03-22-2020, 08:29 AM
This was my go to morning radio show for over 25 years. The team was comprised of Kevin Ryder and Gene 'Bean' Baxter. They were occasionally really funny and occasionally really dumb. The tension between the kind of brainy Bean and kind of dumb Kevin was what made the show. There best days were when they had Ralph Garman as there third host. Garman provided a lot of the genuinely funny bits.
The Kevin and Bean show provided the launch for many artists we know today including Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla.
But it was always Kevin and Bean that made the show work. I will give you that the show was better when Bean ran the show while Kevin was on vacation.
The show started to crumble about 4 years ago when they unceremoniously fired Ralph during contract negotiations. The station decided to save a buck. Shortly before that they stepped into a lot of controversy when they let go their longtime traffic reporter Lisa May, who was much beloved.
But the show brought in new people. I will give you it was better with Ralph, but it still had it's moments without him.
About a year ago, Bean took time off because of a mental health issue. He started to have a lot of anxiety issues. He did return for about a year, but he announced that as soon as he finalized some plans to move to England he would leave the show. That happened in November. They had a really nice farewell show that was as off the rails as most of their normal shows. It was a great goodbye. I believe that was a Wednesday. On that Friday, Kevin and Bean were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
With Bean gone, the show really wasn't the same. The tension between Kevin and Bean (In a good mocking sort of way) was gone. The topics they discussed weren't as compelling as they used to be. The segments weren't quite as funny.
In January, the show officially became the Kevin in the mornings show with Allie McKay and Jensen Karp. My main complain is that Kevin took sort of a second fiddle role to Allie and Jensen. And those two weren't as stellar as Ralph.
So, the show was poor, but I continued to listen out of habit.
Then on St. Patrick's Day, they told the crew not to come in. Not just Kevin, Allie, and Jensen, but the entire staff. Kevin came and in was told everybody would be fired. On Wednesday, Kevin came in again to read a short good bye. By 8am, he was gone.
There is a lot of Twitter anger going on about the end of the show at the moment. It makes sense to fire the on air talent if you don't like what they are doing, but to get rid of the support staff, who could very easily help out on other shows at the same time comes across as cruel. Especially during this economic catastrophe we are currently experiencing because of Covid 19.
It's gone. I'll miss it. Bean is currently on a radio station in London and I'm still trying to figure out how to listen to him.
End of an era for me.
The Kevin and Bean show provided the launch for many artists we know today including Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla.
But it was always Kevin and Bean that made the show work. I will give you that the show was better when Bean ran the show while Kevin was on vacation.
The show started to crumble about 4 years ago when they unceremoniously fired Ralph during contract negotiations. The station decided to save a buck. Shortly before that they stepped into a lot of controversy when they let go their longtime traffic reporter Lisa May, who was much beloved.
But the show brought in new people. I will give you it was better with Ralph, but it still had it's moments without him.
About a year ago, Bean took time off because of a mental health issue. He started to have a lot of anxiety issues. He did return for about a year, but he announced that as soon as he finalized some plans to move to England he would leave the show. That happened in November. They had a really nice farewell show that was as off the rails as most of their normal shows. It was a great goodbye. I believe that was a Wednesday. On that Friday, Kevin and Bean were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
With Bean gone, the show really wasn't the same. The tension between Kevin and Bean (In a good mocking sort of way) was gone. The topics they discussed weren't as compelling as they used to be. The segments weren't quite as funny.
In January, the show officially became the Kevin in the mornings show with Allie McKay and Jensen Karp. My main complain is that Kevin took sort of a second fiddle role to Allie and Jensen. And those two weren't as stellar as Ralph.
So, the show was poor, but I continued to listen out of habit.
Then on St. Patrick's Day, they told the crew not to come in. Not just Kevin, Allie, and Jensen, but the entire staff. Kevin came and in was told everybody would be fired. On Wednesday, Kevin came in again to read a short good bye. By 8am, he was gone.
There is a lot of Twitter anger going on about the end of the show at the moment. It makes sense to fire the on air talent if you don't like what they are doing, but to get rid of the support staff, who could very easily help out on other shows at the same time comes across as cruel. Especially during this economic catastrophe we are currently experiencing because of Covid 19.
It's gone. I'll miss it. Bean is currently on a radio station in London and I'm still trying to figure out how to listen to him.
End of an era for me.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
