The Ace & TJ Show
The Ace & TJ Show
Official Logo |
| Genre |
comedy, talk |
| Running time |
6 A.M.-10:00 A.M. EST (Weekdays) |
| Country |
United States |
| Home station |
WHQC Charlotte, NC |
| Starring |
Ace
TJ
Yankee Pete
Monica
BreezeKat
Riggins |
| Exec. producers |
Yankee Pete |
| Air dates |
since April 6, 1998 |
| Website |
AceTJ.com |
| Podcast |
acetj.com/listen |
The Ace & TJ Show is a syndicated morning radio show originating out of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of January 5, 2012 (2012 -01-05)[update], The Ace & TJ Show began broadcasting as the morning show on WHQC ("Channel 96-1").[1] Ace & TJ were previously on Charlotte's WNKS ("Kiss 95.1"), where the show debuted on April 6, 1998. After unsuccessful contract discussions with CBS Radio, their last day on Kiss 95.1 was Friday, May 20, 2011. Their non-compete agreement was valid until December 1, 2011, at which point they started to look for a new home station in Charlotte.[2]
Ace & TJ were six-time nominees for the Radio and Records CHR "Personality Of The Year", though they never won.
The show is available among the cities in which they are broadcast through terrestrial radio. The show is also available online through the Ace & TJ Button. Additional programming is also available on The Ace & TJ Button immediately following the end of the terrestrial radio version of the show online from AceTJ.com. There is also an Ace & TJ Button App available in iTunes and the Android Marketplace.
Show line-up
Main cast
- Ace: The Rockstar. The lead singer of the band Charity Case. He "runs the board" for the show and is the co-host along with TJ. Has two children, Payton and Cade, and is married to Shonnette. He is constantly labeled as the most vain/egotistical member of the show, although this is mostly in jest. His real name is David.
- TJ: The Love Specialist. He is wittiest member of the show. He is the other co-host of the show. He constantly uses sarcasm to take his humor to the next level. He makes plenty of off-color jokes, but is also the moral compass for the show. He will very regularly share his conservative political views. He is also every intern's favorite person on the show. His real name is Ritchie.
- Yankee Pete: The Guy With The Really Deep Voice. He is officially Ace & TJ's Chief of Staff. Even though he is younger than both Ace and TJ, he acts much older than any other members of the show. He is the grouchy old man of the show, constantly telling the kids to "stay off his lawn". He is also the voice behind Stupid News and is well-known for his laugh.
- Monica: The Girl. Monica was last guest Ace & TJ ever had in their original studio in Charlotte. She filled-in during Ace & TJ's seven month absence from Charlotte radio while their former "girl" waited out her noncompete clause. Monica was hired by the show a few months after Guenn took a job with Ace & TJ's former company CBS Radio. Before joining the show she was Miss Sprint Cup in NASCAR's top series. She also is a former Miss North Carolina.[3]
- BreezeKat: The Bouncy Little Ninja. Started as an intern in 2001 and is now the Executive Producer. He gets made fun of on the air, works a lot behind the scenes, and is in charge of Total Ace & TJ. He is also in charge of the interns. He also pulls audio to be put in TJ's thang, to be played back at the most opportune times. He constantly reminds everyone that he's the best at his job.
- Riggins: The Music Master. Was an intern from January - August 2009. Became a main cast member when the White Shadow lost his bet on the Carolina Panthers. He constantly updates the website, making sure that it always has the most current videos and information He also frequently uses his musical talents to swoon the ladies and recap the stuff that happens on the show.
Other cast
- Adam Goodman: The Manager. Long-time Ace & TJ Show manager and entrepreneur-extraordinaire. He has made several appearances on the show.
- WikiRyan: The Authority. Former Ace & TJ Show Intern who is one of the go-to guys to double check any Ace & TJ Show history and authority on the show.
- Barb: The Administrator. The Administrator of Ace & TJ's Grin Kids. She handles all of the fundraising, appearances, and most importantly, the Grin Kids trip to Disney World.
- Danny: The Archivist. Libertarian Danny is the Show Archivist, probably keeping more records than Yankee Pete or BreezeKat.
Former show members
- Guenn (2007-2011): Ol' Girl. She was the most recent female member of the show, replacing the past "girl", Madden, and is smokin' hot. She was in the sales and promotions department at the show's former flagship station, Kiss 95.1, until she sat in for a couple of days, and, after a short time filling in, Ace and TJ thought that they should make her the permanent replacement for Madden. After Ace & TJ's contract with CBS Radio expired, Guenn had to remain with CBS, as her contract ran through December 2011. Originally, they planned to have her rejoin The Ace & TJ Show after the expiration of her contract with CBS Radio. Ace & TJ made the announcement on their show in September, 2011 that Guenn would not be returning to the show.[4]
- White Shadow (2008–2010): The Guy Who Was On The Roof That One Time. Shadow was in charge of doing most of the posting to the website. Also was the stunt boy of the show, his biggest claim to fame was living on the roof for 20 days until the Carolina Panthers won their first football game in 2009. In 2010, he bet the Panthers would win one of their first five games or he would leave the show forever. On October 10, 2010 Shadow lost the bet and his job when the Panthers lost their fifth game of the season to the Chicago Bears in Charlotte. On Monday, October 11, 2010, less than a week after he became engaged to his girlfriend, Amy, Shadow said farewell to the Ace & TJ radio family.[5]
- Ryan (2001–2008): The Stunt Guy. He was with the show 7 years, filling the show's producer role. He ran the group of interns in the news room and made sure things with the website are up-to-date. He is a computer and internet extraordinaire, with other members of the show remarking that they just know Ryan has looked at their personal bank accounts and files online many times. He was known to party with the likes of Fall Out Boy and famous NASCAR drivers.
- Madden (2005–2007): The Redneck Girl. She replaced Angie in June 2005. Left the Show June 27, 2007 to become a mid-day host and assistant program director in Modesto, CA.
- Cubby (2004–2006): The Britney Spears Lover. Intern turned assistant producer that was with the show for 2 years. He was best known for the day he had to hitch a ride back to the studio from a remote location. It turned out that the guys set him up to be picked up by an actor playing a crazed driver. He is currently best known for dancing around to Beyonce songs in a black leotard.
- Angie Fitzsimmons (2000–2005): The Angel. Angie left the show in June 2005 to move to Los Angeles, CA with her husband. Has since become a part of the Adam Carolla Show. Angie makes "guest appearances" through the use of TJ's computer.
- Terri (1996–2000): The Original Girl. Terri was "the girl" originally. Not many listeners may know of her since back then Ace & TJ only had "3 listeners".
- Intern / Daddy Matt (1998–2000): Started out as the intern and then stayed on to become an assistant producer. Known as the good Christian boy that Ace & TJ tried to corrupt.
- Justin (1997–1998): Was an assistant producer before Intern Matt joined the show. Is featured on Ace & TJ's first CD, No, You Shut Up!
List of Ace & TJ affiliates
- WHQC Channel 96-1 from Charlotte, North Carolina (flagship station)
- WQEN 103.7 The Q from Birmingham, Alabama
- WKZZ 92-5 KZZ from Tifton, Georgia
- KITT KITT 100 FM from Soda Springs, Idaho
- KXNC Kiss 104.7 FM from Great Bend/LaCrosse/Hays, Kansas
- WWKF (KF-99) / WAKQ (KQ-105) from Fulton, Kentucky / Union City/Martin/Paris, Tennessee
- WKIB Mix 96.5 from Cape Girardeau, Missouri
- WERO BOB 93.3 from Greenville, North Carolina / Jacksonville, North Carolina
- WNOK 104.7 WNOK from Columbia, South Carolina
- WBGQ 100.7 FM from Morristown, Tennessee
- KORQ Channel 9-5-Q from Abilene, Texas
- WKSI 98-3 Kiss FM from Winchester, Virginia
- WKQR 92.7 Kiss FM from Beckley, West Virginia
- WKQB 102.9 FM from Bluefield, West Virginia
All the above stations (with the exception of KITT--which has a country format) air a Top 40 (CHR) format.
Grin Kids/charity work
- Ace and TJ founded their own charity called "Ace & TJ's Grin Kids". Ace & TJ's Grin Kids is a non-profit 501(c)3 charity, created by morning show personalities Ace & TJ in Charlotte, North Carolina in January 2000. The name of the organization comes from Ace & TJ's motto on their morning show, "You Grin, You're In!". The charity is run solely on the donations from the show's listeners, The Radio Family. The goal is to take a plane-load of permanently disabled and terminally ill children to Disney World each year in October. The charity went on its first trip to Disney World in 2000 and just recently made its 11th consecutive trip. The trip each year is cost-free to the participants and has brought joy to over 200 children.
- Charity Case is a band that Ace formed in 2001 to mimic the show Making the Band plays solely to raise money for Grin Kids. The band was formed to originally play for one show, has since gone on to raise more than $750 thousand for the charity. Charity Case finished its eight-year run in June 2009. The retirement ended in March 2010 and they even tried to open for the band KISS during their summer 2010 tour. In attempting to do so, they had to submit an original song, Victoria's Secret, the first ever released by Charity Case.
- Breaking & Entering Christmas: Ace & TJ take nominations for families in need in November each year for a series they call "Breaking & Entering Christmas". Yankee Pete and his band of Merry Hoodlum Elves then travel to the houses of the families, break into their house, and leave thousands of dollars in Christmas gifts, decorations, and other necessities to help these families through the holidays and the winter. Gifts for the families are donated from businesses all over the Ace & TJ listening area as well as donations from Ace & TJ Radio Family members (listeners).
- In April 2007, Ace & TJ began work on a project to build two memorial parks. One would be named Jeff Shelton Memorial Park, which would be a revitalization of the Old City of Locust Park, which opened October 20, 2007. The other would be named Sean Clark Memorial Park, which would be located inside of Beatties Ford Park, in East Lincoln County, NC. They are to be named after slain Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark, who were murdered in the line of duty on March 31, 2007.
- Another popular event sponsored by the show is the Second Chance Prom, which is open to ages 21 and over. The Second Chance Prom is held annually on the first Saturday of May in Uptown Charlotte, with all the proceeds going to Grin Kids.
- Ace & TJ's Gown Town is charity event run by the show. Every year, before prom season begins, Ace & TJ collect formal gowns that are given free of charge to girls in the Mothership Market of Charlotte, NC. After the gowns are collected, a store is rented out for the gown distribution
- Over the years, Ace & TJ have held many donation marathons for different tragedies, disasters and charities. Some of them include one for September 11, Hurricane Katrina (which was called Give to the Gulf).
- Play Anything Day: An annual event where the entire show is turned over to the listeners. It is held every year on the first Friday in April. On Play Anything Day, the show takes donations to play each listener's choice of song. The show has played nearly everything, from country music to school fight songs.
Ace & TJ Button
The Ace & TJ Button provides web-exclusive content beyond the terrestrial radio programming. It is available on the show's website, as well as through Android and iPhone Apps. It includes different shows and features from each cast member. Its flagship program is More Show After the Show
- More Show After The Show: Runs daily, immediately following the terrestrial radio show. More Show is a more risque' version of The Ace & TJ Show that includes more profanity, is more sexually suggestive and runs closer to each show member's off the radio personality.
- TJ's Relationship Advice Show: Another of TJ's programmings. TJ dispenses his expert relationship advice to the masses in attempt to aid the people in getting the romance they need. It airs Mondays, immediately following More Show.
- TJ's Courageous Conservatism: The second-longest-running web-exclusive feature. The TJCC is hosted solely by TJ and is a 20-30 minute program dedicated to politics from TJ's more conservative point-of-view. The constant reminder is that you cannot spell "nutjob" without TJ. The TJCC airs on The Button on Tuesdays, immediately following More Show.
- The New Music Preview Show: Hosted by Ace and Riggins, New Music focuses on what music has come out since the last show and what is coming out in the upcoming weeks. It airs Wednesdays, immediately following More Show.
- Ace @ Large: Ace's solo show. It is tagged as "more Ace than ever". The show features random segments, interviews and topics that Ace chooses to talk about weekly. It airs Thursdays, immediately following More Show.
- Date Night: Date Night focuses mostly on the movies that are being released on Fridays but also on general dating etiquette and first date Fridays. It is hosted by Riggins and usually features guest commentators like Breeze and the interns. It airs Fridays, immediately following the More Show.
Show features
Current
- The Ace & TJ Update (formerly the Ace & TJ Report): Takes place at 7:00 EST everyday. It is the daily news segment that Ace & TJ produce to bring the news to the masses everyday.
- The Ace & TJ Show And Now We Know segment: At the end of every show, each main cast member - Ace, Riggins, Pete, Monica, and TJ - will share something that they learned from the Show that day, set to Riggins and his guitar.
- The Weekly Review (formerly The Week in Review): A weekly segment that takes place after the "World Famous, Friday Morning Weekend Blastoff". This segment is a song composed by Riggins that recaps all the important things that have gone on during the week, both show-related and pop culture news.
- Stupid News: A daily segment hosted by Yankee Pete that details all the stupid things that people do in the news. It is one of Ace & TJ's longest-running segments.
- Ace & TJ Celebrity News (formerly Guenntertainment): A daily recap of all things celebrity related.
- Bad Boyfriend Poker: A segment that TJ thought up after seeing a book in the bargain bin at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore, two callers alternate playing three "hands" or "stories" each of bad boyfriends. The cast then votes on who they believe has the worst boyfriend, making her the winner, or "loser", depending on how you look at it. Not only has this segment been borrowed by radio shows throughout the country, but it has become The Ace & TJ Show's CSI of radio contests since its debut on September 1, 2009, spurring such spinoffs as Psycho Ex-Girlfriend Poker, Psycho Mother-in-Law Poker, Bad Date Poker, Dysfunctional Family Poker, Bad Dad Poker, and Bad Best Friend Poker, to name a few.
- Top This: A segment where listeners are charged with one-upping each other with their stories. It is the evolution of Make Pete Say Jeez". Listeners call in with their crazy stories, each getting more extreme than the last in the level of crazy.
- The Guinness Book of Listeners: An ongoing list of unofficial records held by members of the Ace & TJ Radio Family. An updated list can usually be found within a few days of a new entry on the Features page of http://www.AceTJ.com. Each entry is based on the honor of the person calling or e-mailing and include such entries as "Most Illegitimate Kids in a Wedding", "Married to the Person with the Most Divorces", "Oldest Prom Date", "Shortest Time from Meeting to Playing the Piano", and "Dated a Man the Longest Before Finding Out He Was Married", to name a few. The "winners" in these various categories not only claim bragging rights throughout the entire and quickly-growing Ace & TJ Radio Empire, but also are immortalized in the annuls of Ace & TJ Show History.
- TJ's love for the Latinas: On many different occasions TJ has expressed his love for the women of Latin descent and especially loves their beautiful accents.
- The World Famous Friday Morning Weekend Blastoff: A segment immediately following the Ace & TJ Update every Friday. They play five songs, including a sing along clip, to get everyone listening pumped up and ready for the weekend. One of the longest-running and most popular bits in the history of the show, songs are usually from the hair metal, old school hip hop, and boy band genres.
- Who's Got the Best Song: A segment where each show member would bring in a song that they are really in to at that point, but is not one that you would hear on any of their stations, i.e. not Top 40, and callers would vote on who has the best song. TJ won this more than anyone else, and, despite the popularity of the segment, it is rarely used.
- Give the Band a Break: A regular on air feature where Ace & TJ ask for unsigned bands to send in a song to play on the air. The band is then chosen at random by being drawn out of a box and played on the air. Listeners can then call in and give their opinion of whether or not they liked the song.
- Total Ace & TJ: Every day the entire show is available for listen and download. It was a free service but, because of the increasing cost of making every show available, Ace & TJ made the tough decision of charging $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. It is one of the best services the show offers, allowing people to watch never-before-seen videos and listen to all Ace & TJ Button programming.
- Freddie Fatterson: Very large character portrayed by the Yankee Pete. Has a conversion van which hauls him around. He was often joined by his house boy Jose.
- The Ace & TJ Curse: If something is going to break or get messed up, it will mess up for Ace and/or TJ at the most inopportune time.
- A popular running joke is making fun of Yankee Pete's affinity for lite/soft rock music, which does not fit the bill of the CHR-formatted stations that carry the show. Snippets of popular lite rock songs from the 1970s and '80s play throughout the show, and sometimes, the entire staff sings along with the music. Some of the artists include Dan Fogelberg, Cyndi Lauper and Billy Joel, to name a few.
- Yankee Pete's German Voice: When any story or news item involves a German, Yankee Pete does an impression of a German accent.
- Christie's Best Friend: Yankee Pete as a teenage girl whenever they have a blog to read off of MySpace, Pete always does it in a typical teenage girl's voice, using phrases such as, "like" and "whatever".
Past
- Herman: Ace's 'real' name. TJ started saying that Ace's real name was Herman (it's actually David) and actually fooled a lot of people into thinking that was Ace's real name. One such instance was when a listener was yelling "Hey Herman" at Ace repeatedly down the aisle of a store.
- TJ's Wife: Jodi, according to TJ she is 351 Pounds of Half-Nubian nasty. She also rides around on a "Fat Scooter".
- Show Apologies: At the end of every show, Yankee Pete would list, by name, and say the show is sorry to people that the Show or someone individually may have offended throughout the day.
- 5 Things You Need To Know: At the end of every show the Yankee Pete would run down a list of the 5 Things a listener would need to know for the rest of the day. Some of these were funny in nature, others were more serious. This show feature was unceremoniously retired on March 12, 2010.
- Elvis and his colon: On everything related to the late Elvis TJ, and sometimes other members of the show, make sure to note that "At the time of Elvis's death, his colon was twice its normal size due to a build up of white fecal matter".
- The Circle of Life: One of the show's gags where, during every story that features something to do with Africa, this will be the introduction to the story. Each show member gets a great deal of joy from hearing this song and it has been stated that the Yankee Pete paid over $10 just to find the right version.
- Yankee Pete used to make jokes about hiring prostitutes and then later killing them to get his money back. Everyone laughs, but Ace is always uncomfortable with the jokes.
- iPod Idol: This is where BreezeKat will sing a song picked by Ace & TJ to sing and did so while wearing headphones plugged directly into the music. It usually ended with a lot of laughs from the cast.
- Super Ace: Running joke that started a few weeks before Ace's High School Reunion, where it was noted that Ace has the ability to save all reunions when they are in jeopardy.
- The Ace Curse: In opposition of Super Ace was the Ace Curse, where Ace always goes too far when interviewing celebrities and asks the wrong questions, which does a good job in embarrassing the show and making others feel bad for him. Some very funny incidents were when Ace asked Carolina Panthers' Wide Receiver Steve Smith about his love for the show I Love Lucy, to which Smith replied that he had no idea what Ace was talking about. Another even more comical incident was when TJ and Madden played a prank on Ace when, shortly after the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son, they interviewed singer James Blunt and, in Blunt's bio report put together by Madden, it stated that Blunt had done a song for the Anna Nicole Smith's show called Hats Off, to which Blunt replied, "are you sure you're interviewing the right person", as well as some other very funny comments on Ace's behalf.
- Dr. Phil: Most of the members of the show have expressed their love for the television personality and earlier in the life of the show TJ did an impression of Dr. Phil in answering questions about peoples' problems. One day TJ stopped "feeling it" and said that they went to the well one too many times on this one.
- Pet Psychic: Another one of TJ's personalities where he imitated the Pet Psychic that was featured on Animal Planet. He also interviewed a few dogs, including Angie's, a former show member's dog and making some very funny, suggestive comments. This was also declared by TJ as "going to the well one too many times" and has been dropped as one of their bits.
- Drunk Kiss Fan: Recorded by BreezeKat, before a Kiss/Aerosmith concert and is constantly used throughout the show to add an extra bit of humor.
- Drunk Mötley Crüe Fan: Recorded by former show member Ryan at the Mötley Crüe/Aerosmith concert, the favorite saying from the clip is "I did, man, myself!".
- Britney Spears Comeback: Ace & TJ Morning Show extended an offer to Britney Spears to perform in front of top broadcast and recording-industry executives from around the country in 2007. The R&R Convention, which is recognized as the premier annual conference for the radio and record industries was co-located with the NAB Radio Show in Charlotte, NC. Ace & TJ offered Britney a secured spot in front of the very people who helped launch her career.[6]
Controversies and criticism
The show had a feature called "Ace & TJ's Senior Trip" where show member Ryan was going to take a group of senior citizens on a road trip to Panama City, Florida, during college Spring Break to record and narrate their adventures. Before they arrived in Panama City, a situation occurred with one of the senior's and the feature was abruptly ended. They later told, on-air, that there was some type of "medical emergency" regarding a member of the group. They did not elaborate and members of the show have not spoken or mentioned the feature since.
There was, during the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006 great controversies over some of the sarcastic remarks that the members of the show made. Most of them had to do with women and were brushed off as being sarcasm, but some radio family members refused to listen after that.
Also an April Fools' Day prank played by the show in 2005, right before the departure of Angie, cause controversy in the radio family because the show announced that former Survivor contestant Sue Hawk would be replacing Angie. She even used derogatory terms for southerners and a derogatory term for a Mexican. The show, after a commercial break, told everyone that it was a joke and then apologized for the 'wetback' remark from Sue.
Another April Fool's Day prank was in 2007 when they ran a commercial for "Pet Parcel Service", which said it was a place where you could order any animal over the internet and have it shipped to you. Listeners thought that they were serious and called in accusing them of being in support of cruelty to animals, until they finally admitted over the air that it was all a joke.
In June 2007 they introduced "Crazy Chuck," a listener that called in and was willing to come in and cut off his finger for American Idol LIVE! tickets. Chuck's story was that he could not afford them for his daughter and he was willing to do anything to make her happy. The prank started on a Tuesday and carried over to Thursday with listeners calling and emailing in complaining that Ace & TJ would allow such a thing on their show. On Thursday Ace & TJ aired "Crazy Chuck" cutting off his finger and then went to break. When they came back it was announced that it was all a gag and the video could be viewed on their website through YouTube. The actor that played Chuck is Dave Sherrill.[7]
They were criticized in November 2007 for holding a contest called Slamma Montana, where 2 contestants would answer trivia questions, for each they got wrong, they would have their car hit with a sledge hammer. The winner of the contest received tickets to the Hannah Montana concert in Charlotte, North Carolina. The criticism came from bloggers and e-mailers, who felt that Ace & TJ could have spent the time doing charitable works or something productive instead of beating up people's useful cars as well as contributing to the brattiness of children who do not get their way.
Original CDs
- No, You Shut Up!: released in 1999. This was Ace & TJ's first CD released to benefit Grin Kids. Composed totally of clips from the show and parody songs performed by Ace.
- 12 pack o' Nuthin': released in 2001. The second CD released by Ace & TJ. Featured clips from the show and acoustic performances from bands such as Train.
- That Ain't Funny: released in 2002. Third CD released. Only features clips from the show and parody songs done by Ace.
- Mirth, Wit, & Merry Song: released in 2003. Their last CD released containing clips from the show. Also has acoustic performances from bands such as Matchbox Twenty and Uncle Kracker.[8]
- Charity Case: released in 2007. Their most current CD. Consists only of recordings of Ace's band, Charity Case. It was recorded live in 2006 during Gravedigger's Ball in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Original books
- The Extraordinary Adventures of an Oh-So Ordinary Rabbit by Dexter R. Abbott: written for children and all proceeds going to Ace & TJ's Grin Kids. Illustrated by a Grin Kid as well.
References
External links