TVSquad

VH1's hit series Free Radio -- at least I think it's a hit because it got renewed for a second season and I like it -- chronicles the exploits of an idiot intern, played by Lance Krall, who accidentally winds up on the air when shock jock Howard Stern Rip Rebel defects to satellite radio. Lance is crass, rude, incredibly stupid, and barely knows who the guests are. And for whatever reason, the show's an instant hit, to the chagrin of the station manager. There's your premise in a nutshell. But that's not even why it works.

The show features real celebrities coming on as if it were a real morning radio show. They generally attempt to plug whatever it is they're doing but get shut down by Lance's idiocy. Hell, this past week John Stamos got humped by a dog, Jim Parsons was told he should quit his crappy show and become a reality show host, and Kathy Griffin threatened to kill Lance. It's a blast seeing these celebrities so out of their element; most of the dialogue is ad-libbed. You can catch the insanity initially on Thursday nights at 11pm Eastern, and then again and again.

But it got me to thinking. If "Moron in the Morning," as Lance's show is called, were a real show on the air, would I listen to it? Hell yeah, I would. Some of the crap Lance says to these people is every bit as cringe-worthy as anything David Brent or Michael Scott ever uttered on either version of The Office, but at the same time it's hilarious. Lance didn't, however, use his opportunity to call David Cook out on his giant head, though he did tell him he wasn't a real celebrity because he was on American Idol.

Everybody likes to look at car accidents, we slow down as much to gawk as we do to be careful around broken glass, car parts, and human debris. We can't help it, it's in our nature. His co-host Anna does a pretty good job keeping things on task enough though we do get something productive out of the interviews. It would be a shame to miss out on all the behind-the-scenes insanity the show offers, but I think it would still be great radio.

Just look at some of the big names Lance has already "interviewed":

• Kiefer Sutherland
• Angela Kinsey
• Luis Guzman
• Howie Mandel
• Ashley Jensen
• Tony Hawk
• Emily Deschanel
• Don LaFontaine
• Tony Shalhoub
• Kat Von D
• Zachary Quinto
• Bob Saget
• James Van Der Beek
• Jeff Corwin
• Mary Lynn Rajskub
• Melora Hardin
• Penn & Teller
  
• Ray Romano
• Ed Begley, Jr.
• Hank Azaria
• Emily Proctor
• Ling Bai

Hell, that's a lot better than any of the radio stations around here can get. We have to get excited when they get the weather guy from Channel 2 news to give the forecast on the radio. "Wow, it's really him!" He still generally gets it wrong, but now we can hear him making it up in our cars, too.