Chris Booker
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| Chris Booker | |
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| Born | May 20, 1970 (age 36) Hagerstown, Maryland, USA |
| Occupation | Radio talk show host, TV personality |
Chris Booker (born Christopher Bugher on May 20, 1970) is an American radio and TV personality.
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[edit] Career
Chris Booker is currently the host of the WIOQ "Q102" Philadelphia morning radio show. He is best known for his work at WXRK (92.3 K-Rock), which is now part of CBS Radio's Free FM format as WFNY-FM 92.3 Free FM. He also works as a part-time correspondent for the TV Guide Channel and as host of "Sushi TV" on that network and contributes regular reports on music news for MTV2. Booker is a past contributer for Entertainment Tonight, and appeared on MTV's former series "120 Minutes" and "The Return of the Rock".
Born in Maryland in May 1971 but raised in West Virginia, Booker got his big start in radio in 1989 while attending college in Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1992, he began his self-described "gypsy years radio tour," where he held the positions of On Air Personality and Music Director at a number of different stations in Myrtle Beach and Florence, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.
In 1996, he landed the evening slot at K-Rock in New York, where he met the nation's top radio talk show host, Howard Stern, who made the young DJ a regular on his program. He made numerous appearances on Howard Stern's show under the name "Booger." Booker left K-Rock in 2003 for the morning drive show on the "Blink" version of WNEW. When that format failed and the show was taken off the air, Booker eventually found his way back to K-Rock where his show aired in the afternoon until the format was changed to "Free FM" talk.
On January 3, 2006, Booker's "new" radio show (carrying over many of the same elements and players as his afternoon drive rock show) titled "The Booker Show" debuted from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. The show aired on Monday-Thursday, and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays at WFNY-FM (92.3 Free-FM).
On April 25, 2006, "The Booker Show" aired for the last time on WFNY. Top 40 station WIOQ "Q102" in Philly had called numerous times offering Booker the morning slot and a raise which Booker finally accepted.[citation needed] With the end of "The Booker Show" CBS Radio canceled their entire night host lineup and went back to rock music from after 7 o'clock. (Former Booker show co-host Danni is among the rock DJs now heard in that time slot during the week).
Booker's first show on Q102 Philly aired on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 6:00 am. On his first show, Booker had a conversation/interview with Howard Stern (who was also live on the air on Sirius at the time). He can be heard weekday mornings from 6:00 am - 10:00 am along with Q102's Diego and Blaire. Although Q102 does not broadcast to most of the New York and New Jersey area, his morning show can be listened to on a live stream on Q102's website.
[edit] Personal life
Chris Booker has dated Lynda Lopez, the younger sister of Jennifer Lopez. They met in early 2002 at WNEW-FM in New York, where they worked as co-hosts for the morning show. In early 2005 the couple separated.
As of May 2005, Booker has been dating model and actress, Caron Bernstein. They have resided in New York, now they reside in Philadelphia.
[edit] The Free FM Booker Show
The Booker Show consisted of a few "Regulars" - They all participated in general discussions, but some had their own special segments. They were:
Booker: The Host. Chris Booker presents and conducts special contests and games, discussions of daily topics with callers, special features and interviews. Booker's "Southern Hospitality" (he was born and raised in the south ) charisma, professionalism and his friendly, courteous and fun loving personality are key to the success and popularity of "The Booker Show". Chris Booker is an award winning, well known television and radio broadcast journalist.
Brad Maybe: Has no real specific job, and is often teased for "doing nothing and being useless". Despite the teasing, Brad is good-natured, friendly and humorous and an important member of "Team Booker" (Note: During many broadcasts, Brad has been referenced as being the show's actual Producer). It has also been mentioned that Brad is from Buffalo, NY.
Danni: is the erotic anchorwoman for "Danni's 'Dirty' Weather" and news segments for the show. Her news segment is introduced as "Danni's headlights...er, canlines...here's Danni". It is reported that Danni is attractive and well-endowed as well as a good-natured, humorous, and supportive co-host. Danni also grew up in Newton, Mass.
Jill: "The Barely Eighteen Intern": Jill assists with most contests and games and the important responsibility of screening all incoming phone calls, which comprise a large portion of the daily show. She is sometimes teased good naturedly by the cast and has demonstrated consistent poise, pluck and team spirit. Booker has necessarily been strict at times to help educate Jill in the highly competitive field of Professional Broadcast Communications and Journalism/Communications.
Nick Stevens: Nick, an actor, writer, comedian and former contestant on the first season of ESPN's Dream Job, does the humorous Nick Steven's Daily Sports segment for the show. He co-hosts a comedy show called The Shark Show every weekend downtown at Mo Pitkins' House of Satisfaction.
Caron: Booker's Girlfriend ("The GF"). Caron substitutes for Danni when she is unable to work due to illness or needs time off. She sometimes calls in to relay information about Booker's favourite television shows that he is missing during his show. Caron is an elegant and sophisticated former fashion model who was raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has a beautiful South African accent and is a wonderful team player.
Pinhead: Booker's imaginary friend and ski pro.
[edit] Minor guests
The Booker Show also has some less frequent guests that appear on the show. They are:
Niko the 'Entertaintment' Reporter: A character portrayed by comedian Nick Kroll. "Niko" is a wisecracking Argentinian entertainment reporter with sarcastic and "corny" jokes.
Drinking with Bob: Bob has a New York City Public Access Show on which he breathlessly "Rants" randomly about sobering and silly topics of the day.
Mike The Cop: Booker's Cop friend ,his go to guy on all things "law" he is the ying to Travis's yang. Frequent caller and in studio guest who seems to surprise Booker with his views on any given subject He is also known for not speaking to Booker until his siren theme music is played.
Travis: One of Booker's streetwise friends who occasionally presents "News from the Ghetto" ("LEROIIIII!!!), or calls in to debate on racial and/or social problems that exist within the Afro-American communities of the USA. Travis's bold and sometimes outrageous humour is a welcome addition to "Team Booker" and adds a refreshing perspective to American racial politics.
Nervous Girl: A frequent and always welcome caller to the booker show. Although they have never met, and do not know much about each other, Nervous Girl and Booker are very dear friends. Nervous Girl's real name is Kathy. Kathy considers Booker to be "her Hero" for reasons some regular listeners and Booker are aware of. Nervous Girl is nervous when she speaks with Booker on the telephone because she has a serious crush on "Mr. Sweetness" (Booker). She has great difficulty saying "goodbye" to Chris after each conversation with him. Kathy is recovering from Breast Cancer and is grateful to The Booker Show Cast, especially Chris, for their encouragement and entertainment during this difficult time in her life.
NNMaddox: A genius musician who often creates songs free of charge for the booker show. His most popular songs include "Booker Is A Fag" and recently "Shut Your Goddamn Mouth"
Al Cocchi: A wannabe DJ/reporter who tries his hardest in order to make high quality reports on various subjects for the booker show. Unfortunately he is unsuccessful in his attempts, and is not that great of a reporter. Booker and his minions have been critiquing his reports, and over the few months that he has been sending these reports in, he has greatly increased in reportability.
Al Dukes: He is a former producer who once worked with Booker, and later on the ill-fated David Lee Roth Show. He makes appearances in the show through he blog, called "Al's Boring Blog." He comes on talks about menial things that bother him such as deviled eggs and ear grease on cell phones. Booker plays his blog on the show because he was the only one on the station who would allow Al to put his recorded blog on The Booker Shows web page on free fm.com
Chelsea: A high school girl with a big crush on Booker. Booker will often bring the show to a grinding halt and talk with Chelsea for more than 45 minutes at a time. She hasn't made much of an appearance since the show moved to the nighttime slot.
Christina: Listener from a basement in NYC, does not get radio reception or internet at work, a frequent caller to the show to listen in over the phone. Has started making an appearances on the Q102 show as well.
[edit] Fads
The Gay Bell: Anytime something was said that could be considered "gay," a "ding" would sound, signaling the gayness of the statement. Sample "gay" statements include "Brad kind of pulled me in the office." or anytime a male caller would say "I love you guys." Excessively gay statements would require the sounding of the Gay Gong. There have also been rare instances of the "Reverse Gay Bell" when Booker has used his Executive Authority as host of the show to recind an unneeded Gay Bell.
Name Dropper: Everytime Booker or his guests, or his callers mention that they knew a celebrity, a voice over announces "Name Dropper" over the radio.
