Two radio shows that inspired each other in creating noir Detective comedy segments,
- The Prairie Home Companion by NPR (1974-2016) 'Guy Noir' in addition to 'News from Lake Wobegon' by Garrison Keillor (started in 1985)
- Firesign Theatre (1966–1985, 1993–2012) (with solo performances of Nick Danger - The Third Eye (a joke)
'Guy Noir' started with NPR (1974-2016) but specifically began in 1985, and was something that only discovered around 2010 when it aired on a classical music station in Dallas (101.1) on Weekends (though I believe they might have just been replaying the mid 80s recordings now that I'm getting around to looking into it.)
Guy Noir (The Prairie Home Companion) 1985-1986 and 'News from Lake Wobegon' by Garrison Keillor
Though music comprises a lot of it, some episodes are more like a stage performances. A few notable tropes are "Lake Woebegone" that started with this series and was an idiom I was familiar with before having heard of the series (and for whatever reason it seems kind of difficult to come across the The Prairie Home Companion recordings, unlike other series.
A movie that was based on the series:
A Prairie Home Companion (Robert Altman, 2006) Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson
I'm still trying to find some of the episodes I listened to, and when I came across Firesign Theatre I considered some of those might have been playing as well, though they tend to be sold on albums for a reason (since some of the material they do uses more mature humor.)
Even when the Firesign Theatre group had disbanded in the late 80s these performances were still being made and added onto as a solo gig, and when it regrouped, I believe that was when this video was made (circa 2008 possibly?) It seemed kind of took over after the Guy Noir radio show began, which would have inspired it.)
Firesign Theatre albums Internet Archive (and some more can be found on)
Nick Danger (10 minute video) The Third Eye a Detective character by Firesign Theatre, mostly known for radio performances.
I tend to assume the Guy Noir series was particular to the mid 80s, though I will look into it more. Some hints about this would be to research the Lake Woebegone idiom, which when looking into it, appears specifically in late 1985, in the segment by Garrison Keillor for 'News from Lake Wobegon.'
Revised the above and truncated this:
Spoiler
Show
Nick Danger - The Third Eye (a joke not in reference to psychic abilities though I might have overlooked some tongue-in-cheek reference to it; the irony is most likely that he clearly has no super powers) was a Detective character by Firesign Theatre mostly known for radio performances (but even in live performances it was practically designed for it.) Even when the group had disbanded in the late 80s these performances were still being made and added onto as a solo gig, and when it regrouped, I believe that was when this video was made (circa 2008 possibly?) Most of it seemed to start after the group disbanded temporarily, so they kind of took over after the Guy Noir radio show began, which would have inspired it.)
I know I've heard the Nick Danger character before when listing to a classical music station around 2011, where they would sometimes diverge from regular programs, but there was also another one that was very similar (but I also recall some Detective character named Dick (Richard) Doucet ("due-kay"? almost sounds like a combination of decay and dookie, but that might have been the villain?)
Initially I was starting to wonder if it became in vogue with The Alan Parson's Project - Don't Answer Me, since Dick Tracy kind of stopped being relevant, and the only other Detective with a trench coat might be Deckard from Blade Runner, however, it was always kind of a popular trope about Detectives were considered a mythologized profession (akin to how Men in Black are tropes of the FBI and are popularly shown as dressed the same,) and usually trench coats were worn by people even until the late 80s in an attempt to appear fashionable (or Burberry would make you believe they are still popular, though only if you are walking around when it's drizzly. . . Thanks to Trump and global warming, we are due for an Alligator Alcatraz and an economy more suitable for shirtless hillbillies, since all manufacturers overseas will refuse to participate in our glorious cultural revolution. . .)
What it reminds me of (very 80s-esque
Alan Parsons Project - Don't Answer Me (1984)
Other Alan Parson's Project music videos
Alan Parsons Project - Stereotomy (1985)
Alan Parson's Project Eye In The Sky (1982)
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Sexpionage: How Cold War Spies Seduced Their Targets
Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) BLACKMAILED Bill Clinton With Lewinsky Tapes
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Philip K Dick speech (interpreter edited out) in Metz, France, 1977
And Robert Anton Wilson was just as crazy and dissociative, though I do believe the last video has some points about physics and time being a product of observation and not reality (though we experience time on a continuum of sensory experiences,) whether anything substantive can be ascribed to what he experienced, anymore than confirmation bias and apophenia (associating meaning to where their is none.) The fact he claims to believe he was experiencing what he wrote, is hypothesized from having written something based on common themes of what people experience in mundane everyday life, and then giving them more meaning than existed.
Similar to how I'm not surprised this is a movie that was featured on Netflix. . . Though perhaps knowing it had John Malkovich, it might be surrealist.
Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018) Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich