A long-winded, boring dissertation on the foibles of Opie
8 2015-12-02 by [deleted]
For anyone who's interested (...anyone?), here's what I think is the crux of the problem with Opie.
I was surprised by the fight on air today because I found myself agreeing with Opie's side of things way more than I thought possible. He talks a good rap at times. But if you look at his actions, it tells a different story that's hard to reconcile with his side of the argument.
Opie explained today that the reason the show fell apart was that in recent years Jimmy and Ant were being really funny on air and he didn't know how he fit into that equation. To give him credit, I think this is an accurate and honest assessment and one that I'm sure people here agree with. Opie didn't belong on the show anymore. He wants to do something more generic, it seems, which is fine. That's his prerogative. And to give him a bit more credit, it sounds like a difficult situation to be in, watching the show you created have no place for you anymore.
Here's the part I have a problem with. Rather than act like a mature adult and address that issue, perhaps by pointing it out to the people he worked with, something along the lines of, "Hey guys, you're hilarious on the show, but I'm not really funny enough to keep up. I'm not a comic. How about we figure out a way to tweak the show so I can more of a place, too?" He just brought the show down instead.
He pouted like a child. Like Jimmy said, he makes the people around him feel uncomfortable and he gets passive-aggressive and shitty with anyone who even begins to challenge anything he says or does. He didn't work on becoming funnier. He didn't look at himself as the leader of a show positioned to impact some positive change and "steer the ship" (yuck) in a better direction. Instead, he just kept trudging forward on air, interjecting when it wasn't called for or changing the subject as an excuse to give himself a purpose, talking over people to reiterate the very point they were making, and just generally being a nuisance, something he's done for many years, by the way, not just within the last few years, like he says. Go listen to some Patrice clips. There are countless times when Patrice was stopped dead in his tracks by Opie going to the phones or some other such nonsense.
He made everything all about him, and who cares if the content suffers? He had to protect that fragile ego. I don't know what the psychological diagnosis for Opie is (I would say BPD) and I don't really care. He's an adult, and he should have fucking better known better. I've spent a lot of time around people who brow beat and gaslight those around them so as to manipulate the situation to their advantage, all the while forgiving their own behavior and rationalizing everything away. It's fucking bullshit. Own up, Opie. Be a man and admit you have serious work to do in therapy for about 20 years before you can even begin to point the finger at someone else.
So, back to the original problem: Jimmy and Ant were being too funny. Let's "break that down," to borrow a phrase. The hosts of a funny show were being too funny. That's Opie's argument. That bears repeating:
The hosts of a funny show were being too funny.
So Opie's plan, apparently, was to make the show not funny anymore so it would be more his speed. And that's what's happening. Ant is gone and Jimmy says he's leaving next year, too. Congratulations, Opie. You did it. You kept your show and lost your audience.
9 comments
5 BeerCanThick 2015-12-02
My read is basically yours. 1994 to 2005 or so, it really was more of Opie's show, with the news and the freaks and shitting on bad guests, the more elaborate bits and stunts, a bigger focus on production and sound effects and things like that. However, from 2006 to 2011 or so, the show's dynamic was going more and more away from that and Opie wasn't contributing a lot. He was a big time driving force of the show for a decade...
Then the show's dynamic centers around the developed chemistry and rapport between Ant, Jimmy and their friends. Opie gets considered "the unfunny guy" much more in this new show style. He doesn't quite get the new dynamic so he is the "bit killer" and he tries to assert his importance in this uncomfortable new scenario and gets blasted as a flow wrecker. He's feeling really awkward and insecure so he can't really fuck around light heartedly and take a ball busting. It's all in his head. "I don't belong here." So it got super defensive. You wanna make this real, right? To him, it was!
Right as he just gets to stew in that new dynamic, he gets engaged and married and has kids. The professional and social dynamic of the show, as far as Opie is concerned, is intolerable. This is why 2009 Grape Fight ultimately happened, this is partially Opie's rationalization for ditching Ant, this is why today's fight was just 3 or 4 Grape Fights smushed together.
3 takyon_deathyon 2015-12-02
It's all bullshit to excuse his absurd behavior.
The same guy that "really wanted to try something new" was playing old O&A Best Of's for months after Ant's firing.
3 PeckaSucka 2015-12-02
He tells Jimmy today something along the lines of "If you don't like it here then why don't you leave?" Why couldn't Opie of done that 10 fucking years ago when he actually had "somewhere to go"
1 takyon_deathyon 2015-12-02
It's just him being a fucking mean girl, seriously.
He says, "Just leave if you don't like it here"
Jim says, "I do like it here, that's not the point."
Fag says, "Well if you like it here then whats the problem? You can always just leave."
It's textbook cunt behavior.
2 TheAmazingPearl 2015-12-02
2 shemthepen 2015-12-02
Yes, this is correct. What's crazier is that Opie was actually tolerable as the third wheel/background guy. I've been a listener since WNEW and 2013 was a great year, the show was loose and fun and right in tune with what I wanted to hear. Just bullshitting on current events or videos, often stumbling into some hilarious stuff (Happy Days, Serch, etc). Opie was at his worst during the 'virus spreading' era when he thought he was a big time radio guy. You can even hear in this Jimmy fight how he thinks in terms of 'good radio' whereas the funniest parts of the show were them not giving a fuck about that. Going over the line of what's acceptable - like Uncle Paul going way too far, Patrice shitting all over a guest. That's the show. Go back and listen to recent stuff or the 2014 Todd Show beatings, that gives the lie to Opie's premise that the show was over. It wasn't, and to be honest he wasn't that bad in his reduced role. He was actually funny in the 90 Day Fiance stuff, the phone call to Pao and the gay gay, etc.
Honestly I've wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's always been an asshole and a baby. But he's gotten so delusional, he was lobbing shit at Jim today just to hurt him. "I would tell you, but I don't trust you." The fuck? Or: "Let's just end the show now." Same as the fight with Anthony. Get Jimmy out of there and on TACS already.
2 Scorpy81 2015-12-02
I kept thinking the same as you while he said that. He doesn't see anything wrong with saying the words, "I saw you guys riffing and laughing and being funny, and I knew the show was over." How does he not know that's an insane thing to say?
2 throwawaymanthrows 2015-12-02
I think you nailed it.
-1 gsbird1065 2015-12-02
What blatant idiocy.