Originally published on March 27, 2009

Dennis Miller

Westwood One
Talk Show Host

Comedian/commentator celebrates second anniversary on the airwaves

On March 26, 2007, five-time Emmy Award winner and four-time Writers’ Guild Award winner Dennis Miller launched his first radio show on Westwood One. “The Dennis Miller Show” has grown to 220 affiliates, while the host maintains his popularity touring and performing.

Has your time on the radio been what you expected?
It’s been more fun than I expected. I didn’t know what to make of the extrapolative nature of the form at first, but I have an inner bullshitter and I like three hours a day. I get up a half hour earlier than I used to and I get to make a living right out of the box, so I feel like sort of an oral Brahma bull rider. I wake up, they open the gate, and I cavort around for three hours, make a living and have the rest of the day for myself. I found it added some order that I like.

How has your show changed from the first few months?
I used to insist to myself that I knew how to do it-and now I know I can do it. In the beginning it’s a bit of a bluff because you keep thinking you’ll wake up one morning and crash and find out you don’t dig it or it’s too demanding or you don’t have the rhythm for it. I used to insist to myself that I did, but looking back it was a bit of a bluff. And now I do know that I like it and have integrated it into my day-to-day life and it’s fun.

You’re not the first celebrity to try radio. Some of the others didn’t last. Any thoughts on why your show is working?
Even if you are inefficient at it, you cannot be uncomfortable at it—or nobody’s going to let you in their house, for God’s sake. It’s like letting the encyclopedia salesman in who’s going to apologize for his job. At some point if you’re going to be in their house, they want you to at least look comfy with what you’re doing. Some of the people who try to force the game start to sound like a bit of a sweat act; I think people turn you off in a second.

Have the power changes in Washington changed anything about your show?
No, the show was never as Hatfield and McCoy as some shows. I try to be open-minded. I try to listen to what people have to say and make a judgment on any given moment and not be rancorous about it, whereas some of the shows the entire fulcrum is losing power. That’s not so much our show; it’s more of a calming show and more of a potpourri approach to topics.

If the Fairness Doctrine were to return, how would it affect your show?
I don’t think it would. A lot of that they make worse than it is because it allows certain people to look aggrieved. If the Fairness Doctrine ever got to the point where somebody said, “Listen, as part of your show, you need to talk to Randi Rhodes once a week,” I’d quit. I’m not doing it. You do what you have to do, I do what I have to do, and I don’t have time to waste on idiots.

As a touring comic, you sometimes do your show on the road. How do you make that work?
It is a little harder because usually I’m doing it in my boxer shorts in my own home, so when you’re sitting somewhere in a conference room in a tertiary market, it’s not exactly perfect. But then again, I’ve had real bad jobs and this isn’t one of them. I used to be a night janitor at a mall, so I know what a bad job is. If I have to work from a different place once a week, I guess I got to buck it up and wear a cup.

How did you find your radio show crew?
Christian, my producer, used to be a receptionist at my old TV show and I always thought he was a bright kid who hadn’t gotten his break yet, so I picked him. Salman, my sidekick, used to always laugh at things nobody else laughed at so I always dug that about him. I’m solicitous of his comedic approval because he’s a tough sell. Although he’d never been on the radio and he’d never performed, he turned out to be really great.

Going out on the road you interact with your listeners in person. What’s the makeup of your audience in terms of age and gender?
As a stand-up comedian I was forming some sort of hardened Marlboro Man husk since it’s a solitary endeavor. Now there’s some sense of community and I get to put the faces to names when I go out on the road. I’m very touched that they’re in any way, shape or form enamored with what I do. I’m always shocked that anybody gives a shit so when I meet them I’m appreciative. The general makeup of my audience started out with fewer women but I’ve seen a lot of women now. I think they’re starting to trust me now that I’m not a doofus guy. Also, kids think I’m a square at first because, reflexively, young people are taught to think anybody who’s for the war against terror is a square, but once they listen to me and see it’s a little layered, [they’re in]. I think we’ve got a pretty nice mix.

Has radio given you a new audience?
Yeah, older people. You can see they are very protective of their home space and they don’t let you in for a while, but once they do, they really take your side. I meet so many grannies now that treat me like their kid. It’s very touching. My stand-up act didn’t endear me to them because there’s a lot of profanity and all that, but with the radio thing, they think of me as the prodigal.

Two years ago you spoke at the R&R Talk Radio Seminar. The industry welcomed you right away.
They were sweet to me because I copped to not knowing what was going on. I mean, they just want to know that you’re not strip-mining it. And after two years, I feel like a loyalist. People say, “What do you do for a living?,” and I say, “I’m a radio host.” I’m glad they let me in. I’ve paid my dues a little, I still have to pay some more, but I never acted like I was the cock of the walk. I never even acted like I knew if I could succeed at it, and that’s all they ask: Be real with them, don’t act presumptuous.

Quote
‘People say, “What do you do for a living?,” and I say, “I’m a radio host.” I’m glad they let me in. I’ve paid my dues a little, I still have to pay some more, but I never acted like I was the cock of the walk.’
—Dennis Miller