History Radio / KevinInTheMorning

* WhamEpisode: Ralph and Doc on the Roq had to do a live broadcast on [[http://www.kevinandbeanarchive.com/audio.php?dir=audio&search=WTC September 11, 2001]] while Kevin and Bean were on vacation. To say that it was outside the norm is putting it mildly, but Ralph and Doc handled the broadcast with the utmost professionalism.

*** Sam occasionally referred to an incident when he was a New York cabbie, in which he had a near-miss with a lightning strike. For reasons that are meaningful to Sam but unclear to everyone else, he long interpreted this incident as a sign that he was destined for greater things. Thus, on top of his dubious talents as a comic and musician, Sam was also convinced that he can achieve world peace if people would actually listen to his (utterly nonsensical) ideas.

** Kevin, or as his ex-wife Melissa known to call him, Lamby.

** Kevin, or as his wife has been known to call him, Lamby.

** Sam the Armenian Comedian, who combined this trope with a heavy dose of SmallNameBigEgo, ''big time''. With a combination of his own supreme overconfidence in his (lame) comedic and musical talents and a near-constant high, Sam claimed that he was the funniest comedian and most talented musician on earth, and would not allow the point to be argued. He couldn't (or wouldn't) recognize the obstacles in his way, including his rather limited English skills, his misunderstanding of basic joke structure and inability to play any instrument more complicated than a recorder with any sense of skill or rhythm. Despite all this, and decades of spinning his wheels on the extreme fringes of show business, Sam held to the belief that breakout stardom was just around the corner. Unfortunately, Sam died in a car accident in April 2023.

* MissingEpisode: Since the show began in 1990 (that is, pre-internet), a small portion of the show before circa 2005 is publicly available, and what is available are the odd clips Lightning would use on the B-Team podcast. These clips were taken from DAT tapes that Lightning had in his possession. As such, roughly half of the show is not currently available to the people at all, though they may still exist in some form.

* AntiHumor: One of the longest-running regular guests on the show is the Armenian Comedian, a real Armenian-American hairdresser named Sam who fancies himself a comedian and entertainer, but is actually a delusional weirdo with a questionable grasp of both humor and the English language. The hosts of the show are so fascinated by his horribly unfunny jokes that they keep bringing him back. Sam achieved such a level of notoriety that he became the subject of a documentary called ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1329319/ Born Hye: The Armenian Comedian Story]]'', a title playing on his Armenian heritage and his liberal use of marijuana.

*** Ralph (not Garman), a crossdressing veteran with drug and alcohol issues and (at that time) unaddressed PTSD. During one of Lightning's Christmas tree excursions, Ralph (a guest on the trip called "The Freak Bus to Bethlehem") attempted to steal the tour bus during a stopover in Barstow. Lightning was forced to kick him off the trip and sent him back to Los Angeles. It would later turn out that Ralph used the money given to him to get home to buy drugs and hitchhiked back to L.A. Lightning would later run into Ralph and discovered that he had begun putting his life back together.

** In 2007, Ralph and Dave The King of Mexico would try to repeat this with a [[http://www.kevinandbeanarchive.com/audio.php?dir=audio&search=Drink+boxing "drink boxing" match]] for charity (it was intended to be set around St. Patrick's day that year). Ultimately, it never came together, seemingly due to lack of support from KROQ management.

** The unexpected final episode that aired March 18, 2020, when the entire cast and crew of the show had been fired just is COVID-19 lockdown were taking hold in the US. The show consisted of a single segment where Kevin was allowed to explain what happened, take a parting shot at parent company Entercom (now Audacy)and say goodbye.

** Sam the Armenian Comedian, combined with a heavy dose of SmallNameBigEgo, ''big time''. With a combination of his own supreme overconfidence in his (lame) comedic and musical talents and a near-constant high, Sam claims that he is the funniest comedian and most talented musician on earth, and will not allow the point to be argued. He cannot (or will not) recognize the obstacles in his way, including his rather limited English skills, his misunderstanding of basic joke structure and inability to play any instrument more complicated than a recorder with any sense of skill or rhythm. Despite all this, and literally decades of largely spinning his wheels on the extreme fringes of show business, Sam still holds to the belief that breakout stardom is just around the corner.

*** Stuffed Animal Boy, an adult listener who believes his stuffed animals were alive and spoke to him.

* CommutingOnABus: A number of former regulars continue to have active relationships with the show, all of whom departed the show on amicable terms. These include Creator/JimmyKimmel, Creator/AdamCarolla, and former sports guy Matt "Money" Smith (now a sports radio host, NFL Network personality, and radio voice for the Los Angeles Chargers football team).

** Sam the Armenian Comedian claims to be skilled at the drums, keyboard, and (especially) the recorder, while betraying a near-total lack of proficiency at any of them, which the show would occasionally use for comedic effect.

** Sam the Armenian Comedian, who can stumble into being entertaining in spite (or because of?) his incredible lack of comedic or musical talent.

* LongDistanceRelationship: Bean, in a completely professional, non-romantic manner. From 1999 to his departure in 2019, Bean did the show via an ISDN line from home studios in Seattle and New Orleans.

** Big Tad, who started as a call screener then moved up to do ridiculous stunts and bad celebrity interviews for a period in the 90s. Tad's considerable notoriety led him to develop "Taditude", making him difficult to work with and eventually led to his firing. Also, a real-life (double!) example of TheBusCameBack, as Jimmy Kimmel persuaded Kevin to rehire Tad as his manservant Thaddeus, a situation that lasted one day as Bean and Ralph threatened to quit if Tad remained; Tad also returned to be interviewed for an episode of ''The B-Team'' podcast that was dedicated to his exploits post-show.

* SelfDeprecation: A hallmark of the show. The hosts aconstantly criticized their quality as broadcasters.

* ShopClass: Mr. Birchum, played by Adam Carolla, was a cranky wood shop teacher with a short fuse and a tremendous affection for pornography.

** Sam the Armenian Comedian personifies this trope:
*** Sam is convinced that he is both the funniest comedian and the greatest musician in the world, despite constantly proving himself to be remarkably inept at both, and having legitimately invested decades of his life into it. His lack of success, coupled with his floating through an endless string of haircutting jobs, forced Sam to admit his wife was the primary breadwinner of the family in a rare moment of self-awareness.

*** Sam has made reference to an incident when he was a New York cabbie, in which he had a near-miss with a lightning strike. For reasons that are meaningful to Sam but unclear to everyone else, he has long interpreted this incident as a sign that he was destined for greater things. Thus, on top of his dubious talents as a comic and musician, Sam is also convinced that he can achieve world peace if people would actually listen to his (utterly nonsensical) ideas.
** Nick the Sign Holder, who stood on the sidewalk, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin holding a sign advertising for a cellphone store]], had pretensions of becoming a screenwriter. He even managed to get an internship at a company that read screenplays and provided coverage on scripts. Despite this, and Kevin and Bean finding a movie business professional willing to read Nick's work, Nick only seemed to want people to affirm his own high opinion of his work rather than give him honest criticism.

** Subverted by Sam the Armenian Comedian: his near-constant high, coupled with his own unshakable belief in his comedic "abilities" make Sam legitimately believe he's the funniest comedian in the world, a belief that virtually everyone around him greatly disagrees with. Those few who do find Sam funny find the humor in how bad he is and how unaware Sam is of the disconnect between his confidence and the embarrassing reality.

* WhamEpisode: Ralph and Doc on the Roq had to do a live broadcast on [[http://www.kevinandbeanarchive.com/audio.php?dir=audio&search=WTC September 11, 2001]] while Kevin and Bean were on vacation. To say that it was outside the norm is putting it mildly, but Ralph and Doc handled the broadcast with the utmost professionalism.

** Dieu To, albeit in a more disturbing manner than the Armenian Comedian. Nothing about Dieu is terribly clear, except for his affection for German chocolate cake and his obsession with StevenSeagal. He has very particular tastes in women (Korean women 5'8" or 5'9" in height). Dieu seems to travel back and forth frequently between Asia and the US, and as such, is notoriously difficult to contact. He is very evasive about his personal life, dodging specific questions or giving extremely vague answers about himself. Once, when Psycho Mike visited Dieu's house to do a segment in the vein of MTV's ''Cribs'', Mike found [[HiddenWeapons knives hidden inside an air-conditioning vent]] and [[PantyThief a drawer full of womens' panties in Dieu's room]] that Dieu tried to explain away by saying, "It's not". The visit itself was prompted by an email in which Dieu claimed to have obtained a California gun permit and asked if this fact disturbed anyone on the show; when confronted on-air about it, Dieu tried to laugh it off, [[JustJokingJustification claiming it was just a joke.]]

* CommonalityConnection: Played with by Ralph, when [[http://www.kevinandbeanarchive.com/audio.php?dir=audio/INTERVIEWS/Interviews-%20Actors-Directors-Producers-TV%20Personalities/A%20-%20B%20-%20C%20-%20D/Christian%20Bale&file=Christian%20Bale%20Calls%20Into%208%20AM%20Show%20Biz%20Beat-2009-02-06.mp3 Creator/ChristianBale unexpectedly called into the show.]] After finishing the call, Ralph remarked how the show was originally scheduled to talk to actress Creator/KristenBell, who failed to call in, so they got to talk to Christian Bale instead.

* NamesTheSame: Played with by Ralph, when [[http://www.kevinandbeanarchive.com/audio.php?dir=audio/INTERVIEWS/Interviews-%20Actors-Directors-Producers-TV%20Personalities/A%20-%20B%20-%20C%20-%20D/Christian%20Bale&file=Christian%20Bale%20Calls%20Into%208%20AM%20Show%20Biz%20Beat-2009-02-06.mp3 Christian Bale unexpectedly called into the show.]] After finishing the call, Ralph remarked how the show was originally scheduled to talk to actress Kristen Bell, who failed to call in, so they got to talk to Christian Bale instead.

* {{Nerd}}: Ralph's character Roland, a classic angry young nerd who called in to comment on comic book-related matters. Since Ralph is actually JustForFun/OneOfUs, Roland's knowledge of comic books is quite detailed.

* HollywoodNerd: Ralph's character Roland, a classic angry young nerd who called in to comment on comic book-related matters. Since Ralph is actually JustForFun/OneOfUs, Roland's knowledge of comic books is quite detailed.