Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Say it ain't so, Phil!

Phil Hendrie is leaving radio to pursue acting fulltime. For those who aren’t familiar with Hendrie’s act, he’s created maybe the most original talk show ever done on that format and he’s the only person in the world who can do it. Every hour he interviews a “guest” but it’s really him doing another voice. As the hour unfolds the guest becomes progressively more audacious and infuriating. Incensed listeners then call the station and argue with him on the air. They don’t realize it’s a put on. Even after EIGHTEEN YEARS! The outrageous premises are funny and the idiot callers’ reactions are even funnier. It is satire and improv and theatre at its best. And Phil manages to play both the host and the guest and never gets tripped up. He’s Lenny Bruce, Ernie Kovacs, Danny Kaye, and Jon Stewart all rolled into one.

In the world of radio he is a king.

In the world of acting he’s just another schmuck.

Not that he’s not talented as a thesp, but come on, what success he’s had in television is directly related to his work in radio. For the last couple of years he’s had pilots built around him, even an animated one. None of them went. He’s currently in TEACHERS, a show that will soon hear the end of class bell. His brilliance and originality doesn’t translate well to television.

Chances are he’ll be up for more pilots and will guest in a few series. And maybe he’ll hit. I hope so. I hope he’s the next Tim Allen. But if not, after a couple of years he might become just one of those character actors who go up for day player roles. And as someone who idolizes Phil’s work, I will be so depressed if someday I’m casting a two day three-line part for a hotel clerk and see his name on the casting call list along with twenty others middle aged bald guys.

Phil may say to me “I could be the next Bob Crane.” But I would say to Phil: “Yeah, but you could also be the next Jay Thomas.”

Don’t give up your night job, Phil. Maybe just work weekends if you want more time to pursue your acting career. But anybody can be a desk clerk, only you can be Phil Hendrie and the hundred other people you play on the radio.

5 comments :

Frank Strovel III said...

Teachers is not a funny show.

Sure wish I could hear Hendrie's act on radio, though.

Barefoot Billy Aloha said...

He's got to be a member of the Never Give Up club.

Phil's bio says he was working as a talk show host at a tiny station in the middle of the lettuce fields of Ventura, CA, for $1,500/month at age 38 in 1990. The station had no callers, so he made up his own, beginning with an Iraqi in support of Saddam during Desert Storm. Plenty o' callers soon followed.

Cunningham said...

You're right, Ken. Phil needs to stick with his strengths and expand from there, not jump over to something where he's going to get "lost."

Phil should write a book of his best "interviews". He should also build a website of material. In this era of broadband webcasting, he could do a small animated show that mimics his radio program and build his "brand."

Anonymous said...

As an actor, Phil could possibly get lost in the shuffle. But he's going in now as a well-known entity, a beloved radio star to so many LA executives who call the shots.

His brand preceeds him. People will want to work with him and develop his characterizations into a concept. Because he's also known as decent, intelligent and not arrogant, this will work to separate him from many other thesps.

Obviously, if things don't translate into ratings he might hear the clock ticking. The radio show, from conception to airtime, sounds like much more work than acting, at least creatively. It sounds about right, hearing him say he's taken the characters as far as they can go on radio.

Hopefully he'll enjoy a long run on a fantastic show. If not, he can pick up again where he left off. Radio will always have an open door to one of its best.

Anonymous said...

Omigod! No Phil Hendrie?! When I moved back to Rochester in 1999 from LA, I started dx-ing the AM dial to see if his show was being carried by any stations on the east coast. Finally found one about two years ago in Albany... The guy's one of a kind -- and I can't believe after all these years, people were still calling in and falling for his routine! When he first went on the air at KFI, I was convinced (even when I knew it was a put-on) that he had two or three other people in the studio doing the voices of the "callers". Nobody could switch voices that fast... Phil, you'll always touch my schizophrenic side...