Out radio personality and activist Casey Reed is making the jump from Philly’s airwaves to the small screen when she stars in the new reality-based comedy “Saturday Morning Fever,” premiering Jan. 27 on Fuse.
The reality series follows the taping and behind-the-scenes action surrounding the long-running local dance show “Dancin’ On Air,” a precursor to more popular national shows like “Dance Party USA.”
Reed is thrown into the mix as the host of “Dancin’ On Air.” “Saturday Morning Fever” shows how she motors through her job surrounded by a staff and show regulars who think appearing on the show is their ticket to bigger and better things.
“I wouldn’t say I was exactly ‘cast,’” Reed said about landing the role. “Originally, ‘Dancin’ on Air’ reached out to the radio station where I was working at the time when they were doing their revival. They were looking for local radio personalities to host the show and my employer at the time was like, ‘You’re going to do the show whether you like it or not.’ So I had no idea what I was getting into. So it was all-encompassing and natural that when ‘Saturday Morning Fever’ got created and picked up by Fuse that I was a part of that.”
Reed is candid about where a locally produced program like “Dancin’ on Air” fits in a world where its more famous counterparts have faded into obscurity, which makes the behind-the-scenes of “Saturday Morning Fever” more entertaining to watch.
“In all honesty, I don’t think that there is any demand for a ‘Dancin’ on Air’ show in the format that they are trying to do, like back in the 1980s, in today’s world,” Reed said. “I think that ‘Saturday Morning Fever’ would be quite the opposite because you get to see the making of a television show, whatever kind of show it is, and the realities of behind the scenes. As for ‘Dancin’ on Air’ itself, I don’t think there is any interest. You can’t even watch a 30-second YouTube video these days without being bored or wanting to see something else, let alone four minutes of people just dancing on screen.“
Reed added that, even though there are some similarities between being on radio and being on a television show, radio, for her, is more of a well-oiled machine.
“With radio, we do a lot of our own [work],” she said. “I’m here doing the ‘Afternoon Drive’ in Philadelphia and I do the entire thing solo. I’m on the air. I’m taking calls. I’m recording and editing commercials. I’m doing it all and I’m on social media the entire time. It’s a one-person show typically. Going into shooting a TV show, there’s a ton of people involved. A lot more people are relying on you. At the same time I feel like, from my experience in radio, for the most part I’ve been in a very professional environment. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do. Everyone has a job and we all do our job and we execute. Going into ‘Dancin’ on Air,’ it’s a complete hot mess. No one knows what they are doing. No one has a structure or a format of what is supposed to happen on the show. It’s like they are producing their first television show. I went to Temple [University] locally in Philadelphia and I can tell you my TV Broadcast 101 class put on a 30-minute show in an hour and [‘Dancin’ On Air’] took five hours to do it. So it’s kind of a hot mess.”
So we asked Reed is she was having fun on the TV show.
“It depends on the day,” she said.
Even though “Dancin’ On Air” is something of a dinosaur when it comes to TV shows, the dancers featured on the show still see it as a chance to get themselves to the next level.
“I think that they are just trying to get a break, however possible,” Reed said. “And it is local. They don’t have to go to New York or L.A. to try and get that break. There is this local avenue to do so and they are just trying to capitalize on that. Whether that works or not is a different story.”
Even without “Dancin’ on Air” or “Saturday Morning Fever,” Reed’s radio career is in very good shape. After making a name for herself on 96.5 FM, she resigned and took her talents to New York City’s 95.5 before returning to Philly last year as the host of Q102’s “Afternoon Drive.”
“I was doing New York part-time. I commuted up there, which was fine. When I left 96.5, it was on my own accord. I needed a change. I had hit a glass ceiling. I would say that going up to New York was one of the best career moments of my life. The studio was overlooking Madison Square Garden. It gets no better than that. Having that notch on my career belt was phenomenal. I get chills thinking about it. But I’ve always been based out of Philadelphia. I’ve been here my entre life. I started interning actually at Q102 when I was at Temple. So I started in radio here. So to be back here and hosting the ‘Afternoon Drive,’ even though New York was wonderful, I couldn’t ask to be in a better place in terms of my career in my hometown.”
Reed added that, in the age of social media, on-air personalities have much different responsibilities than they did when she started in the industry.
“You used to have a four-hour show on the radio,” she said. “Now your show is 24 hours. You’re posting on Instagram and Twitter. Your show is nonstop. It really is a 24-7 job, as opposed to 10 years ago where it was like, ‘Yeah. Go to the station website.’ Now you are on every single social-media platform and blogging.”
While radio is her primary passion, Reed said she wants to work on more television projects if the opportunities arise.
“I would love to do more TV. There’s a lot of things to do on television, not just reality TV or hosting. I wouldn’t be crushed if that didn’t happen because I do have a successful radio career. I’m a hustler so I’m always looking for the next way to get my mortgage paid. It’s not about the fame for me. I want to live comfortably because I didn’t grow up that fortunate in South Philadelphia. So for me it’s about financial security and how I can do that and enjoy what I do at the same time.” n
“Saturday Morning Fever” debuts Jan. 27 on Fuse. For more information, visit www.fuse.tv/saturdaymorningfever.