Show formats that need to happen

Lino Rulli's radio show, The Catholic Guy, blazes new trails when it comes to innovative programming.

But I think it's only scratched the surface of originality.

If Lino were to keep doing this same show for the rest of it's run, nobody would complain. It would continue to set new standards for quality Catholic radio. Nobody disputes that. The overnight lock-in was a new type of show that was wildly successful, and there's no reason why other formats can't be tried.

Here are three show ideas that would go over extremely well.

1. A live studio-audience
Lino's done shows on location before, but usually they're done from a hotel room (the Vegas and New Orleans shows) or on the street when the focus is elsewhere (World Youth Day). A show with a live studio audience on a Saturday afternoon would be epic. To Lino's credit, a similar show has been done before, when Lino went to some Catholic singles event and did a dating game.

But a three-hour show with live audience members instead of phone calls would be amazing. He could even charge $5 and donate the money to charity, something that would get the Catholic media buzzing: A live radio show raises money for Ferret research? Brilliant! And getting the chance to see Lino Rulli, Fr. Rob and Ryan Grant do their show live would be a treat for any fan.

2. The crossover
This idea has been done before: When Pope Benedict XVI came to the United States, a lot of Catholic Channel programming featured the different hosts hosting shows together. But a special TCGS with guest host Greg Willits, Fr. Dave Dwyer or Gus Lloyd would be something different. It would be fun to hear other hosts take on the things Lino says on air, and to hear them all muck it up together would increase interest in the channel as a whole.

3. The Musical
Now THIS would take the cake. Lino does song parodies and they're usually a lot of fun. Take a few weeks and create 9 or 10 songs (Ryan is a musician, so it should be feasible for him to do this), and he could easily have The Catholic Guy Musical. Sure, it'd force the show into a more rehearsed style than an anything-goes conversational show, but three hours of Fr. Rob, Lino and Ryan Grant singing? Now that's entertainment.

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1 Response to Show formats that need to happen

  1. DarrylM says:

    The crossover is a great idea! The one back in the spring from Vatican Radio with TCGS crew and Fr. Dave was genius. I'd love to hear Greg & Jennifer on there as well!

    The live chat that was held here a few months ago was also a great idea. :-)