Vinnie and Cook, The Sunshine Boys

Remember the great Neil Simon play and movie, "The Sunshine Boys"? The story concerned a great vaudeville comedy team of Lewis and Clark (played by George Burns and Walter Matthau in the movie). They were funny, and everybody loved them, but there was problem:  they hated each other.  Like most of Simon's stuff, it was hilarious, and if you've never seen it, make it a point to do so.

Anyway, we in Pittsburgh have our own version of The Sunshine Boys on the radio five days a week on 93.7 The Fan, "The Vinnie and Cook Show" that airs from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Monday through Friday.  The show stars Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook and Vinnie Richicci.  I'm not sure of Vinnie's background.  He has a New York accent, and his last radio gig was in Seattle before he came to Pittsburgh when The Fan went on the air in January, 2010.

Cook brings his grumpy and sour personality that PG readers have known for years, and Vinnie is the typical garrulous New Yorker.  It is obvious that the two can't stand each other and the palpable tension between the two of them is so obvious that it makes for riveting theater of the train wreck variety.  The air is so frosty between the two of them, that even on the hottest of days, you don't need the air conditioning on in your car when listening.  Just as an example, Vinnie always refers to Cook as "Cookie", it is obvious that Cook hates this.  The fact that callers now call him "Cookie" has to really grind his gears.

It is a four hour snarl-a-thon, but it is not a bad show.  When you get past Cook's sour demeanor, you have to admit that he does know the Pittsburgh sports scene, and his opinions are valid ones.  I happen to like Vinnie, but I fear that he will never be loved by the yinzers in Pittsburgh because he is not from here.  He's an aht o' tahner, and he has that New York accent.  I like him because he is first and foremost a baseball guy, and he does know his sports.  My only gripe with him is an annoying speech habit of constantly beginning sentences with the word "again", but why nitpick?

Hey, they ain't Burns and Matthau, but they'll do until a road show version of the real "Sunshine Boys" comes through town.