The Rachel Maddow Show
Encyclopedia
The Rachel Maddow Show was a weekday radio show
on the Air America Radio
network hosted by Rachel Maddow
. The show featured news items read by Maddow and her commentary on each of them as well as interview segments with politicians, newsmakers and pundits. Guests included presidential candidate John Edwards
, author Eric Alterman
, reporters from The Nation
magazine and commentators from The Center for American Progress. Beginning September 8, 2008, she also debuted a TV version of the show on MSNBC
of the same name with different content. Early in 2009 the show was moved to the 5am timeslot and consisted almost entirely of the audio from the previous nights MSNBC broadcast of Maddow's television show. On January 21, 2010, Air America Radio ceased programming citing economic difficulties.
Until December 14, 2007, humorist Kent Jones
served as The Rachel Maddow Show's co-host, contributing odd news stories as well as having his own segment, Kent Jones Now!, which aired at the end of each hour and focused on another odd news story. Jones also read the previous night's sports news during the second hour, substituting odd phrases for the word "beat" or "defeated" in the result depending on the city of the team that won — e.g. "the San Francisco Giants Violent Femmes
'd the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2." Jones typically ended his segments by saying "Vigilance!" forcefully, although sometimes he'd say "Sacajawea" in the same tone. He announced his departure at the end of the Tuesday, December 11 show, saying it was a "business decision" at the network. Jones has since joined Maddow on the television version of The Rachel Maddow Show.
From March 10, 2008, until the debut of her television show, Maddow was a panelist on Race for the White House
on MSNBC
, simulcast as the first hour of the radio show, which expanded to three hours. Bender came on as co-host of the third hour and solo host for that hour when Maddow's television obligations on MSNBC conflicted with her ability to host the show.
With the debut of Maddow's nightly MSNBC program on September 8, 2008, the radio show returned to a two-hour format. The second hour is usually a rebroadcast of the previous night's television episode.
Early in 2009 The Rachel Maddow Show was moved a one-hour timeslot at 5AM Eastern Time. It now begins with a short introduction from Rachel followed by the audio from the previous night's MSNBC broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show
. Little explanation or warning was given for this shift except for Maddow's comments that doing two shows was far too taxing.
and the movie Little Miss Sunshine
. The opening theme music was "Stealing the Stock" from the Ocean's Twelve
soundtrack
, as revealed in August 23, 2007's "Ask Dr. Maddow" segment. In addition, nearly every Friday show opened with a piece of dialogue from Friday
("'Cuz it's Friday, you ain't got no job, and you ain't got *bleep* to do!"). The second hour of the Friday show typically opened with a recording of Rachel's mother trying poorly to imitate the Friday dialogue obtained when sound mixer Kris LoPresto, who was given Maddow's voice mail inbox password, recorded it directly from her cell phone.
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
on the Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
network hosted by 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...
. The show featured news items read by Maddow and her commentary on each of them as well as interview segments with politicians, newsmakers and pundits. Guests included presidential candidate John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, author Eric Alterman
Eric Alterman
Eric Alterman is an American English teacher, historian, journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator. His political weblog named Altercation was hosted by MSNBC.com from 2002 until 2006, moved to Media Matters for America until December 2008, and is now hosted by The...
, reporters from The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine and commentators from The Center for American Progress. Beginning September 8, 2008, she also debuted a TV version of the show on 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...
of the same name with different content. Early in 2009 the show was moved to the 5am timeslot and consisted almost entirely of the audio from the previous nights MSNBC broadcast of Maddow's television show. On January 21, 2010, Air America Radio ceased programming citing economic difficulties.
History
The show began on April 14, 2005 and moved to 7AM–9AM EST on January 2, 2006. It now airs weekdays from 6PM–8PM EST on some Air America affiliates. Unlike most Air America programs, listener calls are not usually taken, in keeping with the show's more hard-news orientation and its format. The only exception to the rule is when either a guest or an issue's stance is important enough to warrant the calls (e.g., Maddow took calls from caucus voters in Iowa and primary voters in New Hampshire prior to those states' presidential nominating contests in early January 2008).Until December 14, 2007, humorist Kent Jones
Kent Jones
Thomas Kenton "Kent" Jones is a writer and performer on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, airing live M-F at 9 p.m. Eastern time...
served as The Rachel Maddow Show's co-host, contributing odd news stories as well as having his own segment, Kent Jones Now!, which aired at the end of each hour and focused on another odd news story. Jones also read the previous night's sports news during the second hour, substituting odd phrases for the word "beat" or "defeated" in the result depending on the city of the team that won — e.g. "the San Francisco Giants Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
'd the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2." Jones typically ended his segments by saying "Vigilance!" forcefully, although sometimes he'd say "Sacajawea" in the same tone. He announced his departure at the end of the Tuesday, December 11 show, saying it was a "business decision" at the network. Jones has since joined Maddow on the television version of The Rachel Maddow Show.
From March 10, 2008, until the debut of her television show, Maddow was a panelist on Race for the White House
Race for the White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is an MSNBC television program hosted by David Shuster that ended in 2009. The show is a panel show based around the discussion of news and trends in American politics among the panelists and anchor...
on 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...
, simulcast as the first hour of the radio show, which expanded to three hours. Bender came on as co-host of the third hour and solo host for that hour when Maddow's television obligations on MSNBC conflicted with her ability to host the show.
With the debut of Maddow's nightly MSNBC program on September 8, 2008, the radio show returned to a two-hour format. The second hour is usually a rebroadcast of the previous night's television episode.
Early in 2009 The Rachel Maddow Show was moved a one-hour timeslot at 5AM Eastern Time. It now begins with a short introduction from Rachel followed by the audio from the previous night's MSNBC broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show (TV series)
The Rachel Maddow Show is a news and opinion television program that airs weeknights on MSNBC at 9:00 p.m. ET. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained popularity with her frequent appearances as a liberal pundit on various MSNBC programs. It is based on her former radio show of the same name...
. Little explanation or warning was given for this shift except for Maddow's comments that doing two shows was far too taxing.
Regular features
- Top Headlines — The top of the show (as well as the top of the second hour) started with Maddow delivering "News from IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and life during wartime". The only exceptions to this start were breaking news, a special high-profile guest or when the show completely breaks format in order to tackle an urgent news story for the duration of the show. After the Iraq news, Maddow continued to report on other top stories of the day.
- Ask Doctor Maddow — This segment, which usually aired at the end of the first hour, consisted of Maddow, answering a question from a listener who either sent it through email or phoned it in on the "Ask Dr. Maddow" hotline. While she holds a D.Phil, Maddow is not a medical doctor, thus the tongue-in-cheek disclaimer ("Rachel Maddow is a doctor...just not that kind of doctor"). The questions covered random topics, from the origins of a word to natural science mysteries.
- Before his departure, Kent Jones would introduce the segment by saying that Maddow was "the world's leading expert on...", then usually add something in based on what was discussed in the prior segment. After Jones left the segment was co-hosted by show producer Vanessa Silverton-Peel, who encouraged viewers to send questions that they were "just too lazy to GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
" themselves.
- One of the questions each week was selected randomly during the Friday segment, and Maddow rewarded the listener with a prize package that always consisted of a glossy autographed photo of Kent Jones (still given away despite his leaving the show) and something from her desk (usually a book written by a previous day's guest and anything else she could find that is worthy of giving away).
- Burying the Lede — Maddow reported on a story that she believed should have received more attention than it did. This segment always followed Ask Doctor Maddow, and sometimes aired later in the show if there were multiple stories being "buried".
- Rachel's Front Page — Maddow critiqued how mainstream media outlets were reporting a major news item.
- Underbelly — Maddow explored right-wing political tactics and the possible motives behind them (described as "poking a sharp stick into the soft white underbelly of the rrrrright wing scheme machine", always with a trilled "r"). Previously a daily segment, Underbelly didn't appear as often in the rotation (hence Maddow's inclination to add "Every day...or so" to her introduction of the segment).
- Pet Story — Typically the final segment of the show. Both Maddow and Jones delighted in this segment and took to introducing it with a monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
chirping sound effect, followed by the two of them yelling "MONKEY!". After Jones' departure, Maddow didn't typically introduce the segment with the same fervor because "it makes (her) feel sad," although she has occasionally yelled "monkey" after the sound effect. The story could (and usually did) revolve around anything, but animals were involved more often than not. In more recent times, the Pet Story did not air at all, with Maddow instead using the final minutes of the show to plug whatever she was doing on television later that night (usually an appearance on Countdown with Keith OlbermannCountdown with Keith OlbermannCountdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
or Verdict with Dan AbramsVerdict with Dan AbramsVerdict with Dan Abrams was a newscast on MSNBC, hosted by former MSNBC general manager Dan Abrams. It aired Monday-Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern.-Timeline:...
on MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
), as well as using the remaining time as filler material.
Sound effects
While the show covered plenty of serious political topics, some levity was injected via the use of snippets of dialogue, music and sound effects. They included dialogue from Homer SimpsonHomer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and the movie Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
. The opening theme music was "Stealing the Stock" from the Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, as revealed in August 23, 2007's "Ask Dr. Maddow" segment. In addition, nearly every Friday show opened with a piece of dialogue from Friday
Friday (film)
Friday is a 1995 stoner comedy-drama-buddy film directed by F. Gary Gray. Starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tommy Lister, Jr...
("'Cuz it's Friday, you ain't got no job, and you ain't got *bleep* to do!"). The second hour of the Friday show typically opened with a recording of Rachel's mother trying poorly to imitate the Friday dialogue obtained when sound mixer Kris LoPresto, who was given Maddow's voice mail inbox password, recorded it directly from her cell phone.
Staff
- Host: Rachel MaddowRachel MaddowRachel 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...
- Producer: Vanessa Silverton-Peel
- Audio Producer: Andrew Dunn
- Former co-host/sports reporter/humorist: Kent JonesKent JonesThomas Kenton "Kent" Jones is a writer and performer on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, airing live M-F at 9 p.m. Eastern time...
- Former Producer: Nazanin Rafsanjani
- Former Producer: Jackie Bell
- Former Sound Engineer: Kris LoPresto
External links
- www.rachelmaddow.com -- Official web site
- MaddowFans.com - The Unofficial Rachel Maddow Fansite
- http://rachel.msnbc.comThe Rachel Maddow Show website (MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
show)] - http://www.maddowonline.comThe Rachel Maddow Show website (Air America RadioAir America RadioAir America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
show)] - Article about the one-hour version of the show