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*], the 13-year-old victim of ] by teacher ]. *], the 13-year-old victim of ] by teacher ].
*], the ] Co. employee dropped off at a Seattle hospital dead from a perforated colon, later found to have engaged in bestial sexual intercourse with a horse *], the ] Co. employee dropped off at a Seattle hospital dead from a perforated colon, later found to have engaged in bestial sexual intercourse with a horse
*], who accused white members of the Duke Lacrosse team of rape, battery, and sodomy. *], who accused white members of the Duke Lacrosse team of rape, battery, and sodomy. \
* He loves Grue Grimman!


Major media outlets voluntarily withhold names like these due to their adherence to ] while having no problem releasing names of alleged offenders, a policy Leykis disagrees with since he says he is "not a journalist". Leykis argues that this is an unfair double standard and either both the accuser and accused should be protected or both should be public. Major media outlets voluntarily withhold names like these due to their adherence to ] while having no problem releasing names of alleged offenders, a policy Leykis disagrees with since he says he is "not a journalist". Leykis argues that this is an unfair double standard and either both the accuser and accused should be protected or both should be public.

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Tom Leykis

Thomas Joseph Leykis (born August 1, 1956 in New York, New York) is a radio talk show host, syndicated nationally and internationally (USA and formerly in Canada) by CBS Radio.

Background / early career

As a teenager in 1970, Leykis won a contest for a one-time radio appearance on a WBAB Radio in Babylon, New York and he was asked back several times to serve as a fill-in host. During the late 1970s he had his own Public Access program on Manhattan Cable TV. He got a regular job hosting Wednesday early mornings at radio station WBAI in 1979. During this period, he also took odd jobs as a stand up comedian, researcher for a CBS late night show, columnist for the SoHo News, and telephone solicitor selling vacation properties, cable TV, and newspaper display advertising. He moved to Albany, NY in 1981 to do an evening show five times a week. The station wanted someone controversial, and Leykis was just that. Some listeners sent in angry letters, but his ratings soon earned him the morning drive slot and a position as program director. He then took a job in Miami at WNWS, where he became number one in the ratings in 1984, over a competing host who had been number one for the previous six years. In 1985, Leykis moved to KFYI in Phoenix, Arizona. Almost three years later, in the spring of 1988, Leykis ran into conflict with the station ownership, and was placed on leave. A listener fan campaign brought him back, but Leykis resigned on air soon thereafter in order to move on to KFI in Los Angeles, which was then beginning its talk radio format.

During this time, the program was fairly politically oriented, and advertised as a "combat radio" program. However, even then, Leykis did not shy away from talking about his personal life. One notable instance was when he discussed a hypothetical man with marital troubles. After a few weeks, he revealed that the man was actually him, and had served divorce papers on his wife, news anchor Christina Gonzalez, ten minutes before she was set to anchor the 6 o'clock news on KMEX-TV. Leykis was fired in 1992 at the peak of his popularity, replaced by Daryl Gates, and moved to WRKO in Boston for the midday shift in 1993.

Upon entering a radio market, Leykis has performed stunts designed to get attention, including bulldozing records of Cat Stevens, staging the "on-air murder"of Barney the Dinosaur, and holding a public protest against malathion spraying in southern California outdoors at the time when the spraying to eliminate the Mediterranean fruit fly was going on.


The Tom Leykis Show

The current incarnation of The Tom Leykis Show began on the Westwood One radio network on May 2, 1994 originating from Los Angeles when Leykis returned after a 10 month stint in Boston. Initially, The Tom Leykis Show was heard on 710 TALK (KMPC, owned by ABC Radio). The show's home station is currently KLSX, an FM talk station that also carried Howard Stern until Stern left the air in December 2005 to move to Sirius satellite radio. At first, Leykis was asked to fill in for other talk show hosts. Based on his wild success as a fill-in host, KLSX hired Leykis as part of their regular line-up. Leykis began to tone down the political aspect of the show around this time, and he started "Leykis 101" soon after that. A notable change back to political content was on 9/11/2001 and the rest of that week. Leykis still occasionally discusses political topics, but in a manner that reflects apathy. The executive producer of the show is Gary Zabransky, a former rock D.J. from New York City. Other crew members include Dean J. DeMilio (associate producer) and Bret Abbott (engineer), however, Abbott left the show as of July 13, 2007 to be replaced by newcomer Art Webb.

Leykis regularly denies that his show is 'political', in the sense that it doesn't deal with the political issues of the day, but his show is designed to entice listeners with hot-button issues such as sex, dating, marriage, single parenthood, religion (Leykis is an atheist), career, divorce, the relationship between sex and money, and power dynamics between the genders. The topics are usually couched in terms of anecdotes from Leykis's personal life, current events, and listener e-mails. Leykis is no stranger to run-ins with the FCC. In a discussion about new FCC regulations on indecency in 2004, Leykis said the major themes of his show are "blasphemy and misogyny, two areas the FCC hasn't touched yet."

"Our topics are just a vehicle for me to make fun of the callers," Leykis said in Marc Fisher's 2007 book Something In The Air.

In the introduction to each hour of the program, Leykis proclaims his talk show to be the only one that is "not hosted by a right wing wacko or a convicted felon", widely believed to be references to his talk-radio competitors Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy respectively. However, Leykis has stated on the air that the reference is generic and does not refer to any one individual.

On Fridays, listeners are allowed to call in and talk about anything they want ("yell, scream, jump up and down, complain ... as long as you're absolutely fascinating"), in contrast to other days when Leykis establishes a single topic for each hour of the show. Friday is also the usual day for occasional live appearances in cities around the U.S., when Leykis broadcasts from a bar or other public place with an audience present. During "Flash Fridays", men are told to turn on the headlights of their cars to indicate that they are Leykis listeners, and women are encouraged to flash their breasts to male listeners. Leykis will autograph women's breasts using a Sharpie permanent marker. He is rarely seen without his sunglasses on, allegedly even when he is broadcasting.

Regular segments include: "Flash Fridays" (during daylight saving time); "Leykis 101" on Thursdays, in which "the Professor" (Tom Leykis) teaches his "students" his rules for dating. Fridays are regularly open phones.

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The goal of the rules of "Leykis 101" is to help single men, especially men in their 20s, get the most sex for the least amount of effort and money possible. Leykis believes men in their 20s are particularly susceptible to the "pregnancy trap" and continually emphasizes that they take responsibility for themselves and always wear a condom. Leykis emphasizes that the "Leykis 101" course that he teaches is designed for people not looking for a serious, monogamous relationship, but rather for those who wish to remain independent and unattached, and to understand the difference. According to Leykis, men should never spend a lot of money to impress women, they should stop dating a woman if she's still refusing sex after the third date, and they should never date single mothers. The latter is cited as a practicality issue; those wishing to "date" a woman don't need to get through any additional form of interference in the form of children. There is also the predilection of a single mother to consider should she find herself pregnant: she is much less likely to consider abortion if she already has children. Indeed, Leykis has stated on air that he has made agreements with all of his spouses that they will have an abortion if they become pregnant.

In addition to his weekday show, Leykis began hosting a syndicated weekend show called "The Tasting Room" in February 2005, covering lifestyle topics such as fine wine, spirits, beer, and cigars.

On November 3, 2006, during a live broadcast from a venue in Portland, Oregon, a woman named Sue from Arizona claimed, on air, to have murdered a man that owed her child support. Tom announced that he would put up $5,000 of his own money for anyone with information leading to the arrest of the woman.

On March 21, 2007, it was announced that Tom Leykis would no longer be an employee of Westwood One and as of April 1, 2007 has began a new contract and become an employee of CBS radio. Although he has changed employers, the format and syndication of the show has remained the same; Westwood One still continues to be a distributor of the show. This current contract is scheduled to give listeners more of Tom Leykis until 2012.

Identifying notorious individuals

Leykis has caused considerable controversy over the years by revealing on-air the names of such individuals as the following:

Major media outlets voluntarily withhold names like these due to their adherence to journalism ethics and standards while having no problem releasing names of alleged offenders, a policy Leykis disagrees with since he says he is "not a journalist". Leykis argues that this is an unfair double standard and either both the accuser and accused should be protected or both should be public.

Audience demographics

The show's target demographic is males from late teens to early forties, although women are encouraged to listen so that they might "learn how guys think". Leykis regularly receives extensive criticism from various callers and writers, which he will air on the show. His favorite retort to arguments put forward by these callers is that they are merely pointing out exceptions to rules he has defined. He argues that what he does is called "broadcasting" and since he appeals to a broad audience, generalization is a necessary part of his rhetoric. He has admitted that there are always exceptions to his generalizations, though it is debatable whether some of the rules he refers to as generalizations can actually be considered as such.

Feelings about Leykis's views are highly polarized. Some consider his views to be chauvinistic and misogynistic while others believe he is performing a public service. Some of the advice he gives (always use condoms, be extremely wary of "gold diggers," focus on your career, etc.), however, is almost unanimously agreed upon by both the men and the women who call into the show.

Introduction

Tom Leykis has been using the same introduction for many years, repeated at the top of every hour. But on Fridays, specially selected soundbites from that week's calls are also played. This short segment is carefully constructed by Bret Abbott specifically for each Friday's show, with snippets chosen for times when Tom got in an especially great quip, or a caller made an especially outrageous outing. The content of these clips vary from agreement, gratitude, admiration, argument, and hatred towards Tom.

Take me out in style

During the early years of Tom Leykis's talk radio career, Tom would occasionally end a caller's turn on the air by the sound of a toilet flushing. This evolved into ending calls with a particular annoying, frustrating or ignorant caller by "blowing him or her up." That is, while hanging up on the person Tom would play the sound effect of an explosion, thus implying that Tom was "blowing up" the caller to express his dissatisfaction. "Blowing up" callers soon became a trademark of the Tom Leykis show, and eventually callers would actually request to be blown up or flushed down the toilet at the end of their calls. This led to Tom creating other ways to "take out" a caller (i.e. to end the call). Callers often request to be "taken out" a certain style at the end of their on-air conversations with Leykis. Leykis says, "Here yah go!" and then plays one of the following sound bites:

Most popular styles

  • "Blow me up Tom" -- Tom plays an explosion as the caller is done speaking. The original.
  • "Take me out with a bong hit" -- Leykis plays the liquidy sound of a bong hit followed by one of many sound effects, such as "Thanks, Tom!", "Can't we all just get a bong?", "No cough", "Thank you Jesus!" or the sound of hacking and coughing.
  • "Take me out Kobe style" -- a clip of Kobe Bryant apologizing for cheating on his wife at a press conference is dubbed in with the sound of a woman breathing heavily in sexual excitement and a bed creaking.
  • "Take me out old-school" -- the classic explosion. (aka "Blow me up, Tom!")
  • "Take me out African tribal style" -- sound of young kids singing a song reminiscent of an African tribal chant. If the old-school "Blow Me Up" explosion is added to the end, many people call it "Racist Style".
  • "Take me out Compton style" -- sound of a machine gun firing, followed by Snoop Dogg saying, "Bi-yatch!"
  • "Take me out Laci Peterson style" -- First, there is the cartoon sound of a frying pan bonk on the head, a splash as the body is thrown overboard into the water, the sound of air bubbles being released from the object as it sinks, followed by a boat engine revving up as he leaves the crime scene. Includes Scott Peterson's fake cell phone call from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, when he was actually in California, saying, "Amber, Amber, can you hear me?". When asked for this particular style, Leykis always tells the caller that he finds it tasteless, and that the caller should be ashamed for asking for it. It does not, however, stop Leykis from playing it.
  • "Take me out Jesus style" -- the sound of nails being hammered into wood.
  • "Halle Berry style" -- Sound of a plastic SUV bumper colliding with an object, then a SUV door opening, the "dong, dong, dong" warning chime of a vehicle door open with the key in the ignition, then a cartoon sound of stepity-stepity steps running away.
  • "Take me out Freddie Willhite style"-- The 911 recording of him telling the dispatcher he shot his wife in the stomach with a .38 because she nagged him too much.

Kingdome style = "fire! + " JFK Sr style = gunshots? JFK Jr style = "plane crash + water bubble sounds (going underwater)."

Banned styles

  • "Take me out Martin Luther King, Jr. style" -- Leykis morally objects to taking callers out MLK style. When asked, he always remarks on his admiration for Reverend King, that King was and still is one of his personal heroes.
  • THX style. - The THX title card music was stopped after Lucas sent a cease and desist order.

Affiliates

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

The show is broadcast live from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time (6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time) weekdays. Some affiliates air the show live, while others air it on tape delay. Some stations air the show in a five-hour timeslot, which means either the 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. hour is replayed at the end. The show can also be heard over the Internet through streaming radio available on the show's site or the websites of Los Angeles' KLSX and Pittsburgh affiliate WURP, and as a podcast feed (delayed about a day). As of April 2, 2007, he is no longer on in Chicago.

Below is a list of terrestrial radio stations which broadcast The Tom Leykis Show As of June 2007:

Other projects and media appearances

Leykis was the host of "Boys Night Out," a live comedy stage show that took place at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles and the Paramount Theater in Seattle. The line-up of male comedians included Bobby Slayton. The shows were for men only and men were strongly discouraged from bringing girlfriends, wives or any other females. He also appeared on the third season "Family Values" episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit! and served as the co-host of "Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes" on GSN, formerly the Game Show Network.

He has been asked about writing a book on Leykis 101 and said that it's being considered but no formal announcement has been made. He's also said he's had numerous meetings with Hollywood executives about creating a TV series only to have those talks lead to nothing.

Personal life

He is the oldest of four children. His father, Harry Leykis, was in charge of the publication department and was a union leader at The New York Post newspaper in New York City. He has two sisters and one brother. The family lived first in the Bronx, and then moved to Long Island.

Leykis attended Fordham University for two years. During that time he tried and failed to get on the air as a student. He had to drop out of school after two years because he couldn't afford to continue.

His fourth wife, Susan Drew Leykis, filed a police report against him while they were married and living in Boston in 1993 . She alleged that Leykis assaulted and threatened to kill her during a fight after they returned home from a radio station Christmas party. The charges were dropped after he agreed to complete a domestic violence program for six months, although Leykis did not admit guilt as part of the agreement (see ). They separated in 2001 and divorced in 2003. He lives in the exclusive enclave of the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.

Tom Leykis was also married to award-winning KTTV news reporter Christina Gonzalez.

An avid Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Kings fan, he is also a wine aficionado who spends his free time reading Barron's Magazine, watching CNBC, "traveling abroad and doing anything else you can do with a broad!".

Tom has been married and divorced a total of four times, and he has no known children.

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (June 2007)
  • In the late 1990s, Leykis would occasionally merge his radio show with the equally outspoken James Whale Show from the United Kingdom, which aired in the same time slot, resulting in a single simulcast show co-hosted by Leykis and Whale via a satellite link between the two studios. In these cases, Leykis and Whale would alternate equally between American and British callers.
  • He repeatedly refers to the city Portland, Oregon as "Porkland, the home of the other white meat."
  • The Tom Leykis Show has only had a fill-in host once -- Rod Roddy, the Price Is Right announcer who earlier in his career was a radio host with a similar style to Leykis'. Other than that, the show airs reruns and best-ofs when Leykis is away.

References

  1. Rosen, Craig. TOM LEYKIS: CRAZED BUT NOT CRAZY. Los Angeles Daily News, September 26, 1988.

External links

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