Toucher and Hardy: The new 98.5 morning show
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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The first one is definitely a shot at Rich, but is that really much of an insult? That seems to me to be a sign of wisdom and self-care, not cowardice.
On off hours, Kennesaw State U is like a 25 minute drive from the center of Atlanta, so it's more like Billerica or something. I didn't hear it (off the T&R narcotic, other than to read about the aftermath from you guys) but would interpret that by "graduates of KSU" he means strippers. KSU also had a lot of ladies in early ed and for some reason they like to party harder than average.
I'm sure Rich had his moments but I suspect it's in Hardy's economic interest not to side against his new de facto boss with the guy who left because he couldn't stand to be around said boss.
I mean, it's hardly a big deal, but it's just totally unnecessary and Fred continues to take the low road when the opportunity arises. Willing to give Hardy the benefit of the doubt that it was a Freudian slip on Breer (i.e. you can think it... just don't say it), especially since Breer has delivered so much content for Hardy's former and new shows. Long-winded or not, the Sports Hub in the morning has been dining on Breer's tidbits for years now. Unnecessary to toss a cheap shot his way.
I forgot to thank you for the synopsis - please accept my gratitude! What's weird is, like, don't they want people to come in and eat up the breaks so they don't have to do as much work?
I think the cheap shots at Rich are jealousy that Rich is on top of his stuff and doesn't fall into easily avoidable traps of navigating adulthood that Fred does...traps such as maintaining a personal twitter page from which people can threaten his family over his sports takes and harass his wife, or not building up the financial stability to leave a timeslot he hates in an area he hates working for a company he hates.
Just so I can tie this back to this thread topic, that's why I don't listen to the current show. Nothing against Hardy (anyone know why Robert Poole goes by 'Hardy'?) but Fred has occasionally but consistently been by turns stupid, inconsiderate, or mean. Only recently has he lost the self awareness to acknowledge that in those situations he should have known better. In terms of interpersonal interactions he seems to me to be aging backward and I'm no longer interested in charting the decline. I would be more entertained by a toddler yelling into a mic how he is entitled to soil his own self and how unfair it is to him personally that mommy told him he has poop in the potty to get his M&M.
I thought Fred said at one point a few weeks ago that BB was in Winthrop, but he could have just been sarcastic.
I'm not sure why Fred is piling on so bad, but he's clearly not holding back and it's been a long time coming from the sounds of it. I'm not sure if it started before COVID but COVID definitely seemed to be the breaking point. He looks petty and is a bad look for him and Rich.
I do find it funny Fred once again made the point of "we have no idea about BB and the Krafts and what really goes on, I can't believe they don't meet etc. but we don't know anything and we just speculate" yet when anyone speculates about T&R it's "insane fans with nothing better to do" doing the exact same thing.
Hardy's sarcasm and dry sense of humor at times is hard to determine if he's being a dick or just joking around. I rarely think he's a dick and just super dry humor. My sense of humor is the same way and I've had to make considerable efforts not to offend people. I never mean to but sometimes it comes out that way.
I am enjoying Toucher & Hardy more than the last 3 years of T&R so far. I love Hardy. I wish they'd make some new changes to the show format to freshen it up. It's basically the same format with a new co-host.
WTF is with the intro? I thought that was a joke the 1st day, but it is still around. I hated the last T&R Intro, I was very partial to the first one, but this is trash. As they said it's Bar Mitzmah music on the first day, I thought it was a new show thing and a joke but hopefully it goes soon.
I do love how Fred and everyone has to take a nap to get through the day due to their hours and no normal people get up before 6am. I've always been a morning person (I'm not some hardo or anything) but I'm typically up at 5am and go to sleep around 10pm without ever napping. You'd think they're working 2am-6am based upon the complaints and how tough it is. You're out of work at 11am at the latest. That's not even lunch time.
Rich frequently joked about how backwards his hometown could be (pulled out of class to lay sod on the football field, nazi/confederate store, shooting range on campus, it’s the law in Kennesaw, etc). T and R spent a lot of time mocking “redneck” culture so it seems like a stretch to say it was a shot at Rich.
I didn't hate myself enough to change the channel to WEEI, but I had to turn off the show this morning after only a few minutes. Brutal radio. Then at lunchtime I almost drove off a bridge to get out of hearing Ted Johnson read copy.
Not sure when Chad listened, but Fred was AWFUL today -- particularly during the Bankroll Bunch segment. He rambled incoherently when arguing with Lifshatz and Kendra and even talked down to Kendra a bit on her take on the draft and Pats. Hardy was barely able to get a word edgewise in today during any of the multiple interviews they did. Bad sign during an obviously very big news day.
Agrée. Although I’ve found Fred insufferable for the last year. He used to balance it out with extreme humor. Now it’s mostly cringeworthy. I wonder when Hardy realizes he’s made a mistake ?
Getting mad and upset about things used to be a strength for Fred, now its a weakness. Some of the humor has just disappeared from the rants.
My favorite all time bit from the show is reading excerpts of Gary Tanguay's erotic murder mystery fan fiction book, and reading them in the Tanguay voice. Then riffing while still in the Tanguay character. Fred can still reach back and throw 102mph on the black when he's in character.
My favorite all time bit from the show is reading excerpts of Gary Tanguay's erotic murder mystery fan fiction book, and reading them in the Tanguay voice. Then riffing while still in the Tanguay character. Fred can still reach back and throw 102mph on the black when he's in character.
It was a heavy, important sports news day for New England. On top of today’s dramatic events, T&R have long bemoaned the fact that they never usually get to break news on the morning program. So despite Fred’s best efforts to develop educated sports takes, he’s just not good at it. He’s no better than an average sports fan despite the fact he has access to all the beat reporters across the big 4 Boston teams.
Today called for him to break news and to be sharp on Belichick, the Patriots, and the NFL and he came up short. He wasn’t up to the task. He’s better off sticking with his regular schtick and interviewing skills, which are still very good. He just came across like an unintelligent asshole with no self-awareness today. *shrug*
Today called for him to break news and to be sharp on Belichick, the Patriots, and the NFL and he came up short. He wasn’t up to the task. He’s better off sticking with his regular schtick and interviewing skills, which are still very good. He just came across like an unintelligent asshole with no self-awareness today. *shrug*
Yeah I'm definitely not caring for Fred these days. I'm hanging on by a thread thinking this show will trend upward. His manufactured rants and digs at Rich are very hard to listen to. I hope Hardy is just feeling the room out with his new coworkers because he seems like he steps back when Fred is on his ish instead of bucking back at him.
I hope it works out, but so far when I've listened the show has been kind of terrible. Chemistry is lacking and Fred is just talking over everyone.
I listened to about an hour a day this past week. They definitely haven’t found a groove yet, but I wouldn’t say it’s been bad.
Hardy is great. He needs more time. There’s too much Wallach, and Fred is dominating the show. No clue if that’s intentional or not.
It didn’t help that the week was all Belichick all the time. It’s a terrible topic for Fred. He’s neither interesting nor funny about BB.
Hopefully once they shed the NFL talk a bit and do more bits things will lock in.
Hardy is great. He needs more time. There’s too much Wallach, and Fred is dominating the show. No clue if that’s intentional or not.
It didn’t help that the week was all Belichick all the time. It’s a terrible topic for Fred. He’s neither interesting nor funny about BB.
Hopefully once they shed the NFL talk a bit and do more bits things will lock in.
Hardy’s still acting like a #3. Nowhere close to a #1a/cohost, which is required to counterbalance Fred. I get that he’s working his way in, but they can’t let the cement dry with Fred running roughshod over everyone.
Fred should be giving his new cohost some space to grow into the role. From the small amount I've heard Fred is taking the space for himself
Fred is pushing too hard and doesn't need to. Less is more, and more Hardy is better for the balance of the show.
I've given the new show a shot, but Fred is just a brutal listen. I love Hardy, but this seems destined for failure. I posted this back in October when Fred got extended and Rich was released..
... and nothing I've heard thus far has me dissuaded.
Wallach needs to pipe down. You’re back to the third chair, no longer a host. He doesn’t need to chime in on every segment. He does this weird cringey thing where he’s clearly threatened by hardy and tries to be all cool by referencing things that happened in the past regarding the show like he’s trying to fit in with the cool kids
I like Fred and Rich. That said...
Why are people twisting themselves into pretzels to justify Fred's petty bullshit? Just want to make sure: wasn't it Fred struggling with alcohol, dragging his wife through bullshit, disappearing from the show to go into the boonies? This guys word is gospel?
Let's make sure we remember why he hates Rich:
Fred's a fucking sideshow. I generally like his shtick, but why defend the guy? He's been nothing but an emotional midget ad long as we've known him.
Why are people twisting themselves into pretzels to justify Fred's petty bullshit? Just want to make sure: wasn't it Fred struggling with alcohol, dragging his wife through bullshit, disappearing from the show to go into the boonies? This guys word is gospel?
Let's make sure we remember why he hates Rich:
So, Rich said things on air Fred didn't like. Couldn't have been that crazy, since none of us even know what it was. Fred texts him things "from the course of our relationship" like a scorned lover.
Fred's a fucking sideshow. I generally like his shtick, but why defend the guy? He's been nothing but an emotional midget ad long as we've known him.
Because it makes people uncomfortable to acknowledge—even internally—that someone they really enjoy is probably the asshole.
There is also the small part of Rich and his wife trying to get Fred fired while he was out with the throat illness
It doesn’t sound like Rich was a very popular guy behind the scenes there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they made the right decision about which horse to back to be on the air.
I think you’re beyond comfortable with me being the asshole.It's like when I read your posts in V&N.
Yeah, that's pretty rough. Not a team building move.
On the plus side heard some great bits this week. I alarmed the office next to me at one point I laughed so loud. Maybe less than it used to be, but steady improvement is good. Feels like they might be starting to find their sea legs. I'm optimistic it will continue.
Wasn't aware of this.
How did Richs wife get involved with that convo? That's weird.
All that drama from back in the day was stupid. Fred was making social media posts about Rich not reaching out to wish him well during his throat cancer scare. Those posts allegedly led to Rich getting pissed and asking management to step in. During one of those calls, apparently Rich's wife spoke for him to say the environment was toxic. It was all very weird and avoidable.
Yeah, I don't think it's fair to say that Rich tried to get Fred "fired". Believe me: Fred would have made sure to point that out!
It’s your interpretation that Rich and Mary were trying to get him fired. Rich was furious because Fred was hinting that he had throat cancer (he did not) and Rich didn’t find it funny due to Mary’s very real brush with death.
Additionally, Fred alleged that Rich never reached out to check on him when Fred was out with his throat issues, which turned out to be a lie. To that point in time, Rich was always an unconditional supporter of Fred’s on air even as Fred put everyone else on the show in terrible positions covering his ass. Rich et al worked tirelessly to keep the show going. Fred did not.
Given all of Fred’s bullshit, this apparently was the maraschino cherry on top of the sundae for Rich.
It’s a false equivalency to pin this on Rich (after all, he walked away and/or was not re-upped by Beasley). There is no justification for Fred’s behavior.
Lot’s of people like Fred. That doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. People see glimpses of likability shrouded in total assholery.
As for Rich, there hasn’t been much (any?) ink spilled about how he isn’t liked at work; seems more a case that he left work at work and didn’t do much outside the show with coworkers. I can respect that. You don’t hear current personnel on the show saying anything directly about Rich because they’re beholden to Fred. Fred’s the one who’s taking the majority of the potshots.
As an aside, I thought today was T&H’s best show so far. Some funny, funny stuff especially in hours 2 and three.
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I think this nails the first couple weeks of the show. They can call the show “Toucher & Hardy”, but at the moment the dynamic is that it’s Fred’s show and Hardy is clearly subordinate.
I suspect it’s going to take a long time for that dynamic to change and see them become equals. And it may never happen.
They definitely need to do more bits and start to build out the non-sports personality of the show. The thing they did in the 8am hour with the Wizard was good. But it wasn’t great. They just need more reps to get their banter down. That’s gonna take time.
To expect them to pick up right where rich left off is unrealistic. Touch and rich had almost 20 years of chemistry. From what my foggy memory recalls everyone hated them in 06 calling them an O&A rip off.
I don’t expect that. Hence my use of the words “ I suspect it’s going to take a long time for that dynamic to change” and “ They just need more reps to get their banter down. That’s gonna take time.”
But I do so enjoy that this thread has the highest concentration of single topic posters on SOSH. That’s not weird at all.
Yeah, Joe doesn't take it well when they bust his chops. They really need to trick him into doing a fake commercial like Wallach & JStew.