That gets asked by every initial listener to Opie and Anthony that I have ever heard about or met.

"You know, Ant has great stories and impersonations and seems to know a little bit about everything and is funny and interesting. Jimmy is a great compliment to Ant and has these hysterical characters. Jim's friends are great. But about that Opie guy, BeerCan. What's he do?"

I feel ashamed to admit I'd say things like "he sets the table" or "he steers the ship." Lately my explanation is that he's Lars Ulrich. He's clearly the least talented, most obnoxious member of the group but since he "started the band" and is the most vocal about it all, he became the front man. You know how as a Metallica fan you just have to ignore that every other band member is pretty talented but Lars Ulrich is a mediocre at best drummer in a genre filled with jaw dropping drummers? That's basically Opie. Just grit your teeth and focus on the rhythm guitar and bass line.

Wowowowow Opie = Lars. Holy shit this is perfect.

Good comparison but I think Lars actually had some solid contributions at least conceptually to some of metallica's better material, I don't know if the band would have evolved enough to make "and justice for all" or the "black album" without Lars obnoxious self important personality inflated by his coke addiction.

According to the Opester, he was never all in with the drug scene, makes you wonder if he should have tried that route, maybe he would have accidentally contributed something funny at some point if he had.

Kind of like Opie needs to get credit for accepting Ant and working with him well and accepting Jim and working with him...um, not as well.

:/

But its kind of like Lars did some neat drumming on ...And Justice for All but that record came out almost 30 years ago. How long can you rest on your laurels, for God's sake?

Agreed he was pretty much worthless by the early 90's, sorta like opie the destroyer becoming irrelevant soon after the shock jock era. Then they both tried to 'reinvent' themselves into something no one could relate to or enjoy.

Bravo. This is literally the best description of opie.

Thanks to Opie, I don't feel bad for Pete Best.

Thanks to Opie I don't feel bad for Gary Glitter.

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Been a listener since 1998.

Opie wasn't awful during the WNEW period, or early XM. I think this is because the show was larger than life and was driven by live stunts/challenges. (Whiffle bat challenge, cherry darts, lesbian couch, etc.) It was a frat house atmosphere, and no one cared about Opie's radio chops.

But, the show changed from live stunts/challenges to mostly talk driven around 2008. The frat house was dead. It was here that Opie's flaws were readily apparent. Before, he could blend into the background and still be likable with, "Show us your boobs!" and "Touch your balloon knot!" Now, he was forced to talk and make actual conversation - which he is not suited for. To make matters worse, he refuses to do prep work to actually know what the show may be talking about.

So, yes - new listeners would ask, "Wtf does Opie do?" and be correct. But, it's harder to be an older listener and ask, "Wtf happened to Opie?" He was a decent host on a great show - albeit 15 years ago.

Perfectly put.. But may I add, Opie back in the WNEW days was kinda like the awww shucks straight man opposite Ant's wacky guy. Pretty much steering the ship and setting up Ant to be funny. Then during the XM days Opie became angry and opinionated. Now, we all know there's nothing worse than a dumb opinionated guy spewing his moronic 4th grade opinions into a microphone stifling the hilarity of his genius radio partners.

Absolutely. Opie has zero on air value. I'm baffled that there are still those who defend him

Opie is that like that kid in the neighborhood that nobody really liked, but he had a big house and let people party there whenever.
So, yea we put up with the guy, and we don't talk shit in front of him because he might kick you out, but when we're leaving party we all call him funny nicknames.

"You will work for a while, you will be caught, you will confess, and then you will die... There is no possibility that any perceptible change will happen within our own lifetime. We are the dead." Dennis Falcone to Erick Nagel as they contemplate their fate. They knew Big Brotherman was watching. Their love was strong though. They just couldn't give a care. Still nothing could prepare them for what Op'Brien had waiting for them in room 101.

Did this whole conversation happen while you were both docking?

tips fedora

When you first became a fan, it was glaringly obvious Opie was a douche or at least; a fake.

Yup. My friend turned me on to O&A around 2007. I remember specifically telling him that Anthony was sort of smart and funny, but that I hated Opie, and felt he contributed nothing worth listening to.

I don't care what people say in hindsight. Opie & Anthony had unmatched chemistry and without each other they'd be nothing. Both of them.

To me Opie was always the broadcaster and Ant was the funny. And it worked just fine. I have zero problem with Opie in old clips or anything like that. The chemistry between O&A was the best of all time in any radio show including Hoo Hoo and Robin.

I think that was true in the early years, but in the final few years their conversations were painful if Jim wasn't there. Just my opinion, but it seemed like they had absolutely no chemistry at the end. Same goes for Jim and Opie (and holds true now).

I agree and that wasn't Ant's fault. Ant has always been the same guy, it's Opie who changed for the worse. One day he became belligerent, interrupting, angry guy.

Ant has always been the same guy? Really?

Idk for the past few years friday shows with Jim out and just O&A were some of the best.

Last great one was misunderstood song lyrics a month or so before the end.

I listened to Anthony making decent radio out of Mike Bocchetti on TACS recently. Mike Bocchetti is basically brain dead.

There's been a dozen guests on TACS that have made people say Ant MUST make them his cohost. East Side Dave's episode was incredible, and Anthony would've hired him if WRAT hadn't first. You'd think Ant and Gavin Mcinnes have been doing radio together for years. After Nick Dipaolo's second TACS appearance, he commented on his own podcast about how a show with him and Ant would be a "dangerous, necessary" show.

If it seemed like Anthony had "good chemistry" with Opie, it's now obvious that Ant is incredibly sharp and enthusiastic sitting next to anybody.

I think this is a great point. Now that they are separate and you see how much of a tooth yanking the chemistry attempts to be on O&J with whomever comes in versus how smooth Ant plays off anyone on TACS...it does make you reexamine things.

It is like Opie crowing about his "chemistry" with Bennington. Ron works with an incompetent twink, a mumbling, perverted chemical stew and a man who is either behaving like a Borderline Personality Disorder nutcase either because he is one or he deserves an Academy Award for his performance. He has chemistry with that.

Bennington and Jihadi John in the Morning would work because Bennington is that goddamn good.

The only people Opie has chemistry with are Sam, Troy and Roland. Yuck.

Don't take offense to this question sir, but is your friend 300+ pounds, rather unkept/unshaven and may or may not have driven a truck as a career choice at one point?

Wowowowow Opie = Lars. Holy shit this is perfect.

Good comparison but I think Lars actually had some solid contributions at least conceptually to some of metallica's better material, I don't know if the band would have evolved enough to make "and justice for all" or the "black album" without Lars obnoxious self important personality inflated by his coke addiction.

According to the Opester, he was never all in with the drug scene, makes you wonder if he should have tried that route, maybe he would have accidentally contributed something funny at some point if he had.

Bravo. This is literally the best description of opie.

Thanks to Opie, I don't feel bad for Pete Best.

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