In the interests of counterbalancing all the relentless negativity hereabouts, and being the resident battyboy, I'm bringing evidence.
Going through my casual re-listen of WNEW and early 2000s XM, the content is outdated and often boring, and so instead of paying mind to that, I'm noticing little moments of the two hosts treating each other niceys, which the revisionist historians have you believe seldom if ever happened.
Here's one, from the WNEW episode on 19/1/1999, in which Opie notices Anthony's attention wandering to instant feedback, and instead of getting angry (righteously and rightfully), sulking, or starting a fight as he might have done on XM and Sirius, he just laughs it off, teases Anthony and pokes a little fun at himself (the first intentional "VURRY good" in recorded history, possibly?) They both share a blushy giggle, sounding like a newlywed couple exasperated with each other and having a boring long day, but still in love. If only they knew what was to come.
Here's another, from the 25/10/2004 show, at around the 2h 29m timestamp:
Opie reads aloud an apologetic open letter/blog post penned by Jessica Simpson on her own message-board (apparently she got into a lip-syncing scandal), and as he does, Anthony notes and praises how Opie has intentionally used a girlish voice to do so. Opie stops at the compliment and softly thanks him, like he's soaring flying breaking free. They share another giggle, while Jimmy is just laughing at them both.
Pre-2005 Opie sounds much chirpier, sharper and more comfortable, it's a treat. At ^2h 38m he even happily accepts a bit of grilling about his choice of cereal in a completely relaxed way, like he's fine with it. Anthony is as ever hacky, bigoted and cynical, and as mentioned sometimes focuses on Paltalk not the show, but at least he doesn't sound yet sad, bitter and fully checked out. It feels as if he's honestly content enough to sit in a room and yap with Opie for half his day. Jimmy just sounds the same as now, except angrier, more closeted and hungry.
(Also in this episode: Jimmy says his father is a trucker--is that true? Is his Dad still driving, or still alive? I've never heard that ever mentioned before or since.)
There's this bit (https://archive.org/download/bombsnflubs/Ant Bombs-And Feels The Wrath Of The Listeners.mp3) of Anthony flubbing, the first clip in the collection; not sure which year or day/episode it's from, as there's no stamp or bio that says so.
It's just Opie & Anthony in with no Jimmy or guests & comics, so Opie is the only person standing between the listeners savaging Ant for his botched joke (about a tampon commercial, or something). Opie does not really help Ant, and seems to enjoy watching his partner take beatings & lashings from the callers, but it's all very playful and gay.
Opie says at one point that it's exceedingly rare for Anthony to bomb, and that everyone admires Ant's quick wit, so in a way it's a compliment to him that everyone's so eager to jump on Ant's mistake. Awwww.
A bit of video, as well:
In the blooper reel for the XM commercial--the one with all Jimmy's characters bursting through the studio door in turn--there's a moment toward the end after a few minutes where Ant looks and leans directly across the table to Opie, who's evidently getting flustered by Jimmy's antics and the pressure of retakes, and engages him in what sounds like an inside joke or reference (I've never been able to place it? They say "can't talk about tits, Mr. Favisham" to each other). Opie smiles at that, like he's relieved or pleased with the attention.
And, during a skit for the final episode of the XFL, about 8m in, Anthony comes upon Opie getting his tv makeup touched up, and seems to act as if it's the most adorable thing he's ever seen. Reads as more banterous and brotherly, but Ant does call Opie "pretty" and try to mess with his hair. I can't get it to upload now, but it's on the archive.org tapes somewhere.
Going through my casual re-listen of WNEW and early 2000s XM, the content is outdated and often boring, and so instead of paying mind to that, I'm noticing little moments of the two hosts treating each other niceys, which the revisionist historians have you believe seldom if ever happened.
Here's one, from the WNEW episode on 19/1/1999, in which Opie notices Anthony's attention wandering to instant feedback, and instead of getting angry (righteously and rightfully), sulking, or starting a fight as he might have done on XM and Sirius, he just laughs it off, teases Anthony and pokes a little fun at himself (the first intentional "VURRY good" in recorded history, possibly?) They both share a blushy giggle, sounding like a newlywed couple exasperated with each other and having a boring long day, but still in love. If only they knew what was to come.
Here's another, from the 25/10/2004 show, at around the 2h 29m timestamp:
Opie reads aloud an apologetic open letter/blog post penned by Jessica Simpson on her own message-board (apparently she got into a lip-syncing scandal), and as he does, Anthony notes and praises how Opie has intentionally used a girlish voice to do so. Opie stops at the compliment and softly thanks him, like he's soaring flying breaking free. They share another giggle, while Jimmy is just laughing at them both.
Pre-2005 Opie sounds much chirpier, sharper and more comfortable, it's a treat. At ^2h 38m he even happily accepts a bit of grilling about his choice of cereal in a completely relaxed way, like he's fine with it. Anthony is as ever hacky, bigoted and cynical, and as mentioned sometimes focuses on Paltalk not the show, but at least he doesn't sound yet sad, bitter and fully checked out. It feels as if he's honestly content enough to sit in a room and yap with Opie for half his day. Jimmy just sounds the same as now, except angrier, more closeted and hungry.
(Also in this episode: Jimmy says his father is a trucker--is that true? Is his Dad still driving, or still alive? I've never heard that ever mentioned before or since.)
There's this bit (https://archive.org/download/bombsnflubs/Ant Bombs-And Feels The Wrath Of The Listeners.mp3) of Anthony flubbing, the first clip in the collection; not sure which year or day/episode it's from, as there's no stamp or bio that says so.
It's just Opie & Anthony in with no Jimmy or guests & comics, so Opie is the only person standing between the listeners savaging Ant for his botched joke (about a tampon commercial, or something). Opie does not really help Ant, and seems to enjoy watching his partner take beatings & lashings from the callers, but it's all very playful and gay.
Opie says at one point that it's exceedingly rare for Anthony to bomb, and that everyone admires Ant's quick wit, so in a way it's a compliment to him that everyone's so eager to jump on Ant's mistake. Awwww.
A bit of video, as well:
In the blooper reel for the XM commercial--the one with all Jimmy's characters bursting through the studio door in turn--there's a moment toward the end after a few minutes where Ant looks and leans directly across the table to Opie, who's evidently getting flustered by Jimmy's antics and the pressure of retakes, and engages him in what sounds like an inside joke or reference (I've never been able to place it? They say "can't talk about tits, Mr. Favisham" to each other). Opie smiles at that, like he's relieved or pleased with the attention.
And, during a skit for the final episode of the XFL, about 8m in, Anthony comes upon Opie getting his tv makeup touched up, and seems to act as if it's the most adorable thing he's ever seen. Reads as more banterous and brotherly, but Ant does call Opie "pretty" and try to mess with his hair. I can't get it to upload now, but it's on the archive.org tapes somewhere.
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