If you put a high school basketball player in the NBA, it'd be tragic. That's what Opie is.

"If it wasn't for Opie, Anthony would still be a tin-knocker."

Even if this is true (which it probably isn't), Anthony would still be a tin-knocker with professional level talent. Opie, without Anthony, would probably have a slightly better career than Scorch... he'd be a morning show board-op that moved from small market to small market every 2 years.

"Without Opie, the show is a mess. They need someone to steer the ship!"

Even if this is true (the Nopie shows are generally great), nobody is saying that the show should be ONLY Anthony and Jim. Opie, a high school level talent, should be replaced with an actual professional level talent who can steer the ship correctly, such as Ron.

"Opie can be funny."

In an average group of guy-friends, he wouldn't be considered funny. On top of that, he wouldn't be considered interesting, smart, or cool on any level. At best, he'd be considered a net zero.

"Opie seems like a nice guy behind the scenes."

Opie's a piece of shit. When he senses that he has power over people (Bobo, Lady Di, Vos, interns, Homeless People, etc.), he treats them like absolute garbage. If the person is cooler or more powerful than him, he worships everything they say and do. This is the sign of an asshole.

"Stop complaining. If you don't like it, stop listening."

I'm not an internet comment hater. This is probably the first negative-style internet post I've ever done -- I normally just read comments. But when you listen to a show like O&A for hours a day, it's impossible to not notice the elephant in the room that is Opie.

The worst part of the show is that everyone gets torn apart mercilessly, yet nobody is allowed to go after Opie. It's embarrassing. Nobody tears Opie apart for two reasons: (1) Opie takes himself very seriously and has no ability to take a punch, and (2) everybody knows in their heart Opie sucks, so making fun of him could get too vicious too fast.

If Opie knew his role, wasn't so insecure, accepted he wasn't funny, and could take criticism, his lack of talent might work. But he can't do any of these things.

One last point on this diatribe... The worst thing Opie does is sit back like he's comedy expert of the year and critique everyone's jokes and performances on the show. Nothing kills the mood more than to hear Opie say shit like: "let it be known, Colin is killing right now."