History Main / DumbassDJ

The Dumbass DJ is, as the name suggests, a radio host ("disk jockey") who is a loud, obnoxious boor who makes moronic quips between songs. When used in fiction, the character is almost always intended to be unlikable; expect everyone else to respond with open derision and hatred. In the very rare cases that you're supposed to ''like'' them, they frequently become TheScrappy, a CreatorsPet or (if very lucky) SoBadItsGood.

The Dumbass DJ is, as the name suggests, a DJ who is a loud, obnoxious boor who makes moronic quips between songs. When used in fiction, the character is almost always intended to be unlikable; expect everyone else to respond with open derision and hatred. In the very rare cases that you're supposed to ''like'' them, they frequently become TheScrappy, a CreatorsPet or (if very lucky) SoBadItsGood.

Stereotypical Dumbass [=DJs=] hold a morning slot for a Top-40 station, and try [[LowestCommonDenominator (sometimes successfully)]] to amuse their audience with with ToiletHumor, VulgarHumor, and [[LargeHam ridiculous overacting]].

* A ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' comic centers around a DJ who keeps hearing voices in his head telling him that nobody likes him and he should kill himself, until finally he breaks down and does it. The coroner investigating his death explains that he was a dormant esper whose psychic powers were just surfacing, and the voices were what his listeners really thought of him. The coroner says the DJ didn't deserve to be hated that much... until he hears a recording of his radio show. Worse still, said DJ was able to air his show twenty four hours a day with the aid of a sleep machine and an extended mix of a particularly annoying record.

* The Creator/TimDorsey novel ''Hammerhead Ranch Motel'' had Boris The Hateful Piece Of Shit (Yes, that was his legal name, though the FCC required him to honk a foghorn when saying the last word when on the air). He was killed when Serge disguised himself as a lotion boy and slathered his body with homemade coconut oil-scented napalm.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Brian get a radio show that displaces Dumbass [=DJs=] "Weenie and the Butt", whose show [[OverlyLongGag mercilessly abused prerecorded sound bites]]. His show starts off as the wannabe intellectual (but incredibly boring) ''The Lunch Hour'', but at the prodding of Stewie and [[ExecutiveMeddling the executives]] turns it into "Dingo and the Baby", a definite example of LowestCommonDenominator (as seen when they have a bikini-clad woman attempt to catch hot dogs in her mouth to win a boob job). After Brian realizes what he's become and quits, the episode ends by showing that Cleveland and Quagmire have replaced them.

* Louis C.K. on ''Series/{{Louie}}'' suffers through a phone interview with some radio idiots ("Tracer, Pig, and The Hole") to promote an upcoming show. The idiots are basically unintelligible except for a few stretches here and there; Louie just endures their prattle and it's not clear whether he can understand them or just doesn't care.

* Downplayed example: Wink Wilkinson (John Candy) from ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors''. Likely modeled on Murray the K (see Real Life).

-->'''DJ Octavio:''' It's time to... D-D-D-DROP THE SEA BASS!

* The ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series' [[BigBad DJ Octavio]] is a rare downright villainous example, putting out a droning dubstep beat on his turntable and spouting cheese all the while.

* ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums'': Harry Enfield's sketch comedy characters [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smashie_and_Nicey Smashie and Nicey]] combine this with aging rock star syndrome. The characters made that much of an impact, they were namechecked by the BBC Radio 1 station manager when tasked with rejuvinating the station's image.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had Crazy Ira and The Douche, whose entire shows seem to revolve around fart jokes. The soundboard operator looks like he wants to kill himself. The Douche had actually graduated college with an impressive communications degree and had originally only moved to Pawnee to help take care of his grandmother, but after taking the job as The Douche, [[BecomingTheMask his show persona eventually merged with his real personality]] to turn him into a full-time The Douche.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had Crazy Ira and The Douche, whose entire shows seem to revolve around fart jokes. The soundboard operator looks like he wants to kill himself. The Douche had actually graduated college with an impressive literature degree, but after taking the job as The Douche, his show persona eventually merged with his real personality to turn him into a full-time The Douche.

* Peter Schickele of ''Music/PDQBach'' fame put out an album called ''P.D.Q. Bach on the Air'', where his alter ego, Professor Peter Schickele, was a D.J. at tiny classical music station WOOF, where he primarily played works by P.D.Q. Bach. That's not this trope, really, but another album of his is--"WTWP Talkity-Talk Radio". On that album, he is part of a 3-D.J. team of Professor Pete, Jocko, and Blondie, who host a late-night radio show called "The Last Gasp." It's still mostly P.D.Q. Bach, but there's a strong implication that the two other D.J.s were forced on the professor by ExecutiveMeddling. It's also jarring to see a classical music program done in a chatty, silly A.M radio format.

* Would you believe Oscar the Grouch was one for a while? One episode of ''Series/SesameStreet'' had him get his own radio show called "The Can", which consisted mainly of insulting people who called in. Bonus points for answering the phone [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "You're on The Can!"]]

* Creator/ChrisMorris's aptly-named [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Wayne Carr]][[note]]"Wanker", the Queens English version of "jackoff"[[/note]] from ''On The Hour'', who keeps up his Dumbass DJ schtick even when broadcasting from a war zone.

* [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Michael J. Nelson's]] essay collection ''Mind Over Matters'' has a chapter titled "Wacky Morning Misrepresentation" devoted entirely to taking the piss out of Morning Zoo show [=DJ=]s.

* Garfield from ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' despises radio deejays. When Jon becomes one in "DJ John", it's played as FauxHorrific, and Garfield quickly works to get John fired. It certainly doesn't help that John starts neglecting his pets when [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism he lets the job go to his head]].

* There's rather a lot of [=DJs=] in some of the venues on ''VideoGame/SecondLife'' (at least outside the really professional, first-tier places like Dance Island) that Will. Not. Shut. Up. Some can pull this off; others, not so much.

* Don Imus was something of a TropeMaker in TheSeventies, working his way up from Palmdale, California to Cleveland to New York with all kinds of wacky schtick like prank calls, fake newscasts and recurring characters. After becoming a RecoveredAddict he shifted the show to start including serious discussions of politics and current events alongside the usual comedy, but he still has a habit of letting his tongue get him in trouble. He had his MSNBC simulcast of his ''Imus In The Morning'' canceled in 2007 after he called the Rutgers women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed hos." He has since bounced from RFD-TV to Fox Business News while simulcast on WABC radio in New York.
* In 2013, Atlanta sports radio station WQXI canceled their morning show ''Mayhem In The A.M.'' after the show's hosts--who were subsequently fired--mocked New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
* The UrExample is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_the_K Murray the K]], who was a major radio personality from TheFifties to TheSeventies. Given the era he worked in, he wasn't so much vulgar or abusive as slap-happy and a JiveTurkey.
* Mancow Muller. Because the {{Wrestling/WWE}} doesn't air in the mornings! This is the guy who once claimed to have fled from murderous druids in the Chicago suburbs. He's like Alex Jones mated with a [=LARPer=] (with severe [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny ADHD]]) and beat it with a copy of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''.
* Radio/GlennBeck was one of these early in his radio career. Perhaps the high point of this time in his career was when he made fun of a rival DJ on the air, after [[DudeNotFunny his wife had a miscarriage]].
* Radio/OpieAndAnthony:
** During the month of October, the hosts usually runs their "Jocktober" feature, where they listen to (and mercilessly poke fun at) radio morning shows from around the country. Ant used to joke that, one of these days, the fans they'd cultivated over the decades ("peckahs!") would turn around and devour [=OaA=] alive. In 2014, Opie took over the show in a suspected ''coup d'etat'' while Ant got fired over some racist Twitter rants, retreating to a safety of his Long Island "compound" where he would continue to broadcast said racist rants. At first, the [[{{Website/Reddit}} r/opieandanthony]] subreddit was divided on which host to root for...\\\
...until the "peckahs" united in their hatred of ''both'' and launched their very own Jocktober targeting both Opie and Ant.
** Anthomy Cumia got bounced by Sirius FM following an incident where he was attacked by a black hooker in NYC. He then tweeted about the incident, and his allegedly racist tweets caused enough flak for SiriusXM to fire him. Once he left, Opie (Ant's producer and Ed [=McMahon=] flak) completely took over the show, and it became clear that Ant needs [=OaA=] as much as [=OaA=] needs him. The Opester is a capable producer, while Ant plainly has no idea how to organize a show. Opie is not a natural comedian; Ant is a born comedian with uncanny timing, but he needs a co-host (something he currently lacks) to keep him in check. Ant and Opie have also done many of the "HACK BITS" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytrBCLsLDNs they used to scream about.]] (Ketchup contest? Really?)
** O&A built a very specific, niche audience who wanted to just see people fail and laugh at them. However, this was only a small, but fiercely loyal, portion of their fans, called "The Pests". Most O&A listeners were more interested in current events, film discussion, occasional sports talk, and listening to friends tease eachother and tell jokes.
* Bubba the Love Sponge. A B-list radio host turned backstage interviewer on ''Wrestling/{{TNA}} Impact!'' in 2010 almost entirely because of the influence of his good friend Wrestling/HulkHogan. The idea of a professional public speaker getting an interviewer slot isn't entirely without merit, but Bubba carried over the smarmy, condescending speaking style he (and most morning talk show [=DJs=], for that matter) used on his show and tried his level best to get over at the expense of the talent he was supposed to push and build up. A pro wrestling interviewer is supposed to be a piece of walking, talking furniture, completely unnoticeable except when appropriately reacting to whatever the talent he or she is interviewing has to say. But Bubba would often be confrontational with wrestlers in his interview segments, acting as though he were an "equal", arguing against and cutting down whatever his interviewees had to say and generally deflating whatever buildup or goal the interview was meant to accomplish. It was made worse by Hogan's constant patronage, virtually ensuring that Bubba had constant ProtectionFromEditors in effect and shielding him from any consequences. It got to the point where fans in the live audiences would boo immediately whenever Bubba was shown on screen.\\\
He finally got what was coming to him, along with a hefty dose of LaserGuidedKarma, after an [=PR=] fiasco where he said "Fuck Haiti!" in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck the country. He got into a physical confrontation with female TNA wrestler Wrestling/KiaStevens, giving an extremely backhanded apology for his remarks, and then confronted and openly insulted Stevens when she appeared on one of his friend's radio shows to talk about the whole thing. TNA finally gave him the sack after this whole debacle, and arranged for Wrestling/MickFoley to punch him in the face in his last appearance. A couple years later, he was involved in another scandal after setting his (now former) friend Hogan up with his own wife and secretly filming the encounter with a hidden camera that was eventually leaking onto the internet, presumably with the thought of blackmailing him later on.

* Tim Westwood, an embarrassing 'wigga' who refers to himself as 'The big dog'.
* Radio/ChrisMoyles, whose show mostly consists of playing top 40 music and news, and making fun of his cohosts. The show is quite funny on occasion but it doesn't change the fact it is lowbrow humour.
** Things got a lot worse with Nick Grimshaw replaced Chris Moyles. Instead of commenting on things that relate to the average Radio 1 listener he goes on about all the celebs he hangs out with in his personal life. All this can go on for 20 minutes or even more.
* Chris Evans ([[NamesTheSame not]] [[Creator/ChrisEvans that one]]), who [[ReplacementScrappy replaced]] [[Radio/TerryWogan the most popular morning radio program in Britain]], is notorious for being one of these.
** Long-time fans of Wogan, while having no great beef against Evans, tend to find him unbearably shouty and over-excited too early in the morning, compared to Wogan's more low-key laid-back approach.
** Evans was hired to present the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1 explicitly to try and separate the channel from its "Smashie & Nicey" image by bringing in the audience of younger listeners he had cultivated working in commercial radio. Ironically enough, as he has aged, Evans has increasingly received criticism for ending up as a Smashie & Nicey stereotype himself, constantly reminding listeners about his charity work (which, to be clear, is praiseworthy in real terms but frequently comes off as cynical), chummy sycophancy with celebrity guests and airtime given over to stories about his wife and children, who almost seemed like members of his usual cast by the time his run on BBC 2 came to an end.
* Lex and Terry are notable goofballs from Jacksonville who have almost every show they've done full of immature sex jokes.
* The Greaseman is another case from Jacksonville, he is infamously known for saying, regarding Martin Luther King Day: "Why don't we plug four more and get the whole week off?"
* The Wolfman (not to be confused with Wolfman Jack) is a radio DJ for Topeka, Kansas's KMAJ and is an IndecisiveParody who refuses to play any real music instead only playing his prerecorded rants (which sometimes begin with the opening bars of a real song before he subverts it and turns it off) and calls everyone "sissies". He is known for public appearances wearing what looks like a cheap wolf mascot costume stolen from a local high school that has seen better days, sometimes he puts boxing gloves and boxing shorts over the costume to hold exhibition boxing matches where he loses to everyone. His only victory came over a toddler who had no idea what was going on and exited the ring, forfeiting, and handing Wolfman his only win. He also has a fake call-in RadioContest where nobody can win. Typically a winner can't enter again for 30 days but in this case, any participant, win or lose (and they always lose) can't call back for 30 days for any reason whatsoever. If one were to ever win, the prize would be a copy of Wolfman's CD, which is just a collection of his prerecorded rants. [[SarcasmMode Whoopee.]]

* Creator/ChrisMorris's aptly named Wayne Carr[[note]]"Wanker", the Queens English version of "jackoff"[[/note]] from ''On The Hour'', who keeps up his Dumbass DJ schtick even when broadcasting from a war zone.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' has the radio station hire two of these in one episode. Although when Frasier starts to give them a speech about the nobility of entertainment etc. he accidentally sets them to arguing with each other - and when he tries to continue one of them snaps that he went to college and already knows what Frasier's trying to say, then hits his BerserkButton by correcting Frasier's French pronunciation.