Saturday, August 22, 2015

So Long Wiretap!

I just found out my favourite radio show, Wiretap isn’t going to continue this season after 11 years and I’m pretty heart broken about it.  I used to have CBC on all the time when I wasn’t working in the studio and I still remember the first time I heard it 11 years ago.  I was going into the fridge getting something as I turned the radio on and I heard this weird and funny conversation about someone who was watching their lobby security camera instead of an actual tv channel.  I’m not going to say I fell in love with the show that day but I was intrigued and a seed was planted. It wasn’t long before I was trying to make sure I could tune in every Sunday to hear what was going to happen next.  As time progressed the different personalities started poking out a bit more and I completely fell in love with the show.

After 11 years of listening to something you amass so many memories of where you were in life while listening to different episodes.  Here are some of mine…

I remember a new girlfriend and I driving around Friday night and me sneaking the show on hoping she wouldn’t mind.  Both of us ended up laughing like crazy at a conversation Jonathan and Gregor were having.

Years later I remember listening to old and new podcasts many late nights building my studio in a house a different girlfriend and I had bought.  The one that stands out the most during that period was the Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong episode.

I remember listening when that relationship soured and I needed a distraction from what was a year long crisis called, “what am I going to do with my life now?”.

I also remember many long walks listening with earphones laughing out loud or tearing up while looking around making sure no one was watching me.

Wiretap had a way of approaching the most mundane and the most profound subjects with an intelligence and humor that is rarely done.  I’m sure I’m not the only listener that felt a kinship while listening, a sense that there’s others that see the world a bit like I do.  It was a great feeling.

The problem when a show like this stops running is that there’s nothing to replace it.  It’s not like a TV drama or something that you can replace with another show in its absence.  There truly wasn’t anything out there like it.  Instead of being sad that it’s over though I’m going to try and be happy that it existed at all.  Thank you to everyone who was a part of Wiretap who entertained and touched so many of us.  Your show was dearly loved and meant a lot to a lot of us.  Good luck with your future projects.

So glad that my son and I got to participate in what ended up being the farewell video.  It was great to be a part of it.


Here's a link to the Wiretap webpage: