Rover's Morning Glory

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Rover's Morning Glory

The Show's Official Logo
Genre Talk, Comedy
Running time ~5 hours per episode, Monday through Friday
Country Flag of the United States United States
Home station WMMS-FM, Cleveland, Ohio
Starring Rover (Shane French), Duji (Susan Maria Catanese), Dieter (Dominic Dieter), Dumb (Shaun Street), and Chocolate Charlie
Creators Rover (Shane French)
Executive producers Rover (Shane French), Duji (Susan Catanese)
Air dates March 24, 2003 to Present
Opening theme Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson
Website
http://www.roverradio.com

Rover’s Morning Glory is a syndicated talk radio program hosted by Shane “Rover” French. It airs live Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 11 AM ET. The show is distributed by RoverMedia, Inc. and agent Robert Eatman of Robert Eatman Enterprises. It's a blend of discussion on current events and pop culture, as well as social commentary targeted at a male audience. As of April 1, 2008 the program's flagship station is WMMS 100.7 FM in Cleveland, Ohio. [1][2]

Contents

[edit] Rover’s Radio Career

[edit] KXTE-FM Las Vegas, NV

Rover began his radio career at KXTE-FM Las Vegas, NV (X-107.5 Xtreme Radio). His first day on the air was his 21st birthday, September 21, 1996. In what is now a widely recounted story, Rover saw an ad in the newspaper looking for part-time disc jockeys on the station. With no experience under his belt, he created a fake résumé and demo tape and sent it to KXTE program director Mike Stern. When called in for an interview, Rover told Stern he had prior experience at WLUM-FM Milwaukee, as his demo tape suggested. It was at this point Stern told Rover he knew the program director of WLUM and that Rover had never worked there. Thinking he was in trouble, Rover got up to leave but was called back by Stern, who was impressed someone would go to such great lengths to get a job.

[edit] WNFZ-FM Knoxville, TN

In 1998 Rover left to take the evening DJ and Music Director position at WNFZ-FM Knoxville, TN (94.3 Extreme Radio), his first full-time radio position. He quit the job when he thought he had secured a job working for former boss Mike Stern at WKRK-FM (now WXYT-FM) Detroit, MI (97.1 Xtreme Radio), but it was found out the day after Rover quit that the station was unexpectedly flipping formats from rock to talk. lll

[edit] KXPK-FM Denver, CO

In 1999 Rover was hired by Stern at KXPK-FM Denver, CO (96.5 The Peak). Initially he held the afternoon drive position from 3 to 7 PM, but management quickly decided his show was too racy for PM drive after he barged into the studios of another radio station live on the air (carrying human feces in a paper bag) to start a confrontation with the competing disc jockeys at KALC-FM (Alice 106). Rover was moved to evenings and was heard from 7 PM to Midnight. It was during this time he started the dating segment The Thursday Hook-Up, which still continues to this day. Rover left the station in 2000 after it was bought by another broadcasting company and flipped to Spanish.

[edit] Comedy World, Los Angeles

2000 was the first year Rover ventured into an all-talk format, at the now-defunct Comedy World Radio Network. He hosted a syndicated show heard on a handful of AM stations and on the internet. Based in Los Angeles, Rover did the morning show for east-coast affiliates, meaning he had to be live on the air from 3 AM to 6 AM PT to be heard 6 AM to 9 AM ET. Comedy World soon went bankrupt and ceased operations, and was featured in the book F'd Companies: Spectacular Dot-Com Flameouts.

[edit] KISW-FM Seattle, WA

In 2001 Rover joined rock station KISW-FM Seattle, WA and did the 7 PM to Midnight shift. He was fired just a few months later after a female guest on his show got naked and ran around the radio station offices.

[edit] WKRK-FM Cleveland, OH

Rover joined WKRK-FM Cleveland, OH (then WXTM-FM) in March of 2003. This was the birthplace of the current show now known as Rover’s Morning Glory. Rover thought of the name of the show just a few days before going on the air: it’s widely believed the title is double-entendre for a morning erection.[citation needed] On February 15, 2008, Rover reportedly informed CBS management that he had signed a contract with WKRK rival WMMS. Rover's Morning Glory was subsequently barred from airing during the remainder of their contract with CBS.

[edit] Syndication and WCKG-FM Chicago, IL

Rover’s Morning Glory began syndicating to other radio markets in March of 2005. It was announced in October 2005 that CBS Radio would use Rover to fill some of the morning vacancies on their radio stations created by the departure of Howard Stern to Sirius Satellite Radio. David Lee Roth and Adam Carolla were the other two hosts tapped to fill Stern’s former stations. In January of 2006 the show moved its home base to WCKG-FM Chicago, IL while continuing to broadcast to affiliates. The move to Chicago was broadly considered a misstep both on the part of Rover and CBS Radio. The talk format of WCKG skewed more to an audience of 35 years or older, while Rover’s show targeted persons between the ages of 18 and 34, thus the show never gained ratings traction. Rover’s Morning Glory left WCKG in August of 2006 and moved their home base back to WKRK-FM Cleveland while continuing syndication.

[edit] WMMS-FM Cleveland, OH

On March 17, 2008 Rover formally announced he would move the show to WMMS beginning April 1, 2008.[3]

[edit] Show Members

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[edit] Rover

Rover, who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the host of the show and could be considered its ringleader. While sometimes displaying a juvenile, crass demeanor, he is generally thought of to be the most balanced of the bunch, and will often work heavier topics such as war and politics into the locker-room humor of the show.

[edit] Duji

Duji grew up in Rockford, Illinois. She often takes offense at Rover and Dieter’s opinions. She is an avowed cat-lover and is considered a nosy busybody by many of the show’s fans.

[edit] Dieter

(Dominic) Dieter grew up in Willoughby Hills, Ohio and attended imaculate conception before going to Willoughby South High School. A former Division III football player for the Mount Union College Purple Raiders, he won three NCAA national championships during his college career. He obsesses over health and fitness, and it’s widely believed he is currently using or has used anabolic steroids in the past due to his propensity for rage-fueled aggressive outburst. He has gained national media attention multiple times for his Dare Dieter segment.

[edit] Dumb

Dumb is the phone-screener for the show. Married in 2006 to wife Andrea, he often takes heat for letting her push him around. The show occasionally plays audio from a sappy CD Dumb made to propose to his wife, as well as the actual vows from his wedding. Provided to Rover by the wedding videographer without Dumb’s knowledge, Dumb can be heard breaking down and crying as he recites the vows. Dumb gained international fame by being the naked guy dancing around a reporter in the snow, during one of Cleveland's blizzards. He has also admitted to crying while having sex.

[edit] Chocolate Charlie

Chocolate Charlie (aka Mike Toomey) grew up in North Ridgeville, Ohio and is DJ Jazzy Jim's replacement as the new sound board operator. His name comes from his resemblance to the actor who portrayed Charlie Bucket in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Gained public notoriety for defeating Dumb in a rap battle, and recently released video of himself getting beat up in Canada.

[edit] Famous Bits and Stunts

  • Jinxy the Cat: Rover purportedly tied helium balloons to various objects to see how many it would take to lift them off the ground. One was supposedly a kitten, which got away and took off on a 45-minute flight followed closely by Cleveland television stations and prompting numerous 911 calls from concerned listeners. The stunt was covered in an article in the Los Angeles Times[4] and was promptly copied by radio stations in Philadelphia and Denver.[5] Ironically, the radio hosts that copied the stunt in Denver were the same ones who Rover had an altercation with while at KXPK-FM.
  • Stun-Gunned Homeless People: An uproar was caused after Rover sent someone out on the street to offer homeless people pizzas if they would volunteer to be stun-gunned live on the air, many of whom took up the offer.

[edit] Dare Dieter

Dieter began work on the show as a phone-screener. When a full-time on-air position became available, he volunteered to start a segment called Dare Dieter, in which we would do any stunt or dare submitted by listeners every Friday. Dieter said if he ever turned down a dare he would go back to phone-screening, a promise that was often held over his head during the segment by listeners. The feature was ended by Rover and CBS Radio management after Dieter suffered a serious injury and temporary paralysis during a stunt involving a barrel roll on July 13, 2007.[7] Although it is not certain whether the segment will return, an on-air conversation between Dieter and Rover on April 1, 2008 suggested that Dieter may attempt to bring it back.

[edit] Notable Dare Dieter Stunts

  • Barrel Roll: Dieter was put in a metal 85-gallon drum and rolled down a hill. Halfway down the lid popped off and Dieter’s head popped out and repeatedly hit the ground. He was unable to feel or move his legs for approximately 45 minutes and was rushed to a hospital, where he was diagnosed as having spinal compression. This stunt ended Dare Dieter.
  • Bug Zapper: Dieter received serious burns after he put his tongue on a plugged-in bug zapper.
  • Fireworks: Dieter sat bare-assed on a 5-gallon bucket while a roll of firecrackers and bottle rockets inside were lit.
  • Snorted Remains: Dieter snorted the cremated remains of Dumb’s grandfather on the air.
  • Full Body Burn: Dieter was lit on fire in a full-body burn, then jumped into Lake Erie.
  • Loogie Bong: A beer-bong was passed around and everyone on the show spit loogies into it, which was then bonged by Dieter.

[edit] Featured Segments

[edit] The Shizzy

Duji reads the news at the top of every hour and the crew comments on the stories. A running joke is how often Duji screws up details of the stories or mispronounces names.

[edit] The Thursday Hook-Up

A single woman comes into the studio every Thursday and takes calls from guys and asks them questions. She then chooses one to take on a date and Rover pays for the evening.

[edit] Homeless Hummers

Former segment where Homeless Bill would sing songs and listeners would try to guess what he was singing. Since moving to Clear Channel this segment has apparently ceased, with Rover citing the difficulty getting access to Homeless Bill now that the show is no longer based in downtown Cleveland.

[edit] Know the Show

A question asked at the end of the show about something that happened or was said during the program that day. A prize is given out to the first caller to give the correct answer.

[edit] Ask Rover

A segment where Rover reads questions from fans and offers advice.

[edit] Tech Tuesday

A segment where Rover brings on an electronics and tech expert who answers any and all questions that callers or show members have. A prize is given out to a caller at the end of the segment.

[edit] War on the Shore

On Saturday, July 12, 2005 Dieter fought professional boxer Eric “Butterbean” Esch in a bout billed as “War on the Shore.”[8] Months earlier Dieter called Butterbean a fat slob on the air, and the two got into fight in the studio. Over the next couple of months Dieter trained for his first-ever boxing match with a professional fight instructor.

Rover worked with the City of Cleveland to shut down a street in the downtown area, had a ring erected in the middle of the road and brought in beer-vending trucks. Rover told the city he wasn’t sure how many people would attend, but low-balled the guess at 750. Police estimated over 12,000 people came out to see the three-round fight, resulting in a near-riot as throngs of fans climbed light polls and street signs to get a better view of the ring. Police forced the show to start the fight almost an hour early because of concerns the crowd would become uncontrollable.

During the first round Butterbean seemed to toy with an uneasy Dieter. But during the second round Butterbean went on the offensive, aggressively trying to knock Dieter out. He succeeded in knocking him down and temporarily unconscious, but Dieter was able to get back to his feet just before the bell rang. Seemingly annoyed at his inability to knock Dieter out, Butterbean let his fists fly in the third round, knocking Dieter down a few more times. But each time Dieter was able to get up before the ten-count.

The fight ended in a unanimous decision for Butterbean on all judges’ scorecards. Dieter suffered a broken rib and serious bruising from the fight. Afterwards Butterbean expressed a great respect for Dieter’s ability to withstand the punishment doled out by a professional fighter, and the two became friends. Butterbean has since been in-studio and participated in other events with the show.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Weird Al Yankovic

An incident on the September 21, 2006 broadcast sparked controversy when, during an on-air telephone interview interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the crew asked about the death of Yankovic's parents, causing him to become audibly upset. At the end of the interview, Yankovic hung up abruptly. This was followed by numerous angry calls from both concerned listeners and Al's publicist, during which Rover defended his line of questioning.

[edit] SuccessTech Academy School Shooting

After the SuccessTech Academy school shooting on October 10, 2007, the "Rover's Morning Glory" website leaked a crime scene photo taken of the gunman after his suicide.[9] A Cleveland policeman, Walter Emerick, was later found to have taken the picture using his personal cell phone camera.[10] It’s unclear how Rover obtained the photo. Rover stated on the air it was his intent to show kids the real final result of a school-shooting (the perpetrator lying dead), as opposed to the glorified version of events put out by the media (surveillance video of inside the school as the perpetrator shot at helpless students).

Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland police union, claimed the picture could have been taken for legitimate evidentary purposes[11] . This claim has been widely panned, as the picture was taken with a low-resolution cell phone camera not suitable for investigative purposes, and the officer distributed the photo to acquaintances.

Rover has stated on-air that he did not intend for the officer to get in trouble and that the purpose of posting the picture was not to go after the police, but rather show kids the true cowardice and horror of school shootings.

[edit] Criminal Charges

Rover and Dieter had criminal charges pressed against them for a December 20, 2007 stunt relating to the filming of a reality TV show chronicling Rover’s Morning Glory. DJ Jazzy Jim smashed the windshield of Dieter’s car while Cleveland police looked on. Inexplicably, Rover and Dieter were charged, even though it was apparent DJ Jazzy Jim was the perpetrator. Video footage from the event showed Rover did nothing, and even told Jim to go back inside the building before he smashed the car. The producer of the reality TV show, on the prosecution’s witness list, stated that Rover and Dieter had no advance knowledge Jim was going to smash the car, and that it was not part of the planned reality show. After viewing the video evidence, instead of dropping charges against Rover and Dieter, Cleveland Prosecutor Victor Perez pressed charges against DJ Jazzy Jim as well.

Rover agreed to a plea deal that forced him to pay a $250 fine and also saw the charges dropped against Dieter and DJ Jazzy Jim. Prosecutor Perez allegedly told defense lawyers that Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and Cleveland Department of Law Director Robert J. Triozzi specifically wanted Rover prosecuted, even though evidence showed he was not culpable for the alleged crimes.

It has been speculated that this was payback for the embarrassment brought upon city administration from the SuccessTech Academy shooting photo leak, as well as for criticism of local government by Rover.


[edit] Recurring Themes and Inside Jokes

  • References to Paco: One of the Dare Dieter stunts involved Dieter tongue-kissing a gay transsexual man named Paco. Years later people still invoke the name of Paco.
  • Hey Baby, It’s Me: The first line in the audio tape Dumb made to propose to his wife Andrea, sending her on a scavenger hunt. Often ridiculed by the other show members.
  • C.L.Y.: Short for "Cleveland Loves You." The catch-phrase was introduced by fans of the show, but some complained it took too long to say at the beginning of phone calls. Longtime listeners now often say “Rover, C.L.Y.”.
  • R-BAY: Rover’s shorthand word for "Right Back At Ya" after a caller uses "C.L.Y.".
  • Chlamydia: Often brought-up in offhanded remarks after Rover admitted on-air to having contracted the sexually-transmitted-disease Chlamydia once at the age of 21.
  • A.C.S.: Short for Adios Cock Suckers. The last words you hear from Dieter as they sign off for the day.

[edit] Television Projects

  • Rover was a Cleveland Browns pregame reporter for CBS affiliate WOIO-TV Cleveland for two seasons. He would roam the stadium parking lots partying with fans prior to the game.
  • Rover was a commentator on Rover’s Fightfest TV, a mixed-martial-arts fighting program that aired on the SportsTime Ohio network.
  • A reality-TV program based on Rover's Morning Glory is currently in development.

[edit] Awards and Recognition

[edit] References

  1. ^ Red Rover, Red Rover, Send WMMS Right Over. WOIO-TV (2008-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  2. ^ Ohio Media Watch
  3. ^ Rover's Morning Glory Comes to WMMS. WOIO-TV (2008-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  4. ^ The Merry Pranksters of the Air. Los Angeles Times (2003-05-26). Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  5. ^ Radio Station's Floating Cat Story Copies Cleveland Stunt. TheDenverChannel.com (2003-05-05). Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  6. ^ Rover's Morning Glory - Dumb Streak on MSNBC
  7. ^ Cleveland News Channel 5 Noon News
  8. ^ WXTM/Cleveland's "War On The Shore" A Real Hit. FMQB (2005-07-22). Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  9. ^ Crime scene photograph from school shooting makes way to internet. WKYC. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  10. ^ http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/10/22/12556apohschoolshootingphoto.html
  11. ^ Cleveland cop used cell phone to snap photo of dead Asa Coon. Cleveland Plain Dealer (2007-10-19). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
  12. ^ R&R - Radio & Records, Inc

[edit] External links