Toucher and Hardy: The new 98.5 morning show
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I checked it out and it wasn't so much gross as just not good radio. It wasn't funny or engaging.
Nothing like Fred and Hardy describing dick pics.
Nothing like Fred and Hardy describing dick pics.
They had a video posted on their socials where it's still not "good" content but it plays better as a video.
I guess I thought it was gross because Kendra really irritates me. Her gambling takes are awful and she brings nothing to T&H. She isn't a fit on a show for this demo. She should be a Barstool personality, not a regular on a major radio network in Boston.
I am coming around on the Toucher and Hardy duo. I don't listen live most days, I will go back and watch the show on Youtube. They're very similar and also different in many ways. They're around the same age, from Michigan, like sports, and seem to have similar tastes in TV and a little bit in music as well.
Hardy is more of a classic "dad" archetype with the golfing and household projects. Fred is like your friend from back home that is a little messed up and ornery but is a great hang and loves to riff. They are getting better at playing off one another.
I would take Ryan Johnston 10 times out of 10 over Wallach. Wallgame does nothing for me.
Hardy is more of a classic "dad" archetype with the golfing and household projects. Fred is like your friend from back home that is a little messed up and ornery but is a great hang and loves to riff. They are getting better at playing off one another.
I would take Ryan Johnston 10 times out of 10 over Wallach. Wallgame does nothing for me.
Hopefully, RJ gets that B's radio gig and finally gets the full time spot he deserves.
I wonder if Fred has some loyalty to Wallach and when he was negotiating and Rich leaving if Fred made sure Jon stayed.
Or maybe it was an open secret among everyone RJ was gonna get the Bs gig so he was never really a candidate for T&H
I only listened to T&R when Wallach was on it. But wasn’t there a different 3rd guy for the first few years? Crash? I recall reading something a while back where Fred said the original 3rd guy needed to leave, that it wasn’t working anymore, and Wallach was a good replacement. I could be totally wrong.
I do think Wallach used to have a role being the butt of a lot of funny bits. Wake Up Wallach, Shazowie, the Big Wallach Head, Take Me Out to the Ball Game on Clarinet, etc. But they don’t do any of that anymore. So now he’s just a bad 3rd chair without any offsetting good stuff.
Wake up Wallach was such a dick move, but it was one of the funnier things I've ever heard. I miss that.
Wallach was on the show from the jump. Crash was there too at the beginning. Eventually Crash transitioned out - it wasn’t a perfect fit in the mornings, but man was he a great on-air persona. Wallach got promoted from “flash guy / sports nerd helping the shock jocks” to full third chair. That’s when they really started making him a character, leaning into the “Eagle” persona etc.
Yes, and that was a different format show on WBCN. Crash provided a lot of entertainment on the show. An example would be when Crash mentioned he used to know this girl Burger King Cheryl. Fred is like "Oh, yeah?" And then we get a story about him meeting a homeless girl who worked at Burger King, and how Crash and his older brother, both in high school at the time, let her move into their bedroom, and (separately) having sex with her. After the basic facts of the story were told, it was time for some celebrity(it was an actor, I think) phone-in interview, but the Burger King Cheryl thing was so nuts, Fred just continued talking to Crash about that while the call in guest was on. The guest totally understood, since he was interested in the story too..
Both Crash and Wallach were on together in the first year on The Sports Hub, until Crash's contract ran out. Fred and Rich had no say in the initial hire of Wallach, but I do believe that Fred has been happier with him on the show than maybe a lot of listeners(or listeners who complain about him online, anyway) have been.
Crash was amazing. Huge outgoing personality combined with a neurotic focus on his own vulnerability. I mean who doesn't love a guy who's been through like five divorces?
Maybe. But Fred clearly wanted RJ to replace Wallach -- with the hope/assumption Wallach was getting the C's radio gig. (He strongly inferred it a few times.) But of course that didn't happen. Since then (when I've listened), it feels like Fred has been extra harsh on him on the air.
I mean, he'd only been married once prior to the wife he had while in Boston, but after he went down South again they divorced. I think he's been married a couple more times, including to one woman who didn't speak
English(and he didn't speak her language).
Edit:
On the subject of Crash, I really think he was very important to the show early on. In the BCN era and first year or two of TSH, I actually feel like Rich was the most important member of the show, because, I believe, the show wouldn't have made it without the street audio and similar bits he brought. And on the BCN show, I think Crash was the second most important, as he was such a compelling personality, and had a far more interesting life than Fred and Rich. None of that is to take away from Fred, but I think he became a much better host, and became funnier, after a year or two on the TSH. Also, when talking about Toucher & Rich's success, we always have to remember their BCN era success was relative. They had a dedicated fan base, and did well enough to have their contracts renewed, but the station was still failing. After TSH launched, their listenership went up several hundred percent, at least.
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Stoner Smitty Rates the Snacks was an all-time bad great bit. "Wooo Smitty, slow down..."
Crash was great during the BCN days and the very beginning of the Sports Hub but quickly started going sideways.
Wallach has felt like an afterthought since the C's job went the other way. The bird stuff is long past stale and feels like it's gone from fun teasing to lame being mean.
It was an exaggeration but if you follow him on social media he's made some posts about getting fake married. My post was just in jest.
Hey Fred. It’s not “virtue signaling” when you take a stand against bigotry. It’s just decency. Come on man.
I think his point was that typing a comment on bostonglobe.com isn't really taking a stand. Having a conversation, explaining to the person why they're wrong, and how it impacts the marginalized person is taking a stand. Commenting on the Internet in some high and mighty tone is not taking a stand, it's the same bullshit all us dumbasses do on this forum which couldn't be farther from real life
Crash was a mess of a human being, and he was quite a bit older than Fred and Rich, so he had decades of amazing stories. But yeah, once they were really successful and expected to be professional in more ways, I don't think he was able to do that. But the ask Crash stuff, all the things about his weird sexual obsessions, and tales of doing 'ludes in the 80s were hilarious. A natural story teller and huge personality.
Hardy’s story this morning today about how he had to call the 128 Plumber / Heater / Vac guy cause it went out and When the guy came after like 10 min the guy had to tell Hardy he was all set and didn’t need him following him around. Hardy was devastated and then got caught later peeking at him from the window to see what he was doing.
Had to listen to the Crash segment after the above comments, would have loved to see him on 90 Day Fiancé:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKgBccQIIg
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKgBccQIIg
Very excited for a weekly Crash hit. He was the most entertaining train wreck on BCN. Noticed a ton of thinly veiled victory laps the past couple days about Rich having to play music, hopefully that fades away quickly. Nothing wrong with a little inside baseball but don't let it become too much.
is it a coincidence that we started reminiscing about Crash in this thread and now he’s gonna be on the show every week?
edit to say - Fred sounded noticeably happy talking to Crash. I just checked out that segment so maybe that’s normal lately, but it wasn’t when I last listened. Anyway the whole thing was cool to hear.
edit to say - Fred sounded noticeably happy talking to Crash. I just checked out that segment so maybe that’s normal lately, but it wasn’t when I last listened. Anyway the whole thing was cool to hear.
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I’m getting tired of Kendra Middleton. She seems like a nice person, but I don’t really care about gambling and outside of that she doesn’t say anything I find interesting. I think I’m just getting old.
I checked out the Crash segment (which was enjoyable old days) and heard the lame victory lap. The cringey response from Hardy, Wallach, and Dan reminded me of a bunch of goofy kids overreacting to a subpar insult on the playground.
She has been on all summer solo. I think they said "the bankroll bunch" would be back for the football season so we will see who is there this week....
I know Fred DESPISES Lifshatz, so I'm just wondering if they morph this over into Kendra being a permanent solo going forward. I personally can't stand her appearances though and is one of the main reasons I basically have stopped tuning in to this show.
Yes they've had some pretty comical back and forth.
I think, although it was 900 beers and 80 hangovers ago, they said Lifshatz wasn't going to join until football season. He has a young kid and such so I think he just took the downtime off.
Wallach had an all timer brain dead take in hour 1 today. The Patriots will be more watchable this year for "the humor factor" of an awful offence.
They had the worst offense in the league last year and it was anything but funny. I did LOL during the Germany game when Mac threw the back breaking pick, and Zappe tried the fake spike then threw it into triple coverage. It was more of a Joker-style laugh where I was just at the end of my rope and going crazy watching it.
Tough week for the show with Fred and Hardy out for a few days. I still enjoy hearing Michael Holly on the radio. I like his style and the guy is a true professional.
As I prep for my fantasy draft, just a bump to say how much I enjoy Dave Richard’s weekly segments. He’s probably on a podcast somewhere I should find, but that remains a must-listen interview each week during football season. Wish they could have him sit in for an hour some time.
Richard has been on CBS Fantasy Football Today for years. Very solid, daily fantasy football podcast.
I agree with this. I enjoy hearing Holly talk sports. Not sure where he would fit best on an ongoing basis but if he wants a regular radio gig I hope he gets one.
No Lifhatz today for the Thursday opening NFL day. Just Kendra. I’m thinking Fred officially put the kabosh on Lifshatz. And yeah I can’t say I really care or put value in Kendra’s betting tips. RIP, “Bankroll Boys/Bunch” I guess.
Sadly I think anything with Kendra is a close second, then there's a wide margin