A Treat, Every Saturday Night

Quote of the day:
“My mother had morning sickness after I was born.”
--Rodney Dangerfield

There was a classic moment on “A Prairie Home Companion” this week. Martin Sheen (President Bartlett) made his singing debut. He sang an old hymn, and it was heartfelt and real and wonderful.

Do yourself a favor and hear it here. It’s in the second hour.

I love “A Prairie Home Companion.” I’ve sort of grown into it over the years.

When the program was first offered nationally it was so quirky that many stations did not carry it initially. At KPBS we decided to wait and see how the program did.

Sure enough, it quickly began to catch on and we added it to the schedule in 1980. For years it was our most-successful weekend program.

The program’s uniqueness springs from the extraordinary personality of Garrison Keillor. He has a special gift for gentle storytelling that is both funny and very resonant with contemporary life.

Attempts have been made to expand the show, which originates from St. Paul, Minnesota. It was renamed and moved to New York because of the misguided belief that this would broaden its appeal. It didn’t work.

A TV version of the show was produced for a while. It didn’t work.

Robert Altman made a movie based on the show. It was pleasant enough, but no match for the radio program.

Over the years Keillor has evolved into a sort of non-religious American preacher of the air. Every week he addresses contemporary events and issues in a non-challenging and entertaining way.

And he always manages to get across what it means to be alive at this time and in this place.