Posted by The Vanecko on May 23, 2009 at 12:45:21:
Radio notes
WGN has always appealed to the housewife, the farmer, the night clerk and everybody else who wanted a rock of homey sanity to stand on for a minute or an hour or the time it takes to drive to Peoria to deliver a few bushels of peaches.
Homey sanity hasn't always been in fashion, but that was sort of the point -- you could go to Steve Dahl if you wanted sarcastic and funny commentary -- once upon a time -- or Howard Stern if you felt the need to feel superior to strippers.
There are others -- the urbane and intelligent Roe Conn, the freewheeling John Howell.
But WGN was a mainstay, there at the base of the Tribune Tower, and at its heart was the "Kathy & Judy Show" -- Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey. I never actually set eyes on Kathy -- she was always on vacation when I would stop by and spend an hour or two chatting with Judy, a smart, bighearted woman with a curious mind and a quick wit. It was shocking to see WGN show them the gate Friday, as the station tarts itself up to appeal to kids who won't listen anyway.
There is no schadenfreude in this, no gleeful mocking of TribCo when it is down. We are all cooking in the same pot. But I couldn't let my former colleague, current friend and permanent Chicago icon slip out of town without saying how much she is liked and how much she will be missed, as we scan the constantly mutating local media landscape and try in vain to find a friendly, familiar face.