August 22, 2002

2:36 PM

WNEW Dumps Opie And AnthonyI guess we know how far too far is now. How long before they make their triumphant return on another ratings-starved radio station?
posted by BGM (42 comments total)

I love how the couple's attorney is now insisting they were just simulating sex. "Oh, really? Well that's O.K. then. Forget I said anything, everybody back to work.."
If they really had wanted to show how brave they were, why didn't they simulste sex in a mosque? Is anybody going to do time for this??
posted by BGM at 2:44 PM on August 22, 2002

One morning zoo crew down, how many more to go?
posted by mikrophon at 2:46 PM on August 22, 2002

Being a foreign-born multiculti-liberal-progressive-secular-humanist type of person raised on the CBC and BBC, I'm thankful every day for NPR, a lonely oasis of intelligence in a desert of fratboy drivel and corporate classic rock. I've always wondered what people listen to if they have an IQ above sea level but lean politically to the right.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 2:55 PM on August 22, 2002

The CD player....
posted by BGM at 2:58 PM on August 22, 2002

Don and Mike rule... always have, always will. O & A just aren't funny. This sure was a long time comin'.
posted by Witty at 3:00 PM on August 22, 2002

I'm assuming WNEW will be changing formats completely, unless they plan to feature Ron and Fez 24 hours a day...which isn't actually that bad of an idea.
posted by Doug at 3:02 PM on August 22, 2002

Don and Mike? Really? Good grief.
posted by barkingmoose at 3:27 PM on August 22, 2002

All "outrageous" shock jock shows are merely third generation xeroxes of Howard Stern, who admittedly is cride and sexist but at least he's funny.

Besides I miss the old WNEW. But they decided to bulldoze one of the last good rock stations in America, for a couple of nitwits like these guys. Be kind like bulldozing MeFi to make room for a FARK franchise. But that's the way the worlds going I guess.
posted by jonmc at 3:32 PM on August 22, 2002

I don't think Don and Mike are that funny, but at least they've mad me laugh on occasion. O & A just suck.
posted by stifford at 3:34 PM on August 22, 2002

We have a couple of morning doofi here in SoCal on KROQ. They may as well be these guys though.

Sometimes, between CDs, I'll hear some of their Incredibly Wacky Hijinx. Sometimes, just for a fleeting second, you can catch the weariness in their voice, the "what the hell am I doing this crap for?" vibe.

All I hear in their show is status quo status quo status quo. At least they don't play Status Quo. I think that's what irritates me about them: they make themselves out to be wacky anarchic crazies, but they're really so staid it's pathetic.

My opinion of course. YMMV.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:38 PM on August 22, 2002

Westwood One, Opie and Anthony's syndicator has also cancelled the program. The program aired on 18 stations across the country.

Geez, that just goes to show who runs things in NY. What overkill.

The Catholic Church has plenty of in-house problems to work on that are far more important than some crappy radio show.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 3:42 PM on August 22, 2002

I hope Don and Mike take over the drive home airways again. I stopped listening to the radio on the drive home since Oafie and Ahole came on in DC. Did anyone catch D&M's Elvis Death Day Show this year? That show was fantastic -- it's usually my most-anticipated radio event of the year (right up there with hearing Alice's Restaurant on Turkey day).
posted by uftheory at 3:45 PM on August 22, 2002

Kafka: man, i love kevin and bean - mostly because they hate and ape on rick dees and ryan seacrest a whole lot - but i still think their show is the best of breed in "morning zoo" type programing in la. of course that's just my opinion, i could be wrong.

no matter what you think, they did happen to spawn jimmy kimmel and adam corolla of "the man show" fame. of course if you hate jimmy and adam too, forget i said that.

i do enjoy the radio whiplash of going to kcrw's "morning becomes eclectic" after listening to the morning crew at kroq. good music and class after corporate cock rock and dick and fart jokes. truly a weird mix.
posted by boogah at 3:53 PM on August 22, 2002

"what the hell am I doing this crap for?"

A wheelbarrow full of money, I would imagine.
posted by chuq at 3:56 PM on August 22, 2002

I miss Alex Bennett.
posted by toddshot at 4:33 PM on August 22, 2002

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell directed the agency's enforcement bureau to begin an investigation immediately, spokesman David Fiske said.

Suddenly the FCC is turning activist? I thought Powell always wanted to "let the market decide" such details.

Or does that only work when the market decides it wants bigger monopolies?
posted by Dirjy at 4:52 PM on August 22, 2002

"I've always wondered what people listen to if they have an IQ above sea level but lean politically to the right."

If you're in the above category, you're too busy figuring out which politician to bribe to enlarge your fortune to listen to some stupid opiate for the masses.

I listened to O&A sometimes when they were on WAAF, until they were finally fired (after about 6 suspensions) and then heard them a couple of times when I found out they were in NYC.

I wonder where they'll turn up next? I'm kind of surprised that they lost all their syndication broadcasts. Is that follow the leader, or just an excuse to dump them without taking the initiative in doing so? Oh well. I guess only the priests can have sex in the cathedral again. Shucks.
posted by Busithoth at 5:02 PM on August 22, 2002

I didn't catch Don & Mike's Elvis Deathday this year, but I suspect it was pretty much the same as every other elvis deathday that they've been doing for at least the last 10 years. Reading the stuff about Elvis' drug use/bizarre sex fetishes/enormous appetite. Blah blah blah. Ho hum.

Don & Mike are has-beens. I kinda lost all respect for them after the stuff that went down a couple months ago, and they backed off their O&A feud.

O&A are vulgar never-wuzzes. Howard Stern is pretty much a tired old fool now, too.

XM Radio will kill them all.
posted by crunchland at 5:13 PM on August 22, 2002

this stuff isn't funny, it's dumb. more to the point, it provides the illusion of permissiveness in a repressive era.
posted by aiq at 5:24 PM on August 22, 2002

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed"

Gimme a break, dude.
posted by owillis at 5:29 PM on August 22, 2002

i have to admit that one of the few things i miss from Indianapolis are Bob and Tom in the morning. It was somewhere between saturday night live and howard stern (let's say low-brow skits), but it was pretty funny for a 15 year old. Thank god my commute now is 10 minutes, i can't stand the radio.
posted by NGnerd at 5:53 PM on August 22, 2002

i'm fascinated by your absolute certainty of my cluelessness.
posted by aiq at 5:55 PM on August 22, 2002

It's all about NPR.
posted by adampsyche at 6:00 PM on August 22, 2002

no disrespect adam, but in it's own way NPR is just as repressive...

*attempts to rouse the ghosts of Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack and Vin Scelsa*

*realizes scelsa's not dead but figure's what the hell could it hurt*
posted by jonmc at 6:24 PM on August 22, 2002

Since I've been called to task for my NPR antipathy before, I shall elaborate.

One time me and my better half were driving back from New Hampshire and scouring the airwaves for some tunes. We stumbled upon Muddy Waters singing "Mannish Boy", which bled into "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan and then into some Chuck Berry. We were drumming on the dashboard and singing along at the top of our lungs.

Then some sober-voiced galoot came on and began droning on about sociology and american political history.This was of course NPR.

First of all, way to kill the mood man. Take living breathing music. Music who'se main appeal is it's aliveness and turn it into objects for your dusty little history museum exhibit.

Secondly, these things, history and sociology and how they connect to popular culture--there's probably not a human being on the palnet who cares a bout these things as deeply as I do, but presentation is everything, man. If were gonna delve into a detalied history of, say how the rise of soul music connects to the civil rights movement, well that's something I'd rather read than listen to. If I'm listening, the music will tell me without half-baked theorizing. Show me don't tell me as a wise man once said.

Now, you're probably saying "Could you do any better, Jon?"

The radio station in my head blows corporate, college and NPR away brother, and if Ihad the time the the money and the people I'd prove it to you.
posted by jonmc at 6:37 PM on August 22, 2002

Anyone remember the Greaseman?

(He used to talk too much also.)
posted by PrinceValium at 6:44 PM on August 22, 2002

They're all just pale copies of Imus in his heyday. Good riddance.
posted by Cerebus at 7:53 PM on August 22, 2002

The radio station in my head blows corporate, college and NPR away brother, and if Ihad the time the the money and the people I'd prove it to you.

Just do it man ;-) Check out things like Radio Paradise. This particular station may not be your cup of tea, but cool stuff is out there streaming on the net. This one is run by folks in their living room who love music and were fed up with 'corporate rock' and decided to start their own station. As to the money, I don't know how well they do with donations, but I know I sent them $10 and I'll do it again next month. It doesn't seem like the upfront costs are that prohibitive either, especially when compared to the hurdles one has to go through with conventional radio.
posted by Tempus67 at 8:15 PM on August 22, 2002

rant

Howard Stern stopped being funny circa 1995, and had lost it by the time his film came out. And now there are so many pathetic imitations of hit post-burnout.

NPR: reliable, but kind of boring. Decent news-oriented radio in the last few years: IMUS; Curtus & Kuby; WNYC generally; the now-silenced WEVD morning program with Bill Mazur. AND WHY THE F' CAN'T ANYONE FIND A SLOT FOR JAY DIAMOND?

/rant.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:18 PM on August 22, 2002

Then some sober-voiced galoot came on and began droning on about sociology and american political history.This was of course NPR.

Imagine, a "sober voiced galoot". The nerve. Don't these people know we've all been shouted at by morons since we were old enough to turn on the TV? Don't send them donations until they start talking down to you, that's my advice.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 8:22 PM on August 22, 2002

ArmitageShanks---wipe the point off the wall cause it just flew over your head.
posted by jonmc at 8:28 PM on August 22, 2002

This really sucks. I like O&A, I like Don & Mike, and dammit, I love Ron & Fez, and since I live here in DC, all I'm getting is repeats of Don & Mike, and despite the fact that I like them, I don't like them as much as the other two shows, which I can't hear anymore. This sucks. I don't want to listen to music stations on the radio. I feel like a little kid again... a little kid who's suddenly been told by his parents that he cannot ever watch Transformers again.
posted by dopamine at 10:02 PM on August 22, 2002

NPR drives me crazy because the pace is so slow. A friend of mine who works at an NPR affiliate says that is intentional: they aim for fewer words per minute. As a frenzied east coast nutcase I catch myself mentally trying to urge them on to the end of sentences.

Also, every year, apparently at the behest of his station, he asks everyone he knows if they donate to NPR and if not, why not. I always answer, "Because of my fear that ONE FUCKING RED CENT might end up in Diane Rehms pocket. It's not that I disagree with her points of view--I don't even know what they are. But it's radio, dammit, and she has the most user-unfriendly voice I have ever heard. Like a rake being dragged across a field of metallic cats.

Also, I listened in fascination one day as they hosted an on-air wine-and-cheese taste. That was good radio. 20 minutes of chewing and asking for more boursin...
posted by umberto at 10:27 PM on August 22, 2002

NPR drives me crazy because the pace is so slow.

Heh heh heh...

NPR makes me sane because the pace is so slow. Yeah, a lot of it is stupid drivel, but it is a refreshing change from the crapstorm that is NY radio. NPR and WQXR (Classical - NYC) are the only stations that I listen to. The rest of the dial pisses me off too much and lord knows, I do not need that.

Of course, as someone said above, YMMV.
posted by lampshade at 4:33 AM on August 23, 2002

NPR drives me crazy because the pace is so slow.

Ya know, I hear you all on the slow and boring thing, but I like that. I can't help it, I don't know why, I think it may have to do with the fact that I have a toddler at home, and it's a nice change of pace. I hear Elmo and Bear in the Big Blue House yelling at home, I don't want to be yelled at during my commute.

The radio station in my head blows corporate, college and NPR away brother, and if I had the time the the money and the people I'd prove it to you.

I'm scared just thinking about it. =]
posted by adampsyche at 5:18 AM on August 23, 2002

But it's radio, dammit, and she has the most user-unfriendly voice I have ever heard. Like a rake being dragged across a field of metallic cats.

It's my understanding that Diane Rehms has a degenerative disease that affects her voice. Of course, I could be totally wrong, but that's what I've been told.
posted by starvingartist at 6:28 AM on August 23, 2002

WAAF was having a field day yesterday. O&A used to devote a lot of time thrashing their former station. I never really liked either, but it was always fascinating to hear the two stations go at it. It was like some great radio soap opera. You could listen to one station, turn the dial and hear the other respond.

Oh well.. No big loss anyway. They'll be back.

I just wonder what will become of Stalker Patty?
posted by quibx at 6:47 AM on August 23, 2002

We're lucky, I guess ... we have WCLZ - kind of like NPR, but with a focus on music, not news. They started out as a truly great independent radio station, went through a bleak period when they were bought out by a national "chain" who tried to "format" them (and, I understand, their ratings plummeted), but now they're back in all their fiercely independent glory.
posted by anastasiav at 7:51 AM on August 23, 2002

Actually, Diane Rehm had a very weird bout of something -possibly psychosomatic- that made her lose her voice entirely for a while a couple of years ago. A more callous person would delineate in detail the subdued glee and furtive retunings to WAMU that occurred amongst his acquaintences in the DC area during that period. But that would be wrong.

She recovered, though (or so I've been told). Her voice has always sounded like that.
posted by umberto at 7:51 AM on August 23, 2002

XM Radio will kill them all.

xm radio will also kill 802.11b...
posted by boogah at 12:57 PM on August 23, 2002

XM: pay for commercials delivered by ground stations. And for true coast-to-coast homogeneity.

Yeah, just try and hold me back.
posted by NortonDC at 1:35 PM on August 23, 2002

I always hated static in my commercials. With satellite radio they will be crystal-clear!
posted by ac at 8:05 AM on August 24, 2002