by ladybugbkt

The MJ Morning Show

www.mjmorningshow.com/

“The MJ Morning Show” is a morning radio show that broadcasts out of 93.3 FLZ in Tampa, FL and also in other cities such as St. Louis, Jacksonville, Melbourne, and Ft. Pierce-Vero Beach. The show was formerly known as “The MJ and BJ Morning Show” until “BJ” left the show. The show features MJ (Todd Schnitt) and sidekicks Froggy, Hurricane “Hitman” Stevens, Fester and Meredith. Dave “Dave the Dwarf” Flood also makes random appearances on the show, as well as a cast of interns. The show recently began playing a few songs during each hour.

Contents

1 Current Crew Members

1.1 “Hurricane” Stevens

1.2 Fester

1.3 Froggy 2

1.4 Dave The Dwarf

2 Previous Crew Members

2.1 BJ Harris

2.2 Hoover

2.3 Froggy 1

2.4 Flunkie

2.5 Jabberjaw

2.6 Joey B

3 Albums

3.1 Classic Crotchety & Wisecracks

3.2 Crotchety Christmas II

3.3 Crotchety Christmas 3-D

3.4 Nothing But Crotchety (3 CD set)

4 Music and sound effects

4.1 List of background music

4.2 List of sound effects

4.3 Background music/sound effects trivia

5 Contests

5.1 Jingle Jugs

5.2 Pick Your Plastic

5.3 Rear of the Year

5.4 Homeroom Hottie

5.5 Mangle Mouth

6 Affiliates

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

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Current Crew Members

On Friday morning July 20, 2007 MJ announced that he “quit” the MJ morning show. He returned about 45 minutes later and said that he owed it to the listeners to finish out the day. He returned on Monday with a video of him shooting the newest Harry Potter book with a friend’s HK MP5.

“Hurricane” Stevens

Hurricane (name Andrew Eden, born April 1966 in Miami) is the executive technical producer and air personality of the morning show. He is also the webmaster, handling the majority of the content that is posted on the show’s official website. He and M.J. have been on the show since its inception on February 7, 1994. He started at WFLZ-FM in 1990 as “Boner.” Andrew, born and raised in Miami, is one of four boys in his family, one of whom is his twin brother.

Fester

Fester (formerly known as Moose) was one of the many on-air talent of the show. Fester hosts his own radio show (under the name “Tony Fatso”) called “On the Grill”, Saturday Mornings, on AM 970 WFLA, which focuses on barbecue and grilling. He also occasionally lends his grilling skills to the nationally syndicated Cigar Dave Show, also based out of WFLA. Fester is also a franchisee of “Planet Beach,” a tanning salon in Tampa, FL. He was rumored to have been fired on December 18th, 2009 after a stunt involving setting a van on fire. This turned out to be untrue.
Froggy 2

Froggy (Michael Cusamano, born November 1980) returned to the show on Wednesday August 16, 2006, after a year and half away. After originally leaving of the show, he went to Orlando to do a nighttime radio show, but was fired after three months. He then returned to Tampa to do an evening radio show on another Clear Channel station, 98 Rock (WXTB). He was fired from that show after a year on the air. Froggy is also known infamously for making crank calls involving a few characters such as Rob Ripple a roid raged Father who can apparently pick up buildings and loves to suplex while flexing his arms to intimidate his crank victims. Also Dementia Don, a 97 year old man with dementia whose decision making is effected by his mental disorder, usually involves his grandson Andrew who is 5 or 6 (depending on the crank call) who usually hurts Don or himself in the Crank call.

Dave The Dwarf

Dave “Dave the Dwarf” Flood (born July 5, 1964 (1964-07-05) (age 45)) is a 3-foot, 2-inch dwarf who appears on the show in-studio or on the phone. Dave regularly makes appearances at strip clubs around the Tampa Bay area. He has one daughter. Dave was involved in and won a lawsuit over “dwarf tossing”, a sport in local bars in which patrons literally toss dwarves for fun. Dave hosts parties during the holidays and at any time for a fee.[citation needed]

Previous Crew Members

BJ Harris

BJ (real name Barry Harris) was the co-host of the MJ & BJ Morning Show until February 7, 2001. He acted as the “voice of reason” for MJ, who would occasionally go off on tirades. He also brought more of a mature attitude and voice to the show.

BJ now works as the co-host of The Alice Morning Show on 105.9 FM KALC in Denver. He is divorced from his ex-wife Sharon and has three sons.

BJ appeared in studio with MJ for two reunion shows on Oct. 22 and 23, 2009. He admitted that a severe cocaine addiction was the ultimate reason for his departure from the show in 2001.

Hoover

Hoover took over as executive producer after Joey B. left. He and MJ did not see eye to eye on many topics. He left to take a job in sports radio, which was his passion. This left the door open for Joey B. to return. Hoover would put aside his radio career to become a middle school teacher.

Froggy 1

Worked at WFLZ on the MJ & BJ Show until 2001 when he relocated with his wife and kids to Miami. Froggy has been at sister station WHYI-FM – Y100. Froggy was the executive producer for Kenny and Footy in the Morning on Y100. When Kenny Walker was let go from Y100, Footy retired (now at WIOD) and Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo (simulcast from sister station WHTZ Z100 in New York City) currently airs weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. It began airing on Y-100 on Monday May 22, 2006, Froggy, during his last four years on the air is currently the only live and local South Florida voice of Y-100 during the show.

Flunkie

Flunkie (also known as Tommy, born September 27, 1979 (1979-09-27) (age 30)) worked with Joey B in Philadelphia before being recommended to MJ for this show. Flunkie played the sounds and music for the show, and also captured audio clips from television and news shows that he played during the broadcast when MJ discusses the stories behind them. Flunkie often was caught doing very odd things such as creating the alter ego of Yuri Roshenko and picking up girls with this persona, eating at homeless shelters to get free meals, and attempting to dress up as a member of the U.S. military to pick up girls. He was generally a type of punching bag for MJ and the crew and was constantly being ridiculed for his stupidity. His last day was March 19, 2007. According to Flunkie, the reason he left the show was because he didn’t get an increase in pay. Although Flunkie had gone on to DJ at strip clubs, he has contacted MJ on-air to inquire about the possibility of a job opening on the Morning Show.

Jabberjaw

Jabberjaw (name Kim Collelo) joined the MJ Morning Show in 2005 as an intern. She is originally from Wisconsin, and MJ checks with her for pronunciations of Wisconsin cities. She was a full-time member of the show. She provided stories for discussion and was an assistant producer. She left the show on Friday August 11, 2006 to take a three-month internship at a Tampa NBC affiliate. Right with MJ’s predictions, Jabberjaw requested to come back to the show in late 2006. There was a poll of the listeners, and the result was a no. Despite this, in April 2007, Jabberjaw returned to the show after an eight-month absence. Unfortunately, Jabberjaw inadvertantly ran afoul of MJ’s political views. During Barack Obama’s presidential run, Jabberjaw wanted to attend the Tampa rally that Obama was speaking at. She went through proper channels to schedule a personal day and proceded to attend the rally. When MJ found out that Jabberjaw not only attended the speech but wore an Obama t-shirt, he became very angry and fired her on the air. As in other situations, this backfired on MJ when Jabberjaw went to work for MJ’s arch enemy and dominant radio competitor, Bubba The Love Sponge, who had brought his radio show back to Tampa Bay and resumed the number one position in the ratings, an event that destroyed the once strong MJ show. Subsequently, a lot of behind-the-scenes dirty laundry was aired that further dampened the struggling MJ show.

Joey B

Joey B (born March 17) was the executive producer of the show. On January 4, 2006, he officially returned to the show as executive producer after working at stations in Miami and Philadelphia. He also spent 19982001 as the producer of the MJ & BJ Morning Show. He is also referred to by MJ as Executive Reducer instead of his position as Executive Producer. On January 20, 2009, Joey B was laid off by Clear Channel due to corporate downsizing and the extreme economic situation of the time.

Albums

One of the show’s most famous bits was the “Crotchety Old Man Calls” (a series of crank calls starring MJ Kelli’s character “Milton Fludgecow”) which became so popular that for several years an annual CD featuring these calls, as well as other bits from the show, was sold in the Tampa Bay Area. The CDs would typically sell during the holiday season and go out of print. Then, at one point, the CDs were put on permanent hiatus after MJ decided to retire the Milton Fludgecow character. However in 2005, a “virtual album” (a series of MP3’s, which could be downloaded for a nominal fee) consisting of every single Crotchety call ever made, was released for sale on the MJ Morning Show website. The CD also included three new calls, the only ones made since MJ retired the bit. The offer was limited and has since expired.

Classic Crotchety & Wisecracks

Classic Crotchety & Wisecracks album cover

Crotchety Christmas II

Crotchety Christmas II album cover

Crotchety Christmas 3-D

Crotchety Christmas 3-D album cover

Nothing But Crotchety (3 CD set)

Nothing But Crotchety album cover

Music and sound effects

List of background music

The show uses numerous theme songs from classic and current TV shows as background music cues.

American Idol theme (American Idiot: The Search for a Stupid Star)

The ,000 Pyramid theme (e.g., when MJ is doing a spiel for his own game)

The Price is Right theme from Bob Barker’s version (when MJ is doing anything related to The Price is Right and MJ’s caller wins a prize)

Match Game alternate theme from 1973-1981 (when MJ is asking questions to his caller, he asks basic questions, or he prepares to put events on a type of list)

Family Feud win cue from 1976-1985 (when the caller answers MJ’s final question correctly)

Wheel of Fortune theme from 1983-1989 (when MJ is talking about anything related to Wheel of Fortune) (sometimes, after the music stops, the sound of the wheel spinning is heard)

List of sound effects

The show also uses sound effects from various TV game shows.

Current buzzer from Family Feud

Bell ding from The Price is Right

Bell ding repeated from The Price is Right

Combo of current Family Feud buzzer and 1972-2007 losing horns from The Price is Right

Background music/sound effects trivia

On April 8, 2009, the buzzer and horns sounded when MJ failed to respond to the caller’s question.

When MJ talked about whet happened on Wheel of Fortune, the 1983 theme played, but when MJ stopped it, he heard the spinning of the wheel.

The Match Game theme is used when MJ pretends that he is Gene Rayburn and in Match Game-based segments and also when the caller answers questions.

The Match Game theme played when MJ put vacations on his list.

The buzzer and horns sound when the caller loses his or her prizes and/or grand prizes.

Contests

Jingle Jugs

Every Christmas season the show gives away 12 breast enhancements. Women submit stories to the show, via e-mail, to attract the attention of the judges. There have been other names for this contest: “Breast Christmas Ever” (2005, 2009) and “Holiday Hooters” (2006). Jingle Jugs was the promotion name for 2003. The name was later ripped off to be used for a novelty item. Unfortunately, MJ never copyrighted the name and was informed he had no reason for legal recourse.

Pick Your Plastic

Pick Your Plastic is a variation on the Jingle Jugs, except instead of offering just breast augmentations they offer a large variety of plastic surgeries.

Rear of the Year

Held in 2003, the “Rear of the Year” contest was an event where listeners sent in non-nude photographs of their rear ends to the show. Both males and females could enter the contest. The photos were voted on by listeners of the show on the official website. Two winners were chosen based on the listeners’ votes, one male and one female.

Homeroom Hottie

This contest was created when all of the teacher/student sex scandals occurred. It was held only 1 time in 2005 with two contests being held, one for men and one for women.

Mangle Mouth

Returning with its second edition in October 2007, Mangle Mouth gives listeners a chance to receive a full dental makeover. Contestants send in photos of their mouths/teeth and every 23 days, 10 contestants are chosen for each round. There are 8 rounds and the contestant with the most votes wins the makeover.

Affiliates

The MJ Morning Show has been regionally syndicated for the past ten years. The show broadcasts to six affiliates, the most the show has had at once. In comparison, MJ’s The Schnitt Show broadcasts to over twenty-five markets, under distribution from Compass Media Networks. Currently, the only market to broadcast both shows is the Tampa Bay area homebase. The show originates from WFLZ.

Calls

Freq.

Branding

Format

Market/Market Rank

Timeslot

Group Owner

Terrestrial Stations

WFLZ-FM

93.3 MHz

933 FLZ

CHR/Pop

Tampa, Florida / 18

Live 5-10 a.m.

Clear Channel Communications

KSLZ

107.7 MHz

Z1077

CHR/Pop

St. Louis, MO / 20

Delay 6-10 a.m.

Clear Channel Communications

WFKS

97.9 MHz

979 KISS FM

CHR/Pop

Neptune Beach, FL / 47

Live 6-10 a.m.

Clear Channel Communications

WBVD

95.1 MHz

KISS 95.1

CHR/Pop

Melbourne, Florida / 97

Live 6-10 a.m.

Clear Channel Communications

– Show streams online.

Both WFLZ and KSLZ carry a bonus hour of the MJ Morning Show at 5 a.m. entitled “MJ-Replay”, comprising of bits from the previous show.

Listeners in the Tampa Bay area can also tune into MJ’s afternoon show, The Schnitt Show, on WFLA. Listeners in the Ft. Pierce-Stuart-Vero Beach and Naples, Florida areas can also hear the show on Miami’s WIOD, which covers South Florida.

See also

Todd Schnitt

The Schnitt Show

References

^ ABC Action News – Radio stunt accident injures firefighter

^ Market Rank according to Arbitron Market Rankings

External links

http://www.mjmorningshow.com The official MJ Morning Show website

http://www.myspace.com/mjmorningshow at MySpace The MJ Morning Show MySpace page

The MJ Morning Show at Facebook

[] Official Twitter Page

http://www.mjfanpage.com/ MJ Morning Show Fan Page

Categories: American radio programsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from March 2008