This isn't the first time that The Hideout, one of the greatest radio shows D.C. has ever produced, has returned to town. But hopefully, they'll stick around for good this time:
The only question is, which show will it be? Using Coke as a metaphor, will it be "Hideout Classic" or "New Hideout"?
After they got laid off from their station in Orlando, Jefe and Dubs messed around with their format a bit as they tried to land a gig elsewhere. First, they added a buddy of theirs, Shaffee, to the show. This proved to be a horrendous mistake, as he had little chemistry with them, and disrupted the flow that had so carefully been established over the past few years. During their week of test shows on JFK, it was evident to pretty much everyone but Jefe and Dubs that he didn't fit in.
Second, and most egregious, during their last round of test shows (and later, in podcasts they made to keep themselves out there) they dropped virtually all of the trademarks of The Hideout that made the show great: listener calls, discussions of their personal lives (including their excremental and masturbatory habits), painful physical stunts, and lots and lots of homoerotic humor. The name of the show was changed to NEXT, and instead of an entertaining free-form show, it became this heavily structured thing where they would count down and discuss the biggest news stories of the day.
It wasn't pretty.
This transition from The Hideout to NEXT reminded me of when network TV takes a really brilliant, edgy comedian, and instead of keeping him brilliant and edgy, shoehorns him into some insipid, formulaic sitcom that'll appeal to audiences who like insipid, formulaic television. Like Bob Saget, arguably one of the best, most filthy comedians in history, doing Full House. Or those lame sitcoms George Carlin and Sam Kinnison did. Sure, if you've never listened to them before, you might enjoy NEXT. But for anyone who was a fan of The Hideout, it was almost unlistenable radio. To an extent, this was understandable, because if they could have gotten hired somewhere doing The Hideout, I'm sure they wouldn't have made the switch. As a listener, that didn't make it any less frustrating, though.
Supposedly, the new show will be a combination of The Hideout and NEXT. I guess I can live with this, though I hope there's a lot more of the former than the latter.
One more thing: Jefe and Dubs are great, but the show needs Chunks and Bateman, their producers, who unfortunately seem to have fallen by the wayside since the Orlando show ended. This isn't optional. Hideout Heretics.net has made every episode of the show available for download, and I've been burning through two or three of them a day on my iPod. Having listened to the post-Orlando shows, you really appreciate how much they bring to the table. Getting them back should be a top priority for Jefe and Dubs. They're both local, so hopefully, something can be worked out.
All in all, though, this is really exciting news. Considering how lame D.C. talk radio has become, it's great when a show like this is able to make a comeback. Hopefully, WJFK (and for that matter, Jefe and Dubs) won't find a way to fuck it up.
DCRTV tipped you off to this last week. And now we hear that former WJFK-FMers El Jefe and J Dubs will be returning to the CBS Radio talker. They'll air on Saturday evenings, after Maryland Terps football. Eventually, the duo will wind up in the 6 PM to 9 PM slot. And, they're resurrecting "The Hideout" name. El Jefe and J Dubs left WJFK-FM, 106.7, several years ago for a gig at a Florida radio talker. But they got bounced from that late last year. (DCRTV)
The only question is, which show will it be? Using Coke as a metaphor, will it be "Hideout Classic" or "New Hideout"?
After they got laid off from their station in Orlando, Jefe and Dubs messed around with their format a bit as they tried to land a gig elsewhere. First, they added a buddy of theirs, Shaffee, to the show. This proved to be a horrendous mistake, as he had little chemistry with them, and disrupted the flow that had so carefully been established over the past few years. During their week of test shows on JFK, it was evident to pretty much everyone but Jefe and Dubs that he didn't fit in.
Second, and most egregious, during their last round of test shows (and later, in podcasts they made to keep themselves out there) they dropped virtually all of the trademarks of The Hideout that made the show great: listener calls, discussions of their personal lives (including their excremental and masturbatory habits), painful physical stunts, and lots and lots of homoerotic humor. The name of the show was changed to NEXT, and instead of an entertaining free-form show, it became this heavily structured thing where they would count down and discuss the biggest news stories of the day.
It wasn't pretty.
This transition from The Hideout to NEXT reminded me of when network TV takes a really brilliant, edgy comedian, and instead of keeping him brilliant and edgy, shoehorns him into some insipid, formulaic sitcom that'll appeal to audiences who like insipid, formulaic television. Like Bob Saget, arguably one of the best, most filthy comedians in history, doing Full House. Or those lame sitcoms George Carlin and Sam Kinnison did. Sure, if you've never listened to them before, you might enjoy NEXT. But for anyone who was a fan of The Hideout, it was almost unlistenable radio. To an extent, this was understandable, because if they could have gotten hired somewhere doing The Hideout, I'm sure they wouldn't have made the switch. As a listener, that didn't make it any less frustrating, though.
Supposedly, the new show will be a combination of The Hideout and NEXT. I guess I can live with this, though I hope there's a lot more of the former than the latter.
One more thing: Jefe and Dubs are great, but the show needs Chunks and Bateman, their producers, who unfortunately seem to have fallen by the wayside since the Orlando show ended. This isn't optional. Hideout Heretics.net has made every episode of the show available for download, and I've been burning through two or three of them a day on my iPod. Having listened to the post-Orlando shows, you really appreciate how much they bring to the table. Getting them back should be a top priority for Jefe and Dubs. They're both local, so hopefully, something can be worked out.
All in all, though, this is really exciting news. Considering how lame D.C. talk radio has become, it's great when a show like this is able to make a comeback. Hopefully, WJFK (and for that matter, Jefe and Dubs) won't find a way to fuck it up.
2 comments:
Huge El Jefe and J Dubs fans work at Big Head DC and even know where Fowlerville is in Michigan. Thank you for keeping us updated on the fellas. We want them on every night like the good ole days with Ron and Fez as the lead-in. Can that happen in the DC Universe?
I guess we'll know around May, when The Don & Mike Show ends, and JFK will have to reshuffle its schedule. If The Hideout still can't get any love, it's probably time for them to give JFK the finger and move on for good.
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