On this special Christmas Eve episode Granny Rose reads ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Baba Gonesh has a very somber message to deliver about the children of India and how the listening audience can help a child in need. For more information, go to Baba’s blog entry at https://smorgshow.com/compassion
This week we devote the entire episode to our latest radio play production, “A Christmas Carol”, by Charles Dickens. It is a relatively faithful rendition of the original story, shortened to around 45 minutes in order to keep in line with our usual show length. We brought in a large cast of actors to play the many characters of the classic story. This was by far our most ambitious production which would not have been possible to pull together if we had not previously done the other old-time radio dramas from our earlier episodes, like “Sorry, Wrong Number”, “On a Country Road”, and “The Sisters”. We had a great time over the past couple weeks preparing, directing, and producing this show. We really hope you enjoy the final outcome of it.
We would like to thank all the people who made this recording possible, some of whom even braved the nasty winter weather by making the long journey to our studio to lay down their tracks. We also want to thank our loyal listeners for making 2010 a very memorable year for us as we brought you our new weekly podcast of the SmorgShow. It has been a very rewarding year and we look forward to doing more of it in 2011. Merry Christmas to all and ‘May God Bless Us Every One!’
On this week’s show, Chris discusses the tragic decapitation of Bobblehead Chris. We replay a major error that was overlooked on episode 39. Then we go into the way-back machine and dig up an old audio segment from an early Chris and Dave Smorgasbord broadcast where a caller performed the classic Dr. Seuss story, “Mr. Brown Can Moo“…and then we debut our own new version of the song! Baba Gonesh presents another Indian Folk Tale, “The Heron and the Crab”.
‘News Balls’ with Jerry Malauskas: What the 12 days of Christmas costs in 2010, a woman calls 911 to report her snowman was stolen, Lee Harvey Oswald’s original coffin is up for sale, a woman gives birth at a McDonald’s, and the sad passing of Prince Chunk the cat. Finally, we play an exclusive track from the upcoming CD by Jordan Martyn, a recently featured New Artist of the Week and a new fan of the SmorgShow Podcast!
Featured Artist of the Week: Annie Fitzgerald who is also celebrating a birthday today.
Special Thanksgiving Episode: Turkey Trivia, “Cookies and Milk with Granny Rose”: Granny Rose shares some of her favorite Thanksgiving Traditions; Baba Gonesh discusses how not to have a disastrous holiday; “News Balls”: First family to line up for Black Friday sales is found outside of Best Buy nine days prior to Black Friday; “Cooking with Judy”: Judy shares turkey preparation tips and a special recipe for Cranberry Chutney.
Featured Artist of the Week: Jordan Martyn
It’s Baba Gonesh’s 68th birthday and we celebrate the special occasion with him live in the studio. We also discuss the India holiday, Diwali as well as the new NBC sitcom “Outsourced”. Another installment of “Emergency: 911” where we play a couple of outrageous 911 calls. News Balls: A man is forced to eat his beard, a man is arrested for stealing sandwiches from Subway, a man tries to run over his girlfriend after she rejects his marriage proposal, and a Twitter threat to blow up an airport is taken seriously by British authorities.
Featured Artist of the Week : Jamie Lynn Noon
SmorgShow SpookFest ’10: Chris and Ally share tips for Halloween pranks and provide history behind some well-known superstitions; Scary supernatural stories; Baba Gonesh presents another Indian Folk Tale, “The Wind and the Moon”; Halloween News Balls: Peet delivers a special Halloween dramatic reading, and Chris and Ally read several Halloween-related news stories; Phillip Donald performs. This episode will give you chills. Mature audiences suggested.
Featured Artist of the Week: Bryan Baker
We are back in the basement studio again after a successful radon mitigation. We talk about our plans for a new home studio. We then debut a new feature this week called “Emergency!”, where we present outrageous 911 calls. Baba Gonesh presents another Indian Folk Tale “The Golden Swan”, and News Balls: Runaway crocodile blamed for plane crash, a woman drives around with a corpse on her front seat for 10 months, and a couple of fast-food restaurant attack stories.
Check out this video we talk about on the show about a woman who flips out at a McDonald’s drive-thru after being told they do not serve Chicken McNuggets at 6:30am. There is no sound to this clip – the action begins at about 1:15 into the video:
Featured Artist of the Week: Kim McClean
A show all about Chris as he celebrates his 44th birthday. Baba calls in with “You know when you’re getting older when…” jokes. Phillip Donald sings a special birthday song for Chris. News Balls: A man’s mile-long trip through a sewer pipe, a man is charged with toilet paper assault, airborne toilet paper bombing explained, and a grandmother’s ashes are accidentally sold at a yard sale.
Featured Artist of the Week: Subplot A
Those who have been following our show recall that we have been testing our home for radon gas. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. It’s a radioactive gas that comes from the breakdown of the elements in the soil and can get into homes through cracks in the basement foundation or other means. The SmorgShow studio is located in our basement, so we decided to do a test back in September after someone advised us to do so.
Results from that test showed we tested slightly higher than the recommended maximum so we did a second test as a precaution. The results of the second test just came back and showed we were at 3x the recommended level and therefore we must proceed with getting this problem fixed by a licensed radon mitigation contractor (what a cool title!). Until that happens, we are moving our studio to another location.
So this week we bring you an abbreviated episode. We have another exclusive performance by Phillip Donald, Baba Gonesh presents another Indian Folk Tale about “The Little Mice and the Big Elephants”, and News Balls: Older than 52? Then you are probably grumpy, Hot Dog Heist: 10-foot weiner stand goes missing, and a man buys skeleton decorations for Halloween from a yard sale only to find the bones are real.
Featured Artist of the Week: Tim Miller
Ally discusses her weekend retreat, Mystical Melinda visits the SmorgShow studio, Baba Gonesh returns from India with another Indian Folk Tale about the Sparrow and the Elephant. News Balls: a very disturbing iPhone charger hits the market, an Arizona inmate ends up nearly naked after an attempted jail escape, 600 pounds of trout go mysteriously missing from a pond, and the winners of the Ig Nobel science awards are announced.
Featured Artist of the Week: Brian Keith Wallen
This week, we bring you our very special version of Family Feud. The SmorgShow Players go up against the staff of Baba’s Village Restaurant. Then, an exclusive interview with former WDGC-FM General Manager, Fred Moore. Chris and Ally catch up with Fred on the road during his local performance of his “Hootenanny” show. And Jerry Malauskas makes his debut appearance on the SmorgShow Podcast in ‘News Balls’: stories include a new product out of China turns your iPod Touch into an iPhone, prison guards catch an inmate trying to sneak in with a cell phone hidden in his rear end, and a computer glitch produces a very strange E-Fit of a crime suspect.
To book Fred for your next event, check out his website: http://www.programsunlimited.org
Chris and Ally discuss the upcoming visit to see former WDGC-FM General Manager Fred Moore, the results from the radon gas test are read, another installment of “Where’s Tisha?”, Chris reads a review from the first Roger Waters “The Wall” concert on the tour and tries to get Ally syched about going to the Chicago show this week, the Chik-Fil-A Aurora grand opening, Chris announces the launch of his wife’s new weekly podcast “Blooming Beauties”, News Balls: A Naperville, IL woman charged in a dog poop-infused meltdown, the development of an anti-aging ice cream, the 2 quadrillionth digit of pi is calculated, and a Craigslist robber is outsmarted by a Sherriff who was involved in the transaction. Finally, Baba Gonesh calls in from his vacation in India where he is celebrating the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. We learn all about Lord Ganesha and the story of how he got an elephant head and fell off his mouse vehicle.
Featured Artist of the Week : Manny
Chris and Ally recap the Northern Illinois Annual Geocaching Pig Roast and Picnic. With the grand opening of the first Chicagoland opening of Chik-Fil-A, Chris and Ally discuss the fast food restaurant’s unusual hiring practices, Philip Donald performs, Baba Gonesh Indian Folk Tales, News Balls: How much time and money is wasted by men who don’t ask for directions and a bizarre death for ELO cellist. Finally, remembering the events of 9/11 on the 9th anniversary of the attacks. The show closes with an audio montage of the events that day.
Featured Artist of the Week: Annie Fitzgerald
Chris and Ally unveil their new iPhone show app and demonstrate the bonus feature functionality. Ally shares her tearoom adventure. Chris discusses the need to have the basement studio tested for radon gas after realizing that he spends almost all of his waking time there. Calls from the 312-95-SMORG hotline. Another installment of “Where’s Tisha?”. Baba Gonesh shares a joke. News Balls: A woman’s decomposed body found trapped in her boyfriend’s chimney, a dog gets sick for 3 months after swallowing 12 bras, and a man while waiting for a “ghost train”, gets killed by a real one. This show brought to you by Porky Puffs.
The SmorgShow Players return to the stage this episode to present the 1944 old-time radio play, “The Sisters”. Mystical Melinda calls in to warn us about the retrograde of the planet Mercury. Baba Gonesh shares one of his favorite bed-time folk tales, and News Balls: Another possible explanation for the continued high unemployment rate; a pig-wrestling match is canceled in Great Falls, Montana; a man is shot in the head but doesn’t notice until five years later, and the corpse of a woman hoarder is finally found beneath a pile of her belongings.
Chris cooks up a pizza in the studio and kicks back after a long and trying week of technical challenges. Chris discusses the saga with installing a new computer and wireless network for his mother. Chris and Ally check in with Peet after shipping a new microphone to him. They would like him to play a character in the upcoming old-time radio drama they are recording and need to get the audio quality up to par. Baba Gonesh is in the studio this week and presents “Comedy Camel”. News Balls: A family sues Wal-Mart after finding a dead mouse in a carton of milk, a man fakes his death to avoid a trial, and an ex-soldier who is jailed for stealing rare falcon eggs.
Featured Artist of the Week: Lisa Bouchelle
Chris and Ally recap their Disney World vacation. Baba joins us by phone to give an update on the action he has had to take with his restaurant as a result of the threatened lawsuit. We then connect with Pete remotely from Cleveland, Finally, another installment of “News Balls”: The toad-licking chef, the JetBlue Airways steward incident, and a dog who chews off owner’s toe to save his life. Chris also talks about future plans for the show including a new SmorgShow Podcast iPhone app.
Featured Artist of the Week: This is the Good Fight
Chris and Ally discuss the creation of their new show logo and ask for audience feedback; Baba Gonesh is in some legal hot water over his new restaurant and he calls in to vent his anger over the situation. Chris and Ally discuss a $69 hot dog on National Hot Dog Day; another installment of the game show “What Did I Say?”, and News Balls: A beer that is served in stuffed animals, a rock concert canceled after the band is pooped on by pigeons, the psychic World Cup Octopus stars in a movie, and a town with a strange name keeps getting their city sign stolen.
Featured Artist of the Week: Cherry Suede
New world records, an exclusive Philip Donald interview and performance, Baba Gonesh Comedy Camel, News Balls: Breakfast falls to 6th most important meal of the day, the Chicken and the Egg mystery is finally solved, a man is trapped by water buffalo head, a New York bakery sells manly cupcakes. Chris and Ally receive their first international phone call.
Featured Artist of the Week: The Maybe Sometimes
Ally explains her adventure to help save a snapping turtle; Baba Gonesh calls in with an update on how he is making changes to address the critical restaurant reviews he received last week; “News Balls”: The new San Francisco ban on pet sales, a psychic octopus predicts World Cup winner, and a man who sets himself on fire after losing a drinking bet.
Featured Artist of the Week: 27 Years
It’s Chris’s 15th wedding anniversary but Kim and Ally are out of town, so Peet comes out from Cleveland and joins Chris for a special SmorgShow Podcast.
Chris and Peet discuss how to protect your online reputation; places a call to gal pal of 30 years, Kelly and they reminisce about how a random prank call brought them all together as well as a walk down memory lane of Peet’s summer of hell weekend from 1985.
Baba Gonesh joins the program while Chris and Peet read the not-so-flattering reviews of Baba’s new restaurant.
News Balls – Strange news stories of the week including a recent revelation about King Tut’s genetalia and a cannibal prisoner who eats his cell mate.
Featured Artist of the Week: Big Walter Horton
Double Episode: Part 1: Celebrating Dad on Father’s Day, Peet calls in from the duct tape festival, With Chris’s upcoming trip to his nephew’s Christening, he studies up on how to be a good Godfather, SmorgShow Hotline Calls, Baba Gonesh shares a very touching Father’s Day story; Part 2: Classic SmorgShow Rewind: Chris and Dave Live at the Carlisle, originally broadcast on 6-29-84.
Featured Artists of the Week: Tony Mecca and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers
An updated studio version of “Stuck in the Slammer Blues”, a new injury for Chris, and we breaking in the new Pizza Pizzazz after getting a recommendation from Steve Dahl, Philip Donald Performs, Baba Gonesh Jokes.
Featured Artist of the Week: Brett Mikels
An update on Baba’s new restaurant, prosthetic legs for sale, movie trivia, phone calls from the listener hotline, and another installment of “Where’s Tisha?” – the first Tisha Chicken sighting.
Featured Artist of the Week: Justine Bennett
Chris and Ally honor the brave men and women who have died serving our country in this special Memorial Day episode. Also, Baba Gonesh opens his new restaurant and delivers his weekly installment of “Baba’s Folk Tales”. An update on Tisha Chicken.
Featured Artist of the Week: Adam Woodall Band
National Turtle Day honored, Peet calls in asking for technical help with his VCR, Baba Gonesh tells an Indian folk tale, the true cause of Elvis’s death is discussed, and a story about a fatal accident involving a toilet brush handle.
Featured Artist of the Week: Adam Woodall Band
Former WDGC-FM radio partner Daryl Woltman visits the SmorgShow studio. Ally teams up with her friend, Kat for this week’s show while the dads go out for a Portillo’s run; Riddles and stories; Baba Gonesh Comedy Camel.
Chris gets tickets to the upcoming Roger Waters The Wall tour and tries to get Ally excited about going; Chris and Ally explain the sport of Geocaching and launch the official SmorgShow Podcast Cache and Tisha Chicken Travel Bug into the wild; Baba Gonesh gives a lesson on how to clean your camel litter box, and strange news of the week.
Featured Artist of the Week: Allison Crowe
Chris discusses his torn rotator cuff. The SmorgShow Players reenact the old-time radio drama, “On A Country Road”. Also, Baba Gonesh returns with another “Thought for the Day”.
The origin of “ChickenTongue” is discussed, Chris and Ally discuss the teenagers who thought it was cool to destroy their new iPad; Chris plays an old recording of a phone call to Chicken Alaska, Ally wins the “Critic’s Choice Award”, Chris discusses his 25th year high school reunion, and Baba Gonesh Comedy Camel, the search for Dave Jackson continues, and weekly wacky news.
Featured Artist of the Week: Amy Courts
Ally’s performance in the Solo/Ensemble Choir Festival, Baba Gonesh Comedy Camel, the case of the loogie-laced Whopper sandwich, and new artist of the week debut.
Featured Artist of the Week: Dan-O
While Chris goes out for a pizza, Ally sneaks into the studio and does the show by herself. Philip Donald makes his debut appearance on the show.
Sympathy for the Deejay: Chris plays an old audio clip of what got them in trouble on the old Smorgasbord radio show. Chris and Dave reenact the night when Fred Moore called the radio station in an outrage. Fred as a contestant on the game show, “Get a Life”. Chris calls Peet to bust his chops for not listening to the podcast. Peet admits to not being tech savvy enough to download the show. Baba Gonesh Indian Folk Tale, “The Dog Bride”.
The SmorgShow players recreate the classic 1943 radio drama, “Sorry, Wrong Number”. Also, strange news stories of the week, Baba Gonesh’s Indian Folk Tale of the week, and a 2010 remix of “Slime”, from the Cow Dung and Chicken Tongue collection.
‘Murder in the Mansion‘ radio play. After Ally’s recent birthday party where she hosted a murder mystery, the SmorgShow Players create a radio-play version of the party’s script.
This began the springboard for us in creating all the subsequent old-time radio dramas in our SmorgShow Theater series.
We call Peet to ask for his advice and help on a plumbing problem since he has been in that industry for 25 years. He offers no more assistance than if we had referred to the Moen website ourselves. Chris’s dad who lives in Paris comes in for a visit so we give him a French culture quiz to see how well he is assimilating in France.
With Ally off celebrating her birthday with her friends, Chris does the show solo and brings out some old Chris and Dave Smorgasbord show bits (including Talent Line, “Get a Life”, the ‘Algebra – Not Just for Homework Anymore’ commercial, and Comedy Camel). Then, Baba returns from India with a classic Indian folk story to wrap up the show.
Ally’s Birthday Show: Chris and Ally discuss the origin and copyright protection of the “Happy Birthday To You” song; a discussion about birthday traditions around the world, Baba Gonesh calls in from India while celebrating the Indian holiday, Holi. Chris calls old WDGC partner Daryl Woltman, to discuss their daughters’ shared birthday; Peet’s Perspective.
Our version of the ‘The Dating Game’, another installment of ‘Peet’s Perspective’, Ally takes a current events quiz, and Baba Gonesh returns with another profound Thought for the Day.
Valentine’s Day Special: Baba Gonesh comes out of an extended retirement to recite some Valentine’s Day love poems and gives tips on how to prepare for that special date. Peet McCain returns to the program with the debut of his new weekly feature, “Peet’s Perspective”. Judy the Child whips up a special Valentine’s Day dinner, and Chris and Ally submit an entry into the Norah Jones karaoke contest.
Other features: For President’s Day, Ally recites the U.S. Presidents in record time. We receive a call on the feedback hotline from Canadian Astrologer, Mystical Melinda who last appeared on the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord Radio Show back in 1984. Chris unearths an old recording of his love song from 1982 called “The Black Cow”, and we wrap up the program with some very odd news stories.
Peet joins us by phone and talks about the origins of the Smorgasbord Radio show title as well as how Match.com has been working out for him. Ally gets outstanding academic achievement recognition. New game show “What did I say?” and an update on former WDGC-FM General Manager, Fred Moore.
Chris revives the old Smorg brand name after 25 years since Chris and Dave’s last show. This time Chris pairs up with his daughter, Allison in this new weekly podcast series. On this first episode, Chris updates the audience on what everyone has been up to since the original Smorg crew disbanded. Chris and Ally experiment with a helium tank and then make a road trip to the local Sonic.
This was actually recorded 4 years after Episode 1. This serves as a prequel to the SmorgShow Podcast Series for anyone just now stumbling upon our program. Chris and Ally discuss the experience of doing the show together and provide an overview of what the program is all about. If you are just only now discovering our show, we hope you continue to explore the rest of our production catalog.
The SmorgShow Podcast has its origins that go back to the early 1980’s. Chris Bockay and Dave Jackson first teamed up on high school radio station WDGC 88.3 FM in Downers Grove, IL. The show pushed the limits on what was considered acceptable community standards for a high school radio program.
Enjoy these audio clips from some of our favorite episodes of the original Chris and Dave Smorgasbord show, which aired between 1982-1984. We will continue to add new content from our archives as time goes on.
Reunion Documentary
This features Chris and Dave’s return to their old stomping grounds for the WDGC-FM 50-Year Alumni Reunion. This includes the footage from the broadcast that afternoon where the radio duo shared some of their favorite memories of the station.
Life after WDGC finds me at NIU campus in DeKalb, IL. I stayed away from radio during my first year, but decided to join the staff of NIU radio station WKDI-FM in the fall of 1985, my sophomore year. As a newbee to the station, I land the Sunday morning 6-9am time slot. Not exactly the best time for a college student, nor does it typically provide the best audience size. But I take it anyway, and I drag Dave Jackson with me for my first show. Here is one bit where we are on the air together. My college radio career lasted exactly two weeks. I did not like the fact that I could not do my own thing – I was forced to abide by strict station format – no personality radio. Oh – did I mention – this wasn’t even a real radio station. It did not broadcast over the airwaves. It was more like cable radio. Only those in the college dorms could pick it up.
Season 3 Episode 9: This episode of “Get a Life” is from the very last Chris and Dave show – The Final Chapter. By this time we finally had the delivery and timing down for this feature.
Included here are actually two callers. The first one is by far the liveliest contestant we ever had who is awarded Window Washer for the Sears Tower. The second caller is WDGC-FM station manager Fred Moore, who wins the Grand Prize for the season – The Rights to the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord Radio Show!
Fred was such a good sport that evening and never said anything about us talking for six straight hours on that final episode. Years later we came to realize that Fred was in our camp all along, he just never could admit it at the time.
Season 3 Episode 9 – Chris and Dave: The Final Chapter. On this last broadcast of the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord, we invite WDGC-FM General Manager Fred Moore on the show to present several appreciation awards to him including a sentimental plaque, a very seedy tie, and a collection of all of the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord bits that got us in trouble, suspended, or would-be suspended if Fred had actually been awake at the time we did them live on the air. We felt safe giving him the ‘goods’. After all, isn’t there a statute of limitations?
Season 3 Episode 8: The second-to-last Chris and Dave broadcast. This time we broadcast live from the moon! Of course we didn’t really think anyone would believe this – we were just having fun. I think we got a real kick out of doing the fake broadcast from the Carlisle six weeks prior that we decided to do something totally ludicrous that even the most gullible of listeners wouldn’t fall for it.
Season 3 Episode 8 – Baba Gonesh and his presentation of Comedy Camel. The question still stands – Do camels have tails, and if so are they hairy?
Season 3 Episode 8 – Another episode of the game show “Get a Life” where the lucky contest winner becomes a ‘Night Shift Nuclear Power Station Operator’.
Season 3 Episode 7: Baba Gonesh stops by the studio to share a little “Comedy Camel” with the gang. Hey – these are just recycled elephant jokes!!!
Season 3 Episode 7: Another episode of Get A Life. The first life given away is a bit of an inside joke. Peet lost his job as buyer of Home Hardware earlier that day, so the life being given away ties in with that real life event.
Double Life Giveaway: Buyer for Home Hardware and Ownership of the Checkerboard Lounge at 423 E 43rd Street in Chicago.
Season 3 Episode 7: Canadian astrologer Mystical Melinda guest stars on the Chris and Dave show and takes calls from the listeners.
Season 3 Episode 5: Chris and Dave try to get the skinny on the opening night performance of Roger Waters’ Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking Tour.
We manage to get patched into the sound booth and speak to the events manager at the New Jersey Meadowlands Arena and got a verbal description of the performance.
Season 3 Episode 5: Another episode of “Get a Life” where a lucky caller is awarded a life as an ‘Underwater Marine Biologist’.
This caller was a real downer. In hindsight, she may have called into the show to get a new life but all she got instead was this lousy bit.
Season 3 Episode 5: Jerry Malauskas spends his 19th birthday with Chris and Dave. Jerry opens up his birthday cards and Chris and Dave open up some of Jerry’s very steamy fan mail.
Season 3 Episode 4: After getting the F-bomb delivered on a recent show, Chris and Dave take things into their own hands by creating their own delay system out of two reel-to-reel tape decks. It actually worked!
So maybe it was a little late after 2 years of random incidents, but it was a feel-good to have finally accomplished this after so many prior failed attempts.
Season 3 Episode 4: Without a working delay system, Chris and Dave were often working without a safety net by taking live on-air phone calls.
Here’s a caller who, besides being an absolute moron, calls up to request a song during a talk show. When we give him the business, he drops the F-bomb on us. This was one of a handful of times we were glad station General Manager Fred Moore was not listening.
Season 3 Episode 4: Another installment of Get a Life where a caller is awarded with a life as ‘Michael Jackson’s Double‘.
This is an abbreviated episode where Peet delivers the prize for the caller. He is going off complete memory here because he lost the script. He almost slips with a word here…but then recovers before it goes out over the air. “We don’t have to cut off your…” what?
Season 3 Episode 3: We could never guarantee that any of our mail sent to us by our listeners would ever get to us. Often times we would find that other staff members would open our mail and post in on the station’s bulletin board before we would even get it.
So we decided to establish a P.O. Box. But since we were cheap, we decided to ask Peet’s mom for permission to use her P.O. Box. This is us calling her to get her permission before giving the address out on the air.
Season 3 Episode 3: Chris gets fired from his part-time job as a telemarketer for Time Magazine.
The first half of this bit is Chris describing the job and what pressures the salespeople are under to meet a minimum quota.
The second half is spent going through some actual scripts with Dave as the customer. After this job I returned to my safe and cozy job at Disc Jockey Records.
Season 3 Episode 3: This the debut of the game show “Get a Life”, which was one of more popular features in season 3.
Peet wrote all the “life” prizes that we gave away. Often times we didn’t even read the script until we got on the air so that it would be spontaneous. The life we gave away on this first installment – Gynecologist of the Stars – was quite the risque topic for a high school radio program, but somehow we got away with it. Station manager Fred Moore must have been out of town or asleep for the night. With this first attempt at this new feature, we had not yet worked out the kinks or the details with how this game show would work, but the concept is still there in its early form.
Season 3 Episode 2: Chris and Dave’s live “broadcast” from the Carlisle Banquet Hall in Lombard.
This was actually a fake remote broadcast with actual party sound effects to create the illusion of a real party taking place. Dave and I put together the background party atmosphere soundtrack at the College of DuPage radio station sound effects library that morning.
The show was apparently so realistic that listeners actually started to show up in droves to the Carlisle looking for Chris and Dave and the free food. The Carlisle called the radio station to complain about sending people their way as we were packing up for the evening.
This was our version of “War of the Worlds”. Too bad we didn’t get this good of a turnout for our real remote show from the Barn three months earlier! We actually got this idea while listening to all the other Chicago radio stations broadcasting from the Taste of Chicago. We decided to sponsor our own have our own “Taste of the Smorg”.
This is the entire broadcast from that evening.
Following a 6-week hiatus after getting suspended for parking my car on the radio station’s lawn, I wrote this script for General Manager Fred Moore to read. This opened up every Chris and Dave show in Season 3 (Summer of 1984).
This opener served as a constant reminder that “Fred Moore doesn’t go to sleep at 8 o’clock.” The fact that Mr. Moore did this for us showed us he really wasn’t out to get us.
Chris and Dave took a break from one another during the 1983-1984 school year. Each did their own separate show. For a very brief period, Dave teamed up with Jerry and the result was a disaster. The chemistry was lacking and both seemed frustrated with how the show was going. So this bit was Chris’s attempt to get the two together to hash out their differences.
Part 2 of 2: The Dating Game broadcast from Dave Jackson’s solo Sunday night show “Open Mind”. Find out who Kathy picks for a dinner date at Ponderosa (winner of the Salad Bar contest as determined on the prior episode).
Part 1 of 2: This is a recording from Dave Jackson’s “Open Mind” Sunday night radio program. Chris joins as a special guest and hosts the Dating Game with Dave. Kathy Kelly, host of CATV’s Suburban Showcase, takes calls during the program and picks one lucky winner to take her to Ponderosa, which Chris and Dave judged as the restaurant having the best salad bar in the western suburbs.
Chris and Dave call various restaurants in the Downers Grove area in search of the best salad bar.
The selected restaurant would be the destination for Chris and Dave’s winning couple of “The Dating Game” which airs the following evening. Peet joins Chris and Dave for this broadcast. The bit ends with yet another f-bomb.
There once was a “shopping cart lady” who frequented many retail outlets in the area. I spotted her on several occasions in different stores in my area, just walking aimlessly around the store for hours and filling up her shopping cart with miscellaneous merchandise. When she was finished, she would just leave her shopping cart behind for the store personnel to unload and restock the merchandise.
One Saturday afternoon while working at my first job at Disc Jockey Records in Bolingbrook, the shopping cart lady came into our store and filled out a job application. This recording has me reading her application on the air. It’s not clear from this bit, but I can assure you that the shopping cart lady was not hired by our record store.
This is the bit that could have had me thrown off the radio for good (or my dad thrown in jail), if Mr. Moore our General Manager had only heard it while it was going on.
I decided to have my girlfriend and her best friend on the show one week to guest DJ for an hour. They ended up taking calls, and boy did they ever attract an audience! Somehow the show devolved into a date line where they took live calls from guys.
The caller in this bit is actually my dad who was 43 at the time, but that little detail was not revealed to anyone. During the call he is trying to pick up these girls who are both about 16 or 17. This is seriously risky stuff.
The second voice you hear on the phone at the end of the call is that of Peet, who was living with my dad and me at the time. The other voices you hear in the background in the studio toward the end of the bit are those of a few WDGC staff members who heard this going out over the air while driving in the area. They came in to yell at me for what I was doing. They couldn’t believe I was letting this dirty old man try to pick up these girls. I tried to explain it was my dad, but they wouldn’t hear it.
They ended up reporting me to Mr. Moore on Monday morning, but somehow I went unpunished. Go figure! This is from the Smorgasbord Saturday Night program where I teamed up with Geoff Beran for the season.
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, Chris resurrected the Smorgasbord brand name and 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.
After serving as co-host and contributing to nearly 100 episodes, Ally is now grown up and has flown the coop, leaving Chris to fend for himself. As a result, the show has taken a bit of a different turn. Chris now pairs up regularly with original Smorgasbord Radio Show co-host Dave Jackson as well as Jerry Malauskas who 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, serves as our International News Correspondent, sending his views and breaking news directly from his homeland of India.
While Seinfeld was said to be “a show about nothing”, the SmorgShow Podcast is a show about anything.
As we discussed in the last episode, we determined it would be extremely difficult to continue forward with the Smorgasbord Radio Show in its current form following the passing of co-founder Dave Jackson earlier this year. Have no dispair though, because Chris and Jerry will be launching a new podcast in early 2025.
In order to finish this podcast series properly, it only felt right to return to how it started in January 2010 – with Chris and his daughter Ally teaming up on the mic. In this final episode, Chris and Ally discuss all the life stages we have moved through and the milestones that we have achieved over these past 15 years. A lot of ground was covered during this time. After all, Ally was only 11 when we started the show and now she is only a couple weeks away from closing on her first home. We reflect upon how the podcast format began and all the challenges and learnings that we faced as we tried to get the show off the ground with the relatively primitive technology. From our first episode recorded in our kitchen, to seeing the show evolve over the next 15 years, we believe we hit all of the main highlights in our retrospective.
As mentioned in the show, we reserve the right to occasionally add an episode here and there to the catalog, but this episode essentially marks the end of our 42 year run (15 years in podcast form and the years 1982-1984 when the Chris and Dave Smorgasbord was heard on high school radio station WDGC-FM). We would like to thank everyone who has been on this journey with us at one point in our timeline or another. We certainly had fun bringing our creativity to you and we appreciate all your support and encouragement over the years.
It truly has been a great run!
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 [email protected]. 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)
Subscribe and Socialize