THURSDAY, Sept 26 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR THURSDAY, September 26, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: SCRUDENAU FARMS POPCORN MAZE; BROUGHT TO YOU BY

TODAY IS …
(All days repeat annually on today’s date unless otherwise noted; days may or may not be called “National”/”International”/”World” depending on source; sources listed often have additional info. We generally do not list special days which were created by commercial companies for the purpose of marketing, or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

JOHNNY APPLESEED DAY
The Days of the Year website says this:
“Johnny Appleseed is a famous historical American figure, who’s most notable for his spread of apple trees throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Real name John Chapman, he was a prominent conservationist, business man and religious figure, and well known and liked for his kindness and generosity – Johnny Appleseed Day commemorates his birth on September 26, 1774.”

HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONAL DAY

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY

WORLD CONTRACEPTION DAY

September is:

Baby Safety Month
Better Breakfast Month
Chicken Month
Classical Music Month
Hispanic Heritage Month
Honey Month
Little League Month
National Piano Month
Self Improvement Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Thursday through Sunday
Listings sourced from the TV Guide and EW websites

THURSDAY, September 26

“2024 People’s Choice Country Awards”
NBC – Awards Show

“Doctor Odyssey”
ABC – New Series
Synopsis: Max is the new on-board doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore. With Joshua Jackson and Don Johnson.

“Nobody Wants This”
Netflix – New Series
Synopsis: An agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi fall in love, but can their relationship survive their wildly different lives and meddling families?

Season Premieres:
ABC – “9-1-1,” “Grey’s Anatomy”
Fox – “Crime Scene Kitchen,” “Hell’s Kitchen”
(Season 23, Fox)
Hell’s Kitchen (Season 23, Fox)

SEASON PREMIERE: Colin From Accounts (Paramount+)
SEASON PREMIERE: Colin From Accounts (Paramount+)

FRIDAY, September 27

“Apartment 7A”
Paramount+ – New Movie
Synopsis: In this prequel to “Rosemary’s Baby,” a struggling dancer finds herself drawn into dark forces by a peculiar couple promising her fame.

“Rez Ball”
Netflix – New Movie
Synopsis: After losing their star player, a high school basketball team rooted in Native American culture must unite to keep their state championship dreams alive.

“She Taught Love”
Hulu – New Movie
Synopsis: A guy, Frank, on a self-destructive path. A girl, Mali, with an expiration date. What a perfect time to meet and fall in love.

“Social Studies”
FX (next day on Hulu) – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Follows a handful of students from different high schools in the Los Angeles area to study their social media habits. Is being perpetually online a good thing or a bad thing? Are they tech savvy or just tech addicted?

“Will & Harper”
Netflix – New Documentary
Synopsis: When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.

“Wolfs”
Apple TV+ – New Movie
Synopsis: Hired to cover up a high-profile crime, a fixer soon finds his night spiraling out of control when he’s forced to work with an unexpected counterpart. With Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

SATURDAY, September 28

Season Premiere:
NBC – “Saturday Night Live”

SUNDAY, September 29

“The Summit”
CBS – New Competition Reality Show
Synopsis: Sixteen strangers embark on a 14-day trek through the perilous New Zealand Alps to reach a distant peak. Each holds part of a $1 million prize, but only those who survive the harsh terrain, Antarctic winds, and intense challenges will win.

Season Premieres:
AMC – “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol”
Fox – “Krapopolis,” “The Simpsons”

BRIDGERTON BALL A BUST

An event in Detroit, Michigan, called the “Bridgerton Ball” turned out to be a disaster, along the lines of the infamous Fyre Festival and the Willy Wonka Experience in England. The ball, themed after the popular Netflix TV show “Bridgerton,” was described as a chance for fans to “step into the enchanting world of the Regency era – 1800’s England – for an evening of sophistication, grace, and historical charm…filled with music, dance, and exquisite costumes.” Tickets cost from $150 – $1,000 depending on experience packages and photo opportunities. The gala took place Sunday evening at The Harmonie Club, an historic Detroit venue famous for hosting weddings and special events. Here’s what actually happened:
– There was no one at the door taking tickets.
– The sparse decor had nothing to do with the TV show Bridgerton.
– There was nowhere to sit. Pictures from the event show near-empty rooms with women in fancy ball gowns standing around, or sitting against walls looking at their cell phones.
– There was a food vendor, the kind you’d see at a street festival. The food ran out after an hour. There was no one to bus the tables, so guests had to remove the dirty dishes themselves.
– People were eating Kit Kats sold by another vendor. The entertainment was a stripper.
Producers of the TV show stated that they had nothing to do with this event. The Detroit promoter, Uncle N Me LLC, released a statement on Tuesday: “We understand that not everyone had the experience they hoped for at our most recent event Sunday night at The Harmonie Club, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organizational challenges affected the enjoyment of some guests. Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the enjoyable experience they deserve …we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.”
* Which will probably be hard to do from a secret location in the Bahamas.
* Nothing says “1800’s Upper Class British Society” like a promoter named “Uncle N Me LLC.”
* They say “people were eating Kit Kats” like that’s a bad thing. People in the 1800’s would have killed for a Kit Kat.
* It was a bigger disappointment than Bridgerton Season 3.

THE BUZZ

DUMB HEADLINES

Time for another episode of Three Dumb Headlines. These are actual, word-for-word headlines of stories found on the internet. There’s no story, no context, just the actual headline. Discuss them amongst yourselves. Then, encourage listeners to vote for the Dumbest Headline on your station’s social media page. Maybe ask them to leave a comment. Reveal the results in the next break.
Today’s Dumb Headlines:
1. “How the Brain Separates Sneezing From Coughing, According to Mice”
2. “Are Doritos Really Worth Wasting Caviar On?”
3. “I Did Everything ‘Right’ And I Still Got Herpes”
And here’s a spare, in case you don’t like one of those three: “Smoking Saved My Life. Here’s How.”

THE WORST THING A PASSENGER DID IN MY CAR

The Jalopnik automotive website asked readers, “What’s the the worst thing a passenger has done in your car?” Some of the responses:
– “I was once driving to Bowling Green, Kentucky, with three friends to visit the National Corvette Museum. My friend Curt called shotgun, neglected to mention that he absolutely SUCKED at reading maps, and we wound up 50+ miles off course before we realized we were on the wrong highway (I-24 instead of I-65.)”
– “Friend reached over and honked the horn at someone else on my behalf. I yelled at him severely.”
– “Had a passenger lean across from the back seat to shoot a BB gun at another car because ‘he thought it was his friend’s car.’” I pulled over and kicked him out of the car. Six hours later, I had to go drag him back to my house to explain to the cop in my house that I was not to blame.”
– “A girlfriend and I were on a spring break road trip from Pennsylvania to Florida and we broke up around Fort Myers on the way home. Man, that was a long, quiet and uncomfortable 1000-mile drive home.”
– “Friend got phenomenally drunk and peed all over his gear while camping, and then threw it in my car without recognizing how much urine was actually in one of the bags. Boy, that was an awful couple of hours driving both before, and the after, we found the source of the smell.”
– “A friend flicked a cigarette out of the window, and it boomeranged back in the car via the open sunroof, and it burned a hole in the leather backseat of my brand-new Saab 9-3.”
– “Friend got into my recently acquired Toyota AE86 with his pet parrot. As we’re driving, his parrot bites him on the finger and he throws the parrot in the backseat and takes a couple swings at him. Feathers are flying, this guy is bleeding in my car and I’m trying not to crash. When we arrive, he puts the parrot on the roof, and it starts tearing away the rubber seal around the windshield.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What’s the worst thing a passenger has done in your car? No pee or puke stories, please.

U.S. NEWS

20-YEAR-OLD CARRIES 79-YEAR OLD DOWN HIKING TRAIL

An older woman got into trouble on a hiking trail, and a stranger helped her out by carrying her down the mountain. Once a year, Ursula Bannister climbs to the High Rock Lookout near Ashford, Washington, where she scattered her mother’s ashes 23 years ago. Bannister, now 79, usually hikes with a friend up the 3 mile trail, which is fairly steep. This year she went on her own, figuring she’d be fine because she is an experienced hiker. She made it up, but slipped on the way down and broke her leg. Bannister cried out for help, and a stranger came along and called 911. But they were told a search and rescue team would take five hours. Then two young men and a woman came by and offered to carry Bannister to the bottom of the trail. 20-year-old Troy May, a U.S. Air Force Airman, loaded Bannister on his back and, with the help of his fiancé and a friend, carried her most of the way down, with his friend taking over towards the end of the 3-hour journey. Said May, “I really didn’t make much of a decision, I just knew I needed to carry her down if I could.” Once they reached the parking lot, they drove Bannister to Tacoma General Hospital — about two hours away. They waited at the hospital until Bannister’s son arrived. For helping to rescue Bannister, May received an Air Force Achievement Medal.
* And long-term back problems.
* Ursula Bannister slipped and broke her leg. Which wouldn’t have happened if the trail had had … a bannister.
* In some cultures, they would have carried her down and placed her on an iceberg.
* I’m shocked! Troy May is only 20 and he’s engaged? Has he really thought this through?
* Remember – if you’re hiking alone, always take water, a cellphone, and a jetpack.

SCHWAN’S, THE GOOD HUMOR MEAT TRUCK COMPANY, IS SHUTTING DOWN

The Schwan’s frozen meat delivery company is going out of business. The company announced that they will be permanently parking its famous yellow trucks in November. The reason: changes in consumer lifestyles. For 72 years, Schwan’s delivered packaged frozen meat and other food items to customers. The trucks vaguely resembled Good Humor Ice Cream trucks, only they were filled with meat. Lots of meat. The Minnesota-based company began as Schwan’s Home Delivery in 1952, eventually growing to regularly provide frozen meals to thousands of households across almost every U.S. state from a fleet of iconic yellow trucks, full of meat. The company rebranded to the name Yelloh in 2022, but in the end, that brilliant corporate move couldn’t save it.
* You have to ask yourself why nobody wanted to buy Yelloh meat.
* Schwan’s was a cash cow. Now the company is dead meat.
* Frozen meat delivery will immediately be taken up by Amazon trucks.
* For a while, they were living high on the hog, but now Schwan’s employees will no longer be bringing home the bacon.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TRIMMING TREES WITH DYNAMITE

How do you trim your tree branches? With a chain saw? With a branch lopper? In Denmark, they use dynamite. To cut down tree branches that were at risk of falling and injuring park visitors, workers in Copenhagen, Denmark, use small charges of dynamite to blow the branches the hell off the tree. A biologist for the Danish Nature Agency said the breaks left by the controlled explosions result in a much more natural appearance, similar to lightning striking a tree, as opposed to leaving a scar from a chainsaw.
* And dynamite is so much more fun.
* So they have rednecks in Denmark, too.
* And I suppose the Danes will tell you there’s no beer involved.
* Sycamore? (BOOM!) Syca-less.
* It must also help reduce the squirrel population, you think?

JAPAN IS HAVING A RICE SHORTAGE

Japan is in the middle of a rice shortage. Throughout summer 2024, the country has seen supermarket shortages of rice as demand outpaced production for the last three years. In August, supermarkets reportedly often ran out of white rice and stores limited purchases to one bag per person. The reasons for the shortage: aging rice farmers are retiring and fewer young people take up the profession. In addition, the typhoon season is coming, and many Japanese households stock up on rice ahead of time. Also, an influx of tourists eating sushi has increased demand. Rice consumption by tourists more than doubled from 2022 to 2023, from 19,000 tons to 51,000 tons.
* Well, no one goes to Japan for the potatoes.
* Japan running out of rice is like America running out of bite-sized Halloween candy – it’s impossible to comprehend.
* One suggestion: what’s Japanese for “macaroni and cheese”?
* Are there any more food shortage hot spots? Does Italy have enough pasta? What’s the chocolate situation in Switzerland? Is Germany running short of beer? Is England well-stocked with steak-and-kidney pie? Okay, that last one was a joke.

TRENDING

TOMMY LEE’S WIFE SAVES DOG FROM COYOTE

The wife of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee rescued one of their dogs from a coyote attack in their backyard. Actress and stand-up comedian Brittany Furlan shared a video Tuesday of the incident on her Instagram page after it was captured on their Ring security camera in Woodland Hills, California. She said she let the dogs into the backyard and a coyote came and grabbed Neena in broad daylight. Furlan ran after it, screaming, caught up with the coyote at the wall and grabbed her dog out of its mouth. Furlan said, “Thank God she’s a little bit fat because he couldn’t make it over the wall with her. If it was teenie she would’ve been gone.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Oct. 14, Monday – Columbus Day
Oct. 16, Wednesday – National Boss’s Day
Oct. 31, Thursday – Halloween
Nov. 3, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Ends, turn clocks back 1 hour
Nov. 11, Monday – Veterans Day
Nov. 28, Thursday – Thanksgiving

BIRTHDAYS

Zoe Perry (actress, “Young Sheldon”) … 41
Serena Williams (tennis pro) … 43
Shawn Stockman (rapper/singer with Boyz II Men) … 52
James Caviezel (actor, “Person of Interest,” “The Passion of the Christ”) … 56
Melissa Sue Anderson (actress, “Little House on the Prairie”) … 62
Linda Hamilton (actress, “Defiance,” “Terminator” movies … 68
Bryan Ferry (singer with Roxy Music) … 79

BIRTHDAY QUOTE QUIZ – Ask your listeners “Who said it?” HINT: Today’s their birthday!

“I’m so frugal, you wouldn’t believe it.”

(A) Jeff Bezos
(B) Bill Gates
(C) Serena Williams

ANSWER: (C) Serena Williams

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2017 – Saudi Arabia announced it was overturning its ban on women driving; it is the last country in the world to do so.
* Why should men be the only ones to suffer in traffic?

2008 – Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy became the first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
* And look how it’s caught on!

1994 – The OJ Simpson murder trial began.
* This used to be a high holy day for the old Court TV.

1991 – Four men and four women began their two-year stay inside the closed-ecosystem habitat “Biosphere II.” The project was intended to develop technology for future space colonies.
* And instead became the basis of the hideous Pauly Shore movie “Biodome.”

1985 – Shamu, the first killer whale to survive being born in captivity, was born at Sea World in Orlando, FL.
* The hardest part was holding him to give him his bottle.

1947 – The CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, was founded.
* But don’t tell anyone.

1887 – Emile Berliner invented the first gramophone.
* Not according to Thomas Edison’s PR people.

1774 – Johnny Appleseed, whose real name was John Chapman, was born. He became a legend for planting orchards and befriending wild animals.
* What we call today a “tree-hugging environmentalist.”

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2016 – Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony and several other record labels filed a law suit against the operators of YouTube-mp3(dot)(org), a service that allowed its users to remove audio from videos streamed on YouTube. The court action alleged that “tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month.” The site agreed to shut down in September of 2017. Today, there are many websites which do the same thing.

2007 – A charitable foundation set up by Shakira donated $40 million to help victims of natural disasters. The money would go towards repairing damage caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua. A further $5 million would be spent on health and education in four Latin American countries.

2003 – Singer, songwriter Robert Palmer (“Addicted to Love”) died of a heart attack at age 54.

2003 – A report on music stars’ contract demands revealed: Limp Bizkit insisted that all the lamps in their rooms be dimmable; Mariah Carey wanted only ‘bendy’ straws as she would not use straight ones; Van Halen insisted that back-stage celery be trimmed and not peeled; The Red Hot Chili Peppers asked for a meditation room and a selection of aromatherapy candles; Barry Manilow requested that the air temperature in the auditorium be kept at 65 degrees.

2000 – 98 Degrees’ new album, “Revelation,” received a premiere in U.S. Wal-Mart stores via an exclusive satellite broadcast concert.

1999 – The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) went to No.1 on the U.S. album chart with “Fly.”

1987 – Michael Jackson started a six-week run at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with “Bad.”

1987 – Whitney Houston started a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Didn’t We Almost Have It All.”

1997 – The initial 300,000-unit shipment of Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997” sold out in Japan on its first day of release. The single, retailing for 1,300 yen ($10.66) racked up unusually high sales for a foreign release.

1970 – Motown Records announced the Jackson 5 had sold 10 million records in nine months.

1964 – Roy Orbison started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Pretty Woman.”

X-TREME TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Every installment of X-Treme Trivia Challenge includes three mystery factoids. Create your own “Impossible Question” contest – great for listener giveaways and phone interaction starters! Also a perfect sponsorship opportunity!

1. Each year, 40,000 Americans wake up HERE. Where is it?
On an operating table during a medical procedure or surgery

2. The average American will use one of THESE about 80 times this year. What is it?
An ATM machine

3. Experts say that, since 1960, we have been consuming hundreds of millions of extra gallons of fuel for our cars because of THIS. What is it?
The weight gain of the average American

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