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Briefly, there was another replacement who did the job so poorly that the network brought back Bell--I cannot recall his name, but he was handed Bell's show and proceeded to lose audience and stations.

I believe that was George Noory. If you recall, Art tried to retire once, but couldn't, because he hadn't properly grooved in a competent replacement.

From what I remember, he'd had George fill in for him several times already, so George took over full time during Art's first abortive attempt to leave. I think I'm recalling that episode correctly, but it was about ten years ago, so my memory of it may be off a bit.

I distinctly remember when George officially took over after Art's final departure. The man was so fake and wooden, I could hardly stand to listen to him. He got better (and more relaxed) over the years, but he's never matched Art's level of skill and ability behind the mic.