History Radio / APrairieHomeCompanion

->Oh hear that old piano from down the avenue\\

Honey, could we ask for more?

->- Garrison's opening song for every show

** Since Keillor's retirement, Chris Thile has started opening shows with a hearty '''"Ahoy!"'''--sometimes with another "ahoy" midshow, when he makes a ShoutOut to musicians celebrating their birthdays that week. It's still a little early to know whether it will stick.

''Live from Here'' continued until 2020, when the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic ended broadcasts with an audience. After three months of remote broadcasts and repeats, MPR pulled the plug altogether in June owing to organization-wide financial issues, putting to an end 46 years of live radio variety on Saturdays from the organization (MPR produced ''[[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Good Evening]]'' during Keillor's above-mention "retirement").

One of the more popular recent old-time {{radio}} {{variety show}}s, [[Creator/{{NPR}} Public radio]]'s[[note]]The show mostly aired on stations that are members of NPR but is not produced or distributed by it[[/note]] ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (re-branded as ''Live from Here'' in November 2017 after Keillor's firing, a year after handing over the reins to Chris Thile) was created by Garrison Keillor in 1974 broadcasted faithfully from St. Paul (or Minneapolis, and various other locations in the U.S. and abroad) every Saturday to a totally loyal audience until 2020. It's popular for several reasons, chiefly nostalgia for the good old days of radio--which this is very, ''very'' evocative of--and Keillor's [[SignatureStyle distinctive]] [[DeadpanSnarker comedic style]].

''Live from Here'' continued until 2020, when the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic ended broadcasts with an audience. After three months of remote broadcasts and repeats, MPR pulled the plug altogether in June, putting to an end 46 years of live radio variety on Saturdays from the organization (MPR produced ''[[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Good Evening]]'' during Keillor's above-mention "retirement").

''Live from Here'' continued until 2020, when the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic ended broadcasts with an audience. After three months of remote broadcasts and repeats, MPR pulled the plug altogether in June, putting to an end 46 years of live radio variety on Saturdays from the organization (MPR produced ''[[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Good Evening]]'' during Keillor's two-year (1987-1989) "retirement" from radio).

One of the more popular old-time {{radio}} {{variety show}}s still in existence, [[Creator/{{NPR}} Public radio]]'s[[note]]The show mostly airs on stations that are members of NPR but is not produced or distributed by it[[/note]] ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (re-branded as ''Live from Here'' in November 2017 after Keillor's firing, a year after handing over the reins to Chris Thile) was created by Garrison Keillor in 1974 and continues to broadcast faithfully from St. Paul (or Minneapolis, and various other locations in the U.S. and abroad) every Saturday to a totally loyal audience. It's popular for several reasons, chiefly nostalgia for the good old days of radio--which this is very, ''very'' evocative of--and Keillor's [[SignatureStyle distinctive]] [[DeadpanSnarker comedic style]].

* FilkSong:
** Frequently, for example a tribute to Music/LeonardBernstein to the tune of "[[Theatre/WestSideStory Gee, Officer Krupke]]".
** When Marni Nixon (a great singer famous for having dubbed over many great movie musicals -- ''Film/TheKingAndI'', ''Film/MyFairLady'', ''Film/WestSideStory1961'' -- and never once getting credit) performed at the Hollywood Bowl, she sang a parody of "[[Theatre/MyFairLady I Could Have Danced All Night]]," called "I Could Have Dubbed Myself".
** The fourth of the annual "Farewell Performance of A Prairie Home Companion" shows from before the show came back for good was broadcast from Iowa, leading Garrison to write a song explaining why he chose to broadcast from there called "Why Iowa?" to the tune of the gospel hymn "Love Lifted Me".

* '''Guy [[MeaningfulName Noir]]: [[HardboiledDetective Private Eye]]''': An AffectionateParody of, and {{homage}} to, the radio serials of the Thirties and Forties (and, of course, FilmNoir in general), delivered in PrivateEyeMonologue by Garrison and the inevitable LoveInterest with invariably tight clothing ("jeans so tight I could see the mint mark on the quarter in her pocket," for instance) as he tries to solve various cases of missing persons, pets, and items.

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Both Guy Noir and his rival used get shot and left bleeding out near the end of every installment, but this was phased out over time.

** When Marni Nixon (a great singer famous for having dubbed over many great movie musicals -- ''Film/TheKingAndI'', ''Film/MyFairLady'', ''Film/WestSideStory'' -- and never once getting credit) performed at the Hollywood Bowl, she sang a parody of "[[Theatre/MyFairLady I Could Have Danced All Night]]," called "I Could Have Dubbed Myself".

I smell the onions [[note]][[CouchGag (frequently replaced with another odorous object)]][[/note]], I look around for you\\

* CatharticChores: One "News From Lake Wobegon" story has a stressed housewife vent by beating the proverbial tar out of a rug.

* '''{{Parody Commercial}}s''': Though they also advertise real products, they also always present a humorous fake product or two for sale, the most well known of which (because of its insane EarWorm of a {{Jingle}} that the band always turns into a Dixieland jam session) is "Powdermilk Biscuits - Gives shy people the strength to get up and do what needs to be done."

* TropeyTheWonderDog: Back in the 80's, the long-running "Buster the Show Dog" segment was a parody of old time radio soap operas, following a group of misfits (including the titular Buster) trying against every imaginable obstacle to find their way home to Minnesota, narrated by Keillor. One memorably surreal installment has them encountering and [[RageAgainstTheAuthor coming into conflict with]] Keillor himself, with all his AuthorPowers in play.

* TropeyTheWonderDog: Back in the 80's, the long-running "Buster the Show Dog" segment was a parody of old time radio soap operas.

* TropeyTheWonderDog: The long-running "Buster the Show Dog" segment was a parody of old time radio soap operas.

* TropeyTheTropeDog: The long-running "Buster the Show Dog" segment was a parody of old time radio soap operas.

* ParodyCommercial: The aforementioned "Powdermilk Biscuits" routine, "Beebop-A-Ree-Bop Rhubarb Pie" ("Sweetening the sour taste of failure throughout the generations") and the "Catchup Advisory Board".
** In addition to the long runners, other parodies have come and go, like "Cafe Boeuf", "Bertha's Kitty Boutique", the "National Association of Organizations" and most recently, the "Professional Organization of English Majors ([[FunWithAcronyms POEM]])".

* PrivateEyeMonologue: Guy Noir speaks entirely in this--"She wore jeans so tight I could read the serial number on the wrench in her front pocket."

->''"Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, my hometown, out there on the edge of the prairie."''
-->-- '''The traditional opener for the "News from Lake Wobegon" segment.'''

* FilkSong: Frequently, for example a tribute to Music/LeonardBernstein to the tune of "[[Theatre/WestSideStory Gee, Officer Krupke]]". When Marni Nixon (a great singer famous for having dubbed over many [[Theatre/TheKingAndI great]] [[Theatre/MyFairLady movie]] [[Film/WestSideStory musicals]] and never once getting credit) performed at the Hollywood Bowl, she sang a parody of "[[Theatre/MyFairLady I Could Have Danced All Night]]," called "I Could Have Dubbed Myself".

* RealSongThemeTune: "Tishomingo Blues", but with lyrics rewritten for the show:
-->"''Oh, hear that old piano, from down the avenue.\\
I smell the [[[CouchGag insert city-related objects]]], I look around for you\\
My sweet, sweet old someone, comin' through that door\\
It's Saturday an' \\
The band is playin',\\
Honey, could we ask for more?"''
** Prior to that, it had been "Hello, Love," by Hank Snow
-->"''Well, look who's coming through the door\\
I think we've met somewhere before\\
Hello love, hello love\\
Where in the world have you been so long?\\
I've missed you so since you've been gone\\
Hello love, hello love"''