Category: Press

From Radio Info: Phil Hendrie just filmed a guest-starring role on ABC-TV’s award-winning “Modern Family” series, for the upcoming episode titled “Me Jealous.” The Talk Radio Network personality (should we say “multi-personality?”) has done plenty of on- and off-camera TV work, and in the Modern Family show, he plays a character named “Boots.”

From TV Without Pity: Modern Family is getting a bunch of guest stars of their own, too! Phil Hendrie is shooting this week as an unknown role, while Ellen Barkin will guest star as Vera, a tough, legendary real estate broker who just so happens to be Phil’s nemesis. Yay for new plotlines!

Modern Family Adopts Hendrie

One of radio’s most consistently innovative radio personalities, TRN’s Phil Hendrie, lenthis prodigious talents out this week to another medium as he taped a guest-starring role on an upcoming episode of ABC-TV’s Emmy Award-winning Modern Family. No stranger to television work, Hendrie has previously parlayed his unique “man of 1,000 voices” talent on such series as King of the Hill, Futurama and Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and let’s not forget Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s marionette masterpiece Team America: World Police. RAMP caught up with Hendrie, cast in the pivotal role of “Boots,” during a break in taping, where he described the environment on the hit series. “Modern Family is a unique opportunity for me,” he tells RAMP. “To be on set with terrific comedic actors and learn from them, people who’ve helped create a hit show, is a learning experience I’ll take full advantage of. And working with happy people too is rare! Great time!” Here’s a souvenir picture smuggled from the set — shown are (l-r) Modern Family’s Ed O’Neill, director Michael Spiller, Hendrie and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Hendrie’s TRN-syndicated radio show can be heard on about 100 stations and is carried every Saturday night on the mighty KFI-AM/Los Angeles. Special thanks to Phil and the lovely Amir Forester for the hookup!

 

Phil Hendrie Guest Stars on Modern Family

THE MOUTH, DECEMBER 7TH, 2011 — TRN/KFI-AM Los Angeles radio personality Phil Hendrie is aptly busy this week on the set of ABC-TV’s Emmy Award winning series Modern Family. As a guest star playing the role of “Boots” on the “Me Jealous?” episode, Hendrie takes a time out for this photo. Left to right: Ed O’Neill, Director Michael Spiller, Hendrie and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. “It’s not hard to figure out why Modern Family is a hit show,” says Hendrie. “Everyone, Ed O’Neill, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, all of the crew, they were kind, complimentary and helpful. Very, very positive people to be around. I’m so grateful for the experience. Thanks Modern Family!”

 

(by Ed Ryan)

For 21 years now Phil Hendrie has been broadcasting a unique style of radio theatre that, it’s easy to say, only he can pull off to perfection. He’s been doing it night after night, week after week, year after year. Most of you probably know that Hendrie artfully and without mistake, bobs and weaves, in and out of male, female and child-like voices errorless and for hours every night. He does it so seamlessly that some callers are duped into believing the voices are actual guests and their outrageous comments to Phil, the straight-man host, are real. Even after two decades Hendrie gets callers not only believing the routine but outraged enough to call in. Hendrie cannot get a caller involved, he just creates and adds him – or her – to the routine. Those that DO get the show belly-laugh as the caller unravels with rage and Hendrie eggs the guest (him) on while supporting the callers position. For those of you new to the radio business we would encourage you to give Hendrie a listen.

We’ve been living in a lifetime filled with political talkers, mostly from the right, launched by Rush and followed by many. Most consultants tell you if you are unique, you’ll have a place in radio. Stand out. Don’t be a follower, etc. etc. Hendrie is, perhaps, too unique for radio. And, his show is too unique to have others try to steal what he does. His characters have grown their own fan bases, some of them have their own Facebook pages and Twitter accounts which, of course, are all monitored by Hendrie. You would think he’d be a perfect morning man for today’s radio. You get a 3-5 person team for the price of one and no need for co-ed bathrooms. Yet, on most stations, Hendrie is heard from 1AM to 4AM.

Up until recently, technology has been a good friend to Hendrie. That may be changing. Now, he makes a significant amount of money online but worries that may be in jeapordy. Michael Robertsons DAR.FM ranks Hendrie as the 5th most recorded show behind Rush and several NPR programs. That’s good news right? A sign his show is popular. The flipside of that is that Hendrie has built up a significant online revenue stream with his backstage pass but now fans can record his show for free on DAR.FM and ditch the annual cost they pay to listen to the show. DAR.FM allows listeners to record the show and have it sit in the cloud for playback whenever it’s convenient for the listener. And, 1AM to 4AM, when the show is live is not very convenient. Now Hendrie’s fans pay an annual fee to listen to archived shows and watch him perform his comedy on Phil TV. If DAR becomes part of the mainstream what will happen to Hendrie’s extra paycheck? Can you say dwindle Bobbie Dooley?

Hendrie has thoughts on all these topics. He never worries about what others in the industry think and he’s never politically correct. That’s always a breath of fresh air for an interviewer. I had a chance to talk to Phil at the Radio show in Chicago. Here is that interview.

                                                 CHECK OUT PHIL’S WEBSITE HERE

– On the Radio Show panel in Chicago you had strong feelings about the radio industry as it is today.
The radio business is following to the letter the model of failure the auto industry followed. Trying to tear a dollar in half to make two dollars is not making better cars or better radio shows. You make cow dung while you’re chasing the art of manipulating the consumer into spending more for cow dung or inferior cow dung. And of course it is chasing down and mastering the art of passing your debt off to bigger and more distant entities until you are owned by people who could care about radio, they have a seat-cover company to run.

Radio will die the death of a thousand cuts unless it pays more attention to its product. And it’s not cow dung, no matter how fresh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a business with more disdain for its own product than radio. These people are literally, troubled and disgusted and distracted by radio shows. Because it’s no longer anything you can hide from. The artist is doing his job. But the managers can’t sell it, can’t market it, can’t promote it, can’t pronounce it, can’t protect it. The talent shortage is at that level.

– Your thoughts on PD’s and GM’s and how they run their stations today?
Well this question follows what I was just saying. But let me give you the bottom line on these people. I have been approached by just about every heavy hitter in programming who wants to tell me how “brilliant” I am. Not one of them has put me on their stations and here’s why: To do that is to have to position my show properly, sell it, in other words do some actual work. Management has for years used the old stand-by argument that talent is the problem. Well, they can’t do that anymore. No can do, brother.

    FOR SYNDICATION INFO ON THE PHIL HENDRIE SHOW VISIT THE TRN WEBSITE

Now they’re getting push back from guys like me telling them to get off their ass and go out and get some business done. And if you can’t do that without hanging onto a ratings book or PPM like a security blanket then let’s hire some young guys out of college or wherever who are hungry and who can. But the management and programming guys don’t like that kind of direct talk from talent. Shoe’s on the other foot though now. Talent is hiring former managers and programmers. That’s where their future lies so they need to start seeing things from our perspective. 

How can they be better?
There was a window where they could have been. But, with the exception of a handful of people out there, (my guys at KFI, Robin and Greg) they can’t anymore. They are strictly order-takers. And they know it. Their primary concern is implementing the strategy coming from the Mother/Father computer at The Shareholder Complex.
 
I get the sense you are not a big fan of corporate radio.
That’s not true. All I’ve ever worked for are radio corporations and I can tell you the ones I loved and enjoyed working with. Cox, Greater Media, CBS, Clear Channel, Rounsaville Radio, Noe Broadcasting. I had great times at all of them. What I’m NOT a big fan of are lazy-ass corporate broadcasters going after the “low-hanging fruit” (code for ‘I don’t work that hard’) waiting for the order to come in or selling your talent out and booking these “embedded” inter-mercials that the audience doesn’t know from. It’s money, sure and it’s God-awful radio. The cashbox comes to mind. This was a device from the furthest rings of hell that squeezed more minutes out of an hour while turning the show into unlistenable drek. They are the people I referred to at the beginning…looking to tear a dollar bill in half and make two

– How much interaction do you have with listeners who get what the show is about?
I talk with a lot of them on Twitter but frankly I don’t do too much interacting with those active people who do Twitter or comment. There’s a reason for this. My time is best spent trying to improve my art, everything about it. That’s why I have listeners. It’s not best spent jaw-jacking with them. There have been some horrible and misconstrued reactions to me communicating with listeners. In communicating with one who had started a podcast I decided that I didn’t want him to do it anymore and asked that it be taken down..and I was nice about it the first 20 times I asked. But some people you can’t be nice to.

– Why not take your show on the road to theatres?
I’m going to. It’s time, it’ll be fun and I’m eager to do it. I will most likely have to produce it myself but we can start small, a theater in San Diego or LA and then take it national and make millions upon millions and laugh and sing

You are doing very well with your backstage pass.
Thank God what I had fun doing on the radio found a loyal, sometimes cranky, rabid audience. They are possessive of the show, they are Kathy Bates in ‘Misery,” ready to break my legs if I screw something up. In other words they love the hell out of what I do and we charge a subscription price that’s do-able for them. We offer archives and the daily show. We throw in our video-casts. We have blogs. We have an uncensored comment section that has given voice to every kind of person under the sun. We have some merchandise. It’s real “Ma and Pa” and they have more direct access to me than ever before which creates all kinds of situations. Some real drama sometimes.

                       LISTEN TO A CLASSIC PHIL HENDRIE PODCAST HERE

– You are not real happy with your work being recorded and played back for free. You are in a unique position because you are one of the few successful radio personalities making money online. How can you combat this and do you plan to.
Yes, I plan to. But that’s for me to know and for them to find out. It’s outrageous. I had some clown tweet me that it’s like TVO. TVO is integrated into one’s system and is licensed by the concerned parties. No harm, no foul. It’s business. Along come a variety of companies in a variety of places with a variety of access to the different streams. And guess what? Not all of them are available. Well now how about that? They are not available because the parties that own them don’t want them made available for their own business reasons. Now we come to Phil Hendrie. Here’s a guy who is the ultimate victim of this because by speaking out he has made himself a target. Is there anyone in broadcasting speaking up on his behalf? No. Are there any high-powered, industry lawyers out there that want to advocate on his behalf? Hell no. The NAB maybe? No.

And here’s the OTHER good part. If I say anything about this publicly…I’m the a&*%$&! In the words of my close, personal friend Dale Dye “It’s a beautiful f*&%$+%& war.” However, the good news is this. It’s going to get better. We have a DMCA that is in force. And frankly, the US Pirate Party, a group that I thought at first would oppose what I’m fighting for, agrees with me. They want to streamline and clarify the process and I’m with that.

Feedback me about the Phil Hendrie interview at [email protected] or leave your comments below.

Pictured here (left to right) Radio Ink editor Ed Ryan, Phil Hendrie and Streamline Publishing Operations Manager Tom Elmo.

 

LA RADIO

Hendrie & the Simpsons. Entertainment Weekly reported on The Simpsons panel at Comic-Con International.  When series creator Matt Groening was asked who is on his wish list of people to work with, he answered, “Phil Hendrie.” When he heard about the comment, the KTLK evening personality said: “Matt was the very first person in television to reach out to me 13 years ago. He was kind and encouraging. He’s a hero of mine.”

 

INSIDE RADIO

Homer-Hendrie alliance brews.

 

Don’t be surprised if Phil Hendrie turns up on Fox-TV’s “The Simpsons” at some point.  At the Comic-Con International conference, Simpsons creator Matt Groening said the Talk Radio Networks and KFI, Los Angeles personality was one of the people was on his wish list to work with.  Hendrie calls Groening one of his heroes.

“Matt was the very first person in television to reach out to me 13 years ago.  He was kind and encouraging,” Hendrie says.

Read more from Entertainment Weekly HERE.

 

ALL ACCESS

Phil Hendrie Tops Matt Groening’s ‘Wish List’

July 26, 2011 at 12:06 PM (PT)

 

Object of Desire

On a panel about “THE SIMPSONS” at the SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL this weekend, the show’s creator, cartoonist MATT GROENING, responded to a question about his “wish list” of people with whom he would like to work by responding, “PHIL HENDRIE.”

The TALK RADIO NETWORK and CLEAR CHANNEL Talk KFI-A/LOS ANGELES host has been doing voices for animation for several years, notably on “KING OF THE HILL” and the upcoming FOX animated version of “NAPOLEON DYNAMITE.”  He said, “MATT was the very first person in television to reach out to me 13 years ago.  He was kind and encouraging.  He’s a hero of mine.”

Read about the panel at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY by clicking here.

 

NTS ONLINE

Matt And Phil’s “Bro-mance”

http://www.ntsmediaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PhilHendrie.jpegEntertainment Weekly reports that during an interview with The Simpson’s creator Matt Groening at last weekend’s Comic-Con in San Diego, the man behind the iconic FOX Television series was asked who was on his “wish list” of people he’d like to work with. Without missing a beat Groening replied, “Phil Hendrie.” Told of Groening’s comment, The Talk Radio Network syndicated personality and KFI/Los Angeles weekend host said, “Matt was the very first person in television to reach out to me 13 years ago. He was kind and encouraging. He’s a hero of mine.” Hendrie (pictured) has regularly voiced characters on other FOX animated series, including King of the Hill and Futurama. His nightly TRN talk show airs on a reported 100+ stations nationwide.

 

JOCKLINE/MORNING MOUTH

 Simpson’s Creator Has Eye On Phil Hendrie

THE MOUTH, JULY 27TH, 2011 – When series creator Matt Groening was asked at Comic-Con International who is on his wish list of people to work with, according to Entertainment Weekly he answered, “Phil Hendrie.” The Talk Radio Network and KFI-AM Los Angeles radio personality, actor and entrepreneur Phil Hendrie comments, “Matt was the very first person in television to reach out to me 13 years ago. He was kind and encouraging. He’s a hero of mine.” Hendrie’s Talk Radio Network syndicated radio show, heard on about 100 stations, and his local Saturday evening show on Los Angeles’ KFI AM 640 are driven by his cast of fictional characters, all of whom he created and plays on air. As host, Hendrie sets up a topic and discusses it with one of his characters who seamlessly takes the discussion beyond obvious social parameters. Loyal fans enjoy being in on the ruse as Hendrie orchestrates a parody of his own profession — talk radio. READ MORE

Hendrie Host Napoleon Dynamite Panel At Comic-Con

THE MOUTH, JULY 22, 2011 – Talk Radio Network and KFI-AM Los Angeles radio personality, actor and entrepreneur Phil Hendrie was in San Diego yesterday for the sold-out Comic-Con International which draws pop culture consumers to celebrate television, films, comics, gaming and toys. Hendrie is hosting the panel, “Napoleon Dynamite,” featuring original cast members from the hit indie film including John Heder, Tina Majorino, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Sandy Martin, Diedrich Bader and executive producer Mike Scully of The Simpsons. Hendrie is a regular guest star on the animated comedy series. Hendrie presented a sneak peak of the never-before-seen footage of the 20th Century Fox Television show and lead the Q&A session with his fellow cast members. Napoleon Dynamite follows the misadventures of an awkward high school teenager and his quirky friends as they struggle to navigate life in rural Idaho.