When did you turn on George?

[GuerrillaUnReal]

What was the moment that made you realize perhaps Noory isn't the best host for Coast to Coast AM? I think a lot of us listened to Noory for quite awhile out of loyalty to the program and to give Fumbles a fair chance. However I notice a lot of us grew disenfranchised around the same time period and have been exacerbated ever since. So what was it that made you dislike the Nooron?

For me I used to be an avid listener in college. When Art Bell was put into the radio hall of fame, George Noory gave the introduction speech. It was broadcasted a few times on Coast at the time. Noory came off sounding like the biggest asshole in his speech. He opened with something like "I don't know why I'm here, apparently we're inducting the weekend guy" (or something condescending like that) and just proceeded to act like he was a bigger deal than Art while throwing an empty speech at him. From that moment forward I always thought Noory was disingenuous prick who's extremely into himself. That combined with the quality of guests and interviews going into rapid decline ever since Fumbles took over.

[Queen]

I listened to George when he was filling in for Art. I was listening the night when Art said George was taking over. I liked George. I still like the man.  It was prolly a few years after listening to George I got sick of not hearing Coast to Coast when i wanted to, so i started looking around ont he web for a way to hear Coast or Art and I got to hear a lot more and more of Art Bell shows and at first I didnt really care that much for hearing Art, but then it switched. I just couldnt stand listening to George anymore.  For me its really mixed feelings about Coast to Coast. I started getting use to Hilly rose and then Mike Seagle, Barbara Simpson, then George. I dont really listen to Coast to Coast on the radio anymore i just listen to old shows. Mainly Art shows. For me George just seems to be this "typical" nice guy personality. Kinda like a Male version of a female talk show host hosting slow romantic music that puts u to sleep and that u'd just like to slap lol. The hole oscar thing u know was a put on by the show. JC started out sounding like a (hard to say this) normal call in out of the blue person.  But George has ruined JC for me with oscar. Listening and compairing the two of them George just to me sounds like he has a list of questions that he has to ask, and he just roll thru the questions and then he opens the phone lines. He just doesnt sound like hes interested in the show at all. Thats what really made me stop listening to him.

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

You don't gotta take out a morgage on an ivory tower to recognize stupidity when you see it! -- Howard the Duck

[Marc.Knight]

George's suckage has existed since the beginning of time.  One can find ancient writings all over the world, which, when translated, clearly states: "George Noory Sucks".

[Stevenqbosell]

Actually didn't realize, until maybe earlier this year... gradual dumbing down of callers, but then one open lines show early this year, Annie In Alabama called, a nutjob who was a chronic caller, and he took her seriously for 5 mins or so. Wasn't even having fun with her like Art would.

Then, like a bad movie, I had flashbacks of all the awful radio i'd been listening to since 2003. When I got home that night, I purged my archives anything Noory related.

3 or so weeks ago @ work, I flipped a Friday night C2C with Snoory doing an OL show. Could only do 30 sec. before I shut that shit off.

Noory is bullshit, period.

[punkinpie]

I haven't turned on George.  He isn't Art Bell, but it's what I have to listen to.  I try not to bitch too much. 

[TaoOfLuxLisbon]

After 3 years of third shift work when I heard the same guests and same interviews every time they came on.

[tmock00]

I don't even know where to start.  The same rotating guest list, the fact that George seems to believe everything he hears, or shows a complete lack of interest for the topic at hand, the fact that he NEVER challenges his guests, he doesn't do any prep work (which is obvious), he rarely pronounces words correctly, his boastfulness, his arrogance, screened calls, no awesome topics...there's just no spark...and sadly, it's just not fun anymore.  I can't remember specifically when I lost interest.  I think it's just happened over time.  There's only so much mediocre melodrama I can take.

[ringthane]

I'm similar to tmock... not quite sure when it happened. Akin to the frog in the proverbial pot.

If I had to pinpoint a general time -- I started to notice about a year ago that I was't 'listening' while the show was on and just a general lack of enthusiasm over the show. Art had always been 'must listen' radio for me, even with a topic that I wasn't interested in.

Around that time, I stumbled upon this site and started to read posts. And with every negative critique I read I thought "yeah, I noticed that too." Basically, it was coastgab that gave my growing disinterest a 'voice' and it started to make sense.

i still think Noory is (mostly) an enthusiastic guy with good intentions, but i think new corporate culture (Clear Channel) coupled with an oatmeal-mouthed sycophant ass lick of a host (Noory), you end up with the trainwreck we have today.

[Silent]

I was a big fan of CTC in the mid to late 90's and slowly lost interest around the time Art was going back and forth with retirements.  It had nothing to do with Art, I was in my early 20's then and was easily distracted maybe.  From then until about a year ago I only caught a show a few times a year maybe.  About a year ago nostailga made me seek out some old Art shows online and I got hooked again.  I subscribed to Streamlink since I dont stay up late enough to listen to the show live anymore.

At that point I had no opinion on the new hosts, I barely knew any of them.  I, of course, started with Noory and after a week or two I grew tired of it.  I started to wonder why I ever listened to the show in my past, it was just boring and filled with stupid people.  I eventually got to really like Ian so I stuck with Streamlink because of him.  He at least was a smart guy and didn't buy everything the guests were trying to sell him.

I eventually found many of Arts shows available online and found out that the show wasn't actually bad back then.  Noory was just bad in the present.  Once I was able to contrast Noory with Ian and confirm that Art's old shows were indeed compelling radio and not my memory going bad, I completely ignored anything Noory did.

I still currently maintain a Streamlink account for Ian's shows and listen to old Art shows.  That's a boat load of entertainment for me to wade through in itself.  Why even bother with something inferior?  By the time (if ever) I exaust my supply of Art and Ian I'll be ready to start back from the beginning again.  I don't really have anything against Noory.  It's sad that the show has become so dumbed down is all.

These opinions were formed prior to finding Coastgab.  Reading all the humerous ways people will describe Noory here was funny and the reason the forums grabbed my attention at first.  It was a confirmation of my own feelings.

[Silent]

I feel the need to elaborate a little more on my comparisons between Art and Noory, as if we need more of that here.

I think it was an EVP show that Noory did that put me to the point of giving up and moving on from all of CTC.  This was prior to me re-visiting the old Art shows.  I remember thinking 'why did I ever listen to this garbage?'   'Did I ever actually believe this junk?'.  No offense to those who believe but to me EVP is such transparent pseudo-science and just fake fake fake.  The difference, as I found out, was that Art just supplied a stage for these people to speak from and challenged them in their claims.  His interview style made even something like EVP an entertaining listen.  George, on the other hand, challenges no one and believes everything he's told.  Everything is presented as fact and this assaulted my sensibilities.  All of the old ghost stories, EVP, alien abductions, and even flying to the center of the earth in a helicopter were entertaining and still are even though I believe none of it.  George completely fumbles these topics and guests.

Beyond that is his fixation on 2012, NWO, the Illuminati, end of the world scenarios, and angels.  The show is more like a cult these days than an exploration of the unknown.  I've heard people describe Art's show as conspiracy radio back then but that really wasn't true.  He rarely seemed to believe much of that stuff and always reminded the audiance to use your head and decide for yourself.  George on the other hand is telling you what to believe and evidence and skepicism don't belong.

[MV/Liberace!]

I don't even know where to start.  The same rotating guest list, the fact that George seems to believe everything he hears, or shows a complete lack of interest for the topic at hand, the fact that he NEVER challenges his guests, he doesn't do any prep work (which is obvious), he rarely pronounces words correctly, his boastfulness, his arrogance, screened calls, no awesome topics...there's just no spark...and sadly, it's just not fun anymore.  I can't remember specifically when I lost interest.  I think it's just happened over time.  There's only so much mediocre melodrama I can take.

i don't really see george as boastful or arrogant, but otherwise, i'm going to have to let this post speak for me.  this is everything that led to my abandoning george.

[Sy-Klone]

I have nothing personal against George. I don't hate George. He's just not a host that I want to listen to.

There's no one thing or moment that I can point to. It's a lot of things.

First, George's style. The best way I can describe it is like this: Coast to Coast AM hosted by George Noory sounds overly produced. It's a radio show taking place in a studio somewhere with producers and call screeners and all the stuff that comes with being a radio show these days. Whereas Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell...it felt like a rational guy doing something really different and edgy in the overnight hours in a show broadcast from his home with his wife in the next room, his cats at the door, a cigarette in his hand. Listen to George when he signs off the show. He thanks about ten people involved in making the show. But Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell? It was mostly run by one person: Art. He ran the board, he ran his webcam, he punched up the callers, he maintained his equipment. Art's fingerprints were all over the show when he was hosting. Whereas I get the sense that George just shows up an hour before air time, is handed cards for show prep, does the show from a studio, gets in his car, goes home. It's a different style.

I sent Art an e-mail last month thanking him for his work. One of the things I told him was that, as I listened to the classic shows and compared them to current shows by Noory, those Art Bell classics had something truly fun: unpredictability. They were unpredictable. No call screeners. Off-the-cuff conversations. A freedom to abandon a guest and move on to something topical. It was guerrilla radio and that's what made it so exciting. But radio syndicators? Talk radio stations? These days, they don't seem to want unpredictability. They want predictability. They want the same show, every day, no real variations, day in, day out, all variables controlled, no opportunity for something truly spontaneous. That makes it...boring.

That's George Noory to me: Nice guy hosting a boring show.

Beyond that? I felt a general shift in topic tone that I wasn't comfortable with. What I liked about Art was that he had opinions but he was also willing to engage in reason. He'd challenge the callers he didn't agree with, he'd lay out his opinions, but nothing was really off-limits. Whereas I slowly began to detect a subtle repetitive theme in George's shows: his belief in these mysterious "people" controlling us, a distrust of the government that seemed to be supported by nothing substantive, end times, paranoia, they don't want us to know the truth, etc. If George feels paranoia about those things? I respect that. But George never talks about them or backs them up. It's just hot air in an environment where no guest is challenged, positions are taken but not supported, suspicions are aired without substantive discussion...it's all flash but no substance. Say what you will about Art...he had substance. If he believed something, he'd tell you about it, and if he told you about it, he'd tell you why he believed what he believed.

I feel like I know Art Bell on some level because Art would let his guard down. I don't think I know Noory at all because the only Noory I know is the Noory on Coast to Coast, and that Noory is elusive because he's afraid to pin down his beliefs with anything substantive. He's all talk and everybody gets a trophy.

I don't know if that makes sense, but that's my take.

[MV/Liberace!]

jesus, sy-klone.  there's NO WAY i could have said it better.


welcome to the forums.

[TaoOfLuxLisbon]

I think it was an EVP show that Noory did that put me to the point of giving up and moving on from all of CTC.  This was prior to me re-visiting the old Art shows.  I remember thinking 'why did I ever listen to this garbage?'   'Did I ever actually believe this junk?'.  No offense to those who believe but to me EVP is such transparent pseudo-science and just fake fake fake.  The difference, as I found out, was that Art just supplied a stage for these people to speak from and challenged them in their claims.  His interview style made even something like EVP an entertaining listen.  George, on the other hand, challenges no one and believes everything he's told.  Everything is presented as fact and this assaulted my sensibilities.  All of the old ghost stories, EVP, alien abductions, and even flying to the center of the earth in a helicopter were entertaining and still are even though I believe none of it.  George completely fumbles these topics and guests.

Art has done two EVP shows in the last year or so, and neither time did he challenge the guests (I apologize, they are from a group whose name escapes me) on anything other than maybe what was being said on the tape. Even more disappointing was the fact both shows were almost carbon copies of one another. I enjoyed them though.

[The General]

I was an avid C2C listener in the glory days.  After Art left, I listened if he guest hosted, or if it was convenient to listen.  I never went out of my way to listen to Noory, he wasn't Art and for me that meant that it wasn't C2C.  I never hated George or anything, I just found him boring, as Sy Klone so aptly spelled out above.

But listening to Noory one night several years ago, I realized something that I hadn't before.  C2C had become a children's show.  Noory's delivery is similar to the labored cadence and overpronunciation that you hear in children's programming, or similar to  the way someone would read aloud to a group of first graders.  Not only was the content  dumbed down on an intellectual level but actually spoken in a manner similar to  how some people speak to children.  It's insulting. 

I think the show that made me realize it was an  interview with Mr.  Lobo, some cut rate, late night cable B-movie host that sounded even more childish than George did.  I stood there in my kitchen and sighed aloud, "Wow, I miss Art Bell."

[Stevenqbosell]

...as I listened to the classic shows and compared them to current shows by Noory, those Art Bell classics had something truly fun: unpredictability. They were unpredictable. No call screeners. Off-the-cuff conversations. A freedom to abandon a guest and move on to something topical. It was guerrilla radio and that's what made it so exciting.

I think this encapsulates all of our feelings here... the current incarnation of the show is just SO PREDICYABLE, and like you said WAYYYY over produced now.

[fabucat]

I've been TOTALLY pissed off with Noory recently.  I don't hate him as much as you guys do.  But I wonder how some of his sicko crappy guests have helped dumb down and coarsen our socio-political discourse.  First there's Steve Quayle.  Back in the halcyon 90s, everyone would have laughed at Steve Quayle's apocalyptic pronouncements.  Now, however, with Glenn Beck, eschatology has become positively mainstream.  Now every moron thinks that the world's end is imminent.  This isn't healthy for our society.  I also agree with the former Christian right crusader Frank Schaeffer that the idea that things are SOOOOO terrible today that they portend the End of the World is incredibly narcissistic.  I did some research on Quayle and learned that he's a Birther, but at least he's smart enough to know that he has to stay away from that crap. 

[anagrammy]

All of the above, and especially agreeing with the vocabulary and rhythm of communicating with fourth graders.  The frustration of him not representing me and my unspoken logical next question, "...the alien spoke?  What did he say?"  Instead of "...the alien spoke and more about aliens speaking after the break....and it's George Noory here with XXXX talking about his alien encounter.  Tell us, XXXX, what is your website?  mmmm, yes and the title of your book?" 

And I'm clawing the radio-- WHAT DID THE F**G ALIEN SAY?

But there was a particularly bad interview with JC that made me realize how...off George has become.  Because it wasn't a dumbed-down caller, it was a caller that Art had gone back and forth with so many times before--with hilarious results.  Instead, here was Noory patronizing the hell out of the guy, practically soothing him, applying balm on his irate nature instead of simulating him.  I realized then that this was a completely different comefrom here, not just the difference between hosts that would be natural with different personalities.

It's one thing for a popular host to retire and be replaced, it's quite another for the entire mission and tone of the radio program to change.  We are no longer late night speculation and evaluation of the weirdness the world has to offer, sorting the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, with a skeptical/glib/confident/saavy host.  We are now a program dedicating to offering lonely listeners a kind voice in the darkness hawking angels, Las Vegas vacations, healthy eating, gold and coffee enemas with the same degree of enthusiasm.  "Cleans you out!" 

We are "somewhere" and we agree with "everyone" because we know that the pathetic audience has no one else on holidays. We are a comfort service in language and tone even a child can understand, with content triple screened so there will be no surprises to disturb your sleep. We believe in angels...there are no coincidences...are we part of the universe, guest?  Everything happens for a reason, a reason, a reason, a reason....

I want to cry or puke. Maybe both.

Anagrammy

[ArtBellFan]

"NEVER"

[HAL 9000]

I want to cry or puke. Maybe both.

     

[DoYouThinkItWasAngels]

All of the above, and especially agreeing with the vocabulary and rhythm of communicating with fourth graders. 

I really feel like this is getting worse.  George wasn't this stupid when he took over the show.  Increasingly I cringe when he speaks.

[Diabhal]

I only discovered Coast to Coast about a year and a half ago. I listened to Noory and I didn't mind (I hand't heard much alternative so a paranormal radio show was a novelty to me). Then I heard the legendary Art Bell. He made Noory look like complete shit and I started to notice all the Nooryisms. I gave up on the show until I started downloading old stuff and listening to the 24/7 stream. Great stuff. Don't need to hear Noory ever again.

[ourobouros2k2]

It's necessary to remind myself that there are coast fans that have never heard the wonder of an AB hosted show. They still think Noory as cutting edge. I refer them to SIT offerings, just so they can know what they have been missing, lol. I started listening to coast during the Siegel days, and wondered what the big deal about AB was. Took less than 10 minutes for figure it out 

[Araxen]

I don't listen to George at all. The show is too conspiracy focused now and very little Aliens/UFO's/Paranormal stuff for me. Plus I just don't like George as an interviewer as he isn't smart at all when it comes to asking good questions.

[anagrammy]

Yeah, but you have to admit a trainwreck is also fun to watch...

I am starting to get a kick out of the verbally adroit guests who are completely flummoxed by George's goofy "questions."  The other day, when the night terrors "expert" was on, he asked George a question and Noory was so completely zoning, he just went on and asked the next question from his 3x5 card!  LOL

People are collecting these like the priceless gems they are because NO ONE can stay on the radio with all the IQ that's out there and not be more nimble of mind.  So better get the verbal animal pancakes while the griddle is hot--that's my view. 

Speaking of tenure, George did the old "I'll be here for a LOOOOOONG time but again in response to some honey-dripping female insomniac.  As we know, market share rules and any time there is a market niche opening up, somebody is going to jump on it and take that C2C market share, leaving them with an audience that wants Dr. Oz information.  And that's fine, Noory's perfect for investigating the efficacy of liposuction past 60.

Devolving, devolving... and something new is already being cooked up, I can feel it in my paranormal/UFO/Cryptoid-loving bones.


Anagrammy

[technikala]

When I realized that George is just another radio host that thinks we're all heading to hell in a handbasket and his job is to save us some how by drilling it into our heads every night. 
I don't want to listen to negative noise while I'm trying to sleep.  I used to fall asleep listening to Art, but George irritates me.
I have tried to listen when he doesn't have a conspiracy theorist on telling us how some group is plotting my annihilation, but even when he has somebody talking about NDE's he has to turn it negative somehow.
During one interview the guest said something and George replied "God, we're being attacked from all sides!"  The guest paused and said "Nobody's attacking anybody, it just happens this way sometimes."
Besides, I read that one brainwashing technique is playing negative stuff over and over all night long.
Maybe the ratings are suffering and that's why they play ads twice.

[anagrammy]

I think this encapsulates all of our feelings here... the current incarnation of the show is just SO PREDICYABLE, and like you said WAYYYY over produced now.

Did you all hear how nimbly Ian Punnett handled the huge switch when WILL ELLIOTT was interviewed about his book on his journey through schizophrenia.  Early in the show, the guest completely nullified the basic premise of his book and announced that due to recent information, he now realizes that his eyelid-flickering school teacher actually WAS a reptilian shape-shifter!

Ian went to a break (and you can imagine the Holy Shit moment in his head).  He read the book and was prepared to discuss mental illness and the importance of early recognition, etc, but the guest basically just said he quit taking his medication and is obviously crazy AND non-compliant with doctor's orders.  Worse yet, he's spouting advice about how to discontinue taking "your" (meaning the audience) medication.  So there's an issue of responsibility.

If you missed it, listen to it.  It is GUERILLA RADIO for sure and Ian handled it deftly.  Not like Art would have done--he was non-confrontational and tactful whereas Art tended to be just flat out "...so it's all a lie!" 

Good thing Noory wasn't on. Talk about a train wreck - that would have been suicide.

Anagrammy

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

...If you missed it, listen to it.  It is GUERILLA RADIO for sure and Ian handled it deftly.  Not like Art would have done--he was non-confrontational and tactful whereas Art tended to be just flat out "...so it's all a lie!" 

Good thing Noory wasn't on. Talk about a train wreck - that would have been suicide.

Anagrammy

GUERILLA RADIO Show.... now there is something I've not seen mentioned in some time. I think I even have some select shows in mp3 format... that and some Guns and Butter shows... somewhere. 

not that i'm so sure that it relates to your comment, but there it is and here we are.... and it's late...where DID that damn white rabbit go...

[JeffreyLXV]

Did you all hear how nimbly Ian Punnett handled the huge switch when WILL ELLIOTT was interviewed about his book on his journey through schizophrenia.  Early in the show, the guest completely nullified the basic premise of his book and announced that due to recent information, he now realizes that his eyelid-flickering school teacher actually WAS a reptilian shape-shifter!

Ian went to a break (and you can imagine the Holy Shit moment in his head).  He read the book and was prepared to discuss mental illness and the importance of early recognition, etc, but the guest basically just said he quit taking his medication and is obviously crazy AND non-compliant with doctor's orders.  Worse yet, he's spouting advice about how to discontinue taking "your" (meaning the audience) medication.  So there's an issue of responsibility.

If you missed it, listen to it.  It is GUERILLA RADIO for sure and Ian handled it deftly.  Not like Art would have done--he was non-confrontational and tactful whereas Art tended to be just flat out "...so it's all a lie!" 

Good thing Noory wasn't on. Talk about a train wreck - that would have been suicide.

Anagrammy

Ian Punnett's ability to explore the guest's compiled self-discovery, while simultaneously encapsulating what was occurring was masterful, and the most absorbing C2C show I've heard in a long time.

If I join the C2C subscription service, can I hear that show again, and hear other Ian Punnett shows?

tia
-j