She was the new producer for the Graveyard Shift, an overnight radio program that had been on the air since 2000. It was a fairly popular program and had become the only original overnight program that wasn't syndicated. The previous producer had been with the show since the beginning and was finally hired away to a bigger market. Miranda had only been out of college for four months, had never produced anything and only applied for the job on a lark.
When Miranda got to KHNH, the drive-time show was still on for another half hour or so. She walked to the booth but didn't go in. "You're the new Graveyard producer, aren't you?" asked a fairly attractive man who suddenly appeared behind her.
She jumped. "Yeah. I'm here early..."
"Clearly," he chuckled. "I'm Aubrey, the nighttime deejay. You may know me better as Hotbox."
Miranda extended her hand. "I'm Miranda Hartman . You can call me Randi," she introduced.
"I figured I should introduce myself as we'll probably see each other quite a bit since our schedules overlap."
"Ah, the new producer," another man came up to her.
"Hi, Mr. Redmond," Randi said.
"I'll be honest, I'm shocked Mark and Danny wanted a new producer," Mr. Redmond revealed. "Either one of the could've taken that job especially after they said they wanted to hire someone with no experience."
"Why did they want someone without experience?" Randi asked.
"I don't know," Mr. Redmond shrugged. "They didn't tell and I can only assume. We only got four applications from people with no experience. They particularly like yours because you've only been out of college a few months."
Mr. Redmond walked away leaving Randi and Aubrey alone. "Why did they want someone with no experience?"
"I don't know. I'm sure it's just them trying to give someone a chance and nothing to worry about," Aubrey said. "I have to go in the booth now so I'll see you around this evening."
Mark and Danny started The Graveyard Shift back in 2000. Danny was originally the mid-day host between ten and three while Mark co-hosted the drive time program with a guy named Levi. When Levi left, Mark was offered the hosting job but instead he and Danny proposed their own overnight program. Mr. Redmond was leery at first but agreed. Within a year, The Graveyard Shift was the most popular overnight radio program in Kansas City beating even well-established syndicated programs. Mark and Danny attempted to do new things and soon began deviating from the station' modern rock format to almost playing what they want.
Randi hung around the studio for several hours until Danny came into work at about ten. Danny was usually the first person there so he could get the show planned out. When he walked in, Randi was also in one of the studios listening to Hotbox. "Are you Randi?" Danny asked, walking into the studio.
"Yeah," she said kind of nervously, although her nerves had calmed since she had been there.
"I'm Danny. Glad to finally meet you. Welcome to radio. I hope you know how," he smiled at her and walked off. He went into an odd office space with three offices connected to each other. The offices were shared by all eight deejays at KHNH.
Randi paused and then followed Danny into the office. "Um, Danny?" she laughed nervously as she entered. "I have a question."
Danny looked up at her. "Sure. What's your question?"
"Why did you hire me?"
"That is a very good question. The short answer is, Mark and I liked you. The long answer is when Mark and I first entered the radio game, we were pretty new as well and very inexperienced. Lloyd--Mr. Redmond--took a chance on us and hired us and then he took another chance when we wanted to start The Graveyard Shift. We wanted to take a chance on someone as well. You were the only one never given a chance. We wanted to fix that," Danny explained.
Randi stood up straight. "Really?" she questioned. "That's a weird way to hire people."
"Don't knock it. You now have a job," he smiled at her. "I look forward to being on the air with you."
"Yeah. Me, too. Thanks again."
A few minutes after midnight, after what seemed like twenty minutes of commercials, the opening theme music to The Graveyard Shift began. It was a shortened version of the theme song to the 1990s television show NewsRadio. It was originally just a recorded version from off of the TV show but about three years ago, a local band did their own cover of it and Mark and Danny had been using that ever since. After the
music, Danny went on the air.
"We're going to do things a little different tonight as we have someone new to introduce," Danny began. "Don't worry, Mark is still here but we have a new producer. Everybody please welcome Randi."
"Hello, Kansas City!" Randi exclaimed.
"We hope Randi will become a permanent member of our group and will stick around for as long as the previous producer. It will also be good she's here because we can finally get a woman's perspective on things," Danny said.
"I think you are just trying to push me out," Mark laughed.
"Of course not, Mark. You're my best friend. Unless things really work out with Randi then I might not hang out with you as much."
"She is very cute, just so the listeners know. Do you mind being called cute by nearly complete strangers to possibly several thousands people?" Mark asked.
"No, I think I can handle it. My boyfriend may not like it but he should be asleep."
"So for those of you calling in and texting, Randi is in a relationship," Mark said and then cleared the phone board. "If you wish to call in please make sure that it is not to ask the new producer out."
"She kind of reminds me of Miley Cyrus if the listeners want a visual," Danny said. "Welcome to the Graveyard Shift, Randi. It's a pleasure to have you here." Danny smiled at Randi and then began playing "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus.
"Did you have to actually play a Miley Cyrus song?" Mark asked.
"Yes. And you should be glad it's 'Party in the USA' and not 'Meet You Again,'" Danny chuckled.
"Someone just texted in a picture of their junk," Randi said.
"Here, let me show you how we deal with stuff like that," Danny reached over, selected the phone number and then blocked the number. "There. He won't be bothering us again."
