It’s ‘Roe & Roeper’: WLS adds new afternoon star
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper, star columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, author and nationally known movie critic, is about to add another title to his credits: Chicago radio talk host. He’s joining news/talk WLS-AM (890) as Roe Conn’s afternoon show partner.
Roeper, 50, will start on the Citadel Broadcasting station April 12. Airing from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, the program will officially be called “The Roe Conn Show with Richard Roeper,” but Michael Damsky, president and general manager of WLS, said: “I anticipate that we’ll hear a lot of the shorthand ‘Roe and Roeper.’ ”
It’s a radio homecoming of sorts for Roeper, who began as a Sunday morning talk show host on WLS in the early ’90s and eventually landed his own Monday-through-Friday midday show on WLS-FM (94.7) during its run with a “young talk” format from 1994 to 1995. His boss then, as now, was operations director Drew Hayes.
In accepting the two-year deal, negotiated by agent Brian Musburger, Roeper turned down an offer to host his own two-hour daily show on Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720). Reached Thursday while en route from a television taping in Albuquerque to a poker tournament in Las Vegas, Roeper said:
“Roe and I have been talking for years about doing something together. This is the perfect opportunity. One of the reasons WLS was the right fit for me was that Drew [Hayes] was the first person who hired me in radio. I’ve been friends with him for 20 years. I’m joining an established show that’s hosted by a friend of mine who’s a consummate pro. I’ve even known the producer, Jocko [Hedblade]. I’m joining an established franchise. It gives me comfort in knowing that.”
Conn, 45, who has hosted his show solo and with several partners (including Garry Meier, Bill Leff and, briefly, Cisco Cotto) over his 14 years in afternoons, said he was thrilled to team with Roeper. Reached Thursday while on vacation in Mexico, Conn said:
“There are few people in the media business for whom I have as much respect as I do for Richard. Even though he’s best known nationally as a film critic, he’s one of the best and most enduring news and current events commentators of our generation. You can agree or disagree with him, but you can’t ignore him. Together, I think we have an opportunity to change the landscape of Chicago radio.”
In hiring Roeper, WLS bosses Damsky and Hayes have made their boldest move yet to strengthen the station’s programming lineup. In a memo to his staff, Damsky wrote:
“Since we began the process of refining the programming on WLS last month, our highest priority has been to find the piece which will allow Roe, and his show, to shine as brightly as we believe it can. Our belief was that Roe needed a partner, not just a sidekick. History has shown that Roe is at this best with a co-host who has an equal depth of knowledge and breadth of interest. Richard brings all of that, plus the star power that accompanies his national visibility. He has outstanding contacts in both the political and show business arenas. And, as an added bonus, the South Side will now have equal representation on ‘The Roe Conn Show’! The addition of Richard Roeper complements the station’s focus on national issues from the Chicago perspective.”
Roeper is expected to continue his Sun-Times column and his work as a multimedia movie critic whose reviews appear on richardroeper.com, Starz, YouTube, hulu.com and elsewhere. He also is a regular contributor to the Reelz Channel. His latest book, Bet the House: How I Gambled over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance, has just been published by Chicago Review Press.
blogs.vocalo.org
Bring back Katherine Johns to host in the evenings, and someone else live to host late nights!
I never knew Richard Roeper had a tattoo on his forearm…
It sounds like a good combination.
I will switch over on my drive home and give it a try.
SO COOL!
Roeper’s best partner was Rick “Billy Goat” Kogan. I miss the “Media Creatures”.
Roe Conn is a windbag (teabag?) sinking ship. He is in desperate need of a compatible partner.
Just don’t try to take over or be funnier than he is (he is not funny – but he is needy).
You two hyper guys can try and balance each other out without talking too fast
and trying too hard to be clever.
That tattoo is so lame.
Bill Leff is a class act.
Ugh, very disappointing. Not a Roeper fan, at all. I guess it’s back to the FM dial for us here in the office in the afternoon time!
I do not know of one person that ever references a thing Roper writes or says. Whenever I see him my first thought is when is this guy going to grow up. He’s 50 now and still writes stories about some of the most childish drivel I have tried to read. Thankfully, I work in the Loop and cannot pick up AM radio. The tattoo is an example of his childish ways, who gets a Celtic cross on their arms this late in life but a dope that is trying come across as hip.
And Roeper is a huge Chicago White Sox fan……..Go SOX
Roeper wants to be famous. Conn wants to be famous. I give it a year or less.
This is the answer?? I don’t think so. It will only be a matter of time before we hear: “Welcome back to the Roep-a-dope & Conn Show. Richard is out this week working on an assignment, but filling in today is Eddie & Jobo…” or some other lame-assed hack equal to Richie. Roepster won’t last. It seems there is no escape from Roeper.
“This just in… Richard Roeper will be guest maestro at Ravinia this summer! Then it’s on to Hamlet on Ice at Allstate Arena!”
About the tattoo, so pretentious. “Lookie here at my arm! Did you get it in the shot? I’m culturally relevant, right?”
This is not going to work. Roe does best with a deadpan second banana-type (i.e. the exact opposite of Roeper) to riff off of. His partner should be secure and mature—again, the exact opposite of Roeper. Sigh.
I’m out. I’ve been listening to Roe & (insert name here) off and on since the Garry days, but this is the final straw. Roeper is totally unlistenable.
I read Roeper occassionally, when his Lefty whining is subdued. I am sure he will piss off a lot of WLS’core listeners. Other than that, he is just not going to be that entertaining. He is also way too monotone.
This is a total bone headed move by WLS. Roeper is fun to read, but he is impossible to tolerate on air. I won’t even say that listeniing to him is like watching paint dry, it’s like sitting on 290 at 4pm in the afternoon with no radio and no one in the car. Agree with other posters that Roe works better with someone who lets him take all the air in the room. That’s not and never will be Roeper. Tuning over and out.
@Feder… awww, c’mon man! Why did you remove the first photo from the original story? I know he’s your friend. But that was “The Real Roeper” in that shot with the tattoo. Was that your call? Did Richard coerce you to remove it out of embarrassment or was it to prevent future ribbing from commenters here? I’m just curious.
What happened to the picture of Roeper sporting the tatoo?
I’m willing to give it a chance. I was hoping for the return of Bill, but this could work. Especially if they bring back Christina. ;-)
Geez this is the final nail in coffin for Roe’s show. Roeper is too full of himself — there is a reason that none of his past radio shows worked.
I think this is the first time Robert has ever mentioned Garry Meier by name in his column! Am I right?
The photo that originally ran with this post was taken specifically for an article in Michigan Avenue magazine about Richard Roeper’s tattoo. It was my call to substitute a photo with a less contrived pose. I think we all know what he looks like anyway.
We all know what he sounds like, also. Monotone, flat, and uninspiring.
FINALLY a good move by WLS! Roeper was great as part of the Media Creatures and I think he’ll be great with Roe. What’s with all the negativity?
Richard Roeper the self absorbed 50 year is now coming back to radio. Hasn’t Chicago had enough of the same old radio retreads. How many dead radio careers are they going to continually resurrect. For the past 30 years its been Dahl, Brandmeier, Kevin Matthews etc and now Roeper. The one thing they all have in common is extended adolescents. Roeper comes off as a smug punk, who has all the advice in the world but no experience as a responsible adult. Who else would write a book about a 30 day gambling binge? Was the purpose of the book is to inform us he has money to burn? The pairing of Conn and Roeper may sounds great to some of you radio insiders, but its just more of th same. However, I can’t wait to hear these ultimate insiders Roeper, Roe and Ron. Just think of all the pearls of wisdom they will be dropping on all of us.
Shoot! I was hoping for Nick Digilio, whose days at WGN are rumored to be numbered.
I used to love to see Rick “Billy Goat” Kogan, Wild Bill, Andy Shaw and others at the Billy Goat. Maybe they all could do a show from there!
Dude, the first photo was way cooler.
What a mess…He could have had it all.
No need to fret ChiTownGal because Roeper and Digilio have the same act..men that they think (< key word..think) they are relevant and hip.
Could be a good thing, I’ll give it a go. btw DO NOT bring back Ditzina Floozilaggi!!
I guess The Big 89 needed to fill an “Ink Deficiency” after trading the Tramp Stamp Diva to HOT-WIND 560. The “Sloe Conn Gang” might have to wheel out the “Canarble Wagon” for a special St. Paddy’s Day celebration. They can gawk at Richie’s Celtic limb while glugging black ‘n tans.
Bill Leff?….. LAME!!!!. Lefty drivel
Roe’s ego won’t like this very much. Roeper is 100000x more successful and famous than him. I already sense the passive aggressiveness on the way.
Oh, Lord. I loath Roeper’s Gerry Seinfeld wannabe radio schtick!
This is great for me, I can avoid these two self absorbed lame a-holes both at the same time. Cheers
This aweful, misguided pairing has again revealed one thing- Feder’s blog readers are the most astute and right-on-the money when it comes to Chicago radio personalities. The comments above have been for the most part amazingly accurate, because we’ve heard these two bloated egos do their media schtick for years now. It’s pretty easy to predict this being an unlistenable mismatch from our own experience.
One thing, though- did Roeper get a day trial run with Conn, did I miss it? It all begs the question- what the heck is the clueless WLS program director thinking?
Ummm..let me see if I get this. Mancow, a Libertarian didn’t fit, but Roeper, a lefty on a right wing station now combines with another Libertarian..and THIS is a solution that’s OK??
No, but it IS the only solution until the Conn show finally drops low enough for ‘ls to admit they can’t continue to have him bring down the afternoon franchise any lower.
By the way, since I always keep the 890 station on my car radio, and have to make a point to turn it off during afternoon drive, I was actually pleasantly surprised to hear Eddie and JoBo this afternoon. Other than allowing some real lame callers on, it was alright.
Oh, and in the “to be fair” department, while I’m hacked off that Mancow was dumped, I have to tell you Cotto isn’t half bad as a solo host! Oh how I wish Mancow could have stayed and Cisco replaced Hannity..
Agree with Db
Love Roe, but this is not good news
Also it would be so great to hear Catherine Johns again in the evening
can’t we get back uncle lar?
Dr. Julie, Catherine is happy doing what she does right now. Maybe fillin but she’s running her own buisness with Karen Hand.I can’t see Roe and Rick together.Two A type guys.
I don’t understand half of the whining.
- 1/2 of the whining: You don’t like Roe, so it is doomed anyway. Ok, that part I get. I loved Roe + Garry, but either one by themselves, not so much.
- 1/2 of the whining: They could have gotten somebody better. Who? I mean seriously, who??? I’m not a Roeper fan, don’t care for his column or his movie reviews. But they hired somebody who is a) left-of-center some balance to WLS’ other programming, b) local and not syndicated, c) breathing, and d) not named Melissa Forman or Bruce Wolf.
Who exactly besides Roeper and Steve Dahl fits those four criteria and is a viable drive time co-host? People are actually suggesting Katherine Johns and Nick D. with a straight face? My lord, you might as well bring my coat’s owner out of forced retirement so we can hear about the Italian American Hall of Fame and get insightful interviews with Tom Dreesen.
i’ll check it out…though i dont know why roe HAS to have a partner….i remember enjoying the roe con show when it was just roe con….
What year did Rich Roeper get the tattoo ? Was it 3 a.m. in Las Vegas ? A lost craps bet ?
Let’s see a close-up of it !
Sorry news for the state of local radio. I can’t stand either one of these overblown egotists.
I remember when Richard Roeper had a show on the old-old WLS-FM and he used to call the AM morning hosts “Doug Wade and Wilma.” Man…that had to be at least 15 years ago!
So what happens to Cisco?
I hope the pairing is a huge success so that Roeper may decide it’s time to stop pretending to be a film critic — a job he’s never been good at.
My memories of Roeper’s radio show focus on a “controversy” he was trying to stir up regarding the Salvation Army’s holiday donation buckets. He was “just asking” if maybe the mysterious gold coins that show up in the buckets every year were some sort of “plant” to get publicity. He got a smackdown (well, as much as a Man of the Cloth would smack down anybody) from a local S.A. representative…and cut short the conversation pretty quickly afterwards.
Maybe Vince McMahon and the WWE can have a ladder match in a cage.They can have a microphone on top of the ladder.The one who grabs the mike runs the show.
Just reshuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic, another partner trying to pump life into a corpse of a radio show. I skip past Roeper’s column while reading the Sun-Times, switching the dial after Rush to listen to Garry Meier on WGN will be just as easy and more enjoyable.
Roeper is waaay too liberal.
If you want to see the picture of the tattoo, and read about why he got it, check out the link.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/archive/Richard_Roeper_Tattoo_Tell-all.html
It really is so incredibly cool that Roeper is out there displaying a tattoo on his arm at age 50 (pic still available here: http://news.bmezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/roeper-tattoo.jpg ). What an utter case of arrested development. Hey, I hear Rich is on this social-networking thing called “Facebook,” too. And also, he’s using this really hip new tool called Twitter — apparently all the youngsters are sending these things called “tweets” to one another!
I didn’t realize until now that Feder typically *doesn’t* select the photos that accompany his posts, but that he can intervene and substitute them with pics with “less contrived” poses if he chooses. This post would suggest that such an action occurs only if Feder gets lots of cr*p from his readers about said photo in the comments section, as was the case here. Very interesting.
Richard Roeper was on WLS FM in the mid-90s. I remember he once mocked Roe Conn’s show.
So Rich Roeper like to impress George Clooney and Howard Stern with his
show and tell celtic cross tattoo. I think he wants us to know he’s just a regular,
beer chugging, White Sox rooting, down-to-earth, plain-talking, south side guy.
. . . . .
Who trys to hang out with self-absorbed actors trying to be the new Sinatra and
self-important “king-of-all-media” radio jocks trying to get people to pay for radio.
…you can’t ignore him
Ignore who?
Btw, the replacement photo is less contrived. But it’s still contrived. “I’m 50, I’m cool, I’m wearing a sport coat and jeans. I know you’re diggin’ me, man. Let me explain why American Pie 3 was so awesome right after I sign off with Rip, Ron… or is it Roe? That column? Yeah, I wrote that.”
Urban Legend: Roeper is a film critic.
I would have preferred the full long shot of this photo to show off some trendy Crocs.
“Disco Stu likes disco music.”
Why do they keep trying?????????????
Actually, I was hoping WLS would go with “The Roe and Rob Show.” But nobody seems to think of my great ideas… let alone use them.
Well, I was most impressed to learn the story behind Richard Roeper’s tat. Seems it is a tribute to his granny who came from the auld sod. As my ancestors also came here during the bleak year of 1847 and endured famine, poverty and discrimination, I, too, will be getting a massive tattoo in their honor. Can’t wait to have a big old tater inked on my forearm.
The tattoo looks like cartoon Popeye the sailorman’s arm.
“Ohhh yooo hooo, where is Olive Oil !”
Wait until Wimpy . . . I mean Roe, comes back from vacation.
Where is big, bad Bluto when you really need him ? ? ?
I got SO sick of Roe Conn’s show installing a “revolving door” of people who were kicked off the show–bringing back Ron Magers, talk of bringing back the skank, talk of bringing back Bill Leff. Oh come on. I stopped listening and haven’t gone back to listen to matter what was going on in the news. I took WLS off the pre-sets when I realized how God-awful Roe and Cisco were. Wow, that did NOT work at all! How much will WLS pay Roeper? Great. More movie talk and Roe won’t put up with that and will verbally “one-up” his newest sidekick. It never ends.
I look at it this way – whether you like him or not, Richard Roeper is smart enough, talented enough and hard working enough to capitalize on the opportunities given to him, which is a lot more than we can say about a lot of people. So you have to respect him for that. Not only is he one of our best movie critics, today, he’s a friggin’ machine. I don’t know very many people who could consistently deliver the volume of good, sometimes great, work he does. Who wouldn’t want to hire him? More power to him. Best of luck!
Interestingly, Roe Conn spent a half hour talking to Ron Magers about the comments on news items. He never referenced the Roeper story but did mention two news sites. This one and the Sun-Times. He said that the comments are always negative (and should be discounted). This is not necessarily true however, on both those sites the stories about Roeper joining Roe’s show contained mostly negative comments. There seems to be a disconnect between the average talk radio listener and the media elite about how Richard Roeper is perceived. We see him as a light weight. His opinions are shallow and poorly thought out. People like Phil Rosenthal think Roeper’s a genius and that the world sits on the edge of their seats waiting for his next movie review. I have never heard of anyone making a decision on wether or not to see a movie based on a Roeper review. And it’s not just Phil Rosenthal………Phil R. above seems to be a big fan too! I’ve listened to Roe since his weekend show but this will be the end. I’m switching to WGN.
I can’t stand the sight of Roepper and I can’t stand the voice of Roepper. He is a sniveling, whiny, dork. I used to listen to Don and Roma until the Presidential campaign season and they annoyed me with the constant Obama attacks. I used to listen to Mancow until he started with the Obama attacks. I have been listening to Roe Conn less and less since Bill Leff was let go. I will no longer be listening to WLS… WGN’s John Williams, Gary Meyer, and Steve Cochran are so much more entertaining. Cochran is hilarious! Bye WLS!
By the way, what’s up with Bill Leff?
@Feder,
Do you know anything about what’s REALLY going with Cisco Cotto? WLS is getting stranger with all of the rotating guest hosts (auditions). I wonder what Cisco is thinking now after being lured away from a comfy spot at WIND. He’s trumpeted as the new Roe sidekick, then moved into ManSack’s spot at 9am, and then POOF! … on vacation or something. Was he only brought on as a placeholder until their real choice of Roeper became available? Did WLS really screw this guy? Something is amiss.
Richard Roeper is a “star columnist” ???? Huh?? HA HA HA!! Roeper must have some seriously incriminating photos on Feder. Roeper is a talentless, insecure, self-promoter. Come on, Feder, you know Roeper is a punch line in this town. Stop making a fool of yourself.
Okay, can some one tell me does Roe father own the station? No talent, boring.. and the only co-host they haven’t got for him to save him and his program is Oprah.. Roe go to the radio DJ boot hill with dahl and soon to be North..
The tattoo on Squiggy is comical. Such a poser.
Roe Conn is worthless, WLS would do just fine to get rid of the guy. He loves the sound of his own voice, which is beyond me as he sounds like a 11 year old boy. Roper is equally worthless and boring, Ron Majors is an idiot too. Too bad WLS got rid of Eric Mueller, bad move WLS bad move. I don’t listen to WLS anymore.
Richard! Earlier I had written that you were a great movie critique but not very good on the Roe & Richard Show. Please let me take that back and here’s why. You do a great job on your own. You are so relaxed and natural this week (week of 7/5/10). It’s as though I couldn’t hear you before and whatever you said felt uncomfortable. Roeper keep up the great stuff cause I am loving it and feel mentally energized.