Humor and Talk Radio
> I agree with the entertainment factor; If you want
> entertainment listen to Mike Malloy on AAR/Evenings.
> Personally I think he's much more entertaining than
> Limbaugh.
> Agree; Franken has very dry humor....
Agreed.
Those who can pull it off on the left: Randi Rhodes (most of the time). Stephanie Miller (it's her main claim to fame, the humor). I "get" Franken's humor, but it's not enough to make me really even chuckle. When it comes to interviews, that's his bag, and his humor isn't really even of the SNL variety, where he gained his comedic chops...it's not translating well to a live radio show. Entertainment-keep-listeners-listening-wise, Stephanie blows him off the dial with her proverbial hands tied behind her back.
On the right, Glenn Beck is about the only host who could fit under the "entertaining issues talk" banner. I heard him recently when he was, with the help of his wife on the phone, going over the contents of his iPod, to prove that you couldn't tell what kind of person someone (in this case, President Bush) was by dorky music on his iPod. It was actually very, very funny. (Glenn's got two or three showtunes categories he spent most of the hour explaining.

)
Rush's humor is more, well, RUSH...it's just one part of his repetoire. It's more "atmosphere" with him than cracking jokes. He basically brought humor into the format, but he's become the standard-bearer for conservative talk radio, and he's mellowed that humor over the years.
Hannity does it occasionally, mostly when he does stuff like involving his producer "Flipper", or when he sends her or someone on the street to do the Jay Leno-ish interviews of stupid people.
One of the few people who could make a post like this,
-OA