After a couple canceled weekday shows, after all the ups and downs of the network, after the unfulfilled offers of a new show and various fill-in gigs, and after a long period of stringing him along, Marc Maron has made the decision for them.
He's done with Air America.
In an email to fans this morning, Maron explains that it was he who came to the decision:
Well, Friends-In the meantime, Maron will concentrate mostly on his burgeoning standup comedy career.
Here some sad news out of the gate. I will not be returning to Air America Radio. Today will be the last time I call in on Sam Seder's show. I will not be guest hosting any Air America shows in the future. This is all my choice. No conspiracy here. I'm just done with that company. My relationship with AAR is officially over. Thank you all for your support over the last couple of years. I've got to let go and move on.
There are some things percolating at HBO. I have no real news about what or when or if but there is percolation.
Eureka, CA 
15 comments:
Not to get all Al Gore on y'all, but while I'm saddened and disappointed by his decision, I respect it. Hopefully it's just a question of not wanting to be jerked around and be a pawn in whatever beef they have with Sam Seder. If it's in protest because he knows something about a possible cancellation of Seder's show, then I may be through with AAR as well.
I think letters to Mark Green, Scott Elberg, and the new guy (David Bernstein?) may be in order.
I think this has been a while in coming and for the most part I don't think his fans are at all surprised. I really want him to be on the radio because his style and talent suit the medium so well. But there comes a point in any negotiation when one side or the other has to fish or get off the boat and after being jerked around by AAR as much as he has been I think Maron did the right thing getting off the boat. I'd heard they were trying to use him to replace Seder and I think it sounded to Maron like what had been done to him so many times already so he just said no.
And I say to Maron, "Good job, dude! We'll miss you but we still love you!"
What do you mean "we," Kemo Sabe?
The guy is a no-talent bum, totally unsuited for radio,
Only an incompetent bunch of idiots like those who ran AAR would have put him on in the first place.
Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.
And thanks, Sam, for remaining loyal to your unfunny friend with the legion of imaginary fans. You are the class act.
To appreciate Maron, you need both a brain and a sense of humor. That rules a lot of people out.
>>>"This guy is a no-talent bum, totally unsuited for radio,"<<<
Emacee, what insightful and detailed commentary on the issue. gregrocker, your whole comment screams of the same.
Dude, armchair directors are one thing but internet armchair radio personalities? New lows. At least come up with a new phrase for the same pathetic "You SUCK!" commentary.
To me it has seemed that Maron's shows have radically played around with radio format... more than any show I've listened to. I'm sure that turns off a good portion who want the same type of talk show, over and over again but with the words in a different order. To a new generation of talk radio listeners and politico junkies (a new generation that were introduced to the medium via Maron, Sam, and other outsiders), the shows are fresh works-in-progress from great personalities and great minds. They're crappy shows are better than some of the old timers' gems.
All that said, I have no authority on this topic. I am afterall making critical comments anonymously on the internet whilst sitting crosslegged on my chair... still in my pajamas at 4:30 pm.
At least I'm not in my parents' basement next to mountains of porn like some of you.
Trouble is...
Morning Sedition and Unfiltered couldn't get enough clearances (stations willing to carry them) to make them viable network programs. Neither can Seder, who currently is carried live by only one station in the top 25 markets in the country -- and that station is WWRL in New York, where Air America pays to be carried. And the only other big market station that carries Seder in the daytime is KPOJ in Portland, Oregon -- which would probably carry Stephanie Miller instead if she were available. She's not, because she's on another Portland station.
Morning Sedation and Unfiltered couldn't get stations to carry them because they weren't any good.
Same for Springer and Seder.
Stephanie is good; she gets cleared. She gets decent numbers for stations which carry her; she gets cleared on more.
Stations were dropping Unfiltered like bad habits to pick up Steph, because Unfiltered wasn't working.
Some stations hung around to see how Jerry would do; then they started picking up Steph.
nylefty.. I like you.
emacee... "they weren't any good."
What the hell are you talking about? They weren't any good? Yes. Life is like the Gong Show. Sedition? GONG! Unfiltered? GONG! Steph? DING DING DING!!!
I like Steph. I wasn't around enough when Unfiltered was on to really like it besides them interviewing my Gov. Brian Schweitzer when it wasn't cool to. Besides, Unfiltered gave us Rachel Maddow and I'm damn happy about that.
Sedition? Loved. Inspired by it and loved it.
I'm rambling. Anyways... if you're going to be a douche be a douche with specifics! That's all.
Sedition was killed because the great genius Danny Goldberg killed it. After he was gone, they tried to bring Maron back to NY, but couldn't reach a deal with him.
One of the first priorities for the new owners - almost immediately upon taking over - was to bring Maron back to AAR. That's certainly not because they think he "sucks."
Whether you "get" Maron or not, you'd have to be quite obtuse indeed not to understand that.
The fact is, it's too late for AAR to bring Maron back, after so stupidly screwing him over - twice. He's finally finding some much deserved notoriety as a stand-up, as well as for his interview skills (as we shall hopefully see soon, when HBO premieres "The Gaggle"). He's always been respected by his peers for not being a comedy hack ala Larry the Cable Guy, Carlos Mencia, or the other comics so popular with the mouth-breathing masses, and now more people than ever are getting hip to him.
If you're not, that's fine. You can be happy with whatever AAR manages to scrape up. I hear Springer is still available.
I am another who thinks that Maron should stick with his night job. I gave him a chance to win me over on Morning Sedition, but I got tired of his whining about how life treats him and using the show as a free stage for his comedian buddies. Mark Riley rarely got a word in edgewise or was forced to play Ed McMahon's role of laughing at his co-host's unfunny jokes. When Maron was off on a gig, the tone of the show changed completely and Mark Riley put on a great show.
I hope Maron finds great success in the field of stand up, and I appreciate that he is moving on.
Maybe Mr. Maron was not everybody's cup o' tea but Morning Sedition was the most refreshing, creative and entertaining show on the nascent AAR. I doubt that the 'critics' here ever really listened or have no sense of humour or are just con-trolls. The Marc Maron Show after ne was 'exiled' to LA was always good and just hitting its stride when it was killed. The fact that Maron brought in some entertainment elements including many of his very talented friends in comedy was something that distinguished his programs from the other droning or ranting, screaming hosts that populate the genre.
It wasn't a carriage question, it was a 'Danny Goldberg was a foolish and pompous jerk' question that AAR is still trying to overcome.
The loss of Marc Maron at AAR is a tremendous blow and possibly a sign that AAR will never get back to its glory days of it was starting out. Hopefully AAR 2.0 will find its footing and become a new breath of fresh air, both entertaining and informative and not just a one trick pony. I hope Maron lands a regular radio slot somewhere to his liking with something like a Morning Sedition ensemble to complement his upcoming HBO effort.
I was introduced to Maron in "
Left of the Dial" the HBO documentary about the early days of AAR. He was so embarrassing in his neediness that at first I thought it was a mini-performance art piece. then it was just plain skin-crawling embarassing. His take on Sam's show was no better than average AAR fare. Nuff said.
There are some smart radio people here. Can you tell me why you think KTLK would replace Randi in drive time with Mr. K who is hewing to general talk about Starbucks, celebrity gossip, etc. Today there was almost a listener uprising about the lack of progressive talk, so he did some.
It seems a bit suspicious when you throw into the mix that they moved their highest rated Ed Schultz Show from noon to 7 pm, which has been preempted by sports most every night. They say this is so Randi can go live, but she had half the ratings of Ed. Could this be self-immolation by Clear Channel, which can't use the phony story about no advertisers that they used to shut down the other AAR affiliates?
If all you're basing your view of Marc Maron on is "Left of the Dial", then you're not really being fair. Yes, Maron is a neurotic Jewish comic. This is news? And the time the film chronicles is the very beginning of AAR, before either MS OR Maron had hit his stride. Maron and Seder grew more as on-air personalities than anyone else at AAR, certainly more so than Al Franken, who for my money is so far much better on the campaign trail than in the studio.
HBO didn't select Maron for "The Gaggle" because he's the guy you saw in "Left of the Dial", they chose him because he's funny, he can rant, AND he's become a damn fine interviewer.
> he can rant, AND he's become a
> damn fine interviewer.
Too bad he didn't try doing that on Morning Sedation. Mostly he talked about the Manhattan deli where he has lunch and the comedy clubs where he and his friends were appearing.
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