Latest / The World of Phil Hendrie / Episode #3979 The New Phil Hendrie Show Radio Archive December 2004

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Episode #3979 The New Phil Hendrie Show Radio Archive December 2004 · The World of Phil Hendrie

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Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another Radio Archive Hour from the
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Speaker 1: Radio Hall of Fame Phil Henry Show and philhenryshow.com. From
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Speaker 1: the month of December 2004 comes a character that we
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Speaker 1: rarely did. In fact, he was named after a friend
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Speaker 1: of our engineer at the time, Craig Taylor. Eric Hester
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Speaker 1: is in production. He's a reality TV show producer of
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Speaker 1: a new show called Surprise. Now, in this show, the
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Speaker 1: host approaches children and tells them that their parents have
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Speaker 1: been killed in an automobile accident or some other accident.
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Speaker 1: And they capture the reaction of the children and the
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Speaker 1: fear and the sadness. And then suddenly their parents reappear
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Speaker 1: and yell surprise, indicating that it was all a big gag.
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Speaker 1: He also hopes to get a Drew Carey or Ray
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Speaker 1: Romano type to host the show.
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Speaker 2: It sucks.
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Speaker 1: It's offensive. And the callers tell him so. Here is
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Speaker 1: the weird-ass Eric Hester. and surprise from December 2004 on
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Speaker 1: the world-famous Phil Henry Show. Reality television is, well, it's
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Speaker 1: what TV is today. It's really what networks are looking
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Speaker 1: for in terms of a show they can put on
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Speaker 1: the air for as little cost as possible and make
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Speaker 1: as much money as they can, because the production cost
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Speaker 1: on reality TV shows is very, very minimal. Eric Hester
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Speaker 1: is a television producer with a new reality TV show
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Speaker 1: that he.
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Speaker 2: is hoping will be on the air this fall. And, Mr. Hester,
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Speaker 2: thanks for joining us.
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Speaker 3: It's always a pleasure to be with you, Phil.
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Speaker 1: And tell me about this show called Surprise, because the
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Speaker 1: way you're promoting this, you're throwing out the rule book
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Speaker 1: on reality television.
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Speaker 2: You're going to take it someplace it's never gone before.
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Speaker 3: Well, we hope to, yes. The show is called Surprise,
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Speaker 3: and this show is really like no other show in history.
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Speaker 3: Most reality television is very shallow and very cookie-cutter, My partner,
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Speaker 3: Cal Coltrane, and I decided that what we wanted was
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Speaker 3: a reality TV show that would go somewhere deeper than
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Speaker 3: just the usual fare that we see, which is a
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Speaker 3: bit more like a... a freak show, really, bug-eating and
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Speaker 3: marriages between dwarves and this sort of thing. And with Surprise,
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Speaker 3: we think we've done that.
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Speaker 2: Now, this show is airing this fall on NBC?
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Speaker 3: We're shooting for that, yes.
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Speaker 1: Well, I know what you mean about the cookie-cutter thing,
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Speaker 1: the way things look on TV, especially reality shows.
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Speaker 3: But we believe in reality TV. Please don't get me wrong.
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Speaker 3: We just think it could be much more. Surprise gathers
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Speaker 3: together siblings, and that is brothers and sisters from any
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Speaker 3: given family, And we want the kids to generally be
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Speaker 3: anywhere from the age of eight to 10 years of age.
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Speaker 3: And we gather the kids in a variety of settings.
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Speaker 3: It could be their home, it can be at school,
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Speaker 3: it can be at a fast food restaurant. Now the
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Speaker 3: kids are together and we have an actor dressed as
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Speaker 3: a police officer or in some cases a minister or
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Speaker 3: in some cases a man in a suit or a
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Speaker 3: doctor's spot. And this person sits down with the kids.
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Speaker 3: And here's where I think reality television can really be
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Speaker 3: something special and do a service as opposed to having
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Speaker 3: people conduct themselves in this freak show manner, picking the bachelorette,
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Speaker 3: this kind of thing. We think we're better than that.
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Speaker 3: And we're better as people than that, I think. What
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Speaker 3: we do is we have that person sit down with
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Speaker 3: the kids and tell them, kids, I'm very sorry to
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Speaker 3: have to tell you, but your mother and father have
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Speaker 3: just been killed. In a car crash. Now, what we
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Speaker 3: do is we pull the camera in close, right up
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Speaker 3: into the faces of these children who, for the very
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Speaker 3: first time in their lives, are experiencing death. Now, that
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Speaker 3: is reality TV. I don't even call it reality TV.
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Speaker 3: I call it truth TV, and I call it life TV.
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Speaker 2: Are the kids' parents really dead?
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Speaker 3: No, no. The parents are alive and well and are
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Speaker 3: watching from a remote van. And then, at some point,
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Speaker 3: of course, we do tell the kids... you know what,
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Speaker 3: we were just joking around, but maybe now you'll appreciate
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Speaker 3: your parents a little bit more. And as far as
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Speaker 3: our host goes, we're hoping to get Drew Carey, or
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Speaker 3: we would agree to somebody who's a very funny man.
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Speaker 3: Drew Carey is good, Ray Romano, who can tell the
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Speaker 3: kids that their parents are dead because it will soften
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Speaker 3: it a little bit, because we're concerned about how the
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Speaker 3: kids will react, and he might have a joke, and
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Speaker 3: then when the parents show themselves, we would have a
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Speaker 3: little bit of a song, things like this. These people
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Speaker 3: are funny, the Jaylenos and so on, and if we
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Speaker 3: can get them.
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Speaker 2: All right, hold on.
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Speaker 1: You have them break the news, and then the children react,
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Speaker 1: and at some point you tell them that you're kidding.
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Speaker 3: And then we say we're only kidding. Your parents are
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Speaker 3: not dead. Now, here they are, and now the moral is,
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Speaker 3: of course, appreciate your parents. See, looking at reality shows,
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Speaker 3: you get embarrassed by how low they stoop, how low
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Speaker 3: they can go, and we're trying to elevate the reality genre.
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Speaker 2: What do you consider the worst of the reality shows?
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Speaker 3: I think all of them. The Littlest Bachelor was exploitation.
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Speaker 3: I think Fear Factor is not reality TV. Nobody eats
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Speaker 3: bugs or jumps from a moving truck. That's not reality television.
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Speaker 3: I talked with the head of NBC's entertainment division, a
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Speaker 3: guy by the name of Mo Zucker, and I told
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Speaker 3: him we need to take it to another level. Surprise
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Speaker 3: will show 8- to 10-year-old children who have just been
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Speaker 3: told their parents are dead. Now, this, Phil, is a
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Speaker 3: moment in time that we capture, and then we go
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Speaker 3: through the grieving with them.
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Speaker 2: What if the kids become panicked? What if they become upset?
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Speaker 3: Well, if we need to, we have cell phones on
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Speaker 3: the set. We can call 911 if we need. The
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Speaker 3: cameras have an opportunity to catch that, though. In fact,
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Speaker 3: the pilot that we shot and have shown two networks
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Speaker 3: that are probably going to be bidding for it, one
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Speaker 3: of the children becomes physically sick. She vomits. And we debated,
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Speaker 3: should we.
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Speaker 4: Cut that out?
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Speaker 3: And my partner, who's one of the smartest TV guys,
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Speaker 3: Kyle Coltrane, said, no, it's reality, and that is reality television.
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Speaker 2: Okay, Eric Hester joins me. Our number is 1-800-449-8686.
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Speaker 1: The new show is called Surprise, where children are told
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Speaker 1: that their parents have been killed in an automobile accident,
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Speaker 1: and then they get the close-ups on them, and he's
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Speaker 1: hoping to get a host like Ray Romano or something.
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Speaker 2: Why get a comic to deliver news like this?
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Speaker 3: Because, again, the audience will be.
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Speaker 4: In on it.
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Speaker 3: It softens it for the audience, and I think that
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Speaker 3: maybe the kids will take the news better if they're hearing.
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Speaker 3: If I was small and I had a wonderful entertainer
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Speaker 3: such as Whoopi Goldberg or someone like that say to
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Speaker 3: me that your parents have been killed in an automobile accident,
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Speaker 3: I might be able to deal with it better if
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Speaker 3: I was hearing it.
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Speaker 2: If you were hearing it from Whoopi Goldberg.
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Speaker 3: Well, not necessarily, but, again, we're trying to get the
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Speaker 3: camera in tight on these situations.
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Speaker 2: All right, 1-800-449-8686, the number.
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Speaker 1: I don't know how many of you guys watch reality television.
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Speaker 1: I do agree with you that it's pretty much worked
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Speaker 1: all of the angles, and when you say you made
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Speaker 1: a very interesting point, eating bugs and jumping off of
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Speaker 1: moving vans, is not reality because few of us actually
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Speaker 1: do that.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely. And how many of us have the opportunity
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Speaker 3: to be wined and dined by a handsome bachelor or
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Speaker 3: a beautiful bachelorette? No, this is reality, Phil. This is
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Speaker 3: the reality of a child being told that their parents,
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Speaker 3: mommy and daddy are not going to come back. And
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Speaker 3: then getting that reaction. I don't think there's anything more
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Speaker 3: primal in life, Phil, than the separation of a child
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Speaker 3: from a parent. I don't know if you saw the
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Speaker 3: film E.T.
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Speaker 2: I think E.T.
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Speaker 3: Dealt with it very beautifully, the separation from the home
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Speaker 3: planet by the creature. And, of course, there was the
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Speaker 3: wonderful artificial intelligence that Steven Spielberg had when you're dealing
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Speaker 3: with the separation of a robot boy from his flesh-and-blood mother.
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Speaker 3: What we want to do is elevate the genre and
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Speaker 3: make reality television something we can all be very proud of. And, again,
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Speaker 3: I think it's going to be a great thing.
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Speaker 2: All right, now, I've got to ask you here. Children,
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Speaker 2: even though you tell the kids you're only kidding, to
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Speaker 2: hear that mommy and daddy have been killed in an
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Speaker 2: automobile accident, at what point do you tell the kids
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Speaker 2: that this is just a joke?
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Speaker 3: Well, we go through the entire grieving. We make burial arrangements.
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Speaker 2: I mean, you're going through days.
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Speaker 3: Well, it's a couple-day process where you go through the
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Speaker 3: entire process of mommy and daddy have to be buried,
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Speaker 3: this kind of thing. But then eventually, just as... I
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Speaker 3: want you to understand that this is intended as a
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Speaker 3: way to really make the child understand... that it's all
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Speaker 3: been in fun, okay? Because we have a viewing where
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Speaker 3: the people are laying in their caskets and then they
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Speaker 3: sit up and they say, mommy's not dead, daddy's not dead.
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Speaker 2: And how do the kids take it?
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Speaker 3: Well, I told one of the kids vomited, but the
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Speaker 3: other kids I think were relatively all right with it. Again,
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Speaker 3: where do we go for.
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Speaker 4: Reality, Phil?
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Speaker 2: So these are eight- to ten-year-old children who are told
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Speaker 2: their parents are dead. Then you go through the burial arrangements.
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Speaker 1: Then they go in for the viewing of the bodies,
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Speaker 1: and they sit up in the casket and say, almost like, hey,
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Speaker 1: you're on candid camera.
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Speaker 3: No, it's not, no, it's not candid camera. It is
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Speaker 3: a surprise. And then Ray Romano or Drew Carrier, whoever
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Speaker 3: we hire, comes in, and we do a song. And
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Speaker 3: this is a way, I think, of showing both the
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Speaker 3: horror and the relief. the release from horror. My partner, Kyle,
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Speaker 3: put it in a way, have you ever had to
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Speaker 3: really just go? You know, to the bathroom? There's the
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Speaker 3: horror of not being able to, and then there's the release.
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Speaker 2: It's the same thing. All right, 1-800-449-8686. Marcy, you're on
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Speaker 2: the Phil Hendry Show. Go ahead.
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Speaker 5: Hi, I'm calling from San Diego to tell you that
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Speaker 5: I think that this is an appalling idea. If your
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Speaker 5: guest would have been working in the school system during
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Speaker 5: 9-11 and seen the horror in these children's faces at
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Speaker 5: the sight of death, the hearing of what happened. My
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Speaker 5: son was a friend of the girl whose father was
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Speaker 5: killed in Iraq. He was a civil contractor. He came
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Speaker 5: home petrified because my husband travels for a living.
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Speaker 3: Right. There's one point that you're leaving out, Marcy, that
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Speaker 3: we include in our program. What if you were able
10:52
Speaker 3: to come to those children a half hour later and say,
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Speaker 3: you know what, we're just kidding.
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Speaker 5: I don't think that would have been funny at all.
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Speaker 3: Well, you don't think, but you don't know.
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Speaker 5: And I don't think that death is nothing.
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Speaker 6: To joke about.
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Speaker 3: Well, of course it is. We're all going to die.
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Speaker 3: It's a part of life. It is the process.
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Speaker 5: It is a part of life, but there's no need
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Speaker 5: to traumatize these children this young at age. You should
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Speaker 5: prepare them in a way that they can accept it,
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Speaker 5: not go, oh, only kidding.
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Speaker 2: Do you think that there is a risk of trauma here,
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Speaker 2: you know, Mr. Hester, or is there Like you say,
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Speaker 2: telling the kids that they're only kidding.
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Speaker 3: Look, what we're looking to do, Phil, and what I'm
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Speaker 3: trying to tell your listeners, reality television, the kind that
11:33
Speaker 3: this lady or other people may watch.
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Speaker 4: Is a joke.
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Speaker 3: It's not reality at all. We need reality.
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Speaker 5: I agree with you. Reality television is a joke.
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Speaker 3: It is not entertaining. This is going to be great.
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Speaker 5: And neither is your show going to be entertaining, and
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Speaker 5: anyone in any sense will not watch your show.
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Speaker 3: Well, ma'am, you haven't seen it. I think you're judging
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Speaker 3: it based upon.
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Speaker 4: Children were traumatized.
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Speaker 3: By Bozo the Clown. Were you aware of that? Whatever
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Speaker 3: we're doing on Surprise is only giving the child reality.
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Speaker 2: All right. Thank you very much, Marcy, for your call.
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Speaker 3: 1-800-449-8686.
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Speaker 2: Eric Hester is my guest.
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Speaker 1: The producer of a new reality show that he hopes
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Speaker 1: will be airing this fall on NBC called Surprise, where
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Speaker 1: kids are sat down and told their parents have been
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Speaker 1: killed in an automobile accident, and then a half hour
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Speaker 1: later their parents sit up in the casket and say surprise. Now,
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Speaker 1: you know, even if the kids were just told, well,
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Speaker 1: you know, we're just kidding, your folks are not dead,
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Speaker 1: that's one thing, but to have them sit up in
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Speaker 1: the coffin, and he said one of the kids threw up, 1-800-449-8686,
12:41
Speaker 1: Phil Henry Show.
12:43
Speaker 2: Phil Henry Show, 1-800-449-8686.
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Speaker 7: Whenever you think of someone with hair, think of me,
12:46
Speaker 7: Bob Green. The Bill Hendry Show is back!
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Speaker 3: 1-800-449-8686.
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Speaker 1: I'm talking with Eric Hester, the producer of a new
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Speaker 1: reality show called Surprise. The show is based around young
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Speaker 1: children of 8 to 10 years of age being told,
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Speaker 1: that their parents have just died in an automobile accident
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Speaker 1: or some other kind of mishap, I imagine, only.
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Speaker 2: To be told later on that they're only joking. But
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Speaker 2: you want to get that look of reality. You want
13:47
Speaker 2: to get that look of fear.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Phil. The look of reality. Not the look of fear, necessarily,
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Speaker 3: but the real sensation of death. And the lady made
13:56
Speaker 3: a very good point. Death is nothing to joke about.
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Speaker 3: But maybe it's time we tried to at least... Have
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Speaker 3: a little bit of fun with it. Because I'll tell
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Speaker 3: you a story, and the reason why I did this show.
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Speaker 2: All right, well, I want to get to some calls.
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Speaker 3: Okay, that's fine, but I think you'll be interested. I
14:16
Speaker 3: was in the 101st Airborne, Phil, when I was in
14:18
Speaker 3: the Army. I was at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. And we
14:21
Speaker 3: did a jump one day. My very best friend was
14:25
Speaker 3: leaning against a tree. My best friend in the world
14:28
Speaker 3: leaning against a tree after we'd done a jump. And
14:32
Speaker 3: they were parachuting in after.
14:36
Speaker 3: The airborne troops had dropped. Then they would drop in
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Speaker 3: the supplies in crates on parachutes.
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Speaker 2: On parachutes?
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Speaker 3: Yes. And my best friend in the world, a guy
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Speaker 3: by the name of Howard Duggan, was leaning against a
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Speaker 3: tree lighting a cigarette when one of those crates dropped
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Speaker 3: out of the sky, hit him smack on the head
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Speaker 3: and killed him. And I remember I laughed until I
15:02
Speaker 3: almost got sick. I thought it was that funny.
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Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
15:07
Speaker 3: But imagine that. You're a paratrooper, and you're killed by
15:11
Speaker 3: a crate of MRIs falling out of the sky. So
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Speaker 3: I remember thinking, well, that is, how can I bring
15:20
Speaker 3: that sense of humor to the.
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Speaker 2: But do you look back on the death of your
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Speaker 2: best friend as a humorous thing?
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Speaker 3: Well, no. I'm sorry that he's gone, but it was
15:30
Speaker 3: so funny to see the way he died. How can
15:32
Speaker 3: I bring that joyous... Because it was joyous, I suppose,
15:35
Speaker 3: to see him get hit by this crate. It wasn't funny,
15:39
Speaker 3: but it left me with a smile on my face.
15:42
Speaker 3: And so I've decided to.
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Speaker 2: It left you with a smile on your face to
15:46
Speaker 2: see your best friend get hit by a parachuted crate
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Speaker 2: of stuff.
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Speaker 5: Yes.
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Speaker 3: Not because I lost my friend, but when I think
15:56
Speaker 3: back on the death of Howard, I've got to tell you,
15:58
Speaker 3: I've got to pull over because I start laughing. So
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Speaker 3: how do I bring that to the TV? And that's
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Speaker 3: where we.
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Speaker 1: Came up with Surprise. All right, 1-800-449-8686. Dottie, you're on
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Speaker 1: the Phil Henry Show with Eric Hester.
16:10
Speaker 2: Go ahead.
16:11
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm a retired teacher, and as far as I'm concerned,
16:14
Speaker 6: this is mental child abuse. If you want to do
16:18
Speaker 6: something with adults, but if I did that as a teacher,
16:21
Speaker 6: I'd be arrested and thrown in the can. And if
16:24
Speaker 6: somebody doesn't do that to you, you're sick.
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Speaker 3: Well, I don't know where to begin with you because
16:31
Speaker 3: you don't make very educated statements for a teacher. Number one.
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Speaker 6: I beg your pardon.
16:35
Speaker 3: Number one. How many of you are laughing at this?
16:38
Speaker 6: Buddy Dye doesn't make very good statements either.
16:41
Speaker 3: Well, you had to have been there. If you were there,
16:42
Speaker 3: I guarantee Dottie, you would have made your depends a
16:46
Speaker 3: little smelly.
16:47
Speaker 2: Let's watch out.
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Speaker 6: Who are these parents that are allowing this to happen?
16:53
Speaker 6: You couldn't do it in the classroom.
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Speaker 3: First of all. If you were able to do this
16:58
Speaker 3: in the classroom, Dottie, you sound like the kind of
16:59
Speaker 3: person who might enjoy it.
17:01
Speaker 4: Secondly.
17:01
Speaker 3: Well.
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Speaker 2: What are you doing now?
17:03
Speaker 4: You know something?
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Speaker 3: Children are very tough individuals.
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Speaker 6: Is this going to be a surprise to you?
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Speaker 3: They hear their parents. Probably everything in life is a
17:13
Speaker 3: surprise to you, Dottie. Children hear their parents.
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Speaker 6: This has got to be a joke.
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Speaker 3: Especially after their parents rush out after giving them a
17:21
Speaker 3: great big hug, and we surprise their family and everything
17:23
Speaker 3: like that.
17:23
Speaker 6: Yeah, and then you're going to have kids that won't
17:25
Speaker 6: leave their mother and father's side for years.
17:28
Speaker 3: Well, Dottie.
17:29
Speaker 6: Try checking with a school psychiatrist.
17:33
Speaker 3: What I ought to do is check with your kids.
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Speaker 6: Sorry, buddy, you're on the wrong plane.
17:36
Speaker 3: Check with your kids. They probably couldn't wait to get
17:38
Speaker 3: out of that.
17:39
Speaker 2: All right, there goes Dottie. Here is Rachel. Rachel, go ahead.
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Speaker 5: Hi, how are you doing?
17:44
Speaker 7: Fine.
17:45
Speaker 5: I'm a little in shock, actually, about that last call
17:48
Speaker 5: with Dottie, so I hope I get a little respect
17:50
Speaker 5: to say a few words.
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Speaker 3: Wait a second. That lady was nothing but disrespectful to me,
17:53
Speaker 3: so she got as good as she gave.
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Speaker 5: Okay, let me just give my opinion, and then you
17:58
Speaker 5: can give your feedback if you'd like. I actually turned
18:01
Speaker 5: this on, and I'm in the car with my 11-year-old
18:03
Speaker 5: right now.
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Speaker 1: Oh, great.
18:05
Speaker 5: I'm completely, I personally am completely appalled and truly do
18:10
Speaker 5: believe that you, okay, so I'm completely appalled. And I
18:14
Speaker 5: asked my son's opinion as an 11-year-old, and he said
18:18
Speaker 5: that not only, and he's a very well-spoken, articulate boy,
18:21
Speaker 5: and he said not only would he not appreciate me more,
18:25
Speaker 5: but he would feel resentful towards me because he felt
18:28
Speaker 5: he wouldn't be able to trust me at that point.
18:31
Speaker 5: And I have to agree with the last caller that
18:33
Speaker 5: the psychological damage that you could possibly put upon these
18:36
Speaker 5: kids is immense. And honestly, the fact that parents would
18:42
Speaker 5: allow their children to experience something like this, I do
18:46
Speaker 5: believe that somebody in CPS or Social Work needs to
18:49
Speaker 5: get involved. And I'm sorry that you experienced such traumatic things.
18:53
Speaker 5: in your life that you think it's funny to see
18:56
Speaker 5: your friend die.
18:56
Speaker 3: Let me address one of these things there, Rachel. First
19:01
Speaker 3: of all, your son said something to you, and we
19:03
Speaker 3: all know that children lie. Your son is going to
19:05
Speaker 3: tell you what he wants you to hear. Do you
19:07
Speaker 3: have children?
19:09
Speaker 5: Do you have children?
19:11
Speaker 3: I did.
19:12
Speaker 2: You did?
19:13
Speaker 3: I did, yes.
19:14
Speaker 7: Meaning?
19:16
Speaker 3: Well, if you'd like to hear the story, I can
19:18
Speaker 3: tell you.
19:18
Speaker 5: Well, I don't need to hear a far out thing.
19:22
Speaker 3: My wife got custody of them.
19:24
Speaker 5: Okay, so your children are still alive.
19:26
Speaker 3: Yes, most certainly. But you don't have custody of.
19:29
Speaker 5: Them, and maybe there's a particular reason for that.
19:34
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, children lie, like your son just
19:36
Speaker 3: did to you, about, oh, mommy, I really don't know
19:38
Speaker 3: about that. Of course he doesn't mean that. Of course
19:41
Speaker 3: he'd appreciate you more. Do you like television? I bet
19:43
Speaker 3: you do, and I can guarantee you.
19:44
Speaker 5: And your son and daughter. Actually, I can't stand reality TV.
19:46
Speaker 5: I think it's obnoxious, and I think the only reason
19:48
Speaker 5: you're doing it is to train her. a dollar, and
19:50
Speaker 5: I'm really sorry that you've lost your kids. You don't
19:53
Speaker 5: have an opportunity to see how wonderful it is to
19:55
Speaker 5: raise them that you think that this would be okay
19:57
Speaker 5: for children, and it's clear that you have no right
20:00
Speaker 5: to parent a child.
20:01
Speaker 3: Well, Rachel, that's quite a statement. I'd like to send
20:04
Speaker 3: you and your son two hats from Surprise and two
20:06
Speaker 3: T-shirts so that you guys would come on our program.
20:10
Speaker 5: I actually would never submit my son to that because
20:13
Speaker 5: I actually heard about him. It's unfortunate that these parents
20:17
Speaker 5: have no... It's interesting that you don't like the show because.
20:21
Speaker 3: We've got a lot of interest from PBS.
20:23
Speaker 5: You've got a lot of sick people. You have a
20:26
Speaker 5: lot of sick people.
20:27
Speaker 3: NPR is going to have me on.
20:28
Speaker 2: Well, what does that mean, NPR and PBS?
20:30
Speaker 5: NPR wants to hear what you have to say, but
20:33
Speaker 5: that doesn't mean that they agree. You're controversial. That's the
20:36
Speaker 5: way they want to hear it. It doesn't mean they
20:37
Speaker 5: agree with it.
20:38
Speaker 3: NPR only puts on educated programming that is going to
20:41
Speaker 3: educate people. And, Rachel, you get to sit in our
20:44
Speaker 3: air-conditioned van. You can watch your son show his love
20:46
Speaker 3: to you. By so my God, my mother's dead.
20:50
Speaker 2: And watch him throw up on himself? Like that one
20:53
Speaker 2: kid did?
20:53
Speaker 5: Well, that's what I want to see, Dad. I want
20:55
Speaker 5: to see my son experience joy. I don't need to
20:58
Speaker 5: see my son experience terror.
21:00
Speaker 3: Well, you don't get to see that until he moves out.
21:03
Speaker 2: All right. Rachel, thank you for your call. 1-800-449- what
21:07
Speaker 2: is that supposed to mean?
21:10
Speaker 7: 1-800-449-8686.
21:11
Speaker 1: Phil Henry Show. Eric Hester with the show Surprise.
21:15
Speaker 2: He tells kids their parents are dead, then he says
21:16
Speaker 2: he's kidding.
21:48
Speaker 5: 1-800-449-8686.
21:48
Speaker 7: The Phil Hendry Show is back.
21:51
Speaker 2: We're talking with Eric Hester.
21:52
Speaker 1: The new reality show that he's producing is called Surprise,
21:55
Speaker 1: where children are told their parents are dead in an
21:58
Speaker 1: automobile accident, only to be told later on that they
22:00
Speaker 1: were just kidding. Now, you heard mothers in that first
22:03
Speaker 1: half hour talking about how it was child abuse, how
22:06
Speaker 1: it was abusive to these kids, how it was something
22:09
Speaker 1: that should be actionable in a court of law, Mr. Hester,
22:11
Speaker 1: and yet you call this entertainment based upon the death
22:15
Speaker 1: of a friend of yours being hit in the head
22:16
Speaker 1: with a crate in a paratrooping exercise.
22:19
Speaker 2: He was an adult. These are kids.
22:21
Speaker 3: Well, that's a very good point, Phil. But let me
22:22
Speaker 3: also point out something, that most of those women and
22:24
Speaker 3: most of the women that might call me, or most
22:27
Speaker 3: of American women that might call me and say, well,
22:30
Speaker 3: we don't think this is right. You should be off
22:33
Speaker 3: the air because your program is very cruel. All of
22:36
Speaker 3: those women are the very same women that will subject
22:39
Speaker 3: their children to these anti-abortion marches, and will put their
22:44
Speaker 3: children through these prayer meetings. No, this is the kind
22:49
Speaker 3: of thing.
22:50
Speaker 2: That's the politics of the mother.
22:51
Speaker 4: That's abuse.
22:52
Speaker 3: Absolute abuse.
22:53
Speaker 2: How do you figure that's abuse?
22:55
Speaker 3: Well, you're taking a young child, and you are manipulating
22:58
Speaker 3: that child for your own political purposes. And those are
23:01
Speaker 3: the very same women that would take their child out
23:03
Speaker 3: on one of these pro-life marches, and then say, oh,
23:06
Speaker 3: but you can't do this to my child. Look, the parents,
23:09
Speaker 3: those are the very women that I'd love to have
23:10
Speaker 3: on this program, because those women... I think once they
23:14
Speaker 3: get past their initial politically correct reaction, I think they're
23:18
Speaker 3: sadistic enough perhaps to even enjoy it.
23:22
Speaker 2: You do agree, then, that parents who will let their
23:24
Speaker 2: kids on these programs are sadists?
23:26
Speaker 4: I know.
23:26
Speaker 3: The parents that we deal with are great.
23:28
Speaker 2: But you did say sadistic enough to enjoy it.
23:30
Speaker 3: Those women who would take exception, who can't admit to
23:32
Speaker 3: themselves that this is something that's no worse and probably
23:36
Speaker 3: nowhere near as bad as them taking their children on
23:38
Speaker 3: these marches against breast cancer or something, which is political
23:42
Speaker 3: manipulation of their children.
23:44
Speaker 2: All right, 1-800-449. I understand you have a piece of
23:46
Speaker 2: music from the show.
23:47
Speaker 3: We do, Phil. We have the opening to the program.
23:49
Speaker 2: All right, I'll hear that in a minute here.
23:50
Speaker 3: 1-800-449-8686.
23:50
Speaker 1: Johanna, hello, you're on the Phil Hendry Show with Eric Hester.
23:56
Speaker 5: Yes, I wanted to make a point. My children, 13
24:00
Speaker 5: years ago, did lose their father. They went through this
24:02
Speaker 5: reality TV show, only it wasn't a TV show. It
24:05
Speaker 5: was real life. And I can tell you that the
24:07
Speaker 5: horror that I saw come across their faces as they
24:10
Speaker 5: received the news and then had to go through the viewing,
24:13
Speaker 5: and all the things that you said were going to
24:15
Speaker 5: go on in your show, and then at the end
24:17
Speaker 5: not have their father sit up in the casket and say, surprise!
24:20
Speaker 3: That's why they're upset.
24:21
Speaker 5: No, that is not why they're upset. I'll tell you what,
24:25
Speaker 5: that is a trauma that will never leave them. This
24:28
Speaker 5: happened 13 years ago to those children, and it will
24:31
Speaker 5: never leave them. And it was not... It was not
24:34
Speaker 5: to be released by somebody sitting up in the casket saying, surprise.
24:37
Speaker 3: I wish I would have had a camera there that day.
24:39
Speaker 2: No.
24:39
Speaker 3: Oh, come on, Eric.
24:41
Speaker 5: You are sick with it, and the parents that allow
24:44
Speaker 5: their children to go through that show are worse than you.
24:47
Speaker 3: John, let me propose this.
24:47
Speaker 6: How dare you do that to those children?
24:49
Speaker 3: Let me propose this to you. You say 13 years
24:52
Speaker 3: these young people have had to live with the death
24:53
Speaker 3: of their father, and I understand that. But would they
24:56
Speaker 3: be feeling bad today had he popped up in the
24:58
Speaker 3: coffin and said, hey... Let's go get some shots and beers.
25:02
Speaker 5: They would have felt worse.
25:05
Speaker 3: They feel that today?
25:05
Speaker 5: Because it would have been a lie. And how dare
25:08
Speaker 5: a parent put their child through that? That is the
25:11
Speaker 5: worst thing.
25:12
Speaker 3: A child could do, to lose a parent.
25:14
Speaker 5: And then to make a joke of it?
25:15
Speaker 3: No, I want to be clear. You're saying there would
25:17
Speaker 3: have been no relief for those kids had their father
25:19
Speaker 3: popped up and said, Let's go to Disneyland. Let's go
25:22
Speaker 3: to ice cream. Oh, my God. You're telling me there
25:23
Speaker 3: wouldn't have been any relief.
25:25
Speaker 2: Look, I know what the lady's saying.
25:26
Speaker 5: I know the woman that called earlier who said that
25:28
Speaker 5: they would never be able to trust their parent again.
25:31
Speaker 5: And the other woman who said that those children would
25:33
Speaker 5: never leave their parents' side for years. That's a trauma
25:36
Speaker 5: those children would never get over. I'm here to tell
25:39
Speaker 5: you that that is not.
25:40
Speaker 6: A pleasant thing.
25:41
Speaker 5: Trauma to watch. It's not entertainment.
25:44
Speaker 8: No, it's not.
25:45
Speaker 5: It's horror.
25:46
Speaker 3: It's pure horror. But the fun that you have when
25:51
Speaker 3: you tell them that you're joking, that's what I'm trying
25:53
Speaker 3: to tell you.
25:53
Speaker 5: That is not fun.
25:53
Speaker 3: And your kids didn't go through that. That is not fun.
25:56
Speaker 5: Nothing, no aspect about that whole thing is fun. And
26:00
Speaker 5: you are sick. Shame on you for exploiting children in
26:04
Speaker 5: that manner.
26:05
Speaker 3: You don't have any footage of that, do you? Was
26:06
Speaker 3: anybody rolling? Oh, come on.
26:07
Speaker 2: Are you kidding? Are you kidding with this lady?
26:10
Speaker 3: I'm simply asking if they had a video camera running that.
26:13
Speaker 2: No, they didn't have a video camera. I don't even
26:14
Speaker 2: have to have her answer for you.
26:18
Speaker 3: Well, I'd like to send that lady a surprise game
26:20
Speaker 3: version and six packs of tickets. Oh, she hung up.
26:22
Speaker 4: Yeah.
26:25
Speaker 2: Sounds to me like this show is not going to happen, man.
26:27
Speaker 3: No, no, no. I got great interest from Mo Zucker
26:30
Speaker 3: and Gus Berman and all of them.
26:34
Speaker 2: I don't know who those cats are, man. I know
26:36
Speaker 2: a Gail Berman and a Jeff Zucker.
26:38
Speaker 3: No, that wouldn't be them. One of them looks like
26:41
Speaker 3: a dude anyway.
26:41
Speaker 2: All right. Phil Henry Show, 1-800-449-8686. We'll be right back.
26:43
Speaker 2: The Phil Henry Show, 1-800-449-8686. Rather be playing Madden 2003.
27:20
Speaker 5: 1-800-449-8686.
27:21
Speaker 1: The Phil Henry Show is back.
27:24
Speaker 4: 1-800-449-8686.
27:24
Speaker 2: Here is Wally. Wally, go ahead.
27:27
Speaker 8: Okay, in my opinion, if that show airs, anybody involved
27:31
Speaker 8: in the production of it should be arrested for child
27:33
Speaker 8: abuse and the parents arrested for child endangerment.
27:36
Speaker 3: No, we've already checked it out with the police.
27:38
Speaker 8: You don't know what you're talking about. Hey, I know
27:41
Speaker 8: what I'm talking about.
27:42
Speaker 3: I was 20 years old.
27:44
Speaker 8: Married, in a Marine Corps, when they called me on
27:47
Speaker 8: a morning and told me my father had been killed.
27:49
Speaker 8: You don't know what felt like then. And let me
27:52
Speaker 8: tell you, I never laughed at anybody in the service
27:55
Speaker 8: that got killed with me. Let me tell you that.
27:57
Speaker 3: You should have seen the way this guy bought it, though.
27:59
Speaker 3: A crate that was parachuted down on top of his head.
28:01
Speaker 8: No way it's funny, buddy. No way it's funny. I've
28:03
Speaker 8: watched aircraft fall out of the sky and everything else,
28:06
Speaker 8: and nothing is funny.
28:07
Speaker 2: Nothing about death is funny. Let me ask Mr. Hester, Mr.
28:11
Speaker 2: Phil Henry, you're hearing the reactions of people. Maybe to adults,
28:14
Speaker 2: but to little kids?
28:16
Speaker 3: Well, Phil, what we're trying to do is show people
28:19
Speaker 3: death isn't all that big of a deal.
28:21
Speaker 4: It sure as hell is.
28:22
Speaker 8: It's final, bud. It's a big number eight. It don't
28:25
Speaker 8: ever end.
28:26
Speaker 3: All right, hold on for a minute.
28:28
Speaker 2: I've got another gentleman on the line. Can you hang on, Wally?
28:30
Speaker 3: Yeah.
28:30
Speaker 2: All right, and who is this, Lloyd?
28:32
Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
28:33
Speaker 2: Go ahead, Lloyd. You're on with Eric Hester.
28:35
Speaker 4: Yes, sir. I'm a United States Naval veteran from the
28:38
Speaker 4: Korean conflict, and I'm listening to this man talking. You've
28:41
Speaker 4: got it. You've got it, bud. Yes, sir. What is
28:43
Speaker 4: your name, sir?
28:44
Speaker 1: Wally.
28:45
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, Wally. I'm Lloyd. How are you?
28:49
Speaker 8: I'm fine.
28:49
Speaker 7: Good.
28:50
Speaker 4: I want to say to the gentleman, is the host there?
28:53
Speaker 2: Yes, sir. I'm right here. You're talking to Mr. Hester.
28:55
Speaker 3: Hi, Lloyd. This is Eric Hester.
28:57
Speaker 4: Okay, let me tell you something. I watched a lot
29:00
Speaker 4: of guys get it at the Chosin Reservoir. And when
29:03
Speaker 4: you talk about these guys, you know what I'd like
29:07
Speaker 4: to do to you? I'd like to come down there
29:09
Speaker 4: and tear your head off and relieve myself.
29:11
Speaker 2: Are you all right, sir?
29:14
Speaker 3: No, sir, I'm not.
29:17
Speaker 8: Well, I got to go, Phil. That man's crazy.
29:19
Speaker 3: Hey, Wally.
29:21
Speaker 7: Wally.
29:25
Speaker 4: All Marines are queer.
29:27
Speaker 7: Hello? Hello?
29:28
Speaker 3: I think he hung up, Phil. I think you lost your.
29:31
Speaker 3: Let's lighten it up a little bit.
29:33
Speaker 2: Let's lighten it up a little bit. How are you
29:36
Speaker 2: going to do that?
29:36
Speaker 3: Well, I want to play for you the opening segment
29:39
Speaker 3: from our... show, and I think you're going to enjoy it, Phil,
29:42
Speaker 3: I really do, to show you the comedic intent that
29:45
Speaker 3: we have for Surprise.
29:47
Speaker 1: All right, now this show is about kids that are
29:49
Speaker 1: being told that their parents died only to find out
29:51
Speaker 1: later you're kidding.
29:51
Speaker 3: Right, and I'll have to do the voice of the
29:53
Speaker 3: announcer because we're opening at Stuttering John because he's so
29:57
Speaker 3: wonderful on The Tonight Show, but here it is. Surprise!
30:07
Speaker 3: NBC Television presents... Surprise! Today, the Garson kids are going
30:15
Speaker 3: to find out that their mother and father were fed
30:17
Speaker 3: horribly into a farming combine. Then a half hour later,
30:20
Speaker 3: they'll sit up looking like mangled corpses, but they're really alive.
30:25
Speaker 3: It's all a part of.
30:29
Speaker 3: Surprise! A little reality show for the DC.
30:33
Speaker 4: Oh, God.
30:34
Speaker 7: Ow.
30:36
Speaker 2: What's wrong?
30:37
Speaker 4: I saw his head. Hold on. Help me.
30:39
Speaker 3: Help me.
30:40
Speaker 2: What's wrong, Eric?
30:42
Speaker 4: Every time I do an announcer voice, I get stuck.
30:46
Speaker 2: Every time you do an announcer voice, you get stuck?
30:48
Speaker 8: Yeah.
30:49
Speaker 4: God dang it.
30:52
Speaker 2: What do you mean, stuck?
30:52
Speaker 4: My jaw is dislocated.
30:55
Speaker 2: You mean from puking the announcer way?
30:57
Speaker 5: Yeah.
30:58
Speaker 3: Hold on, hold.
31:03
Speaker 4: On.
31:03
Speaker 3: It's not working.
31:05
Speaker 1: World famous Phil Henry show is executive produced by Phil
31:07
Speaker 1: Henry for Siempre Incorporated.