THIS AMERICAN LIFE: FIASCOES (RADIO)
Summary
One in this weekly series that looks at a different,
specific aspect of life in the United States in each
episode. Episodes contain several segments, or "acts,"
each of which relates to the established theme. This
installment, "Fiascoes," focuses on what host Ira Glass
describes as situations that have "left the realm of
ordinary error or even chaos and entered a whole new,
ethereal realm: fiasco." In the first act, "Opening
Night," Jack Hitt tells of attending the worst
production of "Peter Pan" ever staged. The play opens
as Captain Hook's prop hook flies off his hand and
launches into the gut of an older theatergoer in one of
the front rows, and the mishaps escalate from there.
Actors attached to special cranes meant to create the
illusion of human flight smash into the sets and are
seriously injured, the fire department bursts into the
show, and CPR is administered while the actors continue
to deliver their lines. "They had been told 'the show
must go on' over and over again," Hitt chortles. In the
second act, "Marauding Visigoths," Chicago actor Jeff
Dorchen reads a short story by Ron Carlson that details
a calamitous encounter between two warring medieval
factions and a vat of boiling oil. The third act, "Car
Wars," details the battle between two rival
automotive-advice talk-radio shows for the market in
Wisconsin. Glass interviews both parties: Tom and Ray
Maggliozi from NPR's successful "Car Talk," and Matt
Joseph of "About Cars." The feud between the radio
personalities has gotten so heated that several lawsuits
are underway, listeners learn, and Wisconsin has
dispatched state employees to conduct a full audit of
both programs. In the final act, "Fiascoes as a Force
for Good in this World," "This American Life" producer
Margy Rochlin plays a tape of her first interview ever,
with actress/singer/comedian Moon Unit Zappa for the
L.A. Reader in 1982. After Zappa tells Rochlin a wacky
joke, Rochlin starts laughing so hard that coffee comes
shooting out of her nose, rendering her unable to
breathe. Zappa's mother can be heard entering the room
on the tape and administering the Heimlich Maneuver to
Rochlin. Rochlin finally recovers on the tape, and she
reveals to Glass that the incident was so ridiculous
that she and Zappa bonded and have remained friends.
(Network affiliation varies: local broadcast, November
1995-June 1996; on NPR, June 1996-June 1997; on PRI,
July 1997- .)
Details
- NETWORK: WBEZ-FM (Chicago, IL) / NPR National Public Radio
- DATE: April 26, 1996 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:10
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:16093
- GENRE: Radio - Public affairs/Documentaries; Radio - Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Disasters; Interviews; Theaters - Accidents
- SERIES RUN: WBEZ (Chicago, IL) - Radio series, 1995-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ira Glass … Host
- Margy Rochlin … Reporter
- Ron Carlson
- Jeff Dorchen
- Jack Hitt
- Matt Joseph
- Ray Maggliozi
- Tom Maggliozi
- Moon Unit Zappa