The Al Franken Show

The Al Franken Show was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for liberal positions on the issues of the day, and comically poking fun at the George W. Bush Administration. The show began as The O'Franken Factor on March 31, 2004. Between January 3, 2006, and February 14, 2007, the show was recorded and broadcast from the 28th floor of the historic Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to that date it was based in New York City. The final show was broadcast on February 14, 2007, the day Franken announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2008.
Franken is a comedian, satirist and former United States Senator who has written several books, including the 2003 "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them". He was a writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live", where he usually teamed with fellow writer/performer Tom Davis.
History.
From the show's inception in March 2004 until October 7, 2005, the show was co-hosted by experienced journalist Katherine Lanpher. Lanpher left the show to write "Leap Days", a memoir about her experiences moving to New York City. Lanpher did not rejoin the show because she did not wish to move again when Franken relocated to Minnesota. In November 2005, Franken told an audience in Berkeley, California that he would not seek a replacement for Lanpher. Her departure did not substantially change the content of the show.
When the show began, Franken signed a one-year contract. "I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected. I'd be happy if the election of a Democrat ended the show", he said in an interview with "The New York Times". Bush won a second term on November 2, 2004, but Franken stated that the show would continue whether a Democrat or a Republican was in office.
Beginning on September 7, 2004, Sundance Channel broadcast a one-hour televised version of the show on weekdays. The show aired its last episode in November 2004. The channel inked a new contract with Franken and aired a second season of the show from June 6, 2005, until early November 2005.
On November 15, 2006, Air America affiliate KQKE-AM in San Francisco announced that Franken would leave Air America on December 10, as indicated by an audio clip posted on Whatamockery.com. After December 10, though Franken was still on Air America, KQKE began airing the "Thom Hartmann Program" in place of the "Al Franken Show".
On his January 29, 2007, show, Franken announced that his last show on Air America Radio would be that Valentine's Day. Affiliates who carried the Franken show carried Thom Hartmann after that date, while XM Satellite Radio now carries Ed Schultz in that time slot. At the end of his final show, Franken announced his intention to run for the United States Senate from Minnesota.
The O'Franken Factor.
Until July 12, 2004, the name of the show was "The O'Franken Factor". That name was a jibe at Bill O'Reilly and his "The O'Reilly Factor". O'Reilly is widely thought to have instigated Fox News Channel's lawsuit against Franken for using their trademarked phrase "fair and balanced", which was thrown out of court in summary judgment, but ended up giving publicity to Franken and his book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them". Franken said that he chose the title to "annoy and bait" O'Reilly into suing him again, thus generating additional publicity. That lawsuit never came, and on July 12, 2004, the program was renamed "The Al Franken Show".
Franken described his show as taking place in a "Zero Spin Zone" where Franken pledges to tell the truth and there is "no spinning allowed." This is a parody of O'Reilly's characterization of the "O'Reilly Factor" as a "No-Spin Zone."
Regular guests.
The show's regular guests included respected progressive issues and current events analysts: Jonathan Alter, David Brock, Joe Conason, John Dickerson, James Fallows, Howard Fineman, Christy Harvey, Paul Krugman, Thomas Oliphant, Norman Ornstein, George Packer, Melanie Sloan, David Sirota, Bernie Sanders, and Lawrence O'Donnell Jr.
Regular features.
In addition to general political discussion, the show featured several recurring comic relief segments. These included:
Some other skits no longer occurred regularly after Katherine Lanpher left the show. These included:
Swing State Tour.
In the run-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the show went on a "Swing State Tour" that included stops in
Music.
The show also did musical parody introductions for regular guests:
Staff.
The staff of The Al Franken Show: