Meredith hospitalized Monday with appendicitis
Just weeks after Fester's stay in the hospital following a severe illness and heart trouble, another member of the show is in the hospital. Meredith was taken to the emergency room on Monday morning (March 8). She was experiencing severe abdominal pain at about 5:15 a.m. Monday, so she drove herself home. Her current boyfriend Marcus (whom MJ calls Mucus) then came to her place and took her to the ER. They had her on the show throughout the morning getting updates on her status. She was given Demerol and several other painkillers. After a CT scan and a slew of other tests, doctors determined that she had appendicitis and would need to have her appendix removed.
On Monday afternoon, she had a laparoscopic appendectomy to remove her inflamed appendix, which took only about 45 minutes. MJ went to see her at the hospital on Monday night. According to Meredith, she could be off the show for a few weeks while she recovers. MJ was hoping she could come back within a few days. The crew will be on vacation the week of March 15, so if she heals up fairly quickly, she should be back to work at some point the following week when the crew is back live.
MJ walks off show after crew's unpreparedness
On Thursday morning, MJ opened the first segment of the 7 a.m. hour planning to talk about Chat Roulette - the latest fad on the Internet where people can view webcams of others around the world. He wanted to hook it up live on the air, which the crew had done a few times before, to demonstrate what it was like for listeners who hadn't heard about it. When MJ asked Hurricane why the crew did not have a webcam ready to go for the segment, Hurricane replied that MJ should take it up with Tommy Chuck, the program director. MJ then said, "You know what guys? Do the damn segment yourself." Meredith and Froggy then stumbled to play a song, which was "I'm A Be" by the Black Eyed Eyes. They went to a commercial break after the song and then came back with a best-of segment. Shortly into the segment, MJ cut back in live. He argued with Fester and the rest of the crew about how unprepared they were for the bit he wanted to do. He then took calls from listeners about what happened. Some supported him while others felt his actions of walking off the show were unprofessional.
Click here to listen to what happened (note: file is 42 MB)Click here to hear the last time MJ walked off the show. It was in July 2007 after management cancelled his big plans to give away copies of the new Harry Potter book in the radio station parking lot.
A Classic MJ vs. Fester Argument
Arguing isn't always funny. But when a fat guy like Fester screws stuff up and MJ calls him out on it, you've got to admit that it can be entertaining to hear. Listen to a recent argument between MJ and Fester that came about when Fester was unprepared to play the Super Bowl commercials on the show.
The Egg Test Was Right!
Once again, the MJ Morning Show's Super Bowl
Egg Test predicted the winner of the big game. The
test said that the Saints would win (since their egg did
not explode first), and they did win, 31-17 over the Indianapolis
Colts!
Froggy's '02 Altima engine dies on bridge
Froggy has always been known as a slow driver. Even though MJ says he is sometimes a "reckless" member of the morning show, he has an odd way about him when it comes to driving that is probably more like Dementia Don would drive than a 30-year-old guy. But this had nothing to do with why the engine died in his 2002 Nissan Altima. A few days ago, he was on his way to an auto repair shop to have the car checked out after it kept making a loud rumbling noise every time he gave it gas. Since he can't read maps, Froggy followed Fester to the place from the radio station. As Fester kept driving, he noticed that Froggy was getting further and further behind him. Eventually he lost sight of Froggy's car. So he called him up and found out that Froggy's engine had died while he was going over a bridge. He came running to Fester, who was about 200 yards away, and was crying like a baby. After only 112,000 miles, the car is now a total loss and he'll have to buy a new one, which he doesn't want to do because he hates dealing with car salesmen. MJ agreed to help him out and find him a car so won't have to deal with the hassle of getting one himself.
Fester hospitalized after fainting while walking dog
Fester has never been known for his great agility or physical prowess. But his clumsiness did not have much to do with a fall he suffered on Monday afternoon while walking his chihuahua Bailey outside. Earlier in the day, he got up extra early for work but felt light-headed and passed out right outside his bedroom. He drank fluids, ate something and felt well enough to go into work. But while on his way to the radio station, he had an "accident" in his pants and decided to turn around. MJ called him and he said he was feeling better, but after checking in with him later in the show, he said he was started to feel queezy and sick to his stomach again. Later in the day, he collapsed twice and hit his head on the pavement in front of his house. Initially he thought he had only cut up his knees, but his wife Alison noticed blood coming out of his head.
He was taken to the hospital and spent time in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He was being treated for the injuries suffered to his head, but on a more serious note, doctors discovered that Fester had atrial fibrillation - an irregular heartbeat. This is most likely what caused him to black out. three times. But doctors seemed to link his heart issue to the fact that he had a stomach virus, which was hampering his immune system and made his body and heart weaker. The good news is that it is a very common condition people experience and recover from in a short amount of time.
Just like the past 15 years, the year 2009 on the MJ Morning Show had its ups and downs, its good times and its bad times. Even some surprises were thrown in along the way. But overall, it was another pretty enjoyable year of “crapcasting” (as MJ would say).
The year started off with a downer when, on January 20, Joey B was one of 1,850 employees laid off by Clear Channel. It marked the first time the show would be without a full-fledged executive producer. Guys like Hoover, Derek and P-Boy held the position before Joey, but at this point we can’t really add any new names to the list since Joey’s old duties are now split up among the entire crew. Fortunately for Joey, he landed on his feet and is back working at Wired 96.5, a station in Philadelphia.
The show was involved in a few big news stories as well that made national headlines. MJ had two interviews with celebrities he wasn’t too fond of interviewing but thought they’d be popular among the listeners. First, over the summer, Miley Cyrus hung up on MJ when he asked her a simple question about whether comedian Jamie Foxx had apologized to her directly for comments he made about her on his satellite radio show. Just a few months later, MJ interviewed Taylor Swift whose handlers shut down the interview after MJ prodded her about the whole Kanye West incident at the MTV Video Music Awards. Finally, the crew got entangled in a story about Jon Gosselin. Fester apparently put in a request to have the former “Jon and Kate Plus 8” star on the show, and he allegedly asked to be paid over $12,000 for the appearance, which he later denied.
Starting in the fall, MJ began playing more music on the show. This was a result of the show getting chopped up on its syndicated broadcast on Z1077 in St. Louis. Many listeners resented the music, and eventually MJ started playing less and less of it, dropping numerous hints to management on the air that he was not thrilled about losing quality broadcasting time on his show just to fill with songs.
For the first time in over eight years, BJ was back in the studio with his old sidekick as the MJ & BJ Morning Show returned on Oct. 22 and 23 for two special reunion shows. BJ made some major revelations about how he was addicted to cocaine while working on the show, which ultimately split up the successful morning duo in early 2001. He has co-hosted his own morning show for several years on a station in Denver. MJ alluded to the fact that this might not have been the final time the two would be together on the air.
The first annual InventorQuest took place on the show in November. Pitchman extraordinaire Anthony “Sully” Sullivan and his Discovery Channel crew came to Tampa for this event in which listeners and inventors from all over the country pitched their products to the crew, and the best products were selected for an on-air pitch-a-thon. Sully selected several products that he plans to eventually pitch on TV. Footage from the entire event is expected to air during the second season of “Pitchmen” next year.
The year ended with a busy show on December 18. DilBrett the Intern took over for Froggy in the annual Eggnog Challenge, which was uneventful as he gave up midway through the challenge and didn’t even puke on the air. (This is usually the best part of it anyway.) But the main event that day was the fiery blaze in the radio station parking lot. The van the crew used for the turkey fryer fire caught on fire prematurely, and the fire department had to be called to put it out, making Fester’s future with the show uncertain due to his contract being up, his primary involvement with the stunt and a subsequent investigation by state officials.
Because we don’t know whether Fester will return in 2010, the show could be different next year. Losing both Joey and Fester would have major implications on how well the show succeeds. Unless Clear Channel hires someone else to join the show – an unlikely scenario with all the recent layoffs – we could be listening to just a few voices on the show in the new year.
For the show's first-ever Zhu Zhu Pet giveaway for the holidays, MJ used several keywords to give out the popular toys to eager listeners on the air. Listeners had to text these keywords to the crew (97720 is the number) in order to win a Zhu Zhu Pet. The crew gave away about 100 of them to listeners and a few dozen to children at Shriners Hospital and All Children’s Hospital in the Tampa Bay area.
Here are the words they used for the giveaways:- Crotch pizza
- Fart filet
- Mullett
- Poop finger
- Mung
- Yule log
- Nutcracker
- Fungus face
- Nub
- Armpit
- Zit
- Meat
- Vodka
- Ho-ho-ho
The Turkey Fryer Fire Fiasco Recap
All Fester wanted was a fire. Not a big fire, but something significant enough to be somewhat entertaining and also easy enough to manually put out with fire extinguishers. He got a fire all right, but it was too much to handle.
On the morning of Friday, Dec. 18, Fester tried his hand again at the second attempt of the year to start a turkey fryer fire. The first one, which was done right before Thanksgiving, resulted in a mere fizzle – the same result he achieved in 2006. Only the 2008 attempt was successful, and Fester wanted to make it work on the last live broadcast of the show for 2009.
The crew got an old van from Henry Gonzalez Plumbing and equipped it with living room furniture, including a couch and an inflatable snowman. They did this to help demonstrate how some people are now living out of their cars due to foreclosures on their houses, and in turn, some people might be tempted to fry a turkey in their cars more now than in a better economy. They also had sponsorships from Stepps Towing and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for the second rendition of the event.
While Fester was preparing for the demonstration, the van caught on fire and was burning for several minutes before the turkey was even dropped into the fryer in the van. MJ noted this on the air and then took a break and went outside to see it. They came back from the break and were broadcasting live from the radio station parking lot when they finally decided to lower the 12-pound turkey into the fryer using a 30-ton crane. But it didn’t seem to cause much of a fire than what had already been burning. Fester suggested that they call 911, but MJ insisted on using the 10 fire extinguishers they had on site to put out the burning van. None of the main crew members wanted to call themselves, so they chose either Tommy Chuck or an intern to make the call. It was finally Dana the Intern who called 911 around 8:20 a.m. ET and the fire department arrived just a few minutes later. MJ obviously did not want to get firefighters involved so as not to bother them with the stunt, but there was no way they could extinguish the growing fire themselves.
When they arrived on the scene, MJ and Fester tried talking to the firefighters on the air while they were working. They had no interest in talking to the crew. Once they all cleaned up most of the mess and got back into the studio, Tommy Chuck came in and stated that Fester was to be “removed” from the show. He did not indicate if he was being suspended or fired, however. Fester was gone for the rest of the show. They texted him some questions and all he could text back was that he had been “relieved” of his duties.
After the stunt, which was streamed online via Ustream, MJ did acknowledge on the air that an ambulance was in the parking lot, in addition to the fire trucks. He wasn’t sure why it was there, though. Local news reports indicated that a firefighter and a radio station employee had been injured, but they later retracted some of this and reported that only a firefighter had hurt his back while handling a fire hose. He apparently slipped on the ground since it was raining that morning.
At the end of the show around 10 a.m., MJ said, “We’ll maybe see you here after the first of the year. We’ll see what happens.” The crew (with or without Fester) is expected to be back live on Monday, January 4, 2010. But apparently the Florida State Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident, so who knows what will happen. We probably won’t hear any more about this until they get back from their two-week vacation.
NEWS COVERAGE OF THE STUNT AND AFTERMATH:
WFLZ turkey-fryer stunt injures firefighter (Tampa Tribune)
State fire marshal, state attorney look at WFLZ-FM radio stunt gone bad (St. Petersburg Times)
Firefighter injured during radio stunt (WTVT-Fox 13 Tampa)
Robert van Mierlo is a 39-year-old MJ Morning Show listener from St. Louis. The longtime fan of the show has recently showered Meredith with gifts and has expressed a deep desire to go on a date with her. In this MJ Fan Page interview, Robert explains why he is in love with Meredith and what his motive is for buying her gifts:
When did you start listening to the MJ Morning Show?
Since the MJ & BJ days, I’ve been living in St. Louis since the age of two and when they became part of my life, I was loyal from the get go.
Why do you like the show?
I love the show because it's not only the funniest show on FM radio but I can relate to Froggy. We have a lot of interests in common such as being “Back to the Future” fans. Besides that he has the same personality as I do once you get to know me. I have made Froggy my go-gay guy if I was gay, which I'm not.
Have you been attracted to any other past females or interns on the show? If so, who?
Only Dana the Intern and not because of her large tic-tacs. She seems to like older men like Meredith, which gives me the edge. We are good friends and talk off and on via Facebook and phone when she is not interning during the show.
Why do you like Meredith so much?
I like Meredith because, like I told them live on the air, she is wonderful, she is incredible and deserves the utmost respect from any guy she dates. She is charming and a true sports fan, which I like in a lady. She is brilliant though the show makes her look dumb. If any guy treats her like dirt and is a cheap-ass in front of her mother, they deserve small wieners! With that said, she is the type of lady I like and would be in Heaven if I got the chance to date her.
What has your dating history been like?
The last long-term relationship I had was three years ago with a girl named Ashley. She just wanted me for my money and never wanted to be seen with me in a public place. So I dumped her within the first month of our relationship. Since then I’ve been single and dateless. Perhaps it’s because my looks and I don't like competition as well but would give it a try if I had to. If a guy had a six-pack and walked into the room with Meredith and I if we were dating, would I get jealous? Not at all. But I know Meredith would pick the guy with the six-pack over me. I do consider myself handsome though. I have told Meredith she could date any guy she wants – we don't have to be serious. Just being part of her dating cycle would be a dream come true for me.
What would it mean to you if you could date Meredith?
If I could date Meredith I would be the happiest and luckiest guy on Earth. Though I am already the happiest and luckiest guy on Earth, this would put the adorable in my life.
What are all the items you have sent her, and how much total money have you spent on her?
I bought her three necklaces and the last item was a $1,000 1-ct diamond ring, which was an engagement ring. But since she is hanging out with Sully in Mexico and who knows where else, I need to show her I am interested in dating her. She wouldn't know anything about me if I didn't make a chance to show her who I am since I live in St. Louis and Sully is in Florida. I have no problems, like I said earlier, Meredith can date anyone she wants, I just want to be in her dating cycle like I said. I have no chance if Sully ignites her flame though which in some ways seems to have already become a reality. Since Meredith seems to like older men as well, I would love to show her to my St. Louis Blues hockey games and all!
What else could you be buying with this money?
I have everything I need and if I want something I would buy it myself. At least Meredith knows if I ever met her mother during dinner on an important date that I WOULD be capable of paying for the bill.
What would you say to people who call you a “stalker?”
Don't judge a guy you know nothing about. I never put a label on someone I don't know. That said, I labeled Hurricane one time but took it back and was sorry I ever did that. It was over the fact that MJ kept saying Hurricane was whining about his salary and his job. Now Hurricane and I are great friends as well. We talk via e-mail here and there and I would buy him a Bentley. Meredith and I talk via Facebook and e-mail but not the phone yet. I'm not counting on the air. I would treasure those days if they ever come true.
NEW BREAST CHRISTMAS EVER JINGLES
Check out these new jingles for this winter's version of Breast Christmas Ever. These include parodies of today's most popular songs. Thanks to Mark Maynor of Monster Mix Productions in St. Petersburg, Fla. for letting me share these:
To listen to jingles from previous contests on the show, check out the Jingles and Songs page where you can also hear some old rap songs from Jabberjaw and Kristi the Apprentice during their rap duel.
Listen to this promo where MJ promotes the iHeart Radio application but then pokes fun at Meredith at the end. Wow, she actually does think it's easy to use! Who would have thought?
To promote the recent Pitchmen event, Fester appeared live on "Good Day Tampa Bay," a morning news show that airs on Fox 13, the local Tampa affiliate. Listen to Fester's appearance or visit this site to watch the video. Note the two times he says things you probably shouldn't say on broadcast TV.
