Explain: What makes Art Bell so much better than George Noory?

[General Johnson Jameson]

"What makes Art Bell so much better than George Noory?"


Joe Dirt - fireworks stand scene

[nooryisawesome]

http://youtu.be/2D_ARQaqT7c

[Chocolate coated jackboot]

Art's a good old-fashioned bowl-winder morning dump while Noory is an accidental shart stuck in your car in the middle of gridlock traffic

[stlcoastfan1985]

Just look at how many responses you've gotten to this topic. Not to mention the nearly 1,000 pages of the "George Noory Sucks" topic. That alone should be more than enough to convince you, or at least answer your almost rhetorical question for a site such as this.

"I call it 'The Quickening.'" -Art Bell 

[Nucky Nolan]

Why is not stepping in dog shit better than stepping in dog shit?

And why is eating filet mignon better than eating dog poop? Art Bell's version of Coast is the former while George Noory's version of Coast is the latter.

[SultanDrops]

Art Bell was just some redneck, out in the middle of nowhere, entirely running his own show with a giant antenna that he had installed himself, talking about fascinating subjects in a brilliant way, and he didn't care what anyone thought. He just spoke his mind, consequences be damned.

George Noory is just some corporate cheese ball, who sits around in a fancy company suite, needs a crew to run his show, has everything handed to him on a shiny plate, while pushing a watered down agenda given to him by his higher ups, and he supplicates accordingly.

That, to me, is the difference.

[Ravenna]

Genuine, 200 times smarter, more interesting, has a true interest in the topics he covers and in the world around him.  Bring the own unique, intense, personal passion of his soul to his radio show, to the point where you end up getting more inspired about things in your own life.  An extremely rare individual, whereas Noory is just another chump trying to pull one over on people (there are 1000s of his type out there, unfortunately, and one learns to spot them and avoid them as one grows wiser).

[Uncle Duke]

There is an old adage in American football that the most popular guy on the team from a fan's perspective is the back-up quarterback.  I think we have a similar situation here, the current "starter" (Noory) is so bad,  the next guy in (Bell) is seen as better before he even takes a snap under center.  Yes, Art was very good back in the day, but he's been away for sometime, who knows how well he'll do upon his return?  Will most listeners compare him to Noory, or to himself from years gone by?

Art's show back in the 90s hit during the proverbial perfect storm.  His subject matter was new to national radio, and it coincided with the huge success of the "X Files".  Further, he was the first in the talk show genre to grasp the value of the personal computer and internet, a relatively new technology at the time.  Computers were an integral part  of the program, no one else was doing that. To many of those early callers/listeners, the internet was as much a mystery as the topics discussed on the show.

Lastly, the paranormal is not the "out there" subject it was 20+ years ago.  TV is chocked full of ghost/UFO programming, both reality and drama/fiction.  Similarly, radio shows covering the same topics are no longer uncommon.  Even radio giant WBZ in Boston now has a daily overnight host who interviews many C2C guests and discuses paranormal topics.

Botton line, those of us who are Art Bell fans will listen, at least initially, for mostly nostalgic reasons.  I doubt many of us will feel that sense of wonderment we once felt, time and the over saturation of classic Bell topics will probably have taken their toll.  What will be interesting is to see if Art can draw new, especially young listeners.

[stevesh]

There is an old adage in American football that the most popular guy on the team from a fan's perspective is the back-up quarterback.  I think we have a similar situation here, the current "starter" (Noory) is so bad,  the next guy in (Bell) is seen as better before he even takes a snap under center.  Yes, Art was very good back in the day, but he's been away for sometime, who knows how well he'll do upon his return?  Will most listeners compare him to Noory, or to himself from years gone by?

Art's show back in the 90s hit during the proverbial perfect storm.  His subject matter was new to national radio, and it coincided with the huge success of the "X Files".  Further, he was the first in the talk show genre to grasp the value of the personal computer and internet, a relatively new technology at the time.  Computers were an integral part  of the program, no one else was doing that. To many of those early callers/listeners, the internet was as much a mystery as the topics discussed on the show.

Lastly, the paranormal is not the "out there" subject it was 20+ years ago.  TV is chocked full of ghost/UFO programming, both reality and drama/fiction.  Similarly, radio shows covering the same topics are no longer uncommon.  Even radio giant WBZ in Boston now has a daily overnight host who interviews many C2C guests and discuses paranormal topics.

Botton line, those of us who are Art Bell fans will listen, at least initially, for mostly nostalgic reasons.  I doubt many of us will feel that sense of wonderment we once felt, time and the over saturation of classic Bell topics will probably have taken their toll.  What will be interesting is to see if Art can draw new, especially young listeners.

One of the best posts I've read here in a while, and I agree completely. I think it'll be very difficult for Art to re-capture his previous magic. As Duke said, we live in times much different from even 15 years ago.

[Sardondi]

There is an old adage in American football that the most popular guy on the team from a fan's perspective is the back-up quarterback.  I think we have a similar situation here, the current "starter" (Noory) is so bad,  the next guy in (Bell) is seen as better before he even takes a snap under center.....

Uh, except Art was the starter and Noory was the 2d-stringer.

[Uncle Duke]

Until they switched roles.  The sad part is I'd rather listen to static than the third teamer, Wells

[Morgus]

Yes, Art was very good back in the day, but he's been away for sometime, who knows how well he'll do upon his return? 

there already was a noticeable difference between Art's more recent shows (late 2000s) vs the classic 90s including a shift in topics.

[UnscreenedCaller]

Art was a successful package of atmosphere, communication skills and subject matter. It wasn't just Art talking, it was Art talking from the desolate high desert, outside of Area 51, not from a slick, corporate studio. It was Art manning his equipment by himself, the show itself a Mom and Pop operation with Ramona doing the business end of it, and frequent mentions of the daily doings of the family cats. It was listening at night, more often in the dark, when the noise of the day had settled, and Art got your full interest with spooky, campfire subjects that, somehow, amplified every minute noise in a still house or apartment. And it was the gift of communication that Art has, that makes him sound like he's 'there' every time he speaks into a mic.

This isn't hero worship. I probably turned off most of Art's political shows, because he had a tendency to rant and also because that's not where his talents lie. His talent is in being a master storyteller, using his guests, his serendipitous phone-ins and his life with Ramona and the cats to produce a narrative that compelled me to tune in night after night to hear more and be scared all over again. What he did was unique. Today's C2C, and all the slick paranormal shows that are swamping tv can't hold a candle, mostly because they lack the personal, spontaneous touch of Art's C2C.

[ItsOver]

Uh, except Art was the starter and Noory was the 2d-stringer is the waterboy for PremRat.

Sorry, Sardondi.  I just felt it had to be said.

[Falkie2013]

First of all, Snoory isn't even qualified to be a water boy.

Second, what makes Art Bell so much better than Snoory ?

One word.

Professionalism.

Something that Snoory lacks and if he ever HAD the skill in the first place, its long gone as he's degenerated into something that makes even the worst radio troll look brilliant by comparison.

Art did research on his subjects and guests and would ask questions that made sense and made you think.

He also asked the kinds of questions that the average guy would ask if they were talking to the guest.

Furthermore his interviewing skills were finely honed, whereas Snoory's are non existent except when he talks about HIS own opinions or experiences, which are all too often self promoting or which come out as a bizarre or stupid comment.

You seldom heard that kind of crap from Art and when Art screwed up he'd admit it, which Snoory seldom does.

Art made you WANT to listen to him night after night.

Snoory makes you want to NEVER listen to radio again or donate it to an electronics recycling facility.

That's THE HUGE difference between them.

And a big reason why my radio is off most nights.

As an example, the other night he had a guest talking about his book on Superman and his history.

Snoory knew little about the subject, didn't call the guy on his continual slurs on George Reeves and his acting ability & the suspicious circumstances of his death AND the slurs on Kirk Alyn's acting ability as well.

Art would have researched the topic and not asked questions devoid of knowledge on the subject as Snoory did.

Hell, my girlfriend knows more about the history of Superman than Snoory does. She read Superman all her life as I did, though she doesn't have the historical knowledge of the history of the character as I do. Superman was always my favorite comics character and his antecedents are obvious including his parallels to Popeye and other characters.



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[Mind Flayer Monk]

Botton line, those of us who are Art Bell fans will listen, at least initially, for mostly nostalgic reasons.  I doubt many of us will feel that sense of wonderment we once felt, time and the over saturation of classic Bell topics will probably have taken their toll.  What will be interesting is to see if Art can draw new, especially young listeners.

I disagree. Art was more about exploiting our anxieties about the unknown. Anxieties about the future (technology changing so fast we can't keep up, global catastrophes), the death of magic (mankind believed in magic/gods/spirits for pretty much all but the last 100 years), and anxieties about freedom (government control).  He will just find a new anxiety to use if the other ones are stale.