The Stephanie Miller Show

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Left to right: Jim Ward, Stephanie Miller and Chris Lavoie.

"It's like a Mensa meeting with fart jokes!"

The Stephanie Miller Show is a syndicated liberal Radio Talk Show that has been in production since September 2004. Like its TV equivalents The Daily Show and (to a lesser extent) The Colbert Report, it straddles the line between a straight news show and a Comedy Series. While Miller and her co-hosts (aka "The Mooks") comment on the news and interview politicians, actors and other newsmakers on a daily basis, the show has a "Morning Zoo" feel, complete with Sketch Comedy, celebrity impressions, wacky Stock Sound Effects, and an overall atmosphere of genial goofiness. (Of course, if you're a conservative, Your Mileage May Vary on the "genial" part.)

The four people behind The Stephanie Miller Show are:

  • Stephanie Miller: The host, AKA "Mama", is a comedian and actress who has worked in radio since The Eighties onward. Her past career also includes three non-fiction TV series: a revision of I've Got a Secret, a political debate show called Equal Time (co-hosted by Bay Buchanan, Pat's sister), and the original Stephanie Miller Show, a "disastrous" 1995 TV Talk Show that was canceled after a 13-week run. Refers to any single man she admires (most notably Keith Olbermann) as her "future husband".
  • Jim Ward: The show's "Voice Deity", an Emmy-winning voice actor and impressionist who provides the Sketch Comedy.
  • Chris Lavoie: AKA "Boy Toy Chris Lavoie". The engineer and executive producer, something of a Straight Man to Miller and Ward, although he's also quite the Deadpan Snarker. Sometimes called a "right-wing tool" for being (slightly) less liberal than his co-hosts.
  • Rebekah Taylor (nee Baker): The show's associate producer, credited as being on "phones and drums". In the beginning, she was rarely heard on the air, partially due to lack of demand for her Ross Perot impression. Now, she regularly comes on to insult Stephanie for a few minutes each show.

Regular segments include:

  • Right Wing World. Stephanie and friends play sound bites of prominent conservatives, then mock them for (in the hosts' opinions) bigotry, dishonesty, hypocrisy, stupidity, etc.
  • Stand Up News. "When news breaks here, it stays broken". Stephanie reads various stories as a set up for Jim's Sketch Comedy.
  • Tinsel Talk. "Stand Up News" meets Entertainment Tonight, as Stephanie and company make fun of Show Business.
  • Celebrity Hotline. Interview segments featuring everyone from John Kerry to Jason Alexander.
  • Conspiracy Corner. Jim Ward gives the details on a Conspiracy Theory while the |Mission Impossible theme plays in the background.
  • Guess the Quote. As the theme from Jeopardy! plays, Stephanie reads several quotes with a common theme, then challenges Jim to guess who said them. Jim deliberately guesses wrong each time, but his answers usually have a theme of their own.

The show's official website is here.

In 2011, Stephanie was named Woman of the Year by Talkers magazine.

In March 2012, a televised version of the show appeared on Current TV under the title Talking Liberally with Stephanie Miller.

Tropes used in The Stephanie Miller Show include:

Stephanie: "Senator... fart joke... senator... fart joke. That's our format."

  • Vocal Dissonance: Several people are surprised to see that Stephanie is not blonde and/or fat. She's even been mistaken for black.
  • Voice Actors: As noted, Jim Ward is one. He's even gotten Stephanie a role on one of the many shows he's worked on (the 2006 Biker Mice From Mars Revival, for which Ward won his Emmy). Tom Kenny has also guested a few times.
  • Weird Al Yankovic: Stephanie occasionally mentions that she dated him once, years ago, and found him to be a nice guy.