“The Nude Hippo-Your Chicago Show” is airing favorite episodes from its pool of over 200 leading up to its big-production, 10th anniversary show April 9 at the Apollo Theater.
You may well ask is, “What is the “Nude Hippo Show?” I can’t even describe it and I was a former cast member for five years.
Here are three things I do know about “Nude Hippo:”
1) It’s a lot of fun. 2) It’s about people, places and events in Chicago. 3) Host/producer Tony Lossano is the catalyst that keeps the show going… and going.
The weekly show is a blend of presenting people you’d never expect to see, like Jerry Springer, Roger Ebert and John Callaway, and zany segments, such as “Food, Fashion & Fun” host Ashley Lobo displaying her interview and skating abilities with the Chicago Jazz synchronized figure ice skating team.
“Hippo” airs over Chicago cable Ch. 25 Thursdays at 7 p.m., and encores Sundays at 11:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 3 p.m.
No one knows for sure how many of Ch. 25’s 500,000 Chicago households tune in, but an educated guess is a low tens of thousands of loyal, cult-like viewers.
Fan Julie Taylor finds “the content is crazy but it keeps me entertained. It is like nothing else you will see on cable TV.”
How true.
Some of the show’s guests have been local media types actors, the occasional known actor and a famous restaurateur here and there.
Two “dream guests” Lossano has been unable to persuade are TV and print journalist Carol Marin and TV show creator/host Bill Kurtis. Knowing Lossano’s tenacity and powers of persuasion, they could show up one night.
