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Opie and Anthony

Opie (Gregg Hughes, May 23, 1965 - ) and Anthony (Anthony Cumia, April 1963 - ) are the hosts of the XM Satellite Radio program 'The Opie and Anthony Show.' The show is based in New York City and airs on XM channel 202. The show was previously on WNEW-FM in New York, and was earlier on WAAF-FM in Boston.

The show airs on channel 202 "High Voltage" live from 7-11 AM ET with replays throughout the day.

Background

Gregg (Opie) Hughes and Anthony Cumia were both raised on Long Island, but did not know each other as kids. Hughes attended, and graduated from, SUNY Geneseo. For the next seven years Gregg (Opie) interned and worked at several upstate radio stations before he was awarded a radio gig spinning records at rock station WBAB on his native Long Island. Cumia, who did not attend college, began performing songs with his brother Joe, who remains a constant supporter of the 'Opie and Anthony Show'. In August 1994, Hughes received an entry during an O.J. Simpson parody song contest. The song was entitled “Gonna Electric Shock OJ,” by a local band known as Rotgut, of which Cumia was a member. The song became a hit on Hughes' show, and he invited the Cumia brothers to the studio to play live. This sparked many further appearances, where "Ant & Brother Joe" jumped at any airtime opportunity available. Soon after, Opie and Anthony became a radio team.

The duo were fired in April 1998 from WAAF in Boston for an April Fool's Day prank involving Mayor Thomas Menino. They told their listeners the Mayor of Boston died in a car accident while the mayor was away vacationing in Florida and was unable to be contacted. WAAF suggested to remedy the situation that O&A have pies thrown at them while being held in townsquare stocks. The idea was summarily dismissed and the duo were later fired. O&A promised they would return to Boston and get revenge, and they were back on the air, now in the top market in the country, on the legendary New York station WNEW-FM by June 1998. O&A gained popularity, as the show "spread like a virus", a term often used by O&A and their fans when describing the show. O&A were the #1 Afternoon Drive Show in New York by 2000. By 2001, O&A were syndicated to 22 markets around the country, including WBCN in Boston, a rival of the station that fired O&A earlier in their careers. Within a year, they were #1 in several markets, Boston included. Friend of the show Andrew Dice Clay then introduced O&A to Jim Norton, a comedian who toured with Dice and opened for him. Norton was a hit on the show and soon became the proverbial third member of the Opie and Anthony program.

In August 2002, O&A were "fired" for the "Sex For Sam 3" stunt. Sex for Sam was a yearly contest O&A held in which the goal was to have sex in the most surprising places. Couples from various states would be chosen to compete in the competition and each couple would be followed by a comedian, who would call-in to the program to report the location. The contest was approved by the station and had been held without a major problem for the first two years. However, one comedian made the decision to lead his couple to have sex in a vestibule in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Contrary to most media reports, Opie and Anthony did not broadcast the couple, or any couple, having sex in any location, much less St. Pat's. The incident was only mentioned as taking place by Paul Mercurio, the comedian watching the couple. When a security guard approached the comedian and told him that he and the couple must leave immediately, the comedian then began to mouth off to the security guard to the point where he called the police. It is believed by those familiar with these actions that the incident was severely worsened by the behavior of the comedian. The authorities were then called and the couple was arrested, but not before the comedian continued to make comments that some fans interpreted as provoking an arrest. When the media ran with the story and word spread of the incident of Sex in St. Pat's, the Catholic League took offense and demanded that Opie and Anthony be fired. O&A broadcasted for another day, but were not permitted to refer to the incident for legal reasons. Infinity Broadcasting then promptly cancelled the Opie and Anthony Show.

It should be noted that though many news sources reported the duo as fired, in actuality the pair were still under contract. The show was removed from the airwaves, but Infinity did not have enough evidence in order to fire the comedy team without legal repercussions. It was also speculated that Infinity feared that the duo would be hired at another station and become staunch competition. As a result, O&A were forced to wait for their contract to expire for two years. They announced in August 2004 that they had signed with XM Satellite Radio, where they are not subject to FCC guidelines. They began broadcasting on October 4, 2004 with Norton as the third member of the team. They are one of the first major programs to be broadcast exclusively on satellite radio, referring to themselves as The Pioneers of Satellite Radio.

Controversy rages among fans regarding the duo being as good as they were on commercial radio. Page after page on various fan websites is devoted to the discussion. Many attribute the decline in quality to the move from afternoons to mornings and the reliance on older voice impersonations. Lack of preparation by the hosts, which they both admit to on occasion, is cited as another reason. Case in point being the 2005 Halloween show that was roundly lambasted by fans on hundreds of postings on the official and unoffical websites. Criticism reached a point that the hosts felt they had to address the "older vs. newer" complaints during the show and on their website.

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, 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, Patrice O'Neal, 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 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 5, 2004 and started broadcasting October 4th 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.

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.

===Characters=== It should be noted as Characters are not people acting, but are real people with real problems.

  • Executive Producer Ben Sparks (AKA Hurricane Ben) — More or less the average executive producer. 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."
  • Eric Nagel — Commonly referred to as "Sex Bagel," "E-Rock," or "Hawk," he is frequently the butt of jokes whenever he is involved in a discussion or is in the studio in any way.
  • "Martini" Steve C. — Another producer of the show, also runs FoundryMusic. 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.
  • Eric Logan — Vice President of XM Satellite Radio's Programming Division, he often tries to befriend Opie and Anthony, only to get hung up on in some way, shape, or form by Opie. Commonly referred to as "E-Lo." 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.
  • Boston Strangler and Dugout Doug - Two fans and frequent contributors to the show. They frequently organize campaigns against the media and competing shows. Known as "Generals" of the Opie and Anthony Army of Pests.
  • Pat From Moonachie — 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 — A 32-year old British expatriate, who has no "internal decency filter".
  • Denise — Paul's wife. She's known for having performed oral sex on random men 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).
  • Andrew (AKA The Big A) — 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.
  • 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!").
  • 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.
  • Wheelchair Fred — a man who was in a motorcycle accident. He lost the use of his legs and needs a wheelchair. He came to the O&A show when they were on WAAF in Boston. He has appeared on XM show and asked for money.
  • Steve from Yellowstone & Ben from Boston — 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, doing an impression of their producers Steve C. or Ben Sparks and then insults them in the manner of a "Ramon" promo.

Celebrity and comedian friends

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.

  • Whip 'em Out Wednesdays (WOW) -- O&A invented this promotional technique in May of 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 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.
  • Assault on the Media -- The AOTM campaign 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. The goal of the AOTM campaign is to promote the show during live news shots. O&A are vocal on their program in showing their distaste for fear-mongering and news reporters, who they feel behave in a self-important manner. O&A encourage their fans in any way 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!" O&A always enjoy playing the audio from the numerous news assaults across the country. In 2005, O&A began an AOTM Contest, where every month they would provide prizes for the best Assaults on the Media.

On May 19, 2005, as part of their AOTM campaign, one of the show's interns, Nathaniel, stepped behind CBS 2 reporter Arthur Chi'en holding an Opie and Anthony poster. He was joined, through sheer coincidence, by Crazy Cabbie of the Howard Stern show, who gave the finger to the camera. After finishing the last syllable of his report, Chi'en turned to Nathaniel and yelled "What the fuck is your problem, man?" before the studio could cut to the pre-recorded segment of the report. The obscenity was aired live, and despite his apology, Chi'en was fired later that day. Since then, Chi'en has been re-hired by WB 11 to do only taped news reports.

  • Movie References -- O&A's show features many inside jokes that a new listener may not immediately understand. There are many references to films, the most-referenced being The Shining. More movies referenced include Silence of the Lambs and The Godfather.
  • News Teases -- 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."
  • Golden Ticket -- A term used to describe the O&A project of saving roughly five shows from commercial radio and invite them to make the move to XM, the most popular satellite radio in existence, with over five million subscribers. In July 2005, O&A announced that their friends Ron and Fez would be joining O&A on XM. Ron and Fez followed O&A on WNEW-FM, and in September 2005 they debuted in the 11-2 PM EST timeslot, immediately following O&A. O&A play audio on occasion from other radio shows who have submitted their audio to be considered for a Golden Ticket. Other radio shows that may make the move to XM at some point include Scott Ferrall, Brother Wease, Lazlow, BJ Shea, and The Hideout.

Stories Mentioned

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) Jay invited him over one night for "Apple Martinis" and to watch the New Years Celebration. They were both clad in 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, the fire department was called, and burst in, finding the two in this very awkward looking situation.

"Bomb the DK House" -- Opie used to attend 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 and carry it to the Delta Kappa Frat House. Thusly, whenever a "marshmallow" somehow comes up, or some sort of hazing, it is quickly referenced.

O&A In Radio

Opie and Anthony's controversial style leads radio personalities to have a strong opinion of their show as well as listeners. They appreciate talented radio hosts and despise hosts who steal bits. When other talk show hosts insult O&A unprovoked, O&A call attacks on these shows, telling their listeners to call-in and ruin their program. A recent overwhelmingly successful attack was on Jim Philips of The Philips Phile in July 2005. Philips attempted to steal and take credit for the Assault on the Media bit. O&A heard of this and called for an attack on this show. For days, the phonelines to Philips' show were jammed and the flow of his show was noticeably disturbed. Fans of O&A interpreted Philips' response as so arrogant that it motivated them to continue the attack. Eventually, O&A stopped mentioning Philips and the attack ceased shortly thereafter. Several weeks later, O&A fans raised enough money to purchase a billboard in Orlando, where Philips broadcasts. The billboard was promptly displayed in a prime location, which Philips must pass to drive to the station each day. The billboard read, "Mr. Philips, The Pests Win. You Lose. Good Day, Sir! - The Opie and Anthony Army, Commemorating the Pat Battle of O-Town."

Radio Friends

Opie and Anthony have many enemies in radio, but they are friends with several radio hosts on both terrestrial and satellite radio.

  • Ron & Fez — Became friends with O&A when they aired immediately after Opie and Anthony on WNEW. They began airing on XM Satellite Radio on High Voltage 11-2 PM EST immediately following Opie and Anthony.
  • Scott Ferrall — A friend of the show, who O&A say has been fired from many markets around the country. O&A want Ferrall to be awarded the next Golden Ticket to save Ferrall from commercial radio and make the move to satellite. Currently does fill-in and weekend hosting on the Fox Sports Radio Network.
  • Brother Wease — Opie's radio mentor and hardcore liberal. Still works for Infinity Broadcasting in Rochester and has locked horns with Howard Stern as well.
  • BJ Shea - Radio host in Seattle. O&A love his show and are friends with him. They hope Shea will eventually join them on XM.
  • Cowhead & Brent — During their last week on the air, the Cowhead and Brent show of Tampa made a gutsy move of calling Opie and Anthony live on air asking for a golden ticket. The 2 shows exchanged comments and plugs. Cowhead and Brent ended their show that Friday with the infamous "Your Mom's Box." Their station flipped to Spanish the following Monday.
  • Lazlow — Friend of the show who provides the occasional production pieces. Lazlow currently works for WXRK in New York hosting a weekly talk show. The show's future is in jeopardy, but Opie and Anthony have repeatedly expressed interest in bringing Lazlow to XM.
  • Sean Hannity — Political talk show host who defended O&A on their time off.
  • Don Imus - O&A love Imus, who is a huge supporter of their program. Imus often wears Opie and Anthony t-shirts live on his show, which is televised live on MSNBC. A regular character on Imus' show is Brian Wilson (Rob Bartlett). Bartlett's character mainly promotes the O&A show, mentioning the name "Opie" frequently and wearing an Opie and Anthony shirt.

Radio Enemies (aka The Fucko List)

  • Howard Stern — In a move that O&A say is a sign of hypocrisy, Stern placed a gag-order on O&A so they couldn't talk about him on WNEW. O&A talked at the time how it was ironic that the man known for fighting the FCC and claiming to defend free speech would have a company place a gag-order on others. O&A have pointed out many bits that Stern has taken from their show on many different occasions. The most extreme example is an offensive song that was played on the Opie and Anthony Show, which Stern proceeded to use the exact audio from O&A's program, so Anthony laughing could be heard in the background. O&A often mock how they believe it is strange that Stern could do this and then make a statement like, "All of radio rips me off." He will now go to rival Sirius and compete against O&A, who are on XM.
  • Tom Leykis
  • Mancow
  • Lex and Terry — O&A played a clip of their show and made fun of these two. Then Lex and Terry began attacking Opie and Anthony on the air the next day.
  • The Philips Phile — The Philips Phile attempted to steal Opie and Anthony's "assault on the media bit". O&A found out about this and attacked their show.
  • Russ Martin — Claimed that Opie was sending him emails saying that he would take their timeslot. Later it was proven that the emails sent had a different IP address than Opie's computer. To this day Russ still says that Opie wrote those emails after hearing the proof that he didn't.
  • Playboy Radio — Said that Jim Norton should spend his money better than spending it on prostitutes. They also made fun of Opie and Anthony after being on their show the day before, an angry caller called in and O&A made fun of him. The two playboy girls thought O&A set up this caller to make fun of them on purpose. Playboy Radio is now defunct.
  • Bubba the Love Sponge — Joining XM's competitor Sirius. O&A said they didn't want him on their satellite radio company.
  • Shannon Burke — Shannon Burke got word that he was going to be kicked off of XM satellite radio. He is originally on WTKS. Once he heard this he said that he was funnier than the Opie and Anthony show. Then Opie and Anthony sent the callers to attack his phones.

Former friends and characters

Reasons listed

  • Andrew "Dice" Clay — O&A learned in October 2005 that Dice has not appeared on the show, because he wanted to first speak to Opie to offer condolences regarding the death of his father. Dice had called Opie months prior, but Opie did not call back. Opie said he felt like an idiot for believing Dice was dead to the show, and it was implied that Dice may return as a friend of the show.
  • Lewis Black — When in NYC to promote a book, he went onto Howard Stern's show, yet did not go on O&A despite saying he would. Until he finally called the show, he was reviled for ignoring O&A, but Lewis is now back in the good graces of the boys. However, he no longer appears on the show.
  • Jim Breuer — Hosts a show on Sirius and cannot appear on their show due to contractual reasons. Breuer wished to be on XM with O&A, but XM did not show enough interest and made a very weak offer. Breuer loves O&A and thanks them often on his new show for always encouraging him and helping his career a great deal.
  • Kevin aka Spaz — Forced to quit the show because he kept cheating on his girlfriend with show guests so she made him quit. Tried to get his job back after she dumped him. Best known for his awful, but very funny, "news" segment that was done every Friday. He is considered dead to the show.
  • Psycho Mark — He was fired due to an incident during the inaugural Sex for Sam. Was responsible for the final farewell phrase, "Your Mom's Box!"
  • Paul Mercurio — Dead to the show after Sex for Sam 3. He was the spotter for the couple who had sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Largely blamed for O&A's firing from terrestial radio because of his comments and aggressiveness that led to the couple's arrest when they got caught.
  • Barry Williams — Greg Brady from The Brady Bunch. Hosts a daily radio show on Sirius so he can not appear on O&A.
  • Rick Delgado — Producer for WNEW/syndicated show and brother to Opie's ex-girlfriend. Has since been re-hired and fired from WHQT in New York and now works for Clear Channel in San Fransisco. Rick purposely avoids contact with Opie and only talks to Anthony.
  • Frenchy - A loudmouthed French chef, he was a regular character on the WNEW show. First appeared on the show to cook rat for an eating contest. However, when the show moved to XM, Frenchy was not a successful character on the program and his appearances were rarely as funny as they were on the prior version of the show. He no longer appears on the program.
  • Spike - A dominatrix that used to hold WOW parties and organize WOW flashing road trips. Was eliminated from show when she got a little too greedy with the parties.

"Your Mom's Box!"

Former character Psycho Mark began the use of the phrase "Your mom's box." on his last appearance on the Opie and Anthony Show. Psycho Mark was a character early in their tenure at WNEW, but was fired after his involvement in the inaugural Sex for Sam, when he led a couple to have sex in the boss' office. Psycho Mark was on the phone with O&A, all of whom knew he would not be allowed to appear on the show anymore. O&A asked Psycho Mark what he wanted his last words to be on the program, to which he replied, "Your Mom's Box." That became a well-known line among O&A fans as the ultimate farewell line. After the Sex in St. Pat's fiasco during Sex for Sam 3, O&A left the airwaves the next day, expecting that they would be fired. At the end of their last program on WNEW, Opie said quietly, "Your Mom's Box." Anthony laughed, then also said "Your Mom's Box." They both looked at Jim Norton, who also sadly said "Your Mom's Box." These were the last words said on the Opie and Anthony Show until they returned to the airwaves on XM Satellite Radio on October 4, 2004. Since then, several other shows have paid homage to O&A, using "Your Mom's Box" as their farewell phrase. Their good friends Ron and Fez shouted "Your Mom's Box!" when they left WJFK to join O&A at XM. Cowhead and Brent is another talk-show duo that used the phrase before they were fired from a Tampa, Florida station.

Classic O&A Moments/Bits

  • "What Did We Learn" - Among their frequent bits include "What Did We Learn", where the listeners call-in during the last few minutes of the show and say what they learned from the shockjocks that day. O&A devote less time to this bit since the move to XM, but it is still regularly recurring.
  • Voyeur Bus -- Several members of their crew, including frequent guest Lewis Black, proverbial third member Jim Norton, and then-producer Rick Delgado were arrested for being on the transparent "Teen" Voyeur Bus, where six young teenage women were flashing all over Manhattan in 2000. The women were promoting a website and had flashed across cities in the same bus many times before, but their appearance and involvement with the Opie and Anthony Show made the crowd watching the bus even larger. The cops were later charged with false arrest. Mayor Rudy Giuliani favored the illegal arrest, calling the Voyeur Bus stunt, "stupid."
  • Homeless Shopping Spree -- In late 1999, shortly before Christmas, O&A held the "Homeless Shopping Spree". This bit consisted of a dozen of New York's homeless, each given a hundred dollars and taken to the posh Short Hills Mall, in Short Hills, New Jersey. The mall's reaction was to close down many of the nicer stores and eventually force the 12 homeless men and the growing crowd out of the mall. Opie and Anthony stayed at the WNEW studio during this event with actor Jay Mohr.
  • AFRO Shows -- While on WNEW, O&A made a professional friendship with Ron and Fez. Ron and Fez followed O&A on WNEW. O&A frequently appeared on the Ron and Fez Show. These came to be known as the AFRO Shows (Anthony-Fez-Ron-Opie). Ron and Fez recently made the move to join O&A on XM and currently occupy the timeslot immediately following O&A, 11am-2pm ET, on Channel 202 High Voltage. The first XM AFRO show was a highly anticipated program and took place in August 2005, with Jim Norton and Bob Saget.
  • 55 Gallon Drum Challenge -- One of the more popular in-studio contests was "The 55 gallon drum challenge" wherein women dressed in bra and panties were placed in 55 gallon drums and had various food products and non-human waste materials dumped on them.
  • 100 Grand -- Early in their radio career together, O&A declared a contest one afternoon at WAAF that the 107th caller would receive "100 Grand". They continued this bit throughout the show, careful of never saying "$100,000", only "100 Grand". When the 107th caller got through, he was ecstatic, thinking he had really won $100,000. He shouted happily that he was planning on buying a new car and could barely speak, due to his shock in winning. He was furious when Opie told him it was only a candybar and proceeded to shout and curse on air. The bit was a classic piece of audio, as listening to the man angered when he learned he had not won any money is one of the early examples of O&A's style of "Cringe Radio" that their listeners love.
  • "Kathleen, put your goddamn clothes back on!" -- At WNEW, Martini Steve went to see a performance of The Graduate on Broadway starring Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson. Steve commented on what a horrendous sight it was during the scene when Kathleen Turner was naked on stage. O&A sent several members of their show down to Broadway to attend a performance of The Graduate shortly thereafter. One person they sent down there, comedian Paul Mercurio, stood up during this same scene and shouted, "Kathleen, put your goddamn clothes back on!", shocking the audience. The audio was recorded and played on the show the following week.
  • Commercial Radio Airs O&A Again -- During December 2004, Opie and Anthony re-appeared for the first time on commercial FM radio since they were fired from WNEW. WAQX in Syracuse was the first station to bring O&A back to commercial FM radio. The show on WAQX was a rebroadcast of the previous day's show on XM and was edited for content. It aired in the Howard Stern show's morning time slot while he was on vacation.
  • O&A Raise Money for Hurricane Katrina -- On September 2, 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, friends of the show began an online auction of signed memorabilia from their years of collecting miscellaneous stuff with 100% of the funds collected going to the relief efforts down in the Gulf States. So far, the auction has proved a big success, raising well over $50,000.

Other

  • O&A have stated that because of the Sex for Sam 3 incident, their contracts with XM Satellite Radio are renewed yearly (they are, as of 2005, renewed through October 2006). They have also stated that if they were doing as poorly as their detractors on terrestrial radio claim they are, XM would not have renewed their contracts for 2005-2006.
  • O&A claim to hate the name of their channel, High Voltage. They have been trying to get the name changed, but no change will occur in 2005.
  • On November 17, 2005 the Pests launched a massive attack on Hoo Hoo Howie outside the David Letterman show. The Pests and O&A emerged victorius.
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