My companion for many a quiet weekend...

As an avid listener of National Public Radio, hearing the many programs has become a way of life for me. Without the tomfoolery of the Car Talk brothers (mechanics who are known for their automotive honesty, their real scam being the fact that they make the subject seem interesting) or missing an episode of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (a news quiz that makes light of the troubling issues of the week's news) could send me into a funk until the next time I hear them. Those two shows are easy favorites of mine, both humorous and informative, leaving me fulfilled for the week in the matters of both being entertained and up to date in the workings of mechanics and politics. My relationship with these two shows differs greatly from my feelings about my favorite NPR program, Prairie Home Companion.

Using guest musicians and a troop of actors and writers who bring comedic sketches to life, it is a variety hour unequaled by few. An easy comparison would be to that of Saturday Night Live, though the obvious difference is that while SNL has no single star, Prairie Home Companion is the home of the idol and genius that is Garrison Keillor.

Keillor embodies both the cultural significance of the program and its self-effacing cynicism, both elevating and mocking the variety genre which is worthy of little respect in this day and age. While presumably a large factor in the behind-the-scenes creation of the show, Keillor's performances on the air are easily the most entertaining parts of the show. Whether it is the updates on the going-ons of small town Lake Wobegon or the dilemmas of a certain private eye, his unique voice and style pervades his parts of the show. A solemn speaker, the dry humor and effortless soliloquies he effuses not only require deft attention but would invariably fail if not followed with utter reverence.

I have no wish to cast a dark light upon the rest of the people behind Prairie Home Companion and must say that they all bring their own qualities to the show. The voice actors have a particular large responsibility (considering the fact that this show is over the radio), adding depth to the two-dimensional constructs they are required to perform as. Rounding out the sketches are the sound effects men who give the show a polished feel, skilled enough to even make their profession one of the ongoing gags over the years.

It surprises me that it took me four paragraphs to reach the musical guests as their presence is an integral part of the mechanics of the show. With over half of the span of each show given to their performances, these guests must match, in modest gravitas, Keillor's own bearing. Even though a few selections of the pieces played on the show don't fall within the usual genres of my repertoire, their presence only heightens the impact of the humorous interludes by the monotonous Keillor.

To quickly mention the excellent ongoing sketches is an important task that I will lend a few lines: commercials singing the praises of the therapeutic effects of ketchup, the tales of a few rustic cowboys attempting to remain true to their era in an ever changing landscape, and Guy Noir investigating both menial cases he finds and the nuances of this modern world.

As a variety show, it has the undeniable task of stimulating nostalgia for past days and being a satire of how those days really were, it is the perfect show to hear if one wishes to both be intellectually challenged and entertained. Simultaneously the sum of its parts and a vehicle for the mind of Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion is my nomination for Best Variety Program of the Century (to save myself the cost of a statuette, I'll just give it a rating of 10 out of 10 stars).