Posted on 12/27/2005 1:24:50 PM PST by Liz
Former reality-TV chef Rocco DiSpirito — whose WOR radio show was set to replace Bob Grant in prestigious afternoon drive time next month — has suddenly left the station altogether.....
Unbeknownst to listeners, DiSpirito's final midday show was Friday. "When we started working on the new show, it became apparent that we had two very different ideas of how to move forward," DiSpirito told The Post......
DiSpirito, 39, says he wanted to do a "broad lifestyle and entertainment-style show," rather than just talk about food and recipes, which he had been doing at 11 a.m. since joining WOR (710 AM) in October of last year.
A station source says DiSpirito's sudden departure may also have had something to do with wisecracks he made about the wearing of fur while discussing a promotion involving a longtime WOR advertiser — New Jersey's Flemington Furs.
DiSpirito, a spokesman for the National Humane Society, downplayed the notion of fur firestorm. "The owner and I talked about the comments that upset him, and he was very simpatico," he said. "I'm going to visit his place in New Jersey and cook something for him."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If I remember correctly, there was some illegality involved in the restaurant.
I liked the show, but Rocco was a putz....
They were going to replace the man who invented conservative talk radio with a cooking show hosted by an animal rights activist?
Somebody other than Rocco needs to be fired.
Does he cook beef?
I loved the TV show, but when a story about Rocco's radio gig was posted some time ago I predicted that he would self-destruct before long. It happened much faster than I would have thought possible. This guy has problems.
Big time problems. It's embarrassing for me that he and I attended the same Culinary school. When they did that segment on the show fawning all over him I could have puked. My school has put out much much much better culinary talent than Rocco Dispirito.
I thought the TV show was a joke. What made a supposed chef think that mediocre Italian food served, at least some dishes, in paper boats would fly in NY? And Rocco had to be the single worst people manager I've ever seen. His staff was a bunch of whiney, incompotent, hysterical losers I've ever seen assembled in one place and the few times I watched it the resturant seemed incapable of delivering a single meal as ordered.
I really doubt Rocco is anything more than a stopgap until they can sign someone else. My money is on Steve Malzberg, but I have no idea what his contractual situation is.
Oh, and the author of this piece used to be program director at WABC when Bob Grant used to work there.
He's against people wearing fur, but he cooks slaughtered animals for a living.
His radio show left me wondering if he was sampling the cooking sherry or sniffing something more potent.
I was rooting for Jeffrey Chodorow by the third episode of The Restaurant (the only reality show I've ever watched, and I regret the loss of my time).
I mean, post #11 nails it. Anyone who has the kind of total cognitive disconnect that can whine about fur wearers while braising a veal cutlet is FUBAR in the head.
John Mainelli presided over the highest ratings and greatest lineup in WABC's history.
Arthur Schwartz is laughing somewhere right now, I'm sure. (Rocco replaced Arthur as the host of the 11 am show.)
It was also before Jay Diamond went schitzo and when Lynn Samuels was professing OJ's innocence. Quite a time.
James and Joel had more radio chemistry than anything else since the 1940's. And Malzberg vs Samuels was always fun. Rush was in his heyday. Jay Diamond was at his crazy best. And Grant was still roaring (back then G. Gordon Libby would be subbing for Grant during xmas). Ah, the memories.
"We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means."
The restaurant showed him to be a liar and a flake. The guy has Bonaduce potential.
I hate PETA types. They make me want to get a big fur coat and dress like a pimp just to tick them off. Maybe I'll compromise and buy a nice fur hat.
:>
13 days 'till Stern and 122 other channels. Gotta love it. Terrestrial radio is nearly a dinasaur. Hope Sirius hires John and Ken......and Phil Hendrie....... then I'll be a realllllly happy camper.
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