RIP Richard Sher
February 10, 2015 8:44 PM Subscribe
Richard Sher, host of NPR radio game show Says You!, has died at 66.
I listened to the show religiously when I lived in Cleveland, and even attended a taping at a theater in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. I can be heard yelling out the answer to a question that none of the panelists could answer correctly, about the origin of the phrase "willy-nilly".
I listened to the show religiously when I lived in Cleveland, and even attended a taping at a theater in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. I can be heard yelling out the answer to a question that none of the panelists could answer correctly, about the origin of the phrase "willy-nilly".
Period
(a word, not a mark, in honor of all the joy of words this program gave me)
posted by njohnson23 at 8:59 PM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
(a word, not a mark, in honor of all the joy of words this program gave me)
posted by njohnson23 at 8:59 PM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oh gee. I haven't listened to it for a while, and now I wish I had.
posted by happyroach at 9:15 PM on February 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by happyroach at 9:15 PM on February 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
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A more literate radio program is hard to find.
posted by andorphin at 9:20 PM on February 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
A more literate radio program is hard to find.
posted by andorphin at 9:20 PM on February 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by infinitewindow at 9:22 PM on February 10, 2015
posted by infinitewindow at 9:22 PM on February 10, 2015
• Oh no. That is dismaying. I love that show and thought Scher the perfect host.
posted by bz at 12:57 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by bz at 12:57 AM on February 11, 2015
Oh no. He seemed like such a genuine likeable guy.
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posted by lumpenprole at 1:21 AM on February 11, 2015
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posted by lumpenprole at 1:21 AM on February 11, 2015
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I think I've been listening to this show since its inception.
posted by mkb at 3:42 AM on February 11, 2015
I think I've been listening to this show since its inception.
posted by mkb at 3:42 AM on February 11, 2015
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posted by Inkslinger at 5:56 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by Inkslinger at 5:56 AM on February 11, 2015
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posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2015
I believe this show is based on a British show featuring a very similar lineup of word games + celebrities. I heard it a few times while vacationing somewhere that broadcasted it, but now I can't remember what it was called.
posted by Miko at 6:46 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by Miko at 6:46 AM on February 11, 2015
I listen to the show when I remember to do so - it plays on Sunday afternoon at 4PM where I live, so it competes for my attention with a lot of other things. I can hear his voice now as I type this. It's hard to imagine the show with another host, but I hope they find someone willing to try.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 7:01 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by King Sky Prawn at 7:01 AM on February 11, 2015
Sad news. I went to a couple of tapings of the show in Lincoln MA in early 00's, and they served light wine and raspberries during intermissions. The whole affair was so gracious and chummy, and Richard Sher in person matched his radio voice very well.
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posted by of strange foe at 8:26 AM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by of strange foe at 8:26 AM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by BungaDunga at 8:36 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by BungaDunga at 8:36 AM on February 11, 2015
I love Says You. Sadly I don't listen to it as much as I like since WAMU dropped it awhile ago. It's a great show to listen to and is a great successor of sorts to My Word. (My Music is/was the musical companion to My Word.)
It's made quite a few long drives unexpectedly more pleasant when I've happened to find it on the air (which is honestly one of my favorite ways to enjoy NPR programs).
posted by skynxnex at 8:56 AM on February 11, 2015
It's made quite a few long drives unexpectedly more pleasant when I've happened to find it on the air (which is honestly one of my favorite ways to enjoy NPR programs).
posted by skynxnex at 8:56 AM on February 11, 2015
Sad news. Listened to the show a lot while an undergrad but haven't listened in a long time.
I can be heard yelling out the answer to a question that none of the panelists could answer correctly, about the origin of the phrase "willy-nilly"
"Volo nolo!"
posted by audi alteram partem at 9:09 AM on February 11, 2015
I can be heard yelling out the answer to a question that none of the panelists could answer correctly, about the origin of the phrase "willy-nilly"
"Volo nolo!"
posted by audi alteram partem at 9:09 AM on February 11, 2015
My NPR station recently started airing the hour-long version instead of the condensed half hour that they had broadcast for years. What a joy it has been. I'm so very sad to hear ths.
posted by Dolley at 10:00 AM on February 11, 2015
posted by Dolley at 10:00 AM on February 11, 2015
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I first listened to it as accidentally, while flipping through the radio, as a teenager waiting for my parents to finish socializing after mass. It never stayed on when they returned to the van because the Polish/polka radio hour was also on.
It sort of represented a highbrow literacy. It was the NPR folks, empty nesters that were wise in their years and enjoyed debates about such pedantic topics like word origins and puns (I never heardth besides Says You), at the time, I was about to go off to college and heard of this New England (they always seemed to be in NE or the western coasts).
10 years later, I stop by my parents house on Sundays, join them for Mass and a very early supper, get the keys to their van just before mass ends (continuing a tradition of me driving them home) and tuning on says you for a couple minutes.
posted by fizzix at 11:21 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I first listened to it as accidentally, while flipping through the radio, as a teenager waiting for my parents to finish socializing after mass. It never stayed on when they returned to the van because the Polish/polka radio hour was also on.
It sort of represented a highbrow literacy. It was the NPR folks, empty nesters that were wise in their years and enjoyed debates about such pedantic topics like word origins and puns (I never heardth besides Says You), at the time, I was about to go off to college and heard of this New England (they always seemed to be in NE or the western coasts).
10 years later, I stop by my parents house on Sundays, join them for Mass and a very early supper, get the keys to their van just before mass ends (continuing a tradition of me driving them home) and tuning on says you for a couple minutes.
posted by fizzix at 11:21 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
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posted by singlesock at 12:47 PM on February 11, 2015
posted by singlesock at 12:47 PM on February 11, 2015
It sort of represented a highbrow literacy
I have to say the generally conservative tone has always put me off, even though I'll have it on while cooking or whatever. I wouldn't really call it "highbrow" because it's not exactly intellectual, so much as a sort of retro-collegiate, WASPy form of humor.
posted by Miko at 1:03 PM on February 11, 2015
I have to say the generally conservative tone has always put me off, even though I'll have it on while cooking or whatever. I wouldn't really call it "highbrow" because it's not exactly intellectual, so much as a sort of retro-collegiate, WASPy form of humor.
posted by Miko at 1:03 PM on February 11, 2015
If was the cleverest broadcast gameshow in my personal memory. Such a shame.
Here's to Karl Kassel's immortality.
posted by clarknova at 4:11 PM on February 11, 2015
Here's to Karl Kassel's immortality.
posted by clarknova at 4:11 PM on February 11, 2015
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So very bummed. I listened for years. Please let us keep Garrison for awhile longer.
posted by missmobtown at 10:13 PM on February 11, 2015
So very bummed. I listened for years. Please let us keep Garrison for awhile longer.
posted by missmobtown at 10:13 PM on February 11, 2015
(I've been mulling this over for a while and am glad I was able to add something here before the thread closed! On preview -- oops, didn't realize it would look like a tome...)
I clearly remember when I first heard "Says You" -- I had started a new job in early 2001. My boss said it was okay to listen to the radio/music on headphones (on a cassette Walkman! ah those days), as long as it didn't affect my work. The local public radio station had music on in the mornings; one day I left it on through lunchtime, and to my surprise I heard what seemed to be a quiz show, based on dictionary knowledge and other wordplay and trivia.
I was pretty taken aback, in a good way. This kind of show in the middle of the day? A show that was current and not from decades ago? A show with a balance of men and women as panelists? I was a fan and longtime listener of public radio and old-time radio, but this was totally new (and more accessible to me than "My Word" or "My Music" which I generally enjoyed). I was intrigued.
I still recall part of that episode, which I heard again in repeats later -- a particular bit made it onto some highlights/compilation shows: IIRC, while Richard Sher started reading a question about George VI, he pronounced it "George Vie." He caught his error, then corrected himself: "George Vie??...George the Sixth!!" and broke into laughter along with the panelists and audience. It took a few moments before he was able to continue with the question. I remember being impressed that he'd left that flub in the episode -- it gave me a sense that he really did want the show to be fun and enjoyable.
After that day, I became a fan and listened regularly for the next handful of years (when the show was half an hour long and just after it expanded to an hour). At some point, my local station stopped carrying the series so I found it on the live streams of other public radio stations (yay, publicradiofan.com is still around) and tried to catch it every weekend. I think my favorite shows tended to be the ones that were recorded with a smaller audience at a restaurant or a bar -- there was something about the lack of auditorium echo that made the conversation sound more inviting.
I don't think I've ever mentioned this to anyone before, but MeFi seems like the appropriate place to admit it: Somewhere on an old hard drive, there's an unfinished file where I started logging the episodes I heard; e.g. who the panelists were, which theme song was used (there was a spacey sort of synth theme for earlier episodes), a brief summary of each quiz round, and how much I liked the episode. I didn't keep track of the points or who won -- that wasn't important to me, although I did like that there was a scorekeeper on the show who had to record the sometimes arbitrary way Richard Sher awarded points. (It was fun when he gave out bonus points for an answer he really enjoyed. I also remember once, someone's answer -- it might have been a bad pun -- made him and the audience groan; Sher said to take a number of points away, much to everyone's amusement.)
I also liked that a live acoustic band performed music for each episode during the bluffing rounds, show closing, etc. Even the names of the bands were apt: e.g. I remember The Dactyls, and (maybe one of my favorite band names ever) Pluperfect and the Past Participles. Sher would say something like, "Take it away, Plu!"
Anyway, real life kept changing and after a while, it got harder to tune in to the show regularly, and I unfortunately lost track of it. But even now, I come across words or phrases that remind me of "Says You" because they were mentioned in a definition or bluffing round -- like recently when I saw the MeFi thread about the Brannock device.
So yeah... while it's great to hear that "Says You" has stayed on the air since then, I'm very saddened to hear the news about Richard Sher's passing. His show was a highlight for me during those years. I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I think his love for puns, creative definitions, and interesting trivia came through clearly on the radio. It sounded like he and the panelists were all great friends genuinely having a good time; it was comforting to listen to this and hear them nerding out over things such as obscure dictionary words, especially when I was missing my own friends who weren't geographically close at the time.
I could go on about my memories of listening to the show, but for now I'll end with the following: I remember Sher would close the episodes with a parting line, and my personal favorite was when he said something like, "Remind your friends that each week, more radios are tuned in to this show...than any other appliance. See you next week!"
Thank you, Richard Sher.
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posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 8:29 PM on March 10, 2015
I clearly remember when I first heard "Says You" -- I had started a new job in early 2001. My boss said it was okay to listen to the radio/music on headphones (on a cassette Walkman! ah those days), as long as it didn't affect my work. The local public radio station had music on in the mornings; one day I left it on through lunchtime, and to my surprise I heard what seemed to be a quiz show, based on dictionary knowledge and other wordplay and trivia.
I was pretty taken aback, in a good way. This kind of show in the middle of the day? A show that was current and not from decades ago? A show with a balance of men and women as panelists? I was a fan and longtime listener of public radio and old-time radio, but this was totally new (and more accessible to me than "My Word" or "My Music" which I generally enjoyed). I was intrigued.
I still recall part of that episode, which I heard again in repeats later -- a particular bit made it onto some highlights/compilation shows: IIRC, while Richard Sher started reading a question about George VI, he pronounced it "George Vie." He caught his error, then corrected himself: "George Vie??...George the Sixth!!" and broke into laughter along with the panelists and audience. It took a few moments before he was able to continue with the question. I remember being impressed that he'd left that flub in the episode -- it gave me a sense that he really did want the show to be fun and enjoyable.
After that day, I became a fan and listened regularly for the next handful of years (when the show was half an hour long and just after it expanded to an hour). At some point, my local station stopped carrying the series so I found it on the live streams of other public radio stations (yay, publicradiofan.com is still around) and tried to catch it every weekend. I think my favorite shows tended to be the ones that were recorded with a smaller audience at a restaurant or a bar -- there was something about the lack of auditorium echo that made the conversation sound more inviting.
I don't think I've ever mentioned this to anyone before, but MeFi seems like the appropriate place to admit it: Somewhere on an old hard drive, there's an unfinished file where I started logging the episodes I heard; e.g. who the panelists were, which theme song was used (there was a spacey sort of synth theme for earlier episodes), a brief summary of each quiz round, and how much I liked the episode. I didn't keep track of the points or who won -- that wasn't important to me, although I did like that there was a scorekeeper on the show who had to record the sometimes arbitrary way Richard Sher awarded points. (It was fun when he gave out bonus points for an answer he really enjoyed. I also remember once, someone's answer -- it might have been a bad pun -- made him and the audience groan; Sher said to take a number of points away, much to everyone's amusement.)
I also liked that a live acoustic band performed music for each episode during the bluffing rounds, show closing, etc. Even the names of the bands were apt: e.g. I remember The Dactyls, and (maybe one of my favorite band names ever) Pluperfect and the Past Participles. Sher would say something like, "Take it away, Plu!"
Anyway, real life kept changing and after a while, it got harder to tune in to the show regularly, and I unfortunately lost track of it. But even now, I come across words or phrases that remind me of "Says You" because they were mentioned in a definition or bluffing round -- like recently when I saw the MeFi thread about the Brannock device.
So yeah... while it's great to hear that "Says You" has stayed on the air since then, I'm very saddened to hear the news about Richard Sher's passing. His show was a highlight for me during those years. I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I think his love for puns, creative definitions, and interesting trivia came through clearly on the radio. It sounded like he and the panelists were all great friends genuinely having a good time; it was comforting to listen to this and hear them nerding out over things such as obscure dictionary words, especially when I was missing my own friends who weren't geographically close at the time.
I could go on about my memories of listening to the show, but for now I'll end with the following: I remember Sher would close the episodes with a parting line, and my personal favorite was when he said something like, "Remind your friends that each week, more radios are tuned in to this show...than any other appliance. See you next week!"
Thank you, Richard Sher.
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posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 8:29 PM on March 10, 2015
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posted by Carillon at 8:57 PM on February 10, 2015