RIP Toucher and Rich Show ... It was fun while it lasted

[getoffmylawn]

Let's recap:

• T&R is born on WBCN. They kill it. Move to 98.5 and continue to kill it
• Rich's wife gets sick. The Boston radio world rallies. Everyone loves Rich
• COVID and booze kill Fred's marriage. Has a breakdown on the radio and goes to rehab. Rich steps in
• Fred has another breakdown, treats Rich and others like shit, and also loses his voice. Rich steps in
• Rich finally shows he is upset by all the weight he carries
• Fred comes back. They seem to gel and it's like the days of old
• Contract time. Fred locked up long term and Rich is gone

Makes sense...

This sucks

 

[NDame616]

Let's recap:

• T&R is born on WBCN. They kill it. Move to 98.5 and continue to kill it
• Rich's wife gets sick. The Boston radio world rallies. Everyone loves Rich
• COVID and booze kill Fred's marriage. Has a breakdown on the radio and goes to rehab. Rich steps in
• Fred has another breakdown, treats Rich and others like shit, and also loses his voice. Rich steps in
• Rich finally shows he is upset by all the weight he carries
• Fred comes back. They seem to gel and it's like the days of old
• Contract time. Fred locked up long term and Rich is gone

Makes sense...

This sucks

Rich was offerred a multi year deal with a pay raise amd chose not to accept it. He wasn't forced out

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Rich was offerred a multi year deal with a pay raise amd chose not to accept it. He wasn't forced out

If the pay raise was 10%, no. If it was 1% . . .

 

[getoffmylawn]

Rich was offerred a multi year deal with a pay raise amd chose not to accept it. He wasn't forced out

Ok then. Listening now. Still sucks.

 

[sezwho]

Rich was offerred a multi year deal with a pay raise amd chose not to accept it. He wasn't forced out

Fred explicitly said management wanted him to say that, we don’t know anything about terms. Like was the raise inclusive of the employee he paid out of his own pocket? To keep the show on top

 

[NortheasternPJ]

The real tragedy here is if we lose Fart Court

 

[Riconway3155]

Man, all the rumors the last few months were true. What an awful sad ending to a show that made the last 17 years better for a lot of folks.

I blame Adolpho.

 

[JCizzle]

This is a gigantic bummer. Neither guy is going to be better off.

 

[Reardon's Beard]

This sucks. The guys brought me back to radio in a way I hadn't listened in well over a decade.

 

[sezwho]

Man, all the rumors the last few months were true. What an awful sad ending to a show that made the last 17 years better for a lot of folks.

I blame Adolpho.

Listening back to the this it’s pretty clear Fred is the hero of his autobiography. Guess we all are really.

 

[Reardon's Beard]

Exchange with my better half.

 

[sezwho]

Exchange with my better half.

View attachment 73652

No radio show made me laugh like the Feinbaum show bits. ‘Hey Paaaaaawwwwl’

 

[redsoxedmunds24]

Hardy or bust

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

No radio show made me laugh like the Feinbaum show bits. ‘Hey Paaaaaawwwwl’

On a tangential note, I was an "Armpits of America" guy. 'They cut my beard, and forced me to eat it.'

 

[Granite Sox]

Listening back to the this it’s pretty clear Fred is the hero of his autobiography. Guess we all are really.

No kidding, right? The way Rich "left" sounds dramatic, but he stuck up for and defended all who remain from Fred's bullshit. That is undeniable, and I respect him a ton for it.

I don't have a beef with how Fred presented it... it's obviously his prerogative and seemed to sincerely reflect his perspective, but Rich's exit has left his fans hanging...

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

Hardy or bust

From an improvisational standpoint, I think Keefe would be a great partner with Toucher for them to play off of each other. But if I think of Rich as the guy who put in the structure/storyline to allow Fred to freelance, then Hardy is probably the best partner going forward.

 

[Granite Sox]

Chad's update:

Rich Shertenlieb leaves ‘Toucher and Rich’ program on The Sports Hub (bostonglobe.com)

 

[8slim]

This is very sad. I didn't listen to T&R until they were well into their run at 98.5. But at a time when I had given up on sports radio they were a revelation.

With a new second chair (not Wallach) perhaps the show's sports talk might be OK, but the bits won't be anywhere close, I imagine. Seems doubtful they have someone in house who has the combination of creativity and production skills that Rich had for that.

 

[jsinger121]

Not sure Hardy would do it without a massive pay raise. Let’s not forget he works two shows. Zolak and Beetle and then goes to host a show rock show in the afternoon.

 

[ramfan]

This is at least the seventh The Sky is Falling incident with the show. Each one bumps ratings but for a shorter and shorter time frame.

so basically every one of your publicity stunt theories on this thread were wrong

 

[getoffmylawn]

No kidding, right? The way Rich "left" sounds dramatic, but he stuck up for and defended all who remain from Fred's bullshit. That is undeniable, and I respect him a ton for it.

I don't have a beef with how Fred presented it... it's obviously his prerogative and seemed to sincerely reflect his perspective, but Rich's exit has left his fans hanging...

Yeah Fred did a fine job. Forced to rate it, I'd say 8/10. However, there were undertones in his recap about how "weird" Rich is. Maybe Rich was offered a mega deal and still passed. IDK. People are strange and this is strange. It's a shakeup I wish wasn't happening.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Not sure Hardy would do it without a massive pay raise. Let’s not forget he works two shows. Zolak and Beetle and then goes to host a show rock show in the afternoon.

I'd highly suspect there's a very large difference in what Rich was getting and what Hardy is getting. I'd think there's plenty of room to give Hardy a big raise and still save significantly from Rich.

 

[ramfan]

Not sure Hardy would do it without a massive pay raise. Let’s not forget he works two shows. Zolak and Beetle and then goes to host a show rock show in the afternoon.

that doesn't make any sense, why do you think he works 2 jobs now? why do you think being the 3rd guy in a mid day show pays more than morning co host on a #1 station? why do you think he'd have to quit working the rock show if he works mornings if he's just doing it for fun?

 

[Vinho Tinto]

why do you think he'd have to quit working the rock show if he works mornings if he's just doing it for fun?

Every morning radio host I have heard talk about working morning drive has expressed how hard it is on your sleep. Most take a nap after the show so they can go to bed at a regular hour. Point being, his life would be radio if he worked a morning and afternoon slot. Not saying he could not do it, but it would leave little room for anything else.

 

[8slim]

Let's recap:

• T&R is born on WBCN. They kill it. Move to 98.5 and continue to kill it
• Rich's wife gets sick. The Boston radio world rallies. Everyone loves Rich
• COVID and booze kill Fred's marriage. Has a breakdown on the radio and goes to rehab. Rich steps in
• Fred has another breakdown, treats Rich and others like shit, and also loses his voice. Rich steps in
• Rich finally shows he is upset by all the weight he carries
• Fred comes back. They seem to gel and it's like the days of old
• Contract time. Fred locked up long term and Rich is gone

Makes sense...

This sucks

You forgot the 15 months that Rich and his family spent holed up on Nantucket so that Mary wouldn't catch COVID and die.

I'm sure there will be loads of he said/she said stories flying around in the wake of all this. But my hunch is that Rich simply had enough of the insanity. Getting up at 4am everyday is tough enough. Then immersing yourself in a lousy work environment where your company acts against you and your friend/co-host lies about you publicly really puts the cherry on top.

I can't blame Rich for having enough of that. Maybe it'll come to light that he acted "poorly" at the end here, but I kinda doubt it.

 

[sezwho]

Podcasts for first two hours are up now if anyone curious

 

[ramfan]

Every morning radio host I have heard talk about working morning drive has expressed how hard it is on your sleep. Most take a nap after the show so they can go to bed at a regular hour. Point being, his life would be radio if he worked a morning and afternoon slot. Not saying he could not do it, but it would leave little room for anything else.

that's why i said "for fun", if he got the co host on the #1 morning show, he wouldn't need to work 2 jobs if he didn't want to

 

[Billy Jo Robidoux]

I’m hoping for Toucher and Dale Arnold

 

[gammoseditor]

I hope Finn is working hard on finding out the details on this. Crazy that this is absolutely the biggest Boston radio story since Matty's ousting and he's had zilch.

Fred didn’t even know on the show yesterday. Rich hasn’t said anything. It sounds like negotiations fell apart in the last 24 hours. Chad is a reporter, not a wizard.

 

[Andy Merchant]

Weird ending to their partnership, not sure Rich knew yesterday was his last day based on how "normal" the show seemed. Hopefully Rich will share his story at some point, because Fred and the station's narrative don't exactly paint him as a sympathetic character. That doesn't square with how he carried the show during Fred's various personal issues and taking on Mike Lockhart's salary to keep him on the job.

I'll miss T&R and hope both do well with whatever comes next.

 

[Andy Merchant]

Fred didn’t even know on the show yesterday. Rich hasn’t said anything. It sounds like negotiations fell apart in the last 24 hours. Chad is a reporter, not a wizard.

Yeah, I'm sure this doesn't help:

Reached out to Rich earlier (haven't heard back -- he seems to have an issue with me these days for some reason) and Fred a bit later. Have heard some stuff (not about the show ending) but need to confirm.

Also weird hearing 98.5 playing commercials with Rich after Fred's announcement though.

 

[dirtynine]

It was a good run. Things end, and it’s not unexpected. My biggest concern, honestly, is where/how to hear classic T&R bits ever again.

I have a ton of respect for Rich. Hopefully this is what he wants.

 

[Milktoast]

Start monitoring Zillow to see if Rich's Nantucket home is up for sale

 

[Vinho Tinto]

It was a good run. Things end, and it’s not unexpected.

This is where I am at. I didn't listen as regularly as many on the board have; but credit to Fred and Rich for making it work as long as they have. Most radio shows just end. There are few Howard Stern victory laps before signing off.

Edit: Even Fred talking about how he and Rich did not have much of a personal relationship did not seem odd to me. There are many radio hosts that have later admitted they barely spoke off air. The end of O&A has been referenced in this thread. I always remember a Bill Burr quote on their show (paraphrasing): "We work in show business, not show friends".

 

[Andy Merchant]

Fred just said that Rich didn't know yesterday was his last day (none of them did).

 

[YuppieScum]

It was a good run. Things end, and it’s not unexpected. My biggest concern, honestly, is where/how to hear classic T&R bits ever again.

I have a ton of respect for Rich. Hopefully this is what he wants.

Somebody probably has all the podcast files downloaded somewhere - not sure how far back they keep the public archive up. Within about 3 years, ChatGPT will have the capability to go search all those for you with precision.

 

[yeahlunchbox]

Fred just said that Rich didn't know yesterday was his last day (none of them did).

That would make sense. Why participate in the post show meeting to discuss today's show if you weren't going to be there?

Also kind of makes the people that still want to shit on Fred look silly. If Fred was half as bad as you think Rich wouldn't have been negotiating to continue the show.

 

[8slim]

If Fred was half as bad as you think Rich wouldn't have been negotiating to continue the show.

It can be both. If Beasley offered to bank up the Brinks truck it'd be hard for anyone to say no, even if the show's environment is lousy.

 

[getoffmylawn]

And there it is. They will not don the robes and wigs and do Fart Court anymore.

Brookline 911 may be reimagined but will not look the same if it returns.

Suck.

 

[RedOctober3829]

The real tragedy here is if we lose Fart Court

We do lose it per Fred. Dammit.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

so basically every one of your publicity stunt theories on this thread were wrong

All but one were correct. The show carried on all this time when the sky didn’t fall. I’ll take my record for any of the teams I root for.

 

[The Napkin]

And there it is. They will not don the robes and wigs and do Fart Court anymore.
Brookline 911 may be reimagined but will not look the same if it returns.
Suck.

The Brookline thing seemed like kind of a microcosm of a lot of the issues to me.

They were asked about ongoing bits remaining ongoing and, paraphrashing, Fred said something about how it was a bit they both did. Rich got all the clips together and he laughed about Brookline. At one point he even admitted something about him being complacent. Yeah, no shit. And talking about how he's reinvigorated and looking forward to the new show is kind of a nice slap in Rich's face too. Anyway.

Also gotta kinda be awkward for Lockhart no? Rich pays your salary for the last year and now he's out and you're there?

 

[JCizzle]

The Brookline thing seemed like kind of a microcosm of a lot of the issues to me.

They were asked about ongoing bits remaining ongoing and, paraphrashing, Fred said something about how it was a bit they both did. Rich got all the clips together and he laughed about Brookline. At one point he even admitted something about him being complacent. Yeah, no shit. And talking about how he's reinvigorated and looking forward to the new show is kind of a nice slap in Rich's face too. Anyway.

Also gotta kinda be awkward for Lockhart no? Rich pays your salary for the last year and now he's out and you're there?

I'm sure it's awkward, but I have to imagine that Rich is happy for him to be back on a legit payroll.

 

[dirtynine]

Now we just need Rich to join a morning show in another market and we can have a sports talk-style Brady/Belichick scenario. The “Fred can’t win a Marconi without Rich” narrative is strong.

 

[joe dokes]

This is a gigantic bummer. Neither guy is going to be better off.

Rich might think he's better off not working with someone who apparently treated him like shit. (If, indeed he turned down a contract). Sometimes, the money just isn;t worth it.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

that's why i said "for fun", if he got the co host on the #1 morning show, he wouldn't need to work 2 jobs if he didn't want to

He actually works three jobs. He’s one of the DJs on Lithium on Sirius/XM.

 

[bluefenderstrat]

I’d guess Hardy is too smart to hitch himself to the Fred wagon, which has a couple of wheels off. And he’s always talked about hating the morning schedule when it’s been brought up (obliquely).

 

[vtred]

Reminds me of the day in 2008 when Francesa announced Russo was leaving the show effective immediately.

 

[Trapaholic]

Disappointing day, to say the least. Tough to lose the bits that we all know and love.

I assume that Rich did the heavy lifting for things like Fart Court, Armpits of America, et all. That is a lot of work to find the clips, edit them, do the music, and then condense it to a single segment. Fred said as much, that Rich was the ideas guy.

 

[NDame616]

I’d guess Hardy is too smart to hitch himself to the Fred wagon, which has a couple of wheels off. And he’s always talked about hating the morning schedule when it’s been brought up (obliquely).

as opposed to being the third wheel of a show who's cohost is Scott Zolak, who is currently hammerred on the air and calling into the show from Germany?

Fred is signed for 5 years (according to him). Being a named co host in one of the countries most popular local sports show is a major major achievement. There may be reasons (personal, family, the hours, etc) that he doesn't do it...but I can't imagine Fred's mental state would be one of them