Phil Hendrie

Philip Stephen Hendrie (b. September 1, 1952, Pasadena, California) is the host of "The Phil Hendrie Show," a comedy talk radio program syndicated throughout North America on Premiere Radio Networks and on XM Satellite Radio weeknights from 7:00pm to 10:00pm Pacific time. While "The Phil Hendrie Show" has become renowned for its unique and controversial guests, those guests are not real people at all — they are fictional characters created and portrayed by Hendrie.

Show format

When Hendrie has one of his "guests" on, the opening segment is usually cordial, and presents an unusual premise for discussion. In the second segment, a new outrageous element is usually brought in to the ongoing discussion, and callers are introduced. The callers are usually angry and outraged at what the guests are discussing, and the guest usually responds in a caustic manner. In the third segment, a third and final surprise enters the conversation and often a hilarious crescendo pitch is reached that leaves callers exhausted and enraged and listeners laughing. The caller and guest converse in downright bellicose tones, which often becomes a surreal Good cop/bad cop routine as Hendrie hangs-up on his guest and apologizes to the caller.

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Typically, two hours of the three hour show are devoted to character-based comedy segments, where the fake guests, voiced by Phil, interact with real callers. The remaining hour is devoted to Phil's commentary on the topics of the day, and to short comedy bits that could not occupy a full hour of the show. Sometimes, two hours are used for commentary and shorter bits, and only one hour of a fake guest is performed. Hendrie's other segments include "How to Read a News Story," "Phil's Mailbag," "Flashback" and "Life Imitates Phil," a segment where an outrageous stunt that had been invented on his program was later duplicated in real life.

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Often during some segments of the show, Hendrie provides his own personal opinions and commentary on his life, career, and various news stories. The number of these segments devoted to political commentary increased following 9/11, as he has become a staunch supporter of President Bush's war on terrorism. A longtime Democrat and staunchly liberal on a number of issues, Hendrie has strongly voiced opposition to the Democratic Party as of late, accusing it of having lost touch with its core constituents and failing to adequately engage with a philosophy to win the war on terror.

Related Topics:
9/11 - Democrat - Liberal - War on terror

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Beginning in January 2004, however, "The Phil Hendrie Show" decreasing the number of "serious" segments in Hendrie's own voice and returned to the commentary-through-satire which originally made him famous. He did not completely abandon political commentary in his own voice, however, and throughout 2004 frequently mentioned that he backed the re-election of President Bush because of his handling of the war. In August 2005, in order to free the show up for more character-based comedy, Hendrie launched his own political weblog, georgewbushisgod.com.

Related Topics:
2004 - President Bush - War - 2005

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Hendrie often promotes My Friend's Place, a resource center for homeless youth based in Hollywood, California), and donates all the proceeds from the sales of his 'Best Of' CDs to the center.

Related Topics:
My Friend's Place - Hollywood, California

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