Wingnut loses Wingman
Don Imus is losing his wingman.
The WABC radio and Fox Business Network morning man announced this morning that Charles McCord, his long-time newsman, sidekick and partner in humor, will retire on May 6.
"He's been going home to his family early, every afternoon, day in and day out for 48 years," Imus deadpanned. "He has decided he now wants to spend less time with them. So beginning the week of May 9th, Charles will be in Arkansas fishing, alone, on the Bull Shoals Lake. . . . eating pork rind sandwiches and drinking Budweiser."
McCord, who shares Imus's penchant for personal privacy, added no details after Imus made the announcement. Both seemed upbeat, as Imus played the Righteous Brothers's "Try To Find Another Man" and Imus joked that "I feel like Newt Gingrich's wife" – alluding to Gingrich serving his wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital.
He said he and McCord had always an "unspoken" understanding that they would retire at the same time, but that McCord then told him he was going early.
"Maybe Charles thought I was going to die, so he'd just leave now," said Imus, who has had prostate cancer.
"How long can he last?" joked McCord.
News of his retirement has already sparked a wave of consternation among Imus listeners, who consider McCord integral to the character and content of the show.
After Imus and McCord were matched up by NBC in the early 1970s, they developed one of radio's longest lasting and most compatible partnerships.
McCord has always technically been the newsman, but his role has gone far beyond. He has written much of the comedy material and helped create many of the characters on the show.
He often puts Imus back on the rails and while he joins in the Imus posse's general banter, he is the only one who can berate the boss. He does that several times a year, often ordering Imus to stop some tedious obsession like the one he once developed for Whittaker Chambers.
Imus frequently says he calls McCord almost every night to discuss the news and material for the show. He has also called McCord "the smartest man I know."
McCord will leave the show on May 6, the last day of this year's annual Imus radiothon for the Imus Ranch.
His replacement will be Connell McShane from the Fox Business Network. McShane has substituted for McCord before, though Imus said this morning he will be "making a pathetic and what promises to be unsuccessful attempt to fill Charles's shoes."
The rest of the Imus team is expected to remain intact, including producer Bernard McGuirk, engineer Lou Rufino, sportscaster Warner Wolf and comedians Rob Bartlett and Tony Powell.