Reminder: "The little cunt won't even look at me."

[Imager]

i agree with most of the posts above for O&A. But Opie ridiculously failed to change direction after it became O&J.

Jimmy didn't have what it takes to tell a comic they weren't right for the show and Anthony was too hung over.

Vic and Sherrod, man. Oh, and the Stangels. And after complaining for a decade, "Management loves the direction of the show."

It really sucks that neither of them could make a great show without the other.

 

[PogromStallone]

An Opie bit I love that I don't think I've ever seen anyone else even mention is from the 90s. If I remember correctly, he was talking shit about a female host on the channel and she crashes the show to confront him and then for like 30 minutes it's just Opie trying to convince her to quit because she sucks at radio while Cumia sits there nervously.

 

[WhereWeAt]

An Opie bit I love that I don't think I've ever seen anyone else even mention is from the 90s. If I remember correctly, he was talking shit about a female host on the channel and she crashes the show to confront him and then for like 30 minutes it's just Opie trying to convince her to quit because she sucks at radio while Cumia sits there nervously.

Carol Miller. That's another weird Opie moment where he claims they quashed the beef, then you come to find out it's just a lie he tells people. Why wouldn't he either 1) Make the phonecall to Carol Miller/Jim Chandler/whoever or 2) continue saying "fuck that faggot."?

 

[Uncle Anthony Cumia]

So I totally agree Opie was the least detestable member of the show. However you could always tell he was jealous Anthony was the “funny one” and would purposefully steamroll and car crash every riff that was getting hot. There were many times you heard Patrice or Colin or Breuer audibly sigh and roll their eyes when Opie would interject into a bit with something that didn’t contribute.

 

[Uncle Anthony Cumia]

An Opie bit I love that I don't think I've ever seen anyone else even mention is from the 90s. If I remember correctly, he was talking shit about a female host on the channel and she crashes the show to confront him and then for like 30 minutes it's just Opie trying to convince her to quit because she sucks at radio while Cumia sits there nervously.

Darian O’Toole. Happened in 2006 I believe when they were on both K Rock and XM.

 

[WhereWeAt]

i agree with most of the posts above for O&A. But Opie ridiculously failed to change direction after it became O&J.


Vic and Sherrod, man. Oh, and the Stangels. And after complaining for a decade, "Management loves the direction of the show."

It really sucks that neither of them could make a great show without the other.

O&J maintained a lot of the good comics as regulars, though. Opie's solo show was when it became bottom of the barrel and guys like Vic were effectively co-hosts. Colin, Bobby, etc. not appearing on Opie Radio likely goes back to some ultimatum from Jimmy behind the scenes.

The Stangels hire probably goes back to one of the few negative things Anthony gets right about Opie; the need to brand himself with prestige. Hiring the Stangels meant associating with Letterman and the hope that the show could get Letterman-tier status and guests. Didn't happen, but that was the thought process.

 

[WhereWeAt]

So I totally agree Opie was the least detestable member of the show. However you could always tell he was jealous Anthony was the “funny one” and would purposefully steamroll and car crash every riff that was getting hot. There were many times you heard Patrice or Colin or Breuer audibly sigh and roll their eyes when Opie would interject into a bit with something that didn’t contribute.

Opie's inability to just be content with his role is the worst thing about him. I could live with him trying and failing to be one of the guys, but there were plenty of times that he'd rather step on a comic's line to bring them down to his level than elevate them and make the whole show look good.

 

[Uncle Anthony Cumia]

Opie's inability to just be content with his role is the worst thing about him. I could live with him trying and failing to be one of the guys, but there were plenty of times that he'd rather step on a comic's line to bring them down to his level than elevate them and make the whole show look good.

I think when the show died, Opie should’ve just had Jim go with Sam, that was gonna suck either way, and tried to get Breuer to be his cohost. Breuer could play off Opie, I’m not saying it would be top tier shit, but he’s smart enough to assure Opie and keep him from running over the lines.

 

[WhereWeAt]

I think when the show died, Opie should’ve just had Jim go with Sam, that was gonna suck either way, and tried to get Breuer to be his cohost. Breuer could play off Opie, I’m not saying it would be top tier shit, but he’s smart enough to assure Opie and keep him from running over the lines.

Breuer would've been a good fit. Opie needed a comic with enough name recognition, radio experience, and (most importantly) would've been agreeable enough to deal with the Opster's shit in a polite way.

 

[Mick_Mickerson]

while Cumia sits there nervously.

that seems a bit far fetched

 

[Mick_Mickerson]

Opie's inability to just be content with his role is the worst thing about him. I could live with him trying and failing to be one of the guys, but there were plenty of times that he'd rather step on a comic's line to bring them down to his level than elevate them and make the whole show look good.

The show was the launching pad for Louis CK and Bill Burr (honestly, to an extent also Joe Rogan) -- the two biggest names in the business at the moment.

FAWKIN' SERIOUSLY?! Opie was the one who dictated it was a hang and made it a place all of Jimmy's comedy friends wanted to visit

Wow. you people have the memory of a fawkin' goldfish

 

[LingerLonger]

Jimmy didn't have what it takes to tell a comic they weren't right for the show

This lead to one of the all time biggest arguments on the show that lasted until Opie was fired. In 2005 there was a comedian named Sean Rouse, who was abysmal, but he was friends with Norton and wanted to go on O&A. Opie explained to Sean off air how the show worked but said if he was more comfortable just doing his act that Opie would set him up and give him softballs. Sean instead proceeded to confidently declare he would fit in and Norton basically chastised Opie for gatekeeping a comedian from the show. Norton basically said off air "dude you're not a comedian so just mind your own business".

Sean Rouse goes on air and is horrible. Bombs. Unfunny stories. Slows the show down. Opie instead of helping him out just lets him hang himself over and over again and does not mercy laugh nor interact with Rouse. Opie basically acted as if Rouse was not even in the room. Then when Rouse leaves he refuses to read his plugs just to really mess with Rouse and Norton. This lead to a huge argument about how Norton was disrespected and Opie was not the boss of the show. And Norton would clearly realize that he was never going to be more than the third mic. It was O&A period not O&A with J or OA&J. Norton threatened to quit the show over the incident. And Norton would bring up the incident to other comedians years later "warning" them that sometimes Opie would disrespect comedians.

I also heard that Norton did the same thing over his porn star and MMA guests as well. That he whined that they were being disrespected. After the whole Derek Jeter rant though he toned it down quite a bit when he realized that all professional athletes despise him but are just being polite when he asks for autographs.

Where is this?

Sometime during 2015 Florentine came on O&J. Florentine told a very vague and cryptic story about his wife breaking up with him. Opie however had had callers call in the week before from Florentine's neighborhood that knew that a cop was banging his wife and she filed for divorce. So Opie waited for those calls to take them during Florentine's visit. So Florentine is on the show, Opie says "we got a caller who said your wife was dating a cop or something" and before Florentine can signal to not take the call Opie put the dude on air. And Florentine just sheepishly sat there while some guy talked about how Florentine's wife was banging a cop.

 

[DMAN]

Refused to back down almost ever including refusing to say on air that the mayor was not dead.

How about the fact that towards the end, during that Cake Stomp reemergence on Reddit, Opie didn't really offer an apology and basically said "Yep, the homeless guy was our friend. You're too stupid to know what happened and your outrage is fake. Thanks bye."

Carol Miller. That's another weird Opie moment where he claims they quashed the beef, then you come to find out it's just a lie he tells people. Why wouldn't he either 1) Make the phonecall to Carol Miller/Jim Chandler/whoever or 2) continue saying "fuck that faggot."?

This was actually mentioned on SXM years later. Opie was making a list of people who hate him. Sam suggested a name, Opie said "nah we're all good with them now." Sam asked "Why? Because you don't care anymore? You mocked them and then attacked them for defending themselves." Opie conceded the point and admitted he only cares about his emotions.

So I totally agree Opie was the least detestable member of the show. However you could always tell he was jealous Anthony was the “funny one” and would purposefully steamroll and car crash every riff that was getting hot. There were many times you heard Patrice or Colin or Breuer audibly sigh and roll their eyes when Opie would interject into a bit with something that didn’t contribute.

That's just completely false. Opie was grinning from ear to ear like a proud father whenever Anthony would go off on a hilarious impersonation rant. You are blinded by Anthony's fake hate manipulation.

 

[GOD DAMN RICH CUNT]

No matter how shitty of a mood I'm in this always delivers

My favorite was when miraculously theyd have a caller who was above 70 IQ, and when they heard Opie ask a question, they'd just silently hang up the phone. You just heard the noises of them fiddling with the phone.

 

[BonnieMcFarlaneMe2]

Darian O’Toole. Happened in 2006 I believe when they were on both K Rock and XM.

“Heeeyyy Mr. Maaannn!” Love that they were listening to audio of her that day and Attell comes in.

 

[BonnieMcFarlaneMe2]

This lead to one of the all time biggest arguments on the show that lasted until Opie was fired. In 2005 there was a comedian named Sean Rouse, who was abysmal, but he was friends with Norton and wanted to go on O&A. Opie explained to Sean off air how the show worked but said if he was more comfortable just doing his act that Opie would set him up and give him softballs. Sean instead proceeded to confidently declare he would fit in and Norton basically chastised Opie for gatekeeping a comedian from the show. Norton basically said off air "dude you're not a comedian so just mind your own business".

Sean Rouse goes on air and is horrible. Bombs. Unfunny stories. Slows the show down. Opie instead of helping him out just lets him hang himself over and over again and does not mercy laugh nor interact with Rouse. Opie basically acted as if Rouse was not even in the room. Then when Rouse leaves he refuses to read his plugs just to really mess with Rouse and Norton. This lead to a huge argument about how Norton was disrespected and Opie was not the boss of the show. And Norton would clearly realize that he was never going to be more than the third mic. It was O&A period not O&A with J or OA&J. Norton threatened to quit the show over the incident. And Norton would bring up the incident to other comedians years later "warning" them that sometimes Opie would disrespect comedians.

I also heard that Norton did the same thing over his porn star and MMA guests as well. That he whined that they were being disrespected. After the whole Derek Jeter rant though he toned it down quite a bit when he realized that all professional athletes despise him but are just being polite when he asks for autographs.

Sometime during 2015 Florentine came on O&J. Florentine told a very vague and cryptic story about his wife breaking up with him. Opie however had had callers call in the week before from Florentine's neighborhood that knew that a cop was banging his wife and she filed for divorce. So Opie waited for those calls to take them during Florentine's visit. So Florentine is on the show, Opie says "we got a caller who said your wife was dating a cop or something" and before Florentine can signal to not take the call Opie put the dude on air. And Florentine just sheepishly sat there while some guy talked about how Florentine's wife was banging a cop.

Sean Rouse was a great stand up and Opie made him sit in the green room for 2 hours after he drove like 4 to be there. He was on the show for maybe half an hour. He was great friends with Stanhope and there’s no way he just wanted them to soft ball him bits. Don’t make me defend Jim but he was right there. Opie would leave Vos in the green room too, it was a power trip. There’s a show with Colin where he locks Vos out with half an hour left and tells him he has to do the rest over the phone. Vos says, “okay” and then never says another thing because he obviously left. Opie had a real problem with treating people like shit just because he could.

 

[Uncle Anthony Cumia]

This lead to one of the all time biggest arguments on the show that lasted until Opie was fired. In 2005 there was a comedian named Sean Rouse, who was abysmal, but he was friends with Norton and wanted to go on O&A. Opie explained to Sean off air how the show worked but said if he was more comfortable just doing his act that Opie would set him up and give him softballs. Sean instead proceeded to confidently declare he would fit in and Norton basically chastised Opie for gatekeeping a comedian from the show. Norton basically said off air "dude you're not a comedian so just mind your own business".

Sean Rouse goes on air and is horrible. Bombs. Unfunny stories. Slows the show down. Opie instead of helping him out just lets him hang himself over and over again and does not mercy laugh nor interact with Rouse. Opie basically acted as if Rouse was not even in the room. Then when Rouse leaves he refuses to read his plugs just to really mess with Rouse and Norton. This lead to a huge argument about how Norton was disrespected and Opie was not the boss of the show. And Norton would clearly realize that he was never going to be more than the third mic. It was O&A period not O&A with J or OA&J. Norton threatened to quit the show over the incident. And Norton would bring up the incident to other comedians years later "warning" them that sometimes Opie would disrespect comedians.

I also heard that Norton did the same thing over his porn star and MMA guests as well. That he whined that they were being disrespected. After the whole Derek Jeter rant though he toned it down quite a bit when he realized that all professional athletes despise him but are just being polite when he asks for autographs.

Sometime during 2015 Florentine came on O&J. Florentine told a very vague and cryptic story about his wife breaking up with him. Opie however had had callers call in the week before from Florentine's neighborhood that knew that a cop was banging his wife and she filed for divorce. So Opie waited for those calls to take them during Florentine's visit. So Florentine is on the show, Opie says "we got a caller who said your wife was dating a cop or something" and before Florentine can signal to not take the call Opie put the dude on air. And Florentine just sheepishly sat there while some guy talked about how Florentine's wife was banging a cop.

Oh god I remember the Sean Rouse appearance. He was fucking terrible.

 

[LingerLonger]

Sean Rouse was a great stand up and Opie made him sit in the green room for 2 hours after he drove like 4 to be there. He was on the show for maybe half an hour. He was great friends with Stanhope and there’s no way he just wanted them to soft ball him bits. Don’t make me defend Jim but he was right there.

Rouse was the opener for Norton and that's how Opie met him. Rouse himself was obviously nervous and had no idea what to do on their show. He bombed. You think he didn't want softballs for his first appearance? Louis CK and Patrice and others used to have O&A set them up for bits. The first appearances of nearly every comedian on the show are them nervous as hell and floundering.

Literally every single O&A comic would just do their bits when they visited other radio shows. Louis CK once got into it with Maxwell over them doing bits. Patrice got into it with Mancow (and Bill Burr). There was a black comedian (Aries Spears?) who got into a fight with a radio station for having him do bits, then badmouth him when he left the studio, so he returned and confronted them.

Opie would leave Vos in the green room too, it was a power trip. There’s a show with Colin where he locks Vos out with half an hour left and tells him he has to do the rest over the phone. Vos says, “okay” and then never says another thing because he obviously left. Opie had a real problem with treating people like shit just because he could.

It was a professional radio show. They would always make guests wait. Vos, DiPaolo, Patrice, Colin. Did not matter. Opie let Vos right into the studio to deliver a diaper filled with shit once. Sometimes they had to wait. Sometimes they would even cancel an appearance.

Vos was a crackhead junkie and addict and a middle act. Not the Prince of Monaco. He can wait in the green room.

 

[Zeroman]

There was a black comedian (Aries Spears?) who got into a fight with a radio station for having him do bits, then badmouth him when he left the studio, so he returned and confronted them.

 

[WhereWeAt]

Sean Rouse was a great stand up and Opie made him sit in the green room for 2 hours after he drove like 4 to be there. He was on the show for maybe half an hour. He was great friends with Stanhope and there’s no way he just wanted them to soft ball him bits. Don’t make me defend Jim but he was right there. Opie would leave Vos in the green room too, it was a power trip. There’s a show with Colin where he locks Vos out with half an hour left and tells him he has to do the rest over the phone. Vos says, “okay” and then never says another thing because he obviously left. Opie had a real problem with treating people like shit just because he could.

At that time, 30 mins on O&A was easily worth the gas and toll money on that trip 20 times over.