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Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in the United States, Canada and Mexico, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles.
As of July, 2008, Loveline is heard from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m PT Sunday-Thursday (1 a.m. to 3 a.m. ET Monday-Friday). Syndication is usually on rock, alternative, and adult talk radio stations.
Discussion
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Quotations
Junior college is basically just a high school with ashtrays.
Rape is not a sexual crime. It is not sexual. Rape is a violent crime...it's a violent crime, where you cum at the end.
The only threesome you need to be having is with you, your husband, and a man by the name of Jesus Christ.
The world is your oyster, because that's all the world is.
We can't judge, Drew. It's literally impossible to judge.
Hey everybody, this is Loveline. I'm Adam, that's Dr. Drew. Phone number, 1-800-LOVE-191. Dr. Drew is a board certified physician and addiction medicine specialist.
Encyclopedia
Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in the United States, Canada and Mexico, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles.
As of July, 2008, Loveline is heard from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m PT Sunday-Thursday (1 a.m. to 3 a.m. ET Monday-Friday). Syndication is usually on rock, alternative, and adult talk radio stations. Loveline can also be heard online anywhere in the world, by streaming through the websites of affiliate stations. Selected episodes are made available on Westwood One's website.
History
Loveline began in 1983 as a Sunday night dating and relationships segment on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, hosted by DJ Jim "Poorman" Trenton and DJ Swedish Egil (Egil Aalvik). About a year later, Trenton added a segment called "Ask a Surgeon", hosted by his friend Dr. Drew Pinsky, who was not yet a doctor but a fourth-year medical student at the University of Southern California.
The two segments soon merged into their own show, co-hosted by Trenton and Pinsky. In February 1992, the show went from airing solely on Sunday nights, to five nights a week (Sunday through Thursday).
Trenton's relationship with the station became strained, and in August 1993 he was replaced by former MTV VJ Riki Rachtman. Dr. Drew and Rachtman were joined by Adam Carolla in October 1995, as the show was first being syndicated nationally. The trio hosted together for several months, but Carolla and Rachtman often competed for airtime, leading Rachtman to resign in April 1996. From that point, Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew hosted the show until Carolla's departure on November 3, 2005.
The popularity and reach of the show increased dramatically during the "Pinsky/Carolla" years. The two had a natural chemistry, in which Carolla's jocular tone emphasized Pinsky's reasoned expertise. Together, they refined the format of the show, and capitalized on their growing popularity with speaking tours, a television show, a book, and cameo appearances on television shows and in movies. Carolla left the show to prepare for hosting a new morning radio show in 2005.
Loveline follows the call-in question-and-answer model with the primary goal of helping youth and young adults with relationship, sexuality, and drug addiction problems. As a practicing internist and addiction medicine specialist with training in psychology, Dr. Drew's answers have medical credibility, and the addition of Adam Carolla's humor and insight increased the program's entertainment value as well. Carolla repeatedly stated his role was acting as "a sheep in wolf's clothing:" he lured listeners with dirty jokes and wisecracks in hopes they'd learn to improve their lives and remedy serious problems.
After Carolla's departure, he was substituted on a temporary basis by numerous celebrity guests, some of whom announced their desire to take the job permanently. During his first appearance on Carolla's new morning show, Pinsky revealed that the shortlist of candidates included Carson Daly, Joel McHale, Danny Bonaduce, Steve-O, and Daniel Tosh. On July 23, 2006, KROQ disc jockey Stryker was hired as Pinsky's co-host.
Personalities
Radio hosts (1983 - Present)
Frequent fill-ins
For Drew (in the case of medical physicians) or Adam (in the case of usual comedic co-host)
- Dr. Gary Alter -- "Dr. Alter" ("Dr. Whack 'n' Sack, Dr. Alter-men")
- Dr. Ohad Menashe Ben-Yehuda -- "Dr. Ben" (The Vag Doc)
- Dr. Marcel Daniels -- "Dr. Marcel"
- Dr. Bruce Heischober -- "Dr. Bruce" (Ichabod Bruce, Dr. Spaz)
- Dr. Bruce Hensel -- "Dr. Bruce"
- Dr. Reef Karim -- "Dr. Reef"
- Dr. Robert Rey -- "Dr. 90210"
- Nicole Alvarez -- DJ on KROQ
- David Alan Grier, a popular and frequent guest, sometimes referred to as the "Third Host" of Loveline or DAG.
Television co-hosts (1996 - 2000)
Producers
- Ann Wilkins-Ingold -- 1988 - Present
- Lauren (Junior Producer) -- 2002 - December 20, 2007
Radio engineers
The show has had many engineers throughout the years who have developed their own on-air presence. Whether it be conversations with hosts and guests or specific "radio drops" that they have produced usually from clips of previous shows.
- Anderson Cowan -- June 21, 1999 - Present ("The Magic Fingered One", "The Liberace of the Potentiometers")
- Michelle -– 2004 - November 2005 (left for The Adam Carolla Show)
- Damion Stephens -– 2000 - 2002
- Chris Perez -– 2003 - 2005
- Mike Dooley -– October 1995 - June 20, 1999 ("The One-Nut Wonder", produced "The Drew Shuffle" and "The Drew Boogie")
Bogus callers
Loveline's response to frequent bogus callers, especially during Carolla's 10 years, has been generally encouraging, so long as certain rules are followed. Dubbed "The Geneva Convention of Bogu-osity," these rules state that as soon as a presenter has announced that the call might be bogus, they must "fess up." Serious reasons for this were given: If someone were claiming to be in immediate danger, and would not confess to its being a bogus claim, they would be obliged to call the police. While they are supportive of inventive, well constructed bogus calls, for general safety reasons — given the severity of a large proportion of genuine calls — the Geneva Convention has to be adhered to.
Adam and Drew were especially adept at recognizing bogus calls, saying that the two main indications were the lack of a question, or an "emptiness" to the person's voice. It is also claimed that "girls never make a bogus call unless there's a guy putting them up to it" and, as such, when a female caller was thought to be bogus, they would immediately demand to have the guy put on the line. It was explained that "girls don't have the bogus gene."
Starting in 1996 a specific male individual named Frank would call in with a completely honest sounding, but bogus, question. He would keep the hosts going as long as possible until he could work in the phrase "Asshole the size of a Mason jar" and then hang up. Over time this became code for "This is a bogus call." His run ended after Adam and Drew started to recognize his voice immediately and cut off his last two attempts midway through the first sentence saying, "And let me guess, she had an asshole the size of a Mason jar" and then hung up on him.
Several years later copycat callers were spawned and would play out the same scenario with a real-sounding but bogus problem and attempt to end the call with the Mason jar reference.
The phrase also became a coded way Drew would indicate he believed a call might be bogus, by muttering "Mason jar" under his breath while the caller talked.
It was later claimed by the original hoax caller that the phrase was invented by Adam himself. Adam had suggested it as a better punchline for ending a bogus call than the one used. The caller obliged.
On screen and in print
Loveline: The TV show
A TV version of Loveline ran on MTV from 1996 to 2000; it followed the same general format as the radio program but featured a live audience and a female co-host. The female co-host role was filled over the course of the series by MTV VJ Idalis, actresses Kris McGaha, Catherine McCord, Diane Farr and comedian Laura Kightlinger. Loveline TV was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios.
Guest appearances
- Good Morning America
- Dawson's Creek
- Lovelines: Season 6 - Episode 19: April 16, 2003
- Crank Yankers
- Season 2 - Episode 18: April 23, 2003
- Season 2 -Episode 26: October 21, 2003
- Berman & Berman
Books
The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love, an advice book written in a tone similar to the radio show, was released in 1998.
Games, in-jokes and traditions
Lingo
- The A-200 Club - A Poorman favorite term, Callers with crabs were said to be new members of the A-200 Club. A-200, as in the anti-crab topical medication.
- Annilow - (rhymes with Manilow) one of Riki Rachtman's nicknames for producer Ann Wilkins, a Barry Manilow fan.
- Ace Rockolla - Adam's alter-ego, making fun of "wacky" morning radio show hosts. (Named by rapper Ice-T)
- Adam Carolla - An updated version of the popular pool game, Marco Polo. "Adam, Carolla" is yelled in the same, classic, sing-song way and "Adam's masturbating in the jacuzzi!" has been substituted for "fish out of water".
- Attack Crows - An idea raised by Adam Carolla, who suggested that someone should train crows as bodyguards.
- Behymen - Anal virginity, a portmanteau of the words "behind" and "hymen".
- Bogosity - The degree to which a Loveline caller's story is bogus.
- International Laws of Bogosity - If a host declares a caller's problem to be fake, the caller is required to admit it. Also referred to as "the Geneva Convention of bogosity."
- Bumper - The short snippet music that is played when it comes back from commercial.
- C-Ring - cock ring; the word "cock" would get censored on the air, so Adam used this term
- Chief Thunderbear - A Native American gynecologist. He only speaks in his native language, so Dr. Drew translates. He is voiced by Adam Carolla.
- The Crab-Walk - A practical joke described by Stryker as when you walk upside down on all four limbs, ejaculate on your stomach, and walk into a room with your friends.
- Crystal Ball - Dr. Drew often can look into his "crystal ball" and foresee the future of callers based on their behaviors and family history. He typically points out he sees things like a pole in a girl's future or bad addiction
- Douchenozzle - Adam's version of the popular douchebag, claimed to be more insulting as it is the "business end of the douche." Suggested to be effective in traffic, as in "Shake your ass, ya douchenozzle!"
- Drop Trou - Short for "dropping trousers," what "Ace Rockolla" is constantly ready to do.
- Egotard - Adams definition of an Ego Retarded caller.
- Good Times - Used to indicate that everything is (or will be) all right, frequently as a method of ending a call. Occasionally used ironically by Dr. Drew when something has obviously gone wrong.
- Happies - Adam Carolla's term for herpes.
- Hobo-power - A measure of stink created by Adam. A 1-100 scale, where 50 is a cat crapping on a white-hot hibachi grill (50 hobo-power is enough to make someone vomit), and 100 is a theoretical 'absolute zero' that has never been attained. It is theorized that 100 Hobo-power would be deadly.
- The Little Lord Fauntleroy School for Albino Hemophiliacs - Adam's nickname for Dr. Drew's prep school.
- Lesbian college - Adam will often end his stock advice to sympathetic female callers (almost always of a heterosexual orientation) from chaotic family lives out of their control with this salvo. Something along the lines of "You have to stay away from the bad people in your life, get your grades up, get into volleyball, and when you're 18 go away to some lesbian college in the Northeast."
- The Lightning Round - The portion of the show, usually the final segment, during which Carolla assumes his "Ace Rockolla" alter-ego in a parody of various morning radio hosts.
- Longtime listener, first-time caller - One night, a little over a year after Adam started on the show, he flew into a rant insisting that "Longtime listener, first-time caller" was a traditional part of the radio call-in show, but that in his time on Loveline nobody had ever used it. Starting with the very next caller, and running for years after, the phrase became the most common way for callers to start off their question.
- Mahalo - Adam's traditional sign-off phrase of both the Loveline radio and MTV shows. When Adam left in 2005, Dr. Drew created his own sign-off, "be well." As of August 2007, he has most recently used, "Stay well," as his sign-off when unaccompanied by Stryker.
- Mason Jar - The key term given by a bogus Loveline caller to declare its bogosity and end the call. (Usually preceded by "his/her asshole was the size of a…")
- Nosredna - Stryker's nickname given to sound engineer, Anderson Cowan. This is "Anderson" backwards.
- Passionate, Passionate Man - How Adam describes Dr. Drew. The term can also be used in reference to Ben Stein.
- Perfectly normal, perfectly healthy. - Phrase used ironically to indicate that the caller's problem is out of the ordinary or that a sexual behavior may have serious psychological implications.
- Phallacy - blend of phallus and fallacy. Lying about the size of one's phallus.
- Radio Math - Adam Carolla's "sophisticated" calculations used to determine a female caller's actual height and weight based on the caller's claimed (and assumed to be false) height and weight.
- Rape-bank - The pet name used by Carolla to refer to the city of Burbank, based on his supposition that the city officials' main goal is to financially and spiritually rape their citizens.
- Ricockulous - More extreme than ridiculous. Replacing the "dic" with "cock".
- Sativa - A car that Adam Carolla imagined after hearing a caller's name.
- Sploser - Someone who is 'part spaz, all loser.'
- Stangry - A phrase coined for aggressive callers who are an unfortunate combination of stupid and angry.
- Sushi Bar - A phrase Poorman coined to refer to giving a female oral sex.
- Unitage - (rhymes with décolletage) or just the unit, this was one of the Poorman's favorite terms for penis.
- Vicar of Christ - Adam's alias when the Roman Catholic Church was choosing a new Pope.
- Waffle-crapper -A girl that is so hot that she could crap on a waffle and you would eat it and ask for more. Dr. Drew came up with the term while Will Arnett was telling a story.
- Westwood Two - Adam's preferred name for the Westwood One studio, which he feels so inadequate and rundown that it does not deserve its 'One' status. Also frequently called it Westwood None.
- Yucaipa - A city in San Bernardino County, California from which callers frequently claimed to be calling when unwilling or reluctant to disclose their actual location. Adam and Drew frequently permitted callers to claim they were from Yucaipa despite the statistical improbability of so many callers coming from this rather small city.
Controversy
- On June 7, 1999, the punk band Pennywise was the show's guest. Their guitarist, Fletcher, had in a previous appearance on the show, become extremely intoxicated and vomited on several people in the studio. At one point he had backed Dr. Drew into a corner, forcing Drew to punch him in the face several times on air. For the band's June 7th return, Fletcher presented Drew with a trophy filled with his own vomit as an apology. However, later in the show Fletcher again became so intoxicated that he became delusional. He announced that everyone was going to visit "Poo Poo City" (a stunt that would have involved defecating into his hand and throwing it at people). He then barricaded the sound booth, trapping everyone inside, and claimed he had a live hand grenade and that he would blow everyone up if they tried to hurt him. Much of this was aired before Engineer Mike could cut away. The Culver City Police Department were called and arrived with a tactical team, however the situation was resolved without force. Fletcher was actually unarmed and, realizing that they were no longer on the air, let Adam and Drew and the rest of the band out, and later left in a taxi. Despite these incidents, the band was asked back to the show several times thereafter without incident.
- On the August 8, 2002 show, A Culver City Police Officer entered the radio studio and lightheartedly performed a sobriety test on Adam while the live show continued to broadcast. This took place after Adam admitted on air to having eaten pot brownies earlier on an airplane flight.
- The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council once ruled that the program breached the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Code of Ethics, but was not racist and did not violate human rights. No penalty was imposed.
- The controversy emerged from a show that aired on August 21, 2002 when a female phone sex operator called in to complain that her clients were reaching orgasm too quickly, hurting her earnings. Carolla suggested that she should drop subliminal phrases about unsexy topics, such as cancer, Vietnam or the Holocaust. To the amazement of the hosts, the caller admitted that she had never heard of the Holocaust and had no idea what it was. Adam and the phone sex operator then simulated what that call might sound like with this suggestion.
Adam (simulating telephone): Brrring. Brrring.
PSO : Hi! How ya doin'?
Adam: Ooooh, hi, what's your name?
PSO: I'm Sugar.
Adam: Sugar, I'm Ace.
PSO: Hey Ace.
Adam: Yeah, what are you wearing?
PSO: Mmmm, I'm wearing a nice black garter.
Adam: Uh-huh.
PSO: Oooooh, just thinkin' about the Holocaust right now...
- After she said this, Adam, Dr. Drew, and guest Tom Arnold could no longer contain themselves and burst out laughing.
Adam: (simulating sexual gratification) Yeah, burn those Jews! Gas them in the shower, baby.
PSO: I'm sending you my bill.
Adam: Yeah, send them on the train to Kraków.
- In 2003, the show was pulled from Hawaiian affiliate KPOI after listeners complained about derogatory comments Carolla made regarding Hawaiians, on the November 9, 2003 show. Carolla also pointed out later that Hawaii was a state and that they often made fun of other US states like Florida.
Dr. Drew: I wonder if Hawaii has weathermen.
Adam: I'm sure.
Dr. Drew: Cause it's the same everyday, no matter what.
Adam: Maybe they don't. Hawaiians are too dumb. They can't figure out barometric pressure. They don't know what that means.
Dr. Drew: They have wind some days.
Adam: Here's the problem with weather in Hawaii. There's a bunch of big words.
Dr. Drew: Yeah.
Adam: And they can't handle big words over there, because they're the world's dumbest people.
Dr. Drew: Well, they can't handle big words, but they must have three letters.
Adam: Yeah, they handle big words, but it's got to be the name of a fat chick or some drink. They don't do science. Close your eyes and picture all the great Hawaiian scientists over the years. (Laughs) They're retarded people. They stay on the island. They're in-bred, obviously. They're the dumbest people we have.
Dr. Drew: I have met some smart South Pacific people. Not who lived there.
Adam: People are smart enough to move. Everyone close your eyes and think of all the amazing contributions the Hawaiian scientific community has made over the years. (Long pause) Uh ... They're stupid people.
Dr. Drew: All right. Let's hear from them. Let's hear what they have to say. It'd be interesting to hear what they have to say.
Adam: What, the Hawaiians? First off, they don't know how to dial the phone. They can't call. They don't know what they're doing. They have big calves. That's all. They're stupid people. We really should start bringing some of them in 'cause they're strong. They're a strong, sturdy breed.
See Also
List of Loveline Episodes - A list of the guests appearing on Loveline over the years.
External links
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