience, as the first episode was downloaded over 250,000 times in the first 24 hours of its being made available on the site. Soon after, the show was made available on 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 in its first week the podcast was downloaded over 1 million times, making it the number one 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....
podcast in the US and Canada. The broadcast is now known as The Adam Carolla Show
The Adam Carolla Show (podcast)
The Adam Carolla Show is a free podcast hosted by comedian and radio-television personality Adam Carolla...
and has been consistently ranked among the top 15 podcasts on iTunes since its inception on the site.
As of June 3, 2010, The Adam Carolla Podcast was renamed The Adam Carolla Show, though it is still only available for download on the internet and is not broadcast. Though Teresa Strasser acted as Carolla's sidekick for a time, she left in August 2010 to join The Peter Tilden Show on KABC (AM)
KABC (AM)
KABC is a Los Angeles radio station, and a West Coast flagship station for the Cumulus Media company. A pioneer of the talk radio format, the station went "all-talk" in 1960 and was one of the first stations to do so...
. Bald Bryan still supplies sound effects, though he's not always on the show. The show has returned to its old radio format, bringing back produced segments and regular phone calls.