Because he had Ant

Came to say this. So, this.

Because anyone who attacked Opie during the O&A days "was attacking the show' or 'trying to divide and conquer'. With Anthony gone and Jimmy being a 'made' man, Opie cathes all the deserved flack

Yeah he would throw such a hissy fit every time and ant and jimmy were too big of pussys.

The Opie hate has been around for years (probably over a decade at this point). I'm glad that newer listeners can see how terrible he is now that he's alone, but go back and listen to classic O&A shows and you'll realize he's always been awful. Hell, the guy could ruin Patrice bits. Fucking Patrice bits!

ME:We got to move on

To want to understand the Opie story is to view the O&A show in the context of the times. Believe it or not, but in the context of the Shock Jock 90s/00s era he was a good asset to have. He basically came across as a younger, more aggressive, more shocking version of Stern. For that time period, he was really good at his job.

The problem is that he neither anticipated nor adjusted to the abrupt end of the shock jock era. A combination of the internet, plus, ironically, stricter FCC regulations that O&A helped bring about, put the final nails in the coffin of the shock jock era and he apparently didn't see the writing on the wall. Jimmy and Ant had their natural comedic ability to fall back on, but he didn't. If he was smarter, he would have carved out a niche for himself and stuck to it.

For a while, specifically during the XM years, he kind of just existed as a fringe facilitator who would flare up in shock jock moments. It was during this time that the very best moments in O&A history occurred, which gave him a pass simply for not getting in the way of greatness. These moments happened so often really, that it overshadowed anything and everything Opie did in studio. In truth, Opie really only became intolerable when he started trying to expand his role. This was, in my opinion and based upon circumstancial evidence at best, caused probably by prodding from his wife. From this point on, everything basically unravelled at light speed and Opie was exposed for the desperate hack he probably always was deep down, but had largely been able to repress previously.

Damn, man. Perfectly said. The Opester is a man without a home.

He has Jimmy and Ant to thank for that. I think a lot of listeners, over the years, learned to tune him out. Kinda the way you do a nagging spouse or ADHD kid. When he would say something you could just grit your teeth for a few seconds knowing someone funny would take over. Now it's a full on teeth grind, lookin like a fuckin meth head

I used to think Opie got unfairly treated. I thought "of course anyone who is doing radio next to these comedy greats is going to come off as boring/uninteresting/unfunny. On his own or without Ant, I'm sure he wouldn't seem as bad."

Oh, how wrong I was.

Opies response.

I think it's analogous to George Lucas. Here's a guy who created something that was nearly universally acknowledged as straight up dope. Most the fans assumed that since he created this thing we all love he must be talented or at least add some value.

Then the prequels came out and the fans began to suspect that maybe Lucas just had talent around him. However as time has gone on it appears that Star Wars succeeded despite Lucas, not because of him.

We all saw what Lucas did when left to his own devices, and likewise we are now witnessing what an unfettered Opie can do. Not much unfortunately.

Opie is the George Lucas of radio.

how the fuck did you manage to make satan uncool?

Super edgy, yet kills no one in the bible. Sounds accurate.

More like Judas giving up his friend for thirty pieces of silver. Then hangs himself for realizing how much of a dick move it was.

Betraying our lord and saviour Jesus was a real "dick move". Even mary magdeline was like "not cool bro"

[Imgur](http://i.imgur.com/DwaxLPx.jpg?1

Because the show was good

I knew deep down that Opie stunk, but I think I defended him out of some weird effort to protect a show that I liked. Even with Opie being such a comedic anchor, I still felt like O&A splitting up would risk losing the brand that kept the show afloat.

I suppose I was right in that the split did ruin both shows, though it is mostly due to Opie getting Jimmy in the divorce (something I never anticipated).

That's implying that Opie actually did something positive for the show.

The same reason Danny got a pass, "friend of ours".

Those of us who go back to the WNEW days might remember there was a groundswell of Opie hatred on the message boards back in 01-02. But everyone rallied around the boys after the firing, and the venom subsided.

So were the criticisms back then pretty much the same as they are now? Or has Opie's shit factor evolved?

The "ship steering" defense has held up for years, but there's been a vocal amount of people who have noticed Opies shit for years. But you accepted it because the show was entertaining with Ant.

Anyone who remembers the show before Jimmy Norton officially became apart of it will probably understand better. This is blasphemy to some fans, but the Opie and Anthony were pretty 'morning zooish' and cheesy before Jimmy.

Go to Youtube and listen to Jim's first appearance on the O&A show. They're both cracking up at everything he's saying, but you can tell that they're also kind of offended. Not offended in the PC 'OMG you can't say that!' kind of way, more like 'Holy shit, did he really just say that??' kind of way.

That's not true. You are only listening to a few Youtube clips.

Not to the same degree as today. There was an overall level of douchiness, redundancy and show-stopping that irked listeners. You have to understand they were only on WNEW for 4-5 years at that point.

He never did get a pass. He was always hated but the hatred skyrocketed after Ant got fired because it was all about ME ME ME. ATTENTION WHORE.

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He just created the show.

To anyone who is a newer listener, we dont hate Opie because he isnt funny. He was never funny, but played an important role. He called everyone out, media and in house that acted like a fake morning radio guy. His hypocrisy is why he is hated. Every popular, old school jock he mocked relentlessly. He is everything he hated now. The dude has no self deprecating humor or awareness

ME:We got to move on