- Forum Clout
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I’m not talking about their fame here. I’m talking about their shows. I’ve been thinking a lot about O&A and what makes them so good, especially in comparison to the only real competitor they had- Stern. Here’s a bunch of useless rambling:
1.) Guests. O&A, at first, weren’t interested in getting A listers in for interviews wether it was revealing ones or just to mock them. Eventually, maybe after the merger, they became more interested in these serious interviews with big celebrities, but being in the same building as Stern (plus the blocking of guests) made it so O&A would get the shitlisters. My point is this: The lower access to guests made it so O&A had no choice but to have the revolving table of Bobby, Colin, Vos, Patrice, etc. While others may see that as a handicap for the show its what made it so great. Where else were you gonna hear those guys being funny? O&A elevated the comics and the comics elevated the show. Period. Sniff.
2.) The “Weirdness”. I’ve talked before about how O&A imitated Stern, even if they weren’t consciously aware of it. However, anything they did that emulated Stern was even weirder than whatever he would have done. Cocktober became the Gay Off, except the Gay Off was about getting desperate straight dudes to do gay things for money, not oogling at cocks. Stern would have butt bongos and strippers ride the sybian to produce softcore porn. O&A were getting strippers in to shoot darts of their pussy and see how far a whifflebat would go, not to be sexy but to humiliate and create a freakshow. The biggest aspect of this was the wackpackers. The Stern retards were tame in comparison to what O&A got. The same way Stern got the prime comedians he got the relatively competent retards. The illusion of the whackpack is that they were chosen for “not realizing why they were funny.” With O&A’s whackpack there was no illusion: They were freakshow retards. Lady Di, Bobo, and Big A were more fucked up mentally and in their personal lives than someone like Iron Sheik, Riley Martin, Hank the Dwarf, etc.
3.) Lack of show preparation. The Stern Show, even in it’s prime, always felt like a production. You were very conscious you were watching/listening to a show which, while the content might not be “professional,” it is certainly produced professionally. Say what you want about Bababooey being a retard, he can produce a radio show. O&A never had this. Not only would little to no preparation go into the show, which created more of a laid back impromptu show atmosphere, they never had competent producers or anything that made the show feel professional. Rick Delgado, Ben Sparks, Steve C, and Sam were all incompetent retards who didn’t know fuck all about making a show a show and were more notable for being insane on / off air personalities.
4.) Taking shit on the chin. The other thing I notice about Stern shows is that it’s hosts essentially create an environment for everyone around them to be mocked, and the most the mocking would stretch to is Robin, Artie, Fred, Jackie…but of course, never Howard. O&A were thin skinned faggots, yes. But they at least gave the face that they were ok with being made fun of. All of them were self deprecating and there is hours upon hours of the hosts getting shit on by comics and vise versa. Once again, it felt like a haaaang rather than a show, maaaaan.
5.) I lost my energy typing this.
1.) Guests. O&A, at first, weren’t interested in getting A listers in for interviews wether it was revealing ones or just to mock them. Eventually, maybe after the merger, they became more interested in these serious interviews with big celebrities, but being in the same building as Stern (plus the blocking of guests) made it so O&A would get the shitlisters. My point is this: The lower access to guests made it so O&A had no choice but to have the revolving table of Bobby, Colin, Vos, Patrice, etc. While others may see that as a handicap for the show its what made it so great. Where else were you gonna hear those guys being funny? O&A elevated the comics and the comics elevated the show. Period. Sniff.
2.) The “Weirdness”. I’ve talked before about how O&A imitated Stern, even if they weren’t consciously aware of it. However, anything they did that emulated Stern was even weirder than whatever he would have done. Cocktober became the Gay Off, except the Gay Off was about getting desperate straight dudes to do gay things for money, not oogling at cocks. Stern would have butt bongos and strippers ride the sybian to produce softcore porn. O&A were getting strippers in to shoot darts of their pussy and see how far a whifflebat would go, not to be sexy but to humiliate and create a freakshow. The biggest aspect of this was the wackpackers. The Stern retards were tame in comparison to what O&A got. The same way Stern got the prime comedians he got the relatively competent retards. The illusion of the whackpack is that they were chosen for “not realizing why they were funny.” With O&A’s whackpack there was no illusion: They were freakshow retards. Lady Di, Bobo, and Big A were more fucked up mentally and in their personal lives than someone like Iron Sheik, Riley Martin, Hank the Dwarf, etc.
3.) Lack of show preparation. The Stern Show, even in it’s prime, always felt like a production. You were very conscious you were watching/listening to a show which, while the content might not be “professional,” it is certainly produced professionally. Say what you want about Bababooey being a retard, he can produce a radio show. O&A never had this. Not only would little to no preparation go into the show, which created more of a laid back impromptu show atmosphere, they never had competent producers or anything that made the show feel professional. Rick Delgado, Ben Sparks, Steve C, and Sam were all incompetent retards who didn’t know fuck all about making a show a show and were more notable for being insane on / off air personalities.
4.) Taking shit on the chin. The other thing I notice about Stern shows is that it’s hosts essentially create an environment for everyone around them to be mocked, and the most the mocking would stretch to is Robin, Artie, Fred, Jackie…but of course, never Howard. O&A were thin skinned faggots, yes. But they at least gave the face that they were ok with being made fun of. All of them were self deprecating and there is hours upon hours of the hosts getting shit on by comics and vise versa. Once again, it felt like a haaaang rather than a show, maaaaan.
5.) I lost my energy typing this.
) on it. I think O&A, as hosts, were much funnier. But Howards show and the antics on it were funnier. A single Beetlejuice appearance beats out ALL Bobo appearances combined. Artie as a third mic was funnier than any third mic on O&A. But anything Howard said that was funny was written by Jackie. Anything funny that Anthony or Opie said was from their own mind.
