Amy Guth

Weekends on WGN AM 720 will get a boost in the new year with the debut of “The Saturday Night Special” anchored by Amy Guth and the addition of a second night of “WGN Radio Theater” with Carl Amari and Lisa Wolf.

Guth, who's been hosting a three-hour show starting at 11 p.m. Saturdays on the Tribune Media news/talk station, will take over from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturdays, effective January 9.

Todd Manley, vice president of programming and content at WGN, described “The Saturday Night Special” as a “two-hour party designed to be a playful and poignant mirror on Chicago.” Hannah Stanley, who currently hosts “Girls’ Night Out” from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturdays, is expected to continue as a fill-in host at the station.

“It will be a destination for celebrating unsung heroes and outspoken personalities,” Manley said of Guth’s new show. “We’ll take you to poetry slams and political rallies, and chronicle the lure of the summer outdoor music scene.  . . . A wide canvas that will get at the details of what’s all right and a bit wrong about our town and the great semi-circle of communities that surround our great lake.”

Call Amari and Lisa Wolf

Doubling their presence on WGN will be Amari and Wolf, whose showcase for classic radio dramas and other gems from the Golden Age of Radio now will air from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. “WGN Radio Theater” has been airing on Sunday nights since April. The Saturday edition debuts January 2.

Dave Hoekstra’s “Nocturnal Journal” will continue to air from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturdays.

Guth also continues to host WGN’s “Wintrust Business Lunch” from noon to 1 p.m. Saturdays and fill in for the show's Monday-through-Friday host, Steve Bertrand.