Earl Pitts (character)
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Earl Pitts is a fictional character performed by
Gary Burbank Gary Burbank (born Billy Purser, July 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American radio personality. He was heard daily on WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 15, 1981, until December 21, 2007, and nationally as the voice of his fictional character, ...
, a
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personality from
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
beginning in 1968. Pitts, who is almost always referred to as "Earl Pitts, Uhmerikun" (as in "
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
") is a stereotype of a
redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...
from the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
. As such, Pitts presents a daily "editorial," which always begins with a
bugle call A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used ...
of "Assembly", and the words, "Ya' know what makes me sick?" followed by another line like, "You know what makes me s'angry, ah just want to soak mah butt in a bucket of
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?" Pitts then goes off on a rant, either about some cultural topic of the day as seen from a redneck point of view, or an anecdote about his home life or his job at the local tavern. His family and friends—wife Pearl, son Earl Junior, daughter Sandra Dee, and good friend Dub Meeker, among others—figure prominently in many routines. His signature ending lines are "Wake Up, Uhmerika!" and "Ah'm Earl Pitts, Uhmerikun. Pitts off!" while "
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
" march plays in the background. Burbank, whose radio career has taken him from his native
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
to his 20-year-plus gig working afternoon
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
at 700/WLW in Cincinnati (and briefly in national syndication), began the Pitts character shortly after arriving at WLW. The daily routines became an instant hit, and a few years later Pitts' commentaries were syndicated nationally. Earl Pitts now is heard on about 200 stations and via
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...
's WLW simulcast. The monologues were written by a team that included Rob Ervin, Jim Probasco, Tim Mizak, Kel Crum, J.D. Riggs and Todd Richmond, with Burbank refining the scripts before broadcast. Burbank says that Pitts is the second-longest running syndicated comedy program ever behind ''
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
News and Comment''. Harvey's program was neither a comedy program nor syndicated; it was a network program heard on
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for its entire 58-year run, and at least two national comedy shows date to before the introduction of Pitts', both launching nationwide in 1974:
Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
, which syndicated until 2010, and ''
A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'', a comedy-centric variety series that ran until 2016. As both of those shows are weekly series, the Pitts monologues, airing five episodes a week, have more episodes. Earl's Web site features items for sale including purchase rights to previous monologues. Ostensibly, hearing the program online requires a subscription to the Pitts Web site. However, many stations stream the program at a regular time, and in addition, WFLA in Tampa, Florida offers a daily
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of the show. Despite Burbank's retirement as a host of WLW, the daily Pitts commentaries continue, and have recently expanded into television. Burbank taped several 90-second "commentaries" as Pitts to be seen on
WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that operated from November 9, 1978 to February 28, 2021. The service was originally uplinked to satellite by United Video Inc. as a national feed of Chicago independent station WGN-T ...
and possibly other stations owned by
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
. The spots were done at the behest of Burbank's old boss at WLW, and were taped at a pub in
Fort Thomas, Kentucky Fort Thomas is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, on the southern bank of the Ohio River and the site of an 1890 US Army post. The population was 17,483 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Campbe ...
. Burbank announced in December 2020 that he would no longer record any new commentaries, citing among the factors his age,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...
, and a desire to shift toward a
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
featuring his other character bits. The last original recording was broadcast on January 1, 2021.


Character background

Very little has been written seriously about Pitts's home and family life; most written references contain little but nonsense. However, Pitts does frequently mention such information in his monologues. He is of indeterminate
middle age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...
and is unhappily married to his wife of twenty-five years, Pearl, with whom he has two children: his son, Earl Jr., whose age varies between teen years and early 20s and who frequently comes to his father for advice, and his teenage daughter Sandra Dee (named after, but no relation to the actress of the same name), who is noted for her presumed ugliness and is more of a nuisance. He has a little-mentioned brother, Merle Pitts. Earl has a day job as an automotive worker and a night job as a bartender at the Duck Inn, a local tavern. His experiences and interactions with the bar patrons serve as fodder for many of his monologues. He claims to be a cousin of actor
Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...
. Earl's hometown is not explicitly stated in most cases; Pitts himself states that he hails from
Water Valley, Mississippi Water Valley is a city in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,392 at the 2010 census. It is the larger of two county seats in the rural county, and at one time was the center of railroad shops. Geography According ...
but tries to sound like he comes from a generic small town near the listener—for instance,
KERN Kern or KERN may refer to: People * Kern (surname), includes a list of people with the name * Kern (soldier), a light infantry unit in Medieval Irish armies Places * Kern, Alaska, a ghost town in Alaska * Kern, Austria, see Sankt Marienkir ...
in
Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...
, a Pitts affiliate, claimed Pitts to be from nearby Oildale, and
KSCS KSCS (96.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a country music radio format. The studios are in t ...
in
Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...
claimed for many years he was the former mayor of
Gun Barrel City, Texas Gun Barrel City is a town in Henderson County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,190 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 5,672 tabulated in 2010. History The town began as an unincorporated community known as the "Ol ...
. Earl's website states he spent many, if not all, of his early years in Rooster Ear, Mississippi, a fictitious town of his own creation. The "Uhmerikun" part of Pitts' outro originated at the turn of the 20th century; prior to that, the outro was slightly longer, with Pitts saying "Earl Pitts, Native Uhmerikun Redneck. Pitts off!" The outro was changed as a gesture toward not offending any listeners.


See also

* Gilbert Gnarley * Ed Anger


References


External links


''Earl Pitts'' and Gary Burbank Show Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, Earl Radio characters introduced in 1968 Male characters in radio Fictional characters from Cincinnati Fictional characters from Mississippi