Don & Mike had a good rant on today's show about management, faulty equipment, etc., and walked off the show a couple hours into the middle of it (look for it to be replayed on AM 970 about 9-9:30 PM).

Any similar stories out there about personalities leaving the air mid-show in disgust?

Howard did it a hundred times......

Yes, he certainly wrote the book in this department. I find these situations interesting because the usual backdrop (discontent with radio matters personal and/or technical) provides a rare, on-air glimpse into the inner workings of radio. But I am guessing that a one-hour diatribe about how this particular machine is not working is not interesting fare to the casual listener...

Dan Rather once walked off the set of his news show when a tennis match went longer than expected, but when it ended and CBS finally cut to the news, Rather could not be found. They had dead air for about six minutes. I'm not clear on whether he was pissed about being delayed by tennis or whether it was an honest misunderstanding...

Andrew

This isn't a Howard-style walk out (or any other on-air person who has done it). Here's the short version:

- In about September Don & Mike moved into a studio located 20 miles away from the station that only they use.

- The studio is connected to the station via a zephyr line which has worked fairly well until last week.

- Rather than do a show with a lot of technical difficulties, Don would rather play best-ofs from the station until the problem is fixed.

As you can see, this is not an "I quit" walk-out. Rather, it is an "I don't want to do a show with a lot of technical difficulties and drop-outs" walk-out.

Didn't Jack Paar walk off the Tonight Show?

Yes, NBC's late night talk show host Jack Paar walked out, but I believe came back the next night after effectively quiting. It didn't help him, as he was eventually replaced by Johnny, and wasn't really ever heard from again.

Dan Rather walked out in the 80s, and then, several months later, got into a heated debate on-air with George Bush Sr. (then, still VP under Reagan),in which the elder Bush actually brought the episode up, to which Rather really had no real answer. A great, albeit rare, interview. (I've got it on VHS somewhere)

In Seattle, morning legend Bob Hardwick (KVI, and others), walked out in the middle of his show. Most thought it was a publicity stunt, until he was found up in the Washington Cascades with a fatal self-inflicted gunshot to the head. He may have moved on to another station at that point, but sometimes publicity stunts are misread and this was certainly a case where there were more serious issues going on than trying to garner publicity. (This story has not been talked about for over a decade, but probably should be, at the very least to bring mental illness more out in the open.)

I wouldn't say Paar was never heard from again! I don't remember him on the Tonight Show but I remember the Jack Paar Show on Friday nights in the mid-60s. It was great! Much later, he alternated with Dick Cavett(?) on ABC.

Semoochie...by never heard from again, I mean he never equaled what he accomplished at NBC. His last harrah might have been some guest appearences with David Letterman. Although I appreciate his talent, he never came close to equaling his NBC success. Sad, even more so, he died several years ago even though his final tv appearences showed a very vibrant, verbose "Paar". I think he was one of the first modern, "tell it like it is", (or I guess, just being honest and real),hosts on TV. A very sad loss who could have done so much more in our medium.

He voluntarily walked away.

PBS did a special on Paar before he died. He talked about that moment of walking off the set. If I remember he talked about how the next day the producer and some other staff members met up with him and talked him into coming back the next day or it may have actually been 2-3 days.

The day he was back on the air and after his introduction and the applause had died down he looked right into the camera and said..."As I was saying...." The crowd erupted into a huge applause and laughter. Classic Paar moment.

I heard there was a DJ at 1520am that hung himself in the control room on the overnight shift back in the 70's. Anyone know if that is true?

true. KYXI

I read it in the paper when I was in college. It was KYXI. I'm thinking Mike Roberts. He played "Softly As I Leave You" followed by the sound of the record hitting the end over and over and over... I remember the article mentioning him having a first class license and thinking it should be enough to keep someone from doing such a thing. Imagine the morning guy coming in and finding that!

No one has mentioned why Jack Paar walked off:

"Paar's emotional outbursts were a major attraction of the show, and the cause of many of the controversies surrounding him. When he had first taken over as host, The Tonight Show was still being done live. Not too long after, it began taping early in the evening, to be aired later that night. It was NBC's ability to edit the tapes before air time that precipitated Paar's famous tearful walkout on the February 11, 1960, program. A "water closet" joke he had told the night before was considered in bad taste by the NBC censors and had been removed. Paar didn't think the joke was offensive and he left the show for a month."

From "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network & Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present" by Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh.

The morning guy at KYXI didn't have to find the deceased DJ, the police were called by a concerned listener after no one answered the phone while the record kept on bumping. He might have been called in early.

Why have Don and Mike been off the air for so long? I know they will be back on Jan 2nd but I am just wondering why they have been off since early November.

...Bob Hardwick (KVI, and others), walked out in the middle of his show. Most thought it was a publicity stunt, until he was found up in the Washington Cascades with a fatal self-inflicted gunshot............

A solid talent. He was on KTAC at the time. I remember talking with him on several occasions shortly before that, as I tried to convince him to jump in as an owner. While a bit interested in the idea, he had no interest in any frequency higher than 1000 and a fringe signal to boot. Had he been approached with a better station in the market, he might have jumped in. His many listeners and friends sure would have liked to learn the reason behind his demise. Tragic.

As for other "WALKOFFS", it still is a lame game in ratings time. I can think of several who seem to manufacture a reason at least once a year.

I remember reading a newspaper article in the 1960s about a Prince George (roughly the geographic middle of British Columbia) DJ who jumped into his car and drove away (i.e. - down the highway and out of town) right in the middle of the all-night show. Without an on-air word of explanation or warning -- he just let the record run out. On CKPG, I think it was.

Listeners called the police, thinking he might be unconscious, and the police broke into the station. The last he was heard of was a speeding ticket on the highway. I don't believe that he was identified by name in the newspaper article.

Don & Mike moved into a new studio late summer/early fall. Things went reasonably well, but technical issues persisted and became worse by the end of October. By November they (Geronimo) were so fed up with it they walked off.

The official word is that the issues have been fixed and that their contract, which was up in 2008, was renegotiated and now extends until some time in 2010. No doubt the walk off had a little something to do with both. Listen tomorrow for the real scoop!

Another much publicized walkout on late-night network TV occurred in the late 1960s, I believe. It was by Regis Philbin, who at that time was co-host on the Joey Bishop show on ABC, which went head-to-head against Johnny Carson on NBC.

I don't remember what the reason was for Regis' walking off the set, but I know he addressed the whole thing in his autobiography a few years ago.