Chicken Fried Radio

Chicken Fried Radio (CFR) is a weekly podcast by Tobie Hiddel (also known as T.E.), Christian Huey, and Abbie Wyndham. Ryan Hill co-hosted the program from August 28, 2005 to May 11, 2006. The show is based in Austin, Texas, USA. The shows are comedic in theme and fairly fluid in format, though always featuring humorous takes on various strange or unusual news stories. Their podcast is unique both in its freewheeling, "no topic off limits" concept and in its exceptionally close ties to its fan base.

Show History

Chicken Fried Radio began in August 2005 as an experiment, spearheaded by Hiddel, to find out what kind and size of an audience was available to podcasts with little-to-no financial backing. The first two episodes featured only Hiddel and Hill, in a more conventional (albeit thematically dadaist) fashion, as a conversation between two friends about various topics of interest. Huey joined starting with the third episode, and Wyndham rounded out the cast during the fourth.

Initially, CFR was promoted only through word of mouth, to the friends and family of the four hosts. After half a dozen episodes, it became a featured listing on iTunes until June 2007. This brought it to a wider audience, especially among American university students. However, the audience also extends to the UK, Australia, and American gay communities. The podcast's popularity with the latter group was evidenced most notably at , a podcast review site dedicated to gay and transgender-themed programs. Chicken Fried Radio was featured in February 2006 as a recommended "heterocast."

The show's popularity peaked in September of 2006, achieving over 80,000 total downloads, but began to wane due to an increasingly intermittent release schedule. Finally, the show went on hiatus in April of 2007, due in part to the upcoming wedding of cast members Huey and Wyndham. One episode, produced by fans of the show, was released during the hiatus. The hiatus ended on October 1, 2007, with the release of episode 64.

Show Format

The format is a traditional improvised talk-show format, centered (in theory) around a weekly theme. In practice, conversation often ranges far beyond the theme. Given the freedom of the podcast format, both language and topic are unrestricted.

Shows typically begin with listener submitted voicemails and emails, and their response by the host. Frequent contributors typically adopt nicknames, and have sent in personal stories, reviews, and even original songs. The show is further distinguished by various recurring segments, pre-recorded sketches, and songs.

In May of 2006, Chicken Fried Radio began a Skypecast, which was recorded, edited, and put on the podcast feed. This allowed live feedback, both on the show itself and in an accompanying chatroom. Technical difficulties prevented the idea from becoming successful, and the Skypecast format was abandoned in early 2007.

Since the end of the hiatus, the show's format has changed to include an interview portion and more editing. An additional video project has been announced, but not yet released.

Celebrity Interviews

Following the introduction of the new format, CFR has included a new celebrity interview portion.
* Mary Jo Pehl, who played Pearl Forrester on sci-fi cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Interviewed on Episode 64

Reviews and Criticism

The show was mentioned in an article by Sandra Barrera of the LA Daily News, reviewed on the "podcast review podcast" Vox Monitor, reviewed on the British comedy and music podcast Punky! and has been regularly featured on iTunes. More recently, Chicken Fried Radio was lauded in a review at Elastic Radio.

Cast and Crew

The hosts are all amateur actors who specialize to varying degrees in voice acting, including performing with the Austin vintage radio drama troupe, Violet Crown Radio Players (VCRP), which was founded by Hiddel.

In the course of recording CFR, the hosts have been given or have taken on several nicknames. The first and most common is the self-bestowed "Bushleague Jackasses with Microphones," often shortened to simply "Jackasses", in reference to their professed lack of professionalism.

Following Ryan Hill's voluntary departure from the show on May 11, 2006, the three remaining Jackasses decided not to replace Hill, but have occasionally added a guest host, particularly when said host has some expertise on the week's topic. Past guest hosts have included: Violet Crown Radio Players' creative director and Robert E. Howard biographer, Mark Finn; Violet Crown Radio Player and voice actor Craig York; and longtime creative collaborator with Christian Huey, Reuben Barr.

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