Topic: It's not just GN, it's C2C.

[exC2Cfan]

I listen to practically every C2C show via Streamlink, but that may soon end because I just cannot stomach the kind of dumb stuff I hear from GN much longer. More and more, I turn off the show out of disgust or sheer boredom. More and more, I listen (also via the internet) to the Paracast* or the Kevin Smith Show*. GN certainly seems like a nice enough person, but he is so out of his league. He barely knows anything about many of the topics he discusses. That's painfully clear from some of the lame questions he asks. And when he's at a loss for a question, he resorts to his old standbys, "maybe they're visitors from the future" or "maybe they're from another dimension" or, when he's feeling really incisive, a combination of the two: "maybe they're interdimensional beings from the future".

For someone on the radio, GN is amazingly inarticulate. He can barely get to the end of a sentence without stumbling over his words, mispronouncing a word or using the sort of mangled syntax we expect from truly incoherent people such as George Bush.

And if I hear GN say there are no coincidences one more time, I think I'll barf. But then again, maybe he?s right. Today, for example, I wore khaki pants, brown shoes and a blue shirt, and get this--the guy in the cubicle next to mine wore EXACTLY the same thing! Is that freaky or what? What are the odds? There's no way that was a coincidence. But wait, it gets even stranger. It turns out we both had brown socks on too! And later I noticed that he drinks his coffee black and SO DO I! It can?t be a coincidence, but what does it mean? Can anybody help me? Could the guy in the next cubicle be an interdimensional being from the future?

But the problem is more than GN. It?s the direction the whole show has taken. GN isn?t to blame for that. So many of the guests are such absolute nutcases or obvious charlatans and liars that it?s clear that GN and his superiors just don?t care. C2C has no more credibility that The Weekly World News or Pravda. Clearly, they?ve deliberately dumbed down the show to attract a larger audience. And who better to relate to millions of dumb Americans than a dumb guy like GN? Nothing he says will ever trouble their limited intellect or challenge their limited education.

It seems so OBVIOUS that George Knapp or Ian Punnett should be the regular host. One can only dream.

*http://www.theparacast.com/
*http://kevinsmithshow.com/

[Disco_rilla]

Yeah Noory BLOWS

[Okfalls]

Well I guess I'm one step ahead of you re: GN. I disliked his style and ability from day one and tuned C2C out immediately. I believe Art felt the same way during his obviously contractual references to GN while he was "retiring". Its clear Art LOVES interfacing with his guests simply to expand HIS OWN KNOWLEDGE BASE. I did not get that from GN and its driving the show in the ditch as does Punnett and anyone else who doesnt have a military, technical background coupled to a healthy curiousty. 

   

[Max]

this probably one of the reasons they are moving george into tv again with his own show...
because they want badly to replace him but know they cant due to the contract,
and george would rather run it into the ground then move on.

[Michael Vandeven]

or, when he's feeling really incisive, a combination of the two: "maybe they're interdimensional beings from the future".

that was the funniest thing i have read on this board thus far.  kudos.  i'm still smiling as i type this.

[Michael Vandeven]

this probably one of the reasons they are moving george into tv again with his own show...
because they want badly to replace him but know they cant due to the contract,
and george would rather run it into the ground then move on.

they're moving him to tv again?  for the love of christ, has anybody seen this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3aXvWquiaVg

they'd be well suited to notice that he has a stroked-out mouth similar to that of greta vansusteren and an uneven mustache coupled with a radio face and a mind that doesn't work very well.  however, the one saving grace for him on tv would be the highly scripted nature of tv in comparison to radio.

[sillydog]

C2C has gotten dumber, because GN has driven off the clever audience members with his aggressive stupidity.  TV deserves him.

[Michael Vandeven]

GN has driven off the clever audience members with his aggressive stupidity.  TV deserves him.

i feel a bit timid in saying what you just did for fear of seeming arrogant and self-important.  but god damn if it isn't true.

[slipstream]

C2C has gotten dumber, because GN has driven off the clever audience members with his aggressive stupidity.  TV deserves him.

   Well I have to agree.  Since Art left the show it seems the callers have gotten hmmm well, dumb.  I remember listening to Art do Ghost2Ghost shows back in the 90s and almost all the calls were really interesting all the night through. Of course there were some clunkers, but the majority of callers were well spoken, and didn't need to be told they were on the air (when Art hosts). 

     When I watched that video I wanted to slap those faces as they turned to face the camera. That was just silly.

[Michael Vandeven]

yeah and i read on some blog an outline of all the predictions made in that show, with (as i recall) not a single one having come true.  sean david morton has seemingly predicted world-wide depression every year he has made predictions on the show.  ok... big deal... he predicted the GWB victory in the 2004 election.  who DIDN'T see that one coming?  the incumbent president in a time of war was running against a frenchman who looked like an amalgamation of Lurch and Andrew Jackson and i'm supposed to be impressed when morton calls THAT with a 50/50 shot of being correct on top of it?  pleeeeeeease.  by the way... when morton turns to the camera in his overwhelmingly redundant camera shot, he reeeeally looks as though he's got one lodged, i must say.

[ArtBellFan]

this probably one of the reasons they are moving george into tv again with his own show...
because they want badly to replace him but know they cant due to the contract,
and george would rather run it into the ground then move on.

Contract or no contract, if they wanted to get rid of him he would be gone, I know how contracts work and they are not in favor of the host, and I don't believe for one minute that he has a long term contract, how many times has he said he is signing a new one, how do you renew a contract that you have until the end of time, in this case 2012.

[Camazotz Automat]

Early on, the guests and topics covered outweighed George's inept interview style.  Gradually, most everything has been pruned away until the show is one big commercial for bullshit.  There are exceptions, but are growing more rare by the week.  I can't blame ALL of this on Noory.  Maybe Art held so much power he was able to hold off the inevitable creep of the lowest common denominator and as soon as he was gone, the powers that be instituted Demographics for Dummies.  It's a big fucking mystery.   What I do know is that I am listening less and less, while keeping an eye out for Knapp and sometimes for Ian, depending what guest Ian has.

I feel like I'm watching a slow motion train wreck, occasionally jumping on the train myself, then stepping off again in relief.

[exC2Cfan]

Early on, the guests and topics covered outweighed George's inept interview style.  Gradually, most everything has been pruned away until the show is one big commercial for bullshit.  There are exceptions, but are growing more rare by the week.  I can't blame ALL of this on Noory.  Maybe Art held so much power he was able to hold off the inevitable creep of the lowest common denominator and as soon as he was gone, the powers that be instituted Demographics for Dummies.  It's a big fucking mystery.   What I do know is that I am listening less and less, while keeping an eye out for Knapp and sometimes for Ian, depending what guest Ian has.

I feel like I'm watching a slow motion train wreck, occasionally jumping on the train myself, then stepping off again in relief.

Absolutely right. They have no standards at all. There seems to be no limit to how low they will go--charlatans, lunatics and outright liars. A good example is their guest tonight, David Hatcher Childress. This phoney has been calling himself an "archeologist" for years, but it's a complete lie. He never even finished his freshman year of college and is no more an archeologist than he is a brain surgeon. C2C knows it, but they repeat the lie over and over again, which makes them liars too.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

You mean THE David Hatcher Childress?  The "Real Life Indiana Jones"?

[Disgusted]

I don't expect too much out of Noory anymore.  It's Ian that I'm disgusted with.  He doesn't seem to know what C2C is about.  Yeah, yeah, yeah he's intelligent, has a  sense of humor, comes across as sincere, and does his research...BUT his topics are DULL: Lindberg baby,comic book writers, the Cooper mystery.  The backbone of the show has always been the paranormal but that doesn't matter to Ian.  He can't do a show on the paranormal  - what most people tune in to hear. It's "Oh boy! I'll do a show about comic books!  I LOVE comic books!  How lucky I am to do a show about comic books!"  It's a shame because he's talented.  But his topics are lame.

[ArtBellFan]

I agree Ian has been very disappointing in recent months, I thought now that Art isn't doing weekends I can at least look forward to Ian, "NOT" haven't listened to him in a long time, I do love Mr. Knapp but not enough of him. Oh and I don't think Ian is funny, he had better not quit his day job.  BTW I think Art will be doing a show on the 18th. of this month.

[Spikegirl]

I don't expect too much out of Noory anymore.  It's Ian that I'm disgusted with.  He doesn't seem to know what C2C is about.  Yeah, yeah, yeah he's intelligent, has a  sense of humor, comes across as sincere, and does his research...BUT his topics are DULL: Lindberg baby,comic book writers, the Cooper mystery.  The backbone of the show has always been the paranormal but that doesn't matter to Ian.  He can't do a show on the paranormal  which -is  what people tune in for. It's "Oh boy! I'll do a show about comic books!  I LOVE comic books!  How lucky I am to do a show about comic books!"  It's a shame because he's talented.  But his topics are lame.

I have to agree with you there. I did not listen Saturday night, but out of bordom, listened to the stream of Ian's show on Sunday, while working at my computer. I was pleasantly surprised that the show was actually interesting, even though I am not into comic books at all. It's amazing what happens when two engaged and intelligent adults have a conversation. I had forgotten what that sounds like after listening to Noory M-F. I agree that Ian should focus more on the paranormal and topics that interest a wide audience, not a small group.

[exC2Cfan]

Yes, Disgusted, as I listen, via Streamlink, to Ian's interview with some boring guy about some boring Chinese general/salesman, I have to agree. Although I like Ian a lot (except for his lame jokes), although he's got about 100 IQ points on George Noory, although he asks tough questions and isn't gullible like GN when guests say things that are absolute nonsense, SOMEONE SHOULD TELL IAN THAT C2C IS ABOUT THE PARANORMAL.

But I suppose it's difficult to come up with paranormal guests every night. They've been scraping the bottom of the barrel lately--that guy a few weeks ago who said there were baby dinosaurs on Noah's Ark (which good old gullible GN had no problem with), the complete lunatic Richard Boylan and charlatan and phoney "archaeologist" David Childress and his Grand Canyon fraud. It's disgraceful that GN and his handlers know these people are liars and scam artists, but don't care.

Well, I've had enough of the Chinese general. I'm off to the Kevin Smith show (http://kevinsmith.mypodcast.com/). There's a podcast show about Bigfoot that looks interesting.

[Max]

Kevin Smith is Good, I have listened to him...

[Art is the Best]

For someone on the radio, GN is amazingly inarticulate. He can barely get to the end of a sentence without stumbling over his words, mispronouncing a word or using the sort of mangled syntax we expect from truly incoherent people such as George Bush.

I've noticed a lot of radio talk show hosts and newscasters and such stumble over their words. I think they are usually either trying to read the script (i.e., the sportscaster on my local morning show) or are so egotistical that they don't think it matters what they say as long as they're on the air, (i.e., pretty much every political radio talk show host I've heard). Art, conversely, actually listens to everything everyone says, and is not just waiting to attempt to interject some witty comment. Hence, he always has something intelligent and/or thoughtful to say. Uh-duh! Why can't everyone be like that!?

[Earl]

*****ADMIN EDIT*****
do not post the same message in more than one thread.

[slipstream]

      I will kindly disagree with some of the posters.  When I first started listening to the "Art Bell Show" (C2C) it was not about the paranormal.  The show was about anything anybody wanted to talk about.  Art gave out some topics but callers could talk about anything they wanted.  Thats right caller driven talk radio.  For me that is what made C2C so special.  After a time Art changed formats and introduced guests and then nightly guests, and then it became about the paranormal.  I find many of these topics interesting as it happens, but I have always disliked the night after night guests.  I wish Art would have gotten back to caller driven topics and open lines with guests a couple nights a week.
   
    Art has had non paranormal guests on.  He had the fellow who used to do 73 magazine.  And once did a show with a computer guy.   

[Camazotz Automat]

It's very telling - the way George and Ian differ when you compare (subjectively) "guest quality."

Ian has the ability to make an interview with almost anyone interesting, be it a comic book author or an archaeologist who found an undiscovered fragment from the Nag Hammadi in his beat up copy of The Transmigrations of Timothy Archer, which in turn was in his twenty-seven year old trip-to-Israel backpack...

(actually, I would be all over that NH fragment interview  , and I am no stranger to illustrated/graphic novels. Dan Clowes' various vectors in EIGHTBALL springs to mind...without which, GHOSTWORLD the film would never have been made.)

George is diametrically opposed.

George can take what many would consider the BEST guest and butcher the interview faster than Ted Nugent prepares a deer.  (that's pretty fast, Space Cowgirls and Cowboys.)

For this reason, I will listen to Ian, even if the guest at first blush seems less intriguing.  Often, I am surprised by the rabbits Ian pulls from the hat, but regrettably, am never surprised by the butchered rabbits George Presto Noory ... ~reveals.~   I have also been known to avoid a "good guest" because I know it will be limited by the G-Factor.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

One thing I have to say about George in his favour is that, at least on some shows, he doesn't interrupt the guests conversation or talking points when the point is somewhat interesting. Conversely, I've been absolutely pissed at Art sometimes for "re-directing" an interview just to steer it towards time-travel or multiple dimensions.  I know that on some shows the opposite happens, and probably I haven't listened to George enough to judge properly, but this has been my feeling the last little while.

As far as Ian goes, he always bored me to tears when I used to listen to him, but it has been a very,very long time since I have heard him do a show so maybe my opinion may be different now.

[Osama McGreevey]

Re Noory letting his guests speak ad nauseum: Is it that a) Noory has no pat comeback and so lets the guest prattle on, or b) Noory is asleep, reading the newspaper, taking a dump, or otherwise not near the mic? The 'angels' post referred to elsewhere in the board says it all.

It seems my bulimia is fading since my acquisition of a new job which requires me to go to bed at 10 PM. No more train wreck radio, unless Michael decides to put up a Noory stream (Whatever happens, do not cross the streams!)

[Charles]

(Whatever happens, do not cross the streams!)

Still laughing on that one! Nice Ghostbusters reference!

[EvB]

I've noticed a lot of radio talk show hosts and newscasters and such stumble over their words. I think they are usually either trying to read the script (i.e., the sportscaster on my local morning show)

Or the script is bad - or the editor missed their morning java  . . .

I listen to a lot of NPR talk while driving.  Recently, a big name personality said something like (I don't recall the exact quote) 'so and so had hanged life expectations on . . ." 

Sorry - my version is even stranger than hers.

But, I do most of my yelling at talk radio in the car - and this one had me hollering. 

1) the past tense or past participle  of "to hang" is hanged ONLY  in the sense of "to put to death by hanging,"  as in "George Noorny should be hanged for what he's done to c2c."  Otherwise, it is "hung."

2) She was referring to a person or group's continued existence.

Bad grammar and an oxymoron in one word. 

I'm far from a perfect writer.  I need my stuff eyed by another before the last draft.  But - this was NPR!  Wouldn't you think that the writer - the editor - or the announcer would have seen that one?   

~~~

I'm going blushing into my corner now.  Yes, guys, I AM just that geeky.

[EvB]

      I will kindly disagree with some of the posters.  When I first started listening to the "Art Bell Show" (C2C) it was not about the paranormal.  The show was about anything anybody wanted to talk about. 
   
    Art has had non paranormal guests on.  He had the fellow who used to do 73 magazine.  And once did a show with a computer guy.   

THANK YOU!!!

Yes, to appreciate Ian - you have to listen to him as Ian.  No one will replace Art.  Art is one of a kind. 

The primary difference between George and Ian is that Ian, love him or not, is genuine and George is a talking head.  (Umm . . . Can you be a talking head on the radio?)

The rest has to do with how they handle the guest they are handed - or choose.

[Art is the Best]

I've noticed a lot of radio talk show hosts and newscasters and such stumble over their words. I think they are usually either trying to read the script (i.e., the sportscaster on my local morning show)

Or the script is bad - or the editor missed their morning java  . . .

Good point, EvB. I've heard NPR people and newscasters trying to gracefully recover from bad writing, but the one guy in particular I'm thinking of...he's just bad! The poor guy needs to glance over the copy before he gets on the air or something.

[Badboy]

Did you hear him beg for viewers when Sci-Fi ran his special?