Whether it’s listening to Sean Hannity banter about fringe liberals trying to ban ice cream, or the out-of-the-loop Michael Savage trying to recapture his McCarthyist youth, one thing is certain – the trend of talk radio is as fresh-minded as Joe Lieberman.

With the explosion of the Internet, television, and Maxim magazine, America’s X and Y generations have all but abandoned this archaic medium. But if there is one show in America that can change talk radio’s downward spiral, that show is “The Phil Hendrie Show.”

The New York Times describes “The Phil Hendrie Show” as “The longest-running phone prank in history.” The show broadcasts out of California and, only as recently as 1999, has become nationally syndicated. Simply put, the Phil Hendrie Show is dynamic, fresh and funny.

Hendrie’s main shtick is the mock “interviews” that he conducts with more than 40 characters of his own creation. To the surprise of the listener, the interviews escalate into politically incorrect absurdity, while angry callers try and set the character straight. Things get out of hand, as Hendrie’s characters (played by himself) taunt the unknowing callers and continually outdo their own ludicrous remarks.

During one “interview,” a lawyer named Dean Wheeler talked about his class action lawsuit against Walt Disney, claiming that the theme parks need to have “Spanish-speaking-only days.” Later, it comes out that all his clients are, in fact, illegal aliens.

“If they got a Disney character walking up to them and saying ‘Welcome,’ they don’t know what the thing is saying. It could be saying ‘Welcome,’ or it could be saying ‘You can go straight to Hell.’ “

One of his clients, he claims, panicked after thinking Peter Pan was an immigration officer, while another thought that Donald Duck was threatening to sexually assault his mother.

Angry listeners lined up to attack Wheeler, as Wheeler fired back, “The next time a man with a plastic head comes up to you and asks ‘How much for your mama?’ I hope you got my number.”

In another “interview,” Bobby Dooley, a confused housewife and founder of Mothers Against Peer Pressure, adamantly defends her son who is accused of date rape and driving an SUV into a picnic table full of mentally retarded children.

Along with the irate callers, Hendrie fights with Mrs. Dooley after she claims that it’s normal for young teenage boys to ask themselves, “Should I give it to this bitch or shouldn’t I?”

Phil Hendrie got his start in 1991 in a gig as a typical radio talking head. Desperate for calls, he pretended to interview an Iraqi named Raj Feneen, who started out talking about the hope for peace between Iraq and the U.S. listeners went crazy after hearing Feneen insist that all the fault lay with President Bush, who dishonored the Iraqi people by not washing Saddam’s feet. The lines lit up like a Christmas tree, full of angry callers who all wanted a piece of “Feneen.”

Since then, Hendrie has used this format, which has even been loosely adapted by Comedy Central as the basis for the show “Crank Yankers.”

The show, however, isn’t entirely based on phone pranks. Hendrie talks about his take on politics, current events and even sports. The overly American “Joe Dickhead,” and his serious sidekick “The Professor,” give sports analyses and NFL picks – sometimes to the odd background of farm animal noises, while Bud Dickman announces his favorite NASCAR accidents of the week.

During “News that Professional Football Players Can Understand,” the news of the day is dumbed down to the level of absurdity and, at times, the news anchor is an impersonation of Warren Sapp.

“The Phil Hendrie Show” currently has a small hold on New England markets, but hopefully will grow with time. The show can be heard from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Monday through Friday on AM 810 out of Schenectady, NY and AM 1310 out of Worcester from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The show comes as a breath of fresh air to those who are tired of the ongoing and tiring drab of typical talk radio. For once, new generations of Americans can switch their dials to AM radio, without having to hear rants about the moral collapse of American youth or the coming liberal insurgency. And for those tired of the consistent “shock-jock” routine, “The Phil Hendrie Show” is yet another reason to shut off the TV and turn on the radio.

Information from Nytimes.com and Philhendrieshow.com was used in this column.

Mark Ostroff is a Collegian columnist.