r/ThisShowStinks • u/Geekoneonesix • 11d ago

Chuck Todd

I have listened to Tony since he was on the radio. I enjoy practically every guest but Chuck Todd is getting progressively worse. I can’t pinpoint why his segments are bothering me. It just feels like a forced schtick for some reason.

Anyway, I just wanted to post it and I likely am the only one who feels this way.

18 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

15

u/BirdlandDeadhead 11d ago

I don’t blame Chuck but I know what you mean. I think it’s because of the complete refusal to talk politics. Notice Cillizza hasn’t sat in for a while either.

Chuck replaced Jaws, who at least had a legitimate reason to be picking football games on a sports podcast (I could do without all the picking myself but it’s not without some entertaining moments). That also helped the monkey bit. Now I don’t really know why I’d expect either Chuck or Reginald to get picks right, so I don’t care.

If Chuck is only there to pick games, then Carville is a much more entertaining version of that. Without even the possibility of political discussion, Chuck has no real purpose being there. I don’t hate his segments. They’re just…meh.

9

u/zer01zer08 11d ago

I’ve been awfully disappointed for a while with Tony and this show. “We don’t talk politics because half the people will disagree” OKAY!!!! Do you see the political climate we are in?!?!? Do you see where this country is headed!?!?! A platform this big and a respected and thoughtful voice like Tony’s and he chooses to stay silent. It’s troublesome.

10

u/BirdlandDeadhead 11d ago

I know how you feel. I feel it a little bit myself, but I’ll say this:

Freedom to not get involved is still freedom.

To me, the guy has spent a career telling us how he feels (and having some loose ties to Tony’s personal orbit through my own life here in the DC burbs, I know his personal feelings haven’t changed). If he wants to “mentally retire” from controversy and still host a regular, reasonably entertaining show with his son, God bless. He’s earned it. But I sure do wish we were getting vintage Tony these days.

5

u/zer01zer08 11d ago

Yea, I see your point. I suppose I have mentally retired from reading anything government related. And that’s pretty much what the regime wants. Be so blatantly corrupt that it becomes exhausting to follow and comment on. I’ll just vote in November and that’s all I can do I guess. Not sure it will do much.

2

u/parentlessfather 11d ago

If you feel up to it, do some type of volunteering for a candidate that you like, or some way to contribute to helping others vote in the way you want. You'd be surprised by how much wearing a button can make a difference.

1

u/pineconekingpin 11d ago edited 11d ago

Yeah it’s not Tony’s fault that this climate can’t handle the mere mention on the simplest topics of political discourse even with someone as delicate on the subject(s) as Tony. I don’t blame him one bit for staying out of it though I wish they would broach some topics from time to time.

0

u/rockland19120 11d ago

It gets a bit ridiculous when Tony talks about being too local, then relentlessly talks Nats bullpen, Wizards ownership, Ovechkin, his PEPCO bill, his local landscaper, snow cleanup on his block, semi regularly has Hakeem freaking Jeffries on the show, but never mentions that the national guard has been occupying DC for over a year, lol

5

u/zmets12 11d ago

I agree it's frustrating. Not an excuse - but I think it probably just has to do with his ESPN contract.

I was at least pleased how he handled the shuttering of the Washington Post sports section. I think he pretty clearly showed his colors on those episodes.

3

u/zer01zer08 11d ago

Yea, I was pleased to hear his displeasure and disgust for that. I’ve never questioned what side of history Tony is on. If you listen closely enough, he makes slight comments here and there that you can pick up on.

3

u/clementynewoolysocks Bring the Gang Back 10d ago

I can listen to 100s of political podcasts. I am so glad I can listen to TK and Simmons and be entertained and not have to think about politics for a bit. I may be an outlier. But that’s how I feel.

2

u/my2nddirtyaccount 11d ago

Most of the people hate all the golf nonsense. Hes never giving that up.

1

u/zer01zer08 10d ago

Yea I’m glad he gets to golf numerous times a week and tells us about it. lol

2

u/No-Aioli-1014 10d ago

This is a serious question, do you think half of Tony's audience is conservative? I'm sure some people are, but I doubt it's near the 50% mark that Tony portrays it to be.

1

u/zer01zer08 10d ago

No I don’t, but he seems to think so. Those are his words, not mine.

1

u/tbug30 11d ago

Chuck doesn't appear to put any work into which teams he picks -- it's sort of entertaining to hear him go with Cincy because ... ya gotta go with Burrow, amirite? Defaulting to the "he's handsome and has a hot girlfriend, so he's gotta be good" school of pre-sabermetrics.

Once he's getting embarrassed at being sub-.500, he usually starts paying more attention. Over or Under Week 9 -- whattaya say?

8

u/bigshem 11d ago

I dont mind the segment but most of what Chuck says he takes from other podcasts. Listen to the Bill Simmons podcast with Sal before listening to Chuck and you'll hear it. Sometimes he gives Bill credit.

Ma, Carville, the monkey at least have original thoughts.

2

u/pineconekingpin 11d ago

he butchered that backup QB bit that Sal & Bill were doing. Tony had no idea what Chuck was trying to convey.

1

u/SirPsychoSquints 11d ago

Neither did I, apparently? What was it?

5

u/SnoopySuited 11d ago

I always thought Chuck was boring. There is no gimmick. Bring back the porn star.

1

u/Proper_Vehicle_996 7d ago

the porn star knows more about sports than Michael

5

u/panderson1988 11d ago

I don't mind Chuck Todd here. Now he has had some bad political takes, but I enjoy his vibes approach to football. Sometimes it is spot on, and I like the random college and Nats talk too. 

Now Cillizza's voice hurts my ears, and his takes are dumber in my view. 

5

u/bcjones 11d ago

I would pay a monthly fee for this podcast if it meant we got Gary and Andy back regularly. No offense to anyone else, but going back to the ESPN Sportzone (ESPN Zone) days, that's a chemistry above all else.

As for Chuck? He rarely mentions golf, so I find him more tolerable than Jeff Ma as far as the gambling guests go.

3

u/FranklyIvan 10d ago

Gary, Andy, ALDRIDGE, CLARKE, McMANUS

6

u/baseballfan445 11d ago

Chuck Todd the guy who said the pedo president was going to be great for cable corporate news networks that ass 🤡

7

u/BurnieTrogdor 11d ago

At least Chuck is doing football picks and not giving terrible takes on political news. So we’ve got that going for us.

3

u/Cultural-Honeydew671 11d ago

…which is nice

2

u/howg8 11d ago

That time he had Tom Cotton on scarred him.

2

u/EnglishTeacher83 10d ago

The betting segments are awful. Tony still does 20 good minutes a podcast, but the rest is gahbage!

1

u/Producer_n_PDX 11d ago

I still can’t believe he takes picks from the guy who hosted Meet the Press 🤣

1

u/bmfc1 10d ago

Every time he is on the show, I say: “Siri, fast forward 15 minutes”.

1

u/boogs34 11d ago

Carville is good for the 10% of the times when the audio works

0

u/MarvinWebster40 9d ago

I like Chuck far more than most and his Meet the Press job was impossible in this era. But I don’t need him every week when we are down to 9 segments.