The SmorgShow Podcast originates from the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord radio show which aired on suburban Chicago high school radio station WDGC-FM between 1982-1984. The show was known at the time for its edginess for a high school radio program. Chris and Dave’s all-talk format broke the mold by deviating from the station’s rock genre and often pushed the boundaries of acceptable community standards.
In 2010, we dusted off the Smorgasbord brand name and Chris paired up with his daughter, Ally to create a new podcast series staying true to the original spirit and variety format of the old radio show.
smor·gas·bord\ˈsmȯr-gəs-ˌbȯrd\: a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes.
The term ‘Smorgasbord’, as used here, is not meant to imply the show is related to food in any way and is certainly not a cooking show. Instead, the term used to suggest that we are ‘serving up’ a variety of programming elements, crossing many genres and formats – comedy, news, drama, current events and occasionally even stepping into the conspiracy realm. While Seinfeld was said to be “a show about nothing”, the SmorgShow Podcast is a show about anything.
After serving as co-host and contributing to nearly 100 episodes, Ally grew up and flew the coop, leaving Chris to fend for himself. Subsequently, Chris rejoined with original Smorgasbord Radio Show co-host Dave Jackson as well as Jerry Malauskas who currently serves as the show’s Chief Conspiracy Correspondent (CCC). And let’s not forget ‘Master of the Wide Open Spaces Between the Ears’, Baba Gonesh – who after 40 years of being featured on our show, still serves as our International News Correspondent, sending his views and breaking news directly from his homeland of India.
With the unexpected passing of Dave in 2024, the show entered unchartered territory. In October 2024, Chris made the difficult decision to end the show after 42 years. Although Dave likely would have wanted us to continue on without him, the Smorgasbord brand name does not hold up without one of its co-founders. Instead, Chris and Jerry have launched a new spin-off podcast series called ‘Chris and Jerry’s Supper Club’. It promises to follow in the traditional spirit of the Smorgasbord show, but gives the hosts a bit more license to venture into a different creative territory.
The SmorgShow Podcast is back with this special episode! With just days remaining before Ally’s due date, Chris brings the family to the studio to record this heartwarming episode where we all reflect on our collective family journey and share our excitement for the arrival of our new family member.
It started over 40 years ago at suburban Chicago high school radio station WDGC-FM as the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord. The program broke the mold at the time for what you would expect to hear on high school radio airwaves. Chris and Dave were among the first to explore the conversational talk show format. In 2010, Chris dusted off his old recording equipment to re-launch the show in podcast form with his daughter Ally. Over the next 15 years, the SmorgShow Podcast continued forward in the old spirit of the program by featuring co-hosts Dave Jackson and Jerry Malauskas. In 2024, Dave passed away leaving Chris and Jerry to determine what to do with the show moving forward. Dave would want them to continue on but how does the Smorgasbord brand name work without one of the original co-founders? The answer was to create a new spin-off series. Here we bring you Chris and Jerry’s Supper Club. It will be very familiar in style as the Smorgasbord Radio Show, but gives us a bit more freedom to explore topics often avoided on the SmorgShow Podcast.
We discuss Chris’s recent experience with Verizon’s AI Customer Service Chatbot, Dr Anthony Fauci Pleads the Fifth, the DSA platform we should be worried about, and the countdown to Chris becoming a grandfather.
Listen to the Wisdom of Baba Gonesh and understand why he is known worldwide as ‘The Master of the Wide Open Spaces Between the Ears’.
A Fashion-Conscious Monkey is cited on the streets of India and Baba Gonesh was there to capture it all.
SmorgShow Theater is a collection of classic, old-time radio dramas from the golden age of radio. Sit back and relax, turn off your lights and let us transport you to a world where your imagination takes over. If you have a favorite radio show that you would like to hear us present, email us at feedback@smorgshow.com. Check out Smorgasbord Radio (The SmorgShow Podcast) for more of our creative antics.
In our 11th installment of SmorgShow Theater, we re-enact ‘Knock at the Door’, which originally aired in 1942 on the ‘Lights Out’ radio drama series that centered around horror and the supernatural. This tale is narrated by Ella who describes her descent into madness – how she married a nice fellow and mama’s boy Jay who adores his mother to the point of Ella feeling pushed out of the way. Our narrator, after hearing some convincing voices in her head, pushes her poor mother-in-law down a well and seemingly doesn’t have to deal with her anymore. But how wrong she is when the couple hears a knock at the door while eating dinner one night…
The SmorgShow Players are: Ally Bockay (Ella), Chris Bockay (Jay), Kim Bockay (Mrs. Kruger)