Norton in the Morning
Larry Norton, Rob Lederman, Chris Klein, Russ Burton
WGRF
Buffalo
www.wgrf.com

Interviewed by Steve Harmon

Harmon:  Tell me how you found each other and came together on air. .  

Larry:  I've been on the air here since 1975. Rob starting with us in the early 90's as a joke writer and then joined the show full time shortly after. Chris joined on full time in 1999 after serving as the traffic reporter, and then Russ became the producer the following year after being a show intern.

Harmon: How did you get to the Buffalo Market?

Larry:  We've all lived here all of our lives.
 

Harmon:  Tell us a little about you and your cast.

Larry:  I'm more of the father of the show. I try to keep the order, and senility of the show. Rob is the furthest thing from that. He's always got a great joke and is completely unpredictable. He brings a fairly skewed view of the world. Chris is the one that keeps us level and is great at bringing in the female perspective when we get a little too piggish. Russ keeps it all together and on the right track, and throws in his 2 cents every now and then.


Harmon:  What's your biggest challenge?   

Larry:  Getting up so friggin early!!!!

Harmon:  How do you know if it was a great show?   

Larry:  If we can't count how many times we've laughed out loud!

Harmon:  How far in advance do you plan a show?

Larry:  Plan? You're kidding right?! No, really, we meet at the beginning of the week and brainstorm ideas for the week. Every day after the show we re-define ideas for the next day. As we all know, though, the show NEVER goes as planned.


Harmon:  First week on the air in a new town you would... ?   

Larry:  Hopefully I would never have to worry about it. Buffalo is my home, and my favorite place in the world.


Harmon:  Real tense showroom...how do you stop that?    

Larry:  Rob usually tells a dirty joke about his genitalia, and it brings us all back to level ground.

Harmon:  What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? 

Larry:  I had a job as Ronald McDonald in a Downtown Buffalo location.  Needless to say, it didn't work out all that well for me.

Harmon:  Best part of your job?  

Larry:  Getting to laugh at work every day, and hopefully making others laugh. That, and being home by 1pm!

Harmon:  What do you think was the best BitBoard bit you have used?

Larry:  There's so many it's hard to remember, but we get GREAT contacts for interviews.   

Harmon:  Website you love to peek at for stuff?

Larry:  The Drudge Report

Harmon:  Radio Pet Peeve 

Larry:  Ratings! Those pesky ratings!!! They're so unreliable

Harmon:  What was "the day you owned the market"?

Larry:  Every year when we stay on the air for 28 hours auctioning things off to raise money for Make-A-Wish. People call months in advance to find out when it's going to be.