Guest Hosts 2003

[Deleted]

2003 was unique in a way we hadn't seen in many years of a Casey hosted program. There were 3 different guest hosts used during the year: Pat O'Brian, Ryan Seacrest, and Ed McMann. This question may be a stupid one, but was Premiere and Casey Kasem already talking about him leaving the show late in 2002? Is it possible that Premiere was "testing" O'Brian and Seacrest to determine whether they'd work as the regular host? It just seems kind of odd to me that his last year on the show, they broke 15 years of monotony and had a variety of different people fill in.

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

It makes me wonder if ABC Radio was trying out different sub-hosts (Charlie Van Dyke, Keri Tombazian, and Scott Evans) during the first seven months of 1988 to see who would get the gig when Casey was to be terminated? Surprsing that Shadoe Stevens was never a tryout host, yet he got the gig.

Also, I can't see Premiere having considered terminating Casey as early as 2002, otherwise he would never have hosted AT20 and AT10 even after Ryan Seacrest took over as AT40 host in 2004.

[Deleted]

I didn't say terminated, I said talking about leaving AT40....like he did at the end of 2003. I also didn't mean leave in 2002, I am asking it discussions were happening as far back as late 2002.

[mkarns]

That seems plausible; in retrospect, Ryan Seacrest's guest hosting looks very much like an audition.

We may never know exactly when they decided to start looking for a Casey replacement as AT40 host, but the idea may well have been kicked around, by Casey and/or Premiere, well before the decision to change was made in late 2003. By 2002, Casey was 70 and may have been wanting to reduce his workload, and he and Premiere may have decided that he sounded best doing the adult contemporary countdowns while giving CHR to someone younger. That may also have sparked a period of behind the scenes discussion and tryouts of a different AT40 format, given the considerable differences between the Kasem and Seacrest countdowns.

[woolebull]

If that is the case, I'm glad Seacrest go the job. AT 40 with Pat O'Brien would have been, well, interesting about a year later when Pat's very own "Long Distance Dedications" went viral and became a part of our pop culture. Plus, a stint in rehab might have led to a change in guard on AT 40 after only a year. Maybe, maybe not, but I'm glad Seacrest has given it stability.