User:Phairoh/The Maxwell Show

The Maxwell Show was a radio show on WMMS. It starred Maxwell (Benjamin Bornstein), Stansbury (Dan Stansbury), and Chunk (Tiffany Peck). It aired from April 19th 2004 until it was canceled on November 20th 2009.

Cast
The Maxwell Show tried to avoid gimmicks by inviting the audience into their lives. Maxwell, Stansbury, and sometimes Chunk shared their most intimate details and dark secrets. Both Maxwell and Stansbury frequently discussed instances of sexual abuse that occurred during their childhoods. They also spoke candidly about Maxwell's past drug addiction, more specifically with heroin and Oxycontin, and his subsequent stint in rehab back in 2007. Other personal details included Maxwell's sleep apnea, his weight troubles, and his two daughters. Maxwell is married in real life and has two daughters, one from a previous relationship. He previously worked in the Tampa, Cincinnati, and Baltimore markets before coming to WMMS. Due to frequent occurrences of absolute silence on his program, he has been given the moniker "Dead-Air Maxwell". Stansbury, who also serves as WMMS' current music director, is the true bachelor of the show, and Maxwell as well as listeners enjoyed living vicariously through Stansbury's stories of debauchery. "Chunk" became an occasional on-air contributor after former sidekick "Krackerman" left the show in fall of 2007. While Krackerman was the token black guy, Chunk was similarly asked to lend her perspective as a female. Chunk is a high school dropout with a tender heart, various knowledge loopholes, enjoys cake, and often battles Maxwell and Stansbury in critical show commentary. She was so well-received by the audience, and became a full time on-air contributor. WMMS program director Bo Matthews (aka "The Captain" or "Captain Showbiz") also frequently appeared on the show. Matthews originally would contribute to the show via cell phone, but eventually had a microphone set up in his office so as to lend his own comments and points of view whenever needed. Area comedian Ryan Dalton would also occasionally appear as a fill-in for either Chunk or Stansbury, or alongside both of them. WTAM sports reporter and Cleveland Browns Radio Network sideline reporter Andre Knott supplied sports updates at the bottom of the hour.

Controversy
On April 3, 2009, The Maxwell Show went on the air claiming that Metallica - which was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland the very next day - was going to be playing a free show in the parking lot of their studios at 6:00 p.m. After the first commercial break, Maxwell came on the air and was forced by management to explain that it was only a "prank" and Metallica was not going to be playing in the parking lot. An on-air fight between Maxwell and Matthews subsequently took place live on the air. On April 7, 2009, Maxwell had a meeting with WMMS' operations manager, Clear Channel corporate personnel and Matthews, and was placed on probation for 90 days.

Segments
The Maxwell Show had several daily, weekly and other less frequent segments over the years: Drive-by Comedy, one of the few segments to have lasted throughout the entire history and evolution of the show, featured short segments from prominent stand-up comedians prior to most commercial breaks; New Turd Tuesday, where Maxwell debuted new music, then voted on by both he and the cast as to whether the song is a "turd" or not; The Fixer, a new Wednesday segment where callers seek advice from Maxwell on how to solve life's problems (despite Maxwell's admitted inability to solve his own); Legalize This!, where local attorney Pasquale DiMassa (formerly Drew A. Smith) attempted to answer callers' legal questions (replacing the previous Thursday segment Are You Smarter Than a Yeast Infection? in which callers would compete against Chunk by answering random common knowledge questions); Temporary Program Director occasionally gave callers the chance to offer the show input; the Chuckle Hut was retired (to much of the show's satisfaction, especially Stansbury's) but allowed listeners to call in with their own jokes; Who's That Whore?, in which Maxwell played one or more audio clips of an unnamed celebrity (mostly females but some male "whores," notably Kid Rock and James Hetfield) — cut to sound sexual — for callers to guess at for various prizes (past prizes include Maxwell's sleep apnea mask and tickets to local events); the nightly penultimate segment, usually around 6:30 p.m., was a "best-of" clip dubbed A Maxwell Show Relapse.

Catch Phrases/Running Gags
Maxwell (and to a lesser extent the other cast members) used a number of catch phrases on the show including Move Your Panties to the Side!, Self-ookie Fanookie, Speaking to the Judge, D-move, A Little Credit, It's Not Your Fault, The Only Way Out Is Through, And Punt!, Whoa Bitch!, Wrong (or Right) Call, Dot Com, Hey Guys, Blueberry-buds, bra and Good Morning! (frequently mispronounced by Maxwell as "Bordnigk!" or "Guuuhd-bord-ninng!"). Running gags include Three Wheels/Two Wheels/One Wheel/The Wheels Have Fallen Off (poking fun at Maxwell's temper and consequently the often gradual disintegration of on-air conversations into heated arguments); slowing down audio for comedic effect (which started after the automation system that runs WMMS played an interview clip severely off-pitch); and veiled references to the Metallica prank (i.e., having a concert/event "on a flat-bed" in the station's parking lot). Maxwell is an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and will often half-jokingly invite Stansbury and Chunk to come and watch games with him to which they always decline.

Feuds
Maxwell had a number of feuds with other radio personalities: Rover of Rover's Morning Glory until his (Rover's) move from rival CBS Radio owned WKRK in mid-March 2008 (Maxwell now maintains he is "in the Rover business"); Opie and Anthony over their show's alleged copying of bits and other comedy routines (Opie and Anthony originally aired tape delayed on WKRK opposite Maxwell, revealing the origin of Maxwell's catch phrase "Good Morning," itself mocking the irony of O & A's morning show airing in the afternoon); and perhaps most notably, fellow Clear Channel host Mike Trivisonno of WTAM. It was reported on the O&A show that when Jim Norton (from the O&A show) performed at the House of Blues, a female member of the audience wore a shirt that read "Maxwell is a c*nt" on the front and "Nice Apnea D*ck" on the back. On April 4, 2008, Trivisonno called Maxwell an "asshole" and "cunt" in the hallway of the Clear Channel Cleveland studios. Trivisonno then told Maxwell, "I don't give a crap-- I'll take a dump right here," and then allegedly proceeded to do so. This incident started a feud with Trivisonno, who battled Maxwell for the top afternoon show in the Cleveland ratings. Following the budget-related dismissal of Trivisonno's original sidekicks Marty Allen and Paul Rado in April 2009, both Rover and Maxwell started an on-air feud with Trivisonno (who, coincidentally, was not permitted to openly address it on his show). Maxwell is also very much against many forms of digital distribution, such as podcasting the broadcast, and social networking. He claims that they hurt ratings as no one will listen to the radio if they are offered. Maxwell is also strongly against Wikipedia claiming that "Anyone can edit those pages, how do you know what you're reading is fact?".

Cancellation
Maxwell often mentioned that his contract would expire in 2010, and would make thinly veiled references to a departure from the station. Maxwell passed on a six figure salary and wanted more control over his show. On November 23, 2009, Rover announced on his show, Rover's Morning Glory, that negotiations came to a halt when Maxwell's "ridiculous demands" prompted Clear Channel to cancel the show. Although no official announcement was made by either Clear Channel or WMMS, links and references to The Maxwell Show were immediately removed from the WMMS website (although the physical podcasts are technically Clear Channel property and haven't been removed from the station's servers, the XML distribution files were erased from WMMS' website ). The Captain announced on his Twitter page that “No agreement could be reached with the [Maxwell] show. We really tried. No secrets. He has talked about it. The process played out.”. Later that same day, Chocolate Charlie (Mike Toomey) and Dumb (Shaun Street) of "Rover's Morning Glory" debuted "The Experiment," a temporary show which was originally planned for one day, but has run in Maxwell's time slot each day since the cancellation. The original incarnation of "The Experiment" started in the summer of 2009 as "The Aftermath", an online-only hour-long talk show which immediately followed Rover's show stream on Clear Channel's "iHeart Radio" service. So far each segment of the WMMS-based show has consisted of both music and talk on The Captain's recommendation. On the day following the announcement of the show's cancellation, Maxwell Show became the 17th hottest search trend on Google. Outraged listeners began an online petition called "Bring Back Maxwell Show". As of December 10, 2009, there are over 3,200 signatures. Several Facebook groups and a fan page have been established trying to accomplish the same. He is rumored to be shopping his program to other stations, both local and out-of-state.