I had to check the meaning of transient. "a person who is staying or working in a place for a short time only", but I gather what you meant based on the subsequent posts. A sad tale, really.

In brighter news, yes, that's it! A prairie home companion. I remember I liked it a lot, and the trailer's giving me goosebumps again. "It was a live radio variety show, the kind that died 50 years ago - but someone forgot to tell them.". I'll see whether it's on a streaming service somewhere.