WHRB's New Comedy Show Hits Boston Morning Airwaves

Are you tired of starting your day to the sounds of WBZ Radio's Dave Maynard? Would you rather hear a debate between the cooks of Elsie's, the Tasty, and Tommy's?

If so, you are a potential fan of "Hello, Boston!" WHRB's radio station's latest attempt to cut into the prime time morning radio market.

The new comedy show, which will launch itself onto the air Tuesday in the 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. slot, hopes to appeal to the "lunatic fringe of society," said Matthew D. Annenberg '87, co-host of the comedy show.

Each show will be divided into several segments, ranging from interviews with special guests to the "world news report." The news report will star reporter Robert Hanning '87 who will "analyze and interpret news events such as 'Two--headed baby alive and well," explained co-host, Randy Weiner '87. "That's where the community service comes in. People don't have time to read the paper," he added.

Some of the weekly features will include an interview with three performers from the campus theatrical group On Thin Ice and with the rock group Mirror Image.

Other segments will feature skits, tours of the WHRB studio, investigative reporting, and surprise guest appearances. Also scheduled is a "hopefully heated debate" between the organist of the Boston Garden and the organist from the Busch Reisinger Museum, said Annenberg.

Re-Run

"Hello, Boston!," however. is not WHRB's first attempt at a morning comedy show. Last spring, WHRB experimented with a similar program, "The Wakeup Show," which ran for fifteen minutes, and was entirely produced by Annenberg and Weiner.

"But that was last year," said Weiner. "It was experimental in the extreme."

This year's show will have a larger staff, with additional writers, who will design the show's many new segments.

Annenberg and Weiner are "possibly the funniest thing to hit all of humanity," said Hanning. "They make Letterman look like [Baker Professor of Economics] Martin S. Feldstein."

"The important thing is writing the stuff," said Addenberg. "Last year, Randy [Weiner] and I did everthing. This year that's all changed. We will have a core of writers, the hard stuff people."

"Fortunately we have evolved since last year, although we had some good strange guests. We had one Harvard student who did baboon imitations," adds Annenberg. "The Wakeup Show" featured "the morning of ten stars," with the president of the Lampoon, other members of the Lampoon, and some members from On Thin Ice."