Opie and Anthony: Encyclopedia II - Opie and Anthony - About the show

Opie and Anthony - About the show

Opie and Anthony's cringe style of entertainment has received support from listeners. Their style has also earned them the sobriquet of "shock jocks". Opie, Anthony, and Jim Norton broadcast for four hours every weekday morning, taking virtually no breaks. The show has few limits, as the show covers a wide array of topics and always displays spontaneity. The show is very interactive, as the Opie and Anthony fans, appropriately nicknamed "Pests", go to extreme lengths to promote the show in a grassroots effort. Friends and regular guests on the show include Adam Ferrara, Bill Burr, Patrice O'Neal, Brian Regan, Robert Kelly, and Rich Vos, all of whom have replaced Jim Norton when Norton has left New York for various reasons related to his stand-up and acting. Other frequent guests include Colin Quinn, Stephen Lynch, and Jay Mohr. On the show, Anthony is known for his impressions of people such as Andrew Dice Clay, Tom Brokaw, Ronald Reagan, Mike Tyson, Tony Danza, Christopher Reeve, Robert Reed, Regis Philbin, Don Imus, and Howard Stern. O&A's style and jokes target the males in the 18-35 age range, although they have broken both constraints and have taken over in markets when syndicated.

The pair signed a contract with XM on August 3, 2004 and started broadcasting October 4 of the same year on "High Voltage" channel 202, at a premium cost of $1.99 a month. In April 2005, "High Voltage" became part of the basic XM subscription. XM has been mysteriously quiet on the exact number of people who had paid the premium. Opie offered a vague number during an interview with the Long Island Press in 2006: "We went from having a show that was syndicated in 17 major markets to having a few thousand listeners."

Their move to XM Satellite Radio took place over two years after their previous show had been cancelled (see below), and they had remained off-the-air during that time as Infinity Broadcasting, their previous employer, held them to their contract as well as their non-compete clause. On XM Satellite Radio, O&A are no longer bound by FCC regulations regarding language and content, thus politically incorrect humor is common on their show.

In November 2005, DirecTV began carrying much of XM's channel lineup, including O&A's "High Voltage", making the show available to the satellite television provider's fifteen million subscribers. "High Voltage" can be found on DirecTV channel 879.

Controversy rages among the listeners regarding the quality of the show after the switch to satellite. Some feel the switch to mornings has cut a certain free-wheeling dymanic that made the afternoon show "more gooder".

On January 9, 2006 'war' was officially declared by the boys. The show was opened with a live feed of rival Howard Stern's first show on Sirius Satellite Radio. To many fans, this is considered the final showdown between the two as they duke it out in the realm of satellite radio.

Opie and Anthony - Staff

• Ben Sparks, Executive Producer — (Has been commonly referred to as Ben the Fag, Herky Jerky Ben, Hurricane Ben, and Big-Doodies Ben, as well as other lesser-used names) - Executive Producer of the show whose duties have been known to include timing out commercial breaks, highlighting text on a computer screen, then unhighlighting it, and booking guests. Known for "herky-ing and jerky-ing" around the studio, "doing coke with Tom Brady," a large amount of connections in Boston, and his hair, which has been said to look like "a car bomb went off in it." Ben has a large bulge in his pants, which Opie, Anthony and Jimmy think is either a huge penis or a huge scrotum. "Ben's hog" jokes are quite frequent. Was a member of the sales staff at WNEW when he first became a member of the show. He left a bar with a transvestite whom he thought was a woman, earning him his first alias.
• Steve Carlesi, Associate Producer, Announcer, and Webmaster — (Has been referred to as Steve C, Steve the Bear, FoundrySteve, MartiniSteve, HybridSteve, as well as other lesser-used names) - Another producer who makes production pieces for the show, and voices station identification for High Voltage. Also runs FoundryMusic. Known and often mocked for his exceptional diction. Underwent gastric bypass surgery and has lost considerable weight. Married in August 2002 - a marriage which O&A regularly joke about, saying it is falling apart as a result of the antics on the show involving women. Steve was known for drinking a martini, and was preceded by an Austin Powers jingle before entering the studio. Later on, he was made fun of for his "atrocious" flame wear (which is to say, all of his clothing had a flame or fire on it in some way.) Following that, he has recently purchased a hybrid car, and enters the studio to the car noise from The Jetsons.
• Erik Nagel, Assistant Producer — (Has been commonly referred to as Sexbagel, E-Rock, and Hawk) he is frequently the butt of jokes whenever he is involved in a discussion or is in the studio in any way. His breath supposedly "smells like the diaper of a cancer patient." He's also a big fan of mayonnaise.
• Nathaniel Bryan, Assistant Producer — Joined the show as an intern when it resumed airing in October 2004 who was hired full-time in May 2005. Than prefers to use dry wit and sarcasm for humor. Than also scored the most famous Assault on the Media in May 2005 by appearing behind Arthur Chi'en.
• Travis, Assistant Producer — Another former intern-turned-staff member. Travis is a "young go-getter" to the boys, but doesn't take many chances.
• Danny, Assistant Producer — (Also known as FoundryMusicDanny) Former intern once again. Danny originally started as a writer for Foundry Music and Steve brought him on board as an intern. He now occasionally contributes to the show.
• Derek, Assistant Producer — Yet another former intern that was hired by the show. Derek doesn't appear on the show as much, as he is usually finding and playing music/soundbytes for the show. Derek came up with E-Rock's walk on music.
• Master Po, Security Coordinator — The head of security for the show, employed by XM to protect Opie and Anthony from intentional harm, a task previously and unofficially given part-time to MartiniSteve, Club Soda Kenny, Keith the Cop, and Billy Mac, all of whom are members of the law enforcement community (except for Steve). Po is the first official safety and security personnel the show has had. Po has over thirty-five years experience in martial arts. He has won several awards from the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame, including Instructor of the Year, Man of the Year, and the Lifetime Achievement award[3][4]. Po borrowed his moniker from a character in the David Carradine series, "Kung Fu". Po has a weak sense of humor, and can often be seen gobbling down free food that listeners bring in to the Ron and Fez show.

Opie and Anthony - Friends of the Show

• Pat from Moonachie (Patrick Philbin) — A 46-year old, 300-pound self-employed courier with 9 toes (due to diabetes), who became a friend after winning their first annual Egg Nog Drinking Contest by downing 70 double shots of egg nog and throwing it up. He is now a competitive eater, and was a competitor in Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
• "No Filter Paul" Field — A 32-year old British expatriate, who has no "internal decency filter".
• Denise Field — Paul's wife. She's known for having performed oral sex on random men, often of African-American descent, in bathrooms, and having large breasts.
• Stalker Patti — A 50-year old virgin. She also appeared on the Maury show in November 2005.
• Sandy Kane — A 62-year old burlesque dancer. Her claim to fame is a genital wart that is referred to by O&A as "Twatto" (due to its resemblance to Total Recall's Quato).
• Big A (Andrew) — A very tall, very overweight Bronx cab driver with a speech impediment, bad teeth, and supposed horrid smelling breath.
• G. Yogurt Liddy — Not a real person like the others, but an actual yogurt lid from Jim Norton's daily yogurt cup. Originally was made to impersonate (at the time) newly added XM personality G. Gordon Liddy, has since been used as little more then an awful pun-using puppet, and occasionally used to knock Howard Stern's "I invented everything" claims. It's been a while since we've heard from Liddy.
• Lady Di and Marian (AKA the Retarded Laverne and Shirley) — Avid fans of the show who call in frequently. Best friends since high school, they have some of their own sayings that make sense to nobody else ("Ying yang party!").
• Wheelchair Fred — A motorcycle accident victim who lost the use of his legs and needs a wheelchair. He came to the O&A show when they were on WAAF in Boston and has made subsequent appearances since O&A joined XM, including, most notably, a solo self-penetration performance using a simulated organ in the bathtub.
• Steve from Yellowstone — AKA Ben from Boston, Danny from W-Town, Jimmy from New Jersey, etc. Fake characters that are voiced by comedian Jim Norton. When a bad guest is on the phone, Jim Norton gets on a cell phone and calls the show from another room, doing an impression of their producers Steve C. or Ben Sparks and then insults them in the manner of a "Ramone" promo.
• Tippy Tom - A homeless man from the NYC streets. Tippy Tom is a drunk homosexual, who reported once he had AIDS, but has since retracted that statement. O&A once had him showered, given fresh clothes, a fresh haircut, and a shave. He then proceeded to be, more or less, a normal person for that day. As of the XM show, he's still homeless, he is "AIDS free" and has introduced Grey Wolf to the show.
• Grey Wolf - Grey Wolf has taken off for his very popular improvisational song "Shelter Me" where he came up with a very emotional song about Tippy Tom's life on the spot. Combined with Dru Boogie's background music, the song has received moderate success, even receiving play on XM's Blues Channel and leaving fans demanding a longer, complete version. As of now, there is no complete studio version because, according to Dru Boogie, he has trouble hitting his notes.
• Louis "Twitchels" Centanni - A comic who has Tourette's Syndrome. Nicknamed "Twitchels" by Nicole Richie. Often paired with Big A to conduct weekly news reviews on the show.
• Gangsta Fag - Known originally as Twisted G, Joe Rogan's friend discovered this hardcore gay rapper at a gay pride parade, and brought the CD into the show. His music enjoyed airplay as listeners tried to comprehend how over-the-top the guy was. Eventually, Gangsta Fag himself called in to the show, and still calls in every now and then. He has since started a website at GangstaFag.com.

• Eric Logan — Vice President of Programming for XM Satellite Radio. Referred to as "E-Lo," O&A and listeners love Logan and vice versa. E-Lo often stops by the studio or calls in for a "Location Check." E-Lo gives previews or discusses the big things coming to XM and often gets hung up on while he is in mid-sentence. Recently appeared on the Donald Trump reality show "The Apprentice".
• Bruce Kelly — Former XM 80's Morning Show DJ. He, like Eric Logan, frequently tries to befriend O&A, but simply gets hung up on. He left the company in October 2005 due to 'family problems'. To celebrate his career with XM, the boys played a song, interset with sound bites from Kelly's various call-ins on the show. Bruce has since left XM Satellite Radio to care for his ailing father.
• The Broadminded Girls — Broadminded is a show on XM155 Take Five. The hosts have appeared on the show and plan to do so again. One of the hosts has repeatedly expressed interest in Jim Norton.
• Rob Dibble — Rob hosts "The Show" with Kevin Kennedy on XM175 MLB Home Plate in afternoon drive. Rob will call the show from time to time.
• Dee Dee Grucclski — Dee Dee does traffic for cities like Chicago on XM. She used to be the voice of Cricket on XM Kids, but the management decided she shouldn't be on both Opie and Anthony and XM Kids, claiming it felt like "a Pee Wee Herman situation." Dee Dee is known for having sex with her UPS delivery guy, and marrying a counterfeiter.

• Dragon Wagon — A fake "enemy". He is a fan of the show that wanted attention so he called in acting like O&A were the devils. Then he accused O&A of being Howard rip-offs. This Dragon Wagon just turned out to be a fan who wanted attention. He was on for a few days and never heard from again.
• Joe Shareholder - A caller and XM investor who repeatedly tried to get on Opie and Anthony's nerves by saying they hurt the stock prices by saying XM would have 5 million by Labor Day. After a few attempts to get recognized, Joe no longer calls the show.
• Dru Boogie - An extremely talented mix artist that has contributed to the show since the WNEW days. Appears more often on the XM show now, doing live mixes, typically before O&A go on a vacation and occasionally on Fridays throughout the year. In addition to creating mixes, took the audio of homeless man Grey Wolf (see below) and made it into a song, "Shelter Me."
• Dugout Doug - Self-appointed general of the O&A Army. He gets into the attacks more than others and helps coordinate them.
• Big ASS Member - Another "general." Unlike Doug, who is out for blood, BAM is more strategic.
• Boston Strangler - Boston Strangler heavily participated during the Assault on the Media days, recently has not appeared much on the show, but often travels to NYC for major events concerning the show..
• BuffaloPaul - BuffaloPaul also heavily participated during the Assault on the Media days, but since then has not appeared much.

• Colin Quinn
• Bill Burr
• Adam Ferrara
• Patrice O'Neal
• Rich Vos
• Robert Kelly
• Stephen Lynch
• Brian Regan
• Jim Gaffigan
• Jay Mohr
• Joe Rogan
• Richard Cheese
• Sean Hannity
• Maury Povich
• Denis Leary
• Greg Proops
• Ralphie May
• Otto and George
• Keith Robinson
• Carlos Mencia
• Frank Caliendo

Opie and Anthony - Recurring bits of the show

Since returning to the airwaves on XM Satellite Radio, there have been many recurring bits of the show, some original and others continued from the days at WNEW-FM.

O&A invented this promotional technique in May 1995. WOW was written on many bumper stickers and they encouraged all women to flash any person who had a WOW sticker. The promotional technique began on WAAF-FM in Boston and reached the point where an astonishing number of trucks in Massachusetts had either a WOW sticker or WOW written on the bumper. The bit has continued to grow since then and now spans across the country, since O&A now host a national program. There are "WOW Sticker Stops" at many locations throughout the country where WOW stickers are given away. They are also given at many Opie and Anthony events and can be ordered on their official website. However, due to popular demand, many requests from the website have gone unfulfilled. O&A have therefore said that the best way to get WOW stickers is to send a self addressed stamped envelope to their studios in New York. Howard Stern alleges this is yet another one of his innovations from his Washington D.C. days where he suggested guys tie bandanas around their car antennas so girls would, as he said "get naked" followed by remarking "Tell 'em Fred", which has led to the subsequent over-usage of the familiar show term "Tell 'em Fred, hoo hoo hoo." To date, O&A have laughed it off and Stern has been unable to provide proof of this claim.

A term used to describe the O&A's desire to save roughly five shows from commercial radio and invite them to make the move to XM. In July 2005, O&A announced that their friends Ron and Fez would be joining them on XM. Ron and Fez followed O&A on WNEW-FM, and in September 2005 they debuted in the 11-2 PM EST timeslot. O&A play audio on occasion from other radio shows who have submitted their audio to be considered for a Golden Ticket. Unfortunately, this plan was contingent upon four of the shows being placed on a different talk channel (O&A and R&F are on 202, while the other shows would wind up on a retooled "Extreme Talk" station on 152), and when O&A were told that sufficient shows had been selected by XM higher-ups for channel 152, they dropped the idea of recruiting other shows. In December 2005 Opie announced there will be no more golden tickets, and the concept has not been mentioned since.

O&A frequently discuss their hatred for the fear-mongering media. They always cite the news teases as an example. They often play news tease audio that reveals no real information, only frightens viewers, such as, "A popular car could be extremely likely to crash, we'll tell you which vehicle has many worried at 11." One of the most insane news teases they found was, "One city wants to pack all of its sex offenders into one neighborhood. Problem is, it could be right next to your house."

An outgrowth of Opie and Anthony's response to the fear-mongering mentality discussed above, the goal of the AOTM campaign was to promote the show during live news shots while making reporters look somewhat ridiculous. O&A encouraged their fans to intervene in live news shots outdoors, either by displaying an O&A poster or jumping up and down, shouting something to the effect of "Opie and Anthony! XM Satellite Radio!"

The AOTM campaign "unofficially" began in the summer of 2000 when a young woman was kind enough to flash the camera live on NBC's Today Show for Opie and Anthony. Over time, more and more fans were able to insert themselves into live-shots, and in July 2005, O&A officially began an AOTM Contest. Every month, they would provide prizes for the best Assault on the Media.

On May 19, 2005, WCBS-TV reporter Arthur Chi'en was doing a remote when O&A intern Nathaniel Bryant approached his broadcast and held up a poster for the show. Bryant and another man, who was later identified as Crazy Cabbie[5], made gestures towards the camera and repeated the show's name. When Chi'en finished his introduction, he promptly turned around and loudly asked Bryant, "What the fuck is your problem, man?" Chi'en may have thought that his director at the station had already cut him off and had started playing his recorded report, but this was not the case, and the audio went out live over the air. Chi'en apologized following the report, but was fired by the station later that day[6], as WCBS-TV has a zero-tolerance policy for obscenity. The sentence that got Chi'en fired became a popular saying on the show, and is repeated frequently, usually with a juvenile emphasis on the word "man." Chi'en resurfaced on WPIX-TV in August 2005 and remained a field reporter[7].

On the morning of December 6, 2005, a fan apparently went too far. Attempting an AOTM, an O&A fan sounded an air horn during an NYC TV station's live news remote in New Jersey. Ocean Township police questioned the man, whom they would not identify, but no charges were filed; however the man faces a possible assault charge if the WABC-TV reporter, Anthony Johnson, suffered critical hearing damage.

Following the harassment, Acting Governor Richard J. Codey issued the following statement: "Encouraging fans to intervene in live news shots is inappropriate and dangerous. Today a fan sounded an air horn in a reporter's ear and this action may result in permanent hearing damage for the reporter who was harassed. Reporters are professionals who provide a great service to the public by delivering news. They should be treated with respect and not antagonized as part of a radio show gag. I won't tolerate anything less in our state. The person who committed this act should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I wish Mr. Johnson a speedy and healthy recovery."

Some have suggested that Codey's statement was little more than a grab for media attention (something he had been accused of multiple times in the year he served as Acting Governor of the state), because a number of sources stated that, by the time Codey gave his speech, it had already been determined that the reporter was unharmed, and that neither he nor the police intended to press charges against the fan in question.

Regardless, this incident (along with a personal request from WABC reporter Bill Evans, who is said to have feared for his safety and the safety of his family should a fan "go too far") led to O&A officially ending the AOTM contest.

The last major AOTM campaign was the December 16, 2005 'Million Pest March' during rival Howard Stern's rally to celebrate his final day on terrestrial radio. Initial estimates of "over 1,000" 'pests' (according to popular O&A bulletin boards) were reduced to less than 200 on the day of the rally. However, O and A signs dominated the landscape, and were plastered all over the parade route, even being placed inside locked subway station advertisements. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and local news teams avoided the outskirts of the crowd where most of the O&A fans were stationed (questionable).

Bringing back a popular bit from their days on WNEW, Opie and Anthony have reintroduced the Homeless Shopping Spree. Their first on XM took place on December 20, 2005 at the Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York. Ten homeless New Yorkers were bussed over from New York City and given $202 to spend in the mall. Well over 300 "pests" attended the event, despite the New York City Transit Strike that had taken effect that morning.

Monster Rain -- Jim Norton once told a story of how when he was a young boy, roughly the age of eight, he and another boy would play a game called "Monster Rain." The game involved one of them shouting, "Monster Rain!" at an unplanned time. The two boys would then run under a porch at either child's house and practice oral sex on each other.

Java Log -- Opie was backed into a corner once and was forced to share a story about his friend Jay (Note: This is not Jay Mohr but actually O & A's friend from the WAAF days, he was the 3rd member of the show back then and can be heard cracking up in the background on all the bits on the O&A CD DEMENTED WORLD). The two men gathered in Opie's apartment for wine and cheese and to watch the "Survivor" Finale. They were both clad in pajamas and robes, and lit a "Java Log" which is a log for the fireplace that, when burning, smells of a freshly brewed cup of coffee. The smoke became so bad that the fire department was called, finding the two in this very awkward-looking situation.

"Bomb the DK House" -- Opie attended SUNY Geneseo college, and while there, rushed a fraternity. As part of his hazing initiation, he was told to pick up a marshmallow in between his butt cheeks, carry it across the room, and drop it on a model of the Delta Kappa frat house. Thus, whenever a "marshmallow" somehow comes up, or some sort of hazing, this storied is quickly referenced.

"Good Luck, Bro" - Opie met Peter Jennings in New York's Central Park a few months before the ABC World News Tonight anchor died of lung cancer. Opie was walking on a park path on April 14, 2005 when he saw Jennings, who was accompanied by two other parkgoers, walking towards him. Opie did not know how to react or what to say, but he realized he was wearing a Livestrong wristband. As he crossed Jennings, Opie raised his arm, pointed at the wristband and said, "Good luck, Bro." This incident, which was recounted on the air the following day [8], was not mentioned again until Jennings died [9], at which point the show found it comical to blame his death on Opie's uninspiring attempt to comfort Jennings. In turn, the phrase became a way to mock someone who is facing a challenge, or to express the desire that someone fail when facing a challenge.

"Chester's Liver" - Anthony was discussing the old days when he and Opie used to work in Boston, in which they lived with Anthony's then-Mother-in-Law. Opie was discussing how his "Prime-Rib" was once stolen, he assumed by the mother-in-laws' dog, Chester. He tracked the dog down to the basement, where he found the dog happily munching away, and proceeded to give the dog a swift kick, which we are led to believe was square in the liver. Chester died two weeks later of unknown causes.

O&A's show features many inside jokes that a new listener may not immediately understand. [10] There are many references to films, The Shining being most referred to. More films refered to include Silence of the Lambs, Pulp Fiction, Full Metal Jacket, American Psycho, Caddyshack and The Godfather.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "About the show", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki