The Rush Limbaugh Show

Rush Limbaugh Show (also called The Rush Limbaugh Program) is an American talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh on Premiere Radio Networks. Since its inception on August 1, 1988, The Rush Limbaugh Show has become the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States.

Notable guests

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush made an appearance on Limbaugh's show.

Charlton Heston called into the show in 1995 to read from Michael Crichton's book Jurassic Park.

Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on the show in November 2003 when Roger Hedgecock was guest-hosting the show.

Former President George W. Bush has appeared six times on the program. The first time was during the 2000 presidential campaign. Then, in 2004, he "called in" to a live broadcast during the week of the 2004 Republican National Convention to give a preview of his nomination acceptance speech. He called in again in 2006. The fourth time was April 18, 2008, when Limbaugh asked the White House to speak with Bush to thank him for the ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI, which awed Limbaugh. The fifth call was during the show's 20th anniversary celebration, in which then-President Bush (and George H. W. Bush and Jeb Bush) congratulated Limbaugh. He appeared a sixth time for an interview regarding his autobiography, Decision Points on November 9, 2010.

Vice President Dick Cheney has made multiple appearances.

In 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called in to a live broadcast of the show a day after having called Limbaugh "irrelevant;" adding, "I'm not his servant. I'm the people's servant of California," on an appearance on NBC's

 See also:Rush Limbaugh

Today show.

Other notable guests who have called into Limbaugh's show include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, unsuccessful Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, economist Thomas Sowell, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and television writer Joel Surnow, who took calls about events in his show, 24. In December 2006, Sylvester Stallone made an appearance on the show to discuss his upcoming movie Rocky Balboa. On February 27, 2004, actor Jim Caviezel called into the program to discuss The Passion of the Christ film, in which Caviezel played the role of Jesus Christ. Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) also called into a show before a rally in October, 2008 to discuss the election and the economic distortion and impact of Senator Obama's tax policy; Palin returned to the show in November 2009 to discuss her book Going Rogue. Phil Gingrey, a congressman who compared shows such as Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to "throwing bricks" in January 2009, gave an interview on Limbaugh's show the next day.

Music

The Rush Limbaugh Show uses music as a significant part of the show. This comprises "Updates" (songs usually played at full length leading into a particular themed story, such as "Ain't Got No Home" by Clarence "Frogman" Henry for a story about homeless people or an eccentric New Wave version of "You Don't Own Me" by underground artist Klaus Nomi for a homosexual-themed story), parodies (see below), and bumper music, most of which spans the classic hits and classic rock eras of the 1960s through 1980s (roughly corresponding to Limbaugh's time as a disc jockey). On occasion, Limbaugh will feature a particular song that he likes, which will often have a positive impact on the song's sales. For instance, after playing Waldo de los Rios's version of Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, the album that contained the song briefly jumped to the top of Amazon.com's sales charts.

Parodies

Sometimes The Rush Limbaugh Show will air political parodies from voice humorist Paul Shanklin, in conjunction with a variety of political news examined on the show. These satires range from parodies of well known songs to audio skits in which the voices of politicians are imitated by Shanklin. Such contributions from Paul Shanklin have been aired on the show since 1993. Some of these, such as "Barack the Magic Negro (That's What the L.A. Times Called Him)," have gained considerable notoriety. From 1993 through 1997 a series of parodies written and performed by the similarly named Paul Silhan[citation needed], including take-offs on Bob Dylan tunes referred to by Limbaugh as the "Bob Zimmerman" songs, were also played on his show. (Bob Zimmerman is the birth name of Bob Dylan.) Paul Shanklin created his parodies by writing and then recording all the voices and instruments himself using simul-synch recording techniques. The six albums of Shanklin's Limbaugh parodies are available on the Web.

Environmentalist wacko picks

Limbaugh will occasionally perform a comedic bit called “environmentalist wacko picks” on his last show prior to the weekend during the NFL season. He predicts the outcome of upcoming football games based on how an "environmentalist wacko" would assess the teams' mascots. The mascot that is the least offensive to an "environmentalist wacko" is the projected winner. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles would always be favored over the New York Jets, the Denver Broncos would always be favored over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Carolina Panthers would always be favored over the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears would always be favored over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Recent substitute hosts

Mark Davis

Host of The Mark Davis Show, a talk show on WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Texas. First substitute hosted on March 4, 2008.

Mark Belling

Host of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, a radio show on WISN in Milwaukee.

Mark Steyn

A Canadian journalist, columnist, and film and theatre critic. Since the removal of Jason Lewis from the substitute rotation in February 2009, Steyn's hosting has become more frequent.

Dr. Walter E. Williams

Economics professor, strong proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, and former chairman of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia. He most often hosts on Fridays and is a fan favorite.

Karl Rove

Republican political consultant and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff to George W. Bush. First substituted August 9, 2010.

Holidays

When Limbaugh is absent and no substitute is available, most frequently on major holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, a "Best of" show will air.

In addition, a portion of the show on the day before each Thanksgiving is always set aside for a reading of the real story of Thanksgiving. During this segment, Limbaugh reads from a section of his book "See, I Told You So" regarding the first few years of the Mayflower crew in Plymouth Colony. Limbaugh asserts, based upon excerpts from the personal journal of William Bradford, that the pilgrims had attempted to set up an early form of communism in the colony but failed, and when the colony went to a free enterprise system the colony began to thrive. Limbaugh claims that the Indians were largely irrelevant to the situation. In addition, Limbaugh also reads from President George Washington's 1789 National Thanksgiving Proclamation.

In the event that Limbaugh cannot broadcast on the day before Thanksgiving (as occurred in 2006), a substitute host will read the excerpt.

Show airtime and format

The Rush Limbaugh Show has a format which has remained basically unchanged since the program began. The program airs live and primarily consists of Limbaugh's own monologues, based on the news of the day, interspersed with parody ads, phone calls from listeners and a variety of running comedy bits (some live, some taped). Limbaugh also does a few live commercials during the show for certain sponsors, and he also sometimes promotes his own products, such as his political newsletter, The Limbaugh Letter. He only occasionally features guests, but once in a while a politician or a fellow political commentator will appear on the show. An 800 number is announced for incoming calls from listeners. However, Limbaugh generally takes far fewer calls per show than most other national talk programs.

The listeners to the show are affectionately referred to as "Ditto-heads." Early in the show's run, listeners began to use the variations on the expression "ditto" to speed up the beginnings of the calls, which typically (as on most popular call-in shows) tend to open with the listener excitedly expressing his or her gratitude to the host and his or her appreciation of the show.

An edited instrumental version of The Pretenders' “My City Was Gone” has been Limbaugh's theme song almost continuously since the start of his show. Briefly in 1999, Limbaugh stopped playing the song while negotiating with the song's writer, Chrissie Hynde. Limbaugh now pays her one hundred thousand dollars per year, which she donates to the animal rights organization PETA.

Show history

This section details only events which were primarily about the show and not about Limbaugh himself; of course, because Limbaugh and his show are so intertwined, it can be difficult to separate the two. Please see Rush Limbaugh for events in Limbaugh's life which may have impacted the show.

Radio syndication

In 1984, Limbaugh started as a regular talk show host on AM radio station KFBK in Sacramento, California, after several years of employment with the Kansas City Royals and in the music radio business, which included hosting a program at KMBZ in Kansas City. He succeeded Morton Downey, Jr. in the time slot.

Operation Chaos

In late February 2008, Limbaugh announced "Operation Chaos," a political call to action with the initial plan to have voters of the Republican Party temporarily cross over to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Hillary Clinton, who at the time was in the midst of losing eleven straight primary contests to Barack Obama. Limbaugh has also cited the open primary process in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, which allowed independent voters to cross over into the Republican primaries to choose John McCain over more conservative candidates (such as Fred Thompson), as an inspiration.

At the point in which Limbaugh announced his gambit, Obama had seemed on the verge of clinching the Democratic nomination. However, Clinton subsequently won the Ohio primary and the Texas primary (while losing the Texas caucus and the overall delegate split) with large pluralities from rural counties; thus reemerging as a competitive opponent in the race. Statistics released by the state of Texas show Hillary Clinton won the primary due to a large number of Republicans crossing over to vote for her. Whether these voters were Operation Chaos Operatives or simply Republicans who preferred Clinton is impossible to tell.

Rush to Excellence Tours and Cruises

In the 1990s Limbaugh sponsored several Rush to Excellence Tours, or "concerts" featuring him at venues across the country, including the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan. He also sponsored Rush to Excellence Cruises on ocean liners.

Armed Forces Radio controversy

On May 26, 2004, the article "Rush's Forced Conscripts" appeared on the online news and opinion magazine Salon.com. The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), (which describes itself as "providing stateside radio and television programming, 'a touch of home', to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States"), carries the first hour of Limbaugh's show. Melvin Russell, director of AFRTS, defended Limbaugh's presence, by pointing to Limbaugh's high ratings in the US: "We look at the most popular shows broadcast here in the United States and try to mirror that. [Limbaugh] is the No. 1 talk show host in the States; there's no question about that. Because of that we provide him on our service." In addition, AFRTS produced a ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide, "Who do you want that we don't at present carry?" The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot, but won the vote as a write-in by the troops. A later poll by Lund Media Research found that a majority of soldiers preferred that talk show programs be replaced by hip hop and rap stations, bringing into question the future of content such as the Rush Limbaugh Show on AFRTS.