The Dooch!
I admit it, I'm a Danny Bonaduce fan. Not the Danny Partridge guy so much - though I'm sure if I watched old episodes of The Partridge Family, I'd find that:
Bonaduce had suprising comic skills for a child actor.
My life had taken a horrible wrong turn, since I was actively seeking out Partridge Family reruns at the age of 38.
No, I'm talking about his role as the co-host of The Adam Carolla Show. I listen to this pretty much every weekday morning, as I get ready and for the ride to work. Indeed, I also get it as a podcast and sometimes even listen to that during the morning. Why? Because it's consistently funny, often clever and way better than any other radio in the Bay Area at that time.
(For those wondering, KNBR is a great sports radio, but the morning shows are simply not my cup of tea. Especially once it goes to Gary Radnich, who knows nothing about sports and probably went clinically insane between three and five years ago.)
Bonaduce replaced Dave Damashek at the start of 2007, and like most listeners to the show, I was upset and not optimistic. Damashek had a funny voice, and was a sports guy -- and his Creep of the Week segment was laugh-out loud funny, even when Barry Bonds won the award for something like two straight months. Bonaduce was, to me, just a sad story wrapped up in a guy with a scratchy, irritating voice.
The first few weeks? Not so great either. As someone who, I believe, hosted his own show, Bonaduce interjected himself into almost every story on what is aptly titled The Adam Carolla Show. But pretty soon, it became apparent that he got notes to tell him to slow down, ease off the gas a bit (he sometimes made asides about this), and he did so -- but without disappearing. Sure, the show spends a lot of time talking about him - he's getting a very public divorce, and he obviously likes to talk about himself. But here's the thing -- he's FUNNY, and when you actually listen to him, comes across as a genuinely nice guy who struggles a lot. He's flawed, he knows about it - indeed, one thing I don't like about him is how he pretends to be so proud of his abhorrent, reckless behavior, though this is likely why he got the gig in the first place - and he gels really well with Carolla and Teresa Strasser. (Who is also excellent at what she does. Smart, clever - and the show spent way too much time on her love life. Now that she's dating and happy, they don't talk about it...and that's just fine.) Add to that the fact that Danny is pretty well-read for someone who spent two days in college (UCSC, thanks!) and he is a big plus for the show.
In any case, someone called this morning to complain about Bonaduce, and at this point, it's just tired. I'd actually be pretty bummed out if he left the show. Which is a huge surprise for me given how he started. Just thought I'd mention it.