Frank Murphy (radio personality)
Frank is a member of Knoxville's long-running improvisational theatre company, Einstein Simplified[1] and host of Scholars' Bowl on East Tennessee PBS.
At the start of 1983, he was named station manager of WGMU, just as it was transitioning from a closed circuit broadcast available only in the Rathskeller to a carrier current transmission which could be heard in the dorms and student apartments on any AM radio.
In this position, he regularly made appearances on the show, often when something went wrong and hosts Don and Mike were heard to yell out "Fraaaank".
When the sale's closing was delayed, Murphy partnered with afternoon host Joe Friday and traffic reporter Janet from Another Planet to create a new morning show for the station's last few months.
Five days after WAVA changed formats, Murphy began a new job as morning show producer for Jay Thomas at KPWR (Power 106) in Los Angeles.
His unusual punishments included cleaning a public restroom, collecting semen from a bull and picking the nose of a stranger.
Murphy was unemployed until being contacted in early 2000 by radio host Brian Whitman about a new Internet company called Comedy World.
Murphy did a number of odd jobs around Hollywood until being hired as co-host of a morning show in Knoxville, Tennessee.
[6] Murphy was also heard on weekends as a music deejay and as one of two rotating hosts of the cluster's public affairs program.
On February 15, 2021, Murphy began hosting the midday show on 104.9 WPLA, which airs a classic hits format under the brand Lake FM.
In 2016, Murphy began hosting East Tennessee PBS Scholars' Bowl, a long-running televised academic quiz show in which high school teams compete in a single-elimination tournament.
Previous hosts include Hop Edwards, Jim Kuehn, Diana Morgan, Sanda Allyson, Jack Ryan, and Ernie Roberts.
Interviewees include Dr. Jerry Punch, Dr. Dawnie Steadman, Kathryn Frady, Leanne Morgan, Cylk Cozart and others.
They perform short-form improv every Tuesday night at Scruffy City Hall on Market Square in downtown Knoxville.
Prior to Scruffy City Hall, the troupe performed at Manhattan's, Patrick Sullivan's, The Square Room, Side Splitters, and The Well.
Murphy plays a character named "Frank" who books a fishing trip with three buddies when things go awry.
He was voted Favorite Local Blogger in the 2008 Knoxville News Sentinel "East Tennessee's Best" readers poll.
Murphy was the 2014 Social Media inductee in the Friends of Literacy East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.
[7] In 2012, Murphy was elected to a two-year term as president of the FBI Knoxville Citizens Academy Alumni Association, a private, non-profit organization that is not part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In 2012 and 2013, he chose Columbus Home as his charity of choice when competing in the Host with the Most Contest at Side Splitters Comedy Club.
In 2014, Murphy was elected to an at-large seat on the board of the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists for a two-year term which ended in 2016.
He regularly serves as emcee for various Bone Zones events, which feature lectures by world-famous forensic anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass.
In 2016, ORCBA honored Murphy as their Volunteer of the Year at the Arts Council of Oak Ridge awards ceremony.
