Talk:A Prairie Home Companion

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Contents

[edit] Ralph's inspiration?

The article states that PGP ("Pretty Good Privacy") is the inspiration for "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery", a fictional "sponsor" of the show. Is there any backing for this claim? I believe (but am not sure) that Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery predates PGP -- I think it's mentioned in Keillor's book Lake Wobegon Days. 64.236.170.228 18:23, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Check the article again. It claims that PGP's name was inspired by Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, not the other way around. That puts things in the right order, timewise. -- dcclark (talk) 19:10, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Writer?

Garrison credits "Sarah Bellum" as the only writer on almost all shows. I assume that this is a pseudonym, and that he writes all the material himself, but I have not been able to verify this on the web. Can this be verified & included in the article? David Lark

I think he used to credit "Emmanuel Transmission" which certainly sounded like another pun.
I think "Sarah Bellum" is a pun for "cerebellum"... :-)
Atlant 21:35, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
At one time a laundry list of "pun" names were credited as being "writers", including Sarah Bellum, Amanda Reckonwith, Guy Wire, Warren Piece, and Ella Mentry. Fwgoebel 05:23, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] APHC on TV?

Is this shown on TV? Because if it is, we should find it for the article.

Nope. TrbleClef 22:58, 22 May 2005 (UTC)
I think it was spoofed briefly in an early Simpsons episode, but that's it ;-) —Mulad (talk) 17:52, May 28, 2005 (UTC)
Actually, some episodes of APHC back in the '80s were "simulcast" on TV on PBS and on public radio. I remember watching (and listening) to these shows with my folks as a kid back then... misternuvistor 21:05, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Wouldn't this be a good time for a piece of rhubarb pie? -Walking Armless

Thanks for the reminder, that's a much more common commercial than the Fearmonger's Shop! Added it to the article. --Dcclark 19:18, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Dcclark is right about the Whippets. It's a "town ball" team. The Minnesota Amateur Baseball championship was held over Labor Day weekend in 2005, and the teams were mostly from towns like Lake Wobegon. I can't recall if the school teams have a "name."

I recall "60 Minutes" did a segment on GK & PHC. "Great Preformaces" also did a simucast of the last show of the 2006 season & a special New Year's show. Not really much to see, just a bunch of actors reading from scripts -joseph.thacker@baesystems.com

[edit] on BBC7: What's underwriting.

"There are also no underwriting credits, as BBC and RTÉ do not use underwriting as a means of funding broadcasts. However, some of the programme's fictional sponsors are credited at the start of the show."

What's underwriting? I tried to look it up, but I just got translations near to this meaning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwriting which seems to me to not fit in this context.


Sorry, my fault, I found the meaning you want on the bottom of the afore mentioned wikipedia article.

I think they newer versions of the Garrison Keillor's Radio Show include the underwritting. At least I've heard underwritting on it on the April 26, 2008 show. May 1, 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 20.137.18.50 (talk) 18:13, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] PHC Userbox

As part of WikiProject Userboxen I have created the Prairie Home Userbox. You may see it here: {{User PrairieHome}}

[edit] Catchup Advisory Board

Several people have reverted the "Catchup Advisory Board" bit to "Ketchup Advisory Board." In fact, it is spelled catchup: for example, in this script. I've put back the correct spelling, and added an HTML comment to that effect as well. Just adding this here so that I can point future editors this way. :) -- dcclark (talk) 16:58, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

It's referred to both ways by the show. For example, in THIS script -- Iglam (talk) 15:05, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
Interesting fact: the script you posted is from 1999, while the one I posted is from 3003 (check it for yourself)! Apparently our spelling has shifted somewhat, 1000-ish years into the future. :P I believe that it actually has changed, in the show, since the older script you cite -- specifically that the "catchup" spelling is a "compromise" spelling between ketchup and catsup. I could be wrong. -- dcclark (talk) 15:42, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Music types

I have expanded the music type section of the article. One of the things I strongly approve of in Garrison Keilor is that he uses many music types on the program. Yes, mostly american folk, but classical, opera, many musics. But I did not include hip-hop, because I have never heard that on APHC - not that I miss it. Has a hip-hop artist been there? if someone knows, edit the article to include that item. --Dumarest 16:30, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure hip-hop has been parodied on the show (because I can hear the sound effects guy faking the synth-drums), but I don't know whether an actual hip-hop artist has appeared on the show as a musical guest.
Atlant 16:45, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I always found it interesting how he had preformers using different instraments for songs that are never expected to play that way, like Rodeo on hand bells or over the rainbow on a saw.

[edit] The Joke Show

Should the joke show be added? It has gone every year, excluding 2006. Crowstarcaws 00:08, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Program name

"The earliest radio program to have this name bears little resemblance to what is currently heard on Saturday evenings. A Prairie Home Companion was originally a burlesque show running from 6 to 9 a.m. on Minnesota Public Radio.

After researching the Grand Ole Opry for an article, Keillor became interested in doing a variety show on the radio. On July 6, 1974, the first live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion took place."

These unsourced summaries of the origins (as currently stated in the article) are confusing. What is a "burlesque" radio show? Did Keillor have any connection to the earlier show? How and why was the name tranferred, by who? What sources explain all this?

Are there any archives of the early shows? The current online archive has some 1985, then jumps to 1996. -69.87.204.236 (talk) 19:41, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Film in lede

I've added a sentence in the lede referring to the film; I think that the film is an important enough consequence of the programme to merit inclusion. Fleshing out of my sentence is more than welcome. 140.247.45.72 (talk) 04:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)