Guest Review of the “New” Tech News Today

Guest Submission“Dave” wrote this guest review of Tech News Today and sent it to us. We appreciate reading your thoughts and feedback. Please send any feedback you have and feel free to chat with us in our IRC.


Last night, Megan Moronne teamed up with Jason Howell for the first of the “new” Tech News Today shows. The show promised a new format and a later starting time, re-envisioning itself in the wake of the Laportes’ firing of Mike Elgan. The later start time would allow the new team a whole day to assess the news for the 4 PM show and allow TWiT time to post the episode for those who want to catch up on the latest tech news during their “trip in to work.” Big promises were made for the little network with no news department. Did the show deliver on the promises and expectations? Well, yes… and no.

Gone Girl.
Gone Girl.
Since the Laportes fired Elgan, TWiT effectively has no news department or anyone on board who knows what news is. It is important to note that neither Megan Moronne nor Jason Howell have any training or real background in journalism (and it shows). They can sit themselves in front of cheap Canon cameras and pretend they are reading the “news,” but neither is qualified to even know what news is, much less how to gather or present it in a professional and interesting manner.

No one at TWiT actually (if ever) gathers news; they just regurgitate what others have put together, occasionally adding their interpretations or comments. Neither Megan nor Jason has anything in their history that qualifies their opinions or makes what they think worth spit. If TWiT had real journalists writing what Megan and Jason read, perhaps we could accept them as talking heads spewing out what someone more qualified had written… but that is not the case. If someone with a background in either tech or news were directing (that is, writing or producing; guiding) this show, we might see some semblance of journalism… but that again is not the case.

Show bad. Megan sad.
Show bad. Megan sad.
It is painfully obvious this show is put together last minute, on a wing and a prayer — and this was the first show! I doubt anything in the show is scripted at all. In the prologue to the show, Jason said as much, running through the various segments and pretty much saying, “We’ll wing it here…” This is not news journalism; I think it is just called “Put a warm body in a seat and have them talk for an hour.”

Et tu, Brute?
Et tu, Brute?
It was nice to see Tom Merritt on the first show. He looked a little lost and just followed where Megan and Jason led him… which was essentially nowhere. The show just wandered with no focus; it was just three people chatting about whatever popped into their minds.

That is ultimately what is wrong with the show: there was no news content. Megan Moronne and Jason Howell spent two weeks coming up with this new show — a show in which they promised news — and they give us a rehash of the TWiT show — a chat show. This show almost makes me wish Elgan was back — at least he put news into the show. This new version gives us the same, bland delivery Elgan was infamous for, but now with less content.

I really did not think two people could be more boring than Elgan, but Megan and Jason proved me wrong. Neither has an exciting personality to begin with, and neither draws the viewer in. Megan even looks like she is in pain when she talks. Combined with the total lack of any interesting content, we have an hour-long snooze fest.

This show is a prime example of what happens when you think you can just pop anyone into a job and expect them to perform. There is a reason we have colleges and job training: to make professionals who are skilled in their field. Journalism is a skilled field for a reason — because it does take training. Megan and Jason’s performance is a great example of what happens when you throw someone inexperienced in to do the job of a professional. I am sure neither Lisa nor Leo makes it a practice to go to a dentist who just says, “Hi, I am a dentist…” and yet they foist these untrained people at us and tell us they are journalists and professionals? No! (Tangentially, it is sort of scary that Jeff Jarvis is training a new generation of journalists, but that is another post.)

So, did the show deliver on the promises and expectations? They promised news… and gave us feel-good commentary. They promised tech, and while they did touch on CES and a couple of tech subjects, it was not the focus of the content. The show seems very weak in the content department, spreading it to fill their hour rather than a show length dependent on the existing content. It’s just another way to make the viewers snooze.

As for expectations, I expected it to be a carbon copy of the Elgan show. No surprises here… there is nothing new (other than a second host). I expected this to be thrown together on a shoe-string, with no real advance planning or dedication to the show or the craft of journalism. I was not disappointed in that regard.

52 thoughts on “Guest Review of the “New” Tech News Today”

  1. I did listen to the first show, i liked it, better than the the Elgan version. I do like Jason, i would disagree that he has no real experience, he does do the Android show that is so-so, but he did have a good run on Buzz Out Loud with Molly and Tom and Veronica…(god i miss that show)…its only been three shows in now, give them time to get their groove.

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  2. I remember Tom posting onto YouTube a video of his preparation for the morning TNT when he & Iyaz hosted it (Sarah was there, but usually only arrived 30sec prior to the start, frantically putting on her makeup and then contributing with her pro-Apple opinions). The show started at 9:00am, but he would be up at 5:30am to prepare the show’s content by going through all the news as reported by other sources (yes, that is the TWiT way). I’m curious if Megan and/or Jason ever do this or do they just ‘wing it’? I don’t know if Gum ever did this as I never recall any ‘behind the scenes’ video.

    The thing I found great about Tom’s format for TNT was the first 15-20min of the show would be where he, Iyaz, and Sarah would announce the news of the morning and then follow it up with 30min of conversation among themselves and (gasp) contributions from the chatroom (I know this because Tom involved me and others, on many occasions, in the conversation).

    Even when the show was over and there was down time until the start of the next show, Tom & Iyaz would continue the conversation among themselves and STILL involve the chatroom (by this time Sarah had left to, I guess, finish putting on her makeup). It was a real community feel, and that was what was really missing when Gum took over. He NEVER used the chatroom, and when the show was over would immediately shut down his laptop and walk away.

    From the above opinion piece, I’m thinking the new TNT with Megan & Jason is doomed to fail. I’d like to think they’d get better over time, but in this case they’ve been on-air personalities for how many years and they’re still dull and uninteresting?

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  3. There’s no show prep on TWIT anywhere. You know that by just watching any show on the network. Soup may prep by eating his 3rd box salad his intern gets him a Petaluma Market.

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    1. A show that can be considered “prepped” is Security Now. Gibson does research enough to bring forward content that can be quite relevant. Then again, there’s stuff so off the wall it’s impossible to follow. But still, he does the leg work while Leo attempts to interject blather that sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.

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        1. I tend to think they don’t really need to prepare too much as they both know what they’re talking about. This in complete contrast to Leo, who would be lost without the chat room to continuously correct him and knowledgeable guests who he later parrots their insight as his own in other shows.

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  4. Megan is a mommy and Jason is a daddy, of course they can’t devote as much time to prep as Tom Merritt did to prep!

    But kidding aside, Tom may have spent more time preparing but the news stories weren’t mostly regurgitated then as well? TWiT can’t actually break news, they’re geographically and financially irrelevant when compared to real tech news outlets.

    At any rate, compared to Mike Elgan’s, this rendition of TNT is actually not vomit inducing and can be safely left on as background noise. I swear Gum will forever be the most uncomfortable person to ever appear before a camea regularly.

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  5. Nothing can save this bullshit network from imploding. All of TWiTs prior and present on-air personalities are monitor reading douche bags following the lead of their douche bag overlord Leo LaDouche and CeHo. Prediction: It all ends by late spring 2016.

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  6. Can I suggest a new nickname for Jason?

    Lurch Zuckerberg

    Lurch because he has the personality and dynamics of the Addams Family butler, and Zuckerberg cuz he looks sort of like Mark…

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  7. I see no loss in the absence of Mike Elgan. He’s not a journalist either and his complete and utter lack of professionalism bears that out.
    So any so-called news show without him is an improvement regardless.
    I did notice they went back to the old Tech News Today theme. Probably hoping to win back old fans. Tom’s appearance was undoubtedly in that same vein. Although I’ve lost some respect for TM since he’s shown up on TWIT shows like This Week in Tech and now the revamped TNT. He doesn’t owe anyone there anything so why does he bother?. It’s sad that Jason is still stuck there and Tom’s appearance seemed to brighten him up when I watched the show.
    But all that aside the core problem with Tech News Today is exactly what this article points out. That being that there is no journalism nor any journalists there. Therefore there is no news. Worse the content provided isn’t entertaining or useful. I feel sorry for Jason and disgust with Megan which means they can’t even get by like CNN does with “personality driven” reporting.
    TNT is dead, has been for 3 years and isn’t coming back.

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  8. The problem – they only put Jason and Megan on because they are already on staff. It was a cost cutting move. Elgim was cheaper than Tom. Now it is more cost cutting, people already on staff are cheaper than Elgim.

    Elgim was terrible on camera and kind of stupid. Jason and Megan are just not that into this stuff. Tom was smart, a great broadcaster and passionate about his job.
    Great move not rehiring him Leo and Lisa.

    I don’t hate Jason or Megan as I hated Mike because Elgim though he was hot shit. Jason and Megan know they don’t compare to Tom but are doing their job and trying.

    Hey Padre: Leo considers religious people morons. When he gets those old ladies calling in, he loves patronizing them by saying things like “awwww bless your soul.”

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    1. Agreed, Tom had on-air presence and talent, and that is why Leo couldn’t keep him around. Leo is old-school radio — 99% ego and a brain that resides somewhere below the belt line. He loves to talk about recruiting talent and helping his staff grow, but the minute real talent rears its head and he feels any competition, he chops it off.

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  9. This was a good post except for one thing. It is not an established fact that Elgan was fired. It just looks that way. In fact, the two parties, TWiT and Elgan, insist he resigned.

    Why not say, “While Leo and Elgan insist that Mike quit, all signs point to his having being fired.” You can get your point across yet still be fair and responsible and differentiate yourself from the pseudo-bloggers on here who think journalism consists of making up things about people you hate.

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  10. I think the New Tech New Today or what ever the f’k its call these days has dwindled away to the point its nothing but a farce. All they ever do is read someone else’s work and call it a “tech news show” Thats a joke, and so are the hosts of the show. And whats with that tall goofy look guy? I think he need to join the circus, tech is not his calling. He seems to be mumbling and giggling all the time.

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    1. Monroe said:
      I think the New Tech New Today or what ever the f’k its call these days has dwindled away to the point its nothing but a farce. All they ever do is read someone else’s work and call it a “tech news show” Thats a joke, and so are the hosts of the show.And whats with that tall goofy look guy? I think he need to join the circus, tech is not his calling. He seems to be mumbling and giggling all the time.

      Yeah, Jason’s pretty gross. Ears bulge out, kind of an alien head. Goofy presentation. Instead, I encourage everyone to check out CNET’s CES coverage and see how professional and TV-ready the hosts are.

      Specifically, check out the lovely Bridget Carey. She has real broadcast TV experience. In fact, I think she won a local Emmy in Miami. She’s smooth and intelligent. Then contrast her with Megan’s rushed delivery and insipid fangirl comments and you’ll see what I mean.

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      1. Why does it matter if Jason has weird ears?

        Bridget Carey is okay, her facial expressions are a bit much. Overall CNET isn’t a bastion of tech journalism either, and has plenty of people who lack model looks.

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        1. Jimmy: I disagree. With the exception of the annoying Asian guy with the blond mohawk, they are eons better than any TWIT person. Brian Cooley is probably their best on camera.

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          1. > With the exception of the annoying Asian guy with the blond mohawk, they are eons better than any TWIT person.

            Holden uses weird words. Eons means a long period of time. But I understand Holden has a flawless appearance which we all know is the only thing that counts.

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          2. Barley Snooden said:
            >With the exception of the annoying Asian guy with the blond mohawk, they are eons better than any TWIT person.

            Holden uses weird words. Eons means a long period of time. But I understand Holden has a flawless appearance which we all know is the only thing that counts.

            I went ro college douchebag. Now get back to the fryer – the French Fries are burning.

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          3. holden said: I went ro college douchebag. Now get back to the fryer – the French Fries are burning.

            Any person whose pathetic response to being criticized for not knowing the meaning of a word he misused is to insist that he is a college graduate is more likely a high school dropout.

            Holden used to say he was a lawyer too until his total ignorance of elementary law was exposed by non-lawyers here on TD.

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          4. Cooley is the man, but he’s pretty much been at CNET since the beginning twenty years ago… and he mostly only does car tech.

            Brian Tong the skunk is lame as fuck, he’s a farce of a man.

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          5. Jimmy Jam said:
            Cooley is the man, but he’s pretty much been at CNET since the beginning twenty years ago… and he mostly only does car tech.

            Brian Tong the skunk is lame as fuck, he’s a farce of a man.

            We agree on that.

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        2. > Why does it matter if Jason has weird ears?

          If it matters that Megan has weird eyebrows it makes sense that it matters that Jason has weird ears unless we are going to apply a double standard to women which I’m sure no one in totaldrama would ever do.

          I found these earlier comments of Holden’s. It helps to explain his value system.

          Albert Einstein: That fuckin frizzy hair makes him look like an idiot.

          Eleanor Roosevelt: Couldn’t the ugly bitch afford orthodonture?

          Mother Theresa: Why the fuck did that asswipe always put a napkin on her head?

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          1. Barley Snooden said:
            > Why does it matter if Jason has weird ears?

            If it matters that Megan has weird eyebrows it makes sense that it matters that Jason has weird ears unless we are going to apply a double standard to women which I’m sure no one in totaldrama would ever do.

            I found these earlier comments of Holden’s. It helps to explain his value system.

            Albert Einstein: That fuckin frizzy hair makes him look like an idiot.

            Eleanor Roosevelt: Couldn’t the ugly bitch afford orthodonture?

            Mother Theresa: Why the fuck did that asswipe always put a napkin on her head?

            You’re a lying fuck, Barley. I minored in Physics in college and Einstein is a hero. Eleanor Roosevelt I hreatly admire. I’ve never used the word “asshat.” Stop making up fake quotesof me.

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          2. holden said: You’re a lying fuck, Barley. I minored in Physics in college and Einstein is a hero.Eleanor Roosevelt I hreatly admire.I’ve never used the word “asshat.” Stop making up fake quotesof me.

            Uh, that was what we call “humor” to make a point about your total obsession with people’s appearance that others besides me have been pointing out. Sorry the parody eluded you.

            Notice: I made those things up about what Holden said about Einstein etc. He didn’t really say them.

            holden said: I went ro college douchebag. Now get back to the fryer – the French Fries are burning.

            Any person whose pathetic response to being criticized for not knowing the meaning of a word he misused is to insist that he is a college graduate is more likely a high school dropout.

            Holden used to say he was a lawyer too until his total ignorance of elementary law was exposed by non-lawyers here on TD.

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          3. Barley Snooden said:
            > Why does it matter if Jason has weird ears?

            If it matters that Megan has weird eyebrows it makes sense that it matters that Jason has weird ears unless we are going to apply a double standard to women which I’m sure no one in totaldrama would ever do.

            I found these earlier comments of Holden’s. It helps to explain his value system.

            Albert Einstein: That fuckin frizzy hair makes him look like an idiot.

            Eleanor Roosevelt: Couldn’t the ugly bitch afford orthodonture?

            Mother Theresa: Why the fuck did that asswipe always put a napkin on her head?

            It matters that TWIT keeps hiring unattractive people for on camera work.

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          4. Well the technical difference is that Meghan’s eyebrows can be fixed easily, Jason can’t help his big ears or his giant height.

            Plus I’m not holden, I generally don’t zero in on people’s looks. Unless it’s Christina Warren!

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          5. Jimmy Jam said:
            Well the technical difference is that Meghan’s eyebrows can be fixed easily, Jason can’t help his big ears or his giant height.

            Plus I’m not holden, I generally don’t zero in on people’s looks. Unless it’s Christina Warren!

            Did you know that Jason is a daddy and Megan is a mommy? Note to both of you: No one cares u or ur gf shit out a kid.

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          6. Barley Snooden said:
            > Why does it matter if Jason has weird ears?

            If it matters that Megan has weird eyebrows it makes sense that it matters that Jason has weird ears unless we are going to apply a double standard to women which I’m sure no one in totaldrama would ever do.

            I found these earlier comments of Holden’s. It helps to explain his value system.

            Albert Einstein: That fuckin frizzy hair makes him look like an idiot.

            Eleanor Roosevelt: Couldn’t the ugly bitch afford orthodonture?

            Mother Theresa: Why the fuck did that asswipe always put a napkin on her head?

            It’s TV. Looks are important like it or not. The people mentioned above were not news anchors and shouldn’t be mention in the same breath as soup or CeHo.

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  11. Elgan would often have a journalist on that actually knew something but every interview was ruined by his imbecilic & snarky codas. With the latest bad iteration of TNT, neither Moronne or Howell have the chops to pull it off.

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  12. The key to remember is that Tech News Today is a copy of CNet’s Buzz Out Loud which was the “Podcast of Indeterminate Length” and was notorious for being off topic and a rant on tech for at least a few minutes of every episode. The only issue is that Megan can never pull off an appropriate Molly Rant . Plus Leo is such a control freak that he will never let the TNT crew run this show in the style of the original BOL so the future will never be as bright for this team as it was for…… Nevermind, their is no future for anyone doing a tech show podcast.

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  13. The thing I always said about Buzz Out Loud was: listen to the first few weeks. They were so, so awful. Tom Merritt was *wooden AF*. That’s why I gave Elgrim a pass at first. It’s hard to be perky on command. I should know, I was a male prostitute who specialised in being perky for £150 an hour I work in an environment where my contract says I must never ever show sadness or frustration or any negative emotion to our “Customers”.

    But as people have said, these guys have had a long time to sort their on-air personae out. Jason was always cool in small doses on BOL. If they haven’t already sorted out how to be engaging and happy and a bit boisterous by now, they never will.

    The other thing to remember about BOL is, they fundamentally changed it after a few years, for the worse. The original show, which was the most popular, had much more serious stuff but was also much more quirky. They had proper guest presenters – Leo presented it once and it was excellent. They had different stuff for different days. They had sections, and deliberately awful intro jingles for the different bits; they knew how to be both professional *and* pretend amateur.

    They changed it and made Brian Tong a much bigger part of it. I always thought he was a cute guy but he made me want to beat him up so bad, and not in the way that I get paid £300 an hour for that some people like.

    Part of what made BOL fail (didn’t it go weekly in the end?) was the way they changed it from its original format. They stopped a lot of the good stuff, they made it much much blander.

    I won’t be listening to TNT, but I can happily predict that if they model it on later Buzz Out Loud, it will fail. The audience doesn’t like it. They like presenters who they can be friends with, but who also a) know their stuff and b) defer to experts when they don’t know their stuff.

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    1. A lot of the changes later on weren’t deliberate decisions tho, were they? I distinctly remember them saying they were having trouble getting decent sponsors, and that probably had a lot to do with it.

      Besides, it’s not like it was a dedicated show – they all did it on top of their real jobs at CNET, Tom and Molly were editors, right? Maybe if they’d treated the show like a real show, it might have lasted longer. I don’t think CNET knew what they had, and what to do with it.

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      1. Very true, WTAF. But actually they rarely had sponsors – in the early days you would sometimes get a sponsor break, but I remember how different it would be when they actually did get a sponsor. They would actually announce it in the show opening 🙂

        It’s weird, given how the same companies sponsor every damn podcast out there – maybe BoL was just ahead of its time.

        If my memory is correct, it ran mostly without sponsors as a flagship to promote CNet. The changes you mentioned were forced because they decided that the show MUST start generating income. But it didn’t – it had a proper ad break instead of sponsor reads, and my memory of it was that it was just weird when they did that. But it was maximum one sponsor per day, possibly only once or twice a week. It just didn’t happen for them.

        I might be misremembering – can you add anything more to what I’ve said?

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        1. I honestly don’t remember, which is sad, I listened every day at work, I had a job where i could do that. I was trying to remember if Natalie lasted until the end, or left before. I just remember towards the end, there was zero chemistry with Brian Tong and Molly. I hate to really speculate, i don’t have any insider knowledge or anything.

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          1. I feel the same. I listened every day but I also can’t remember- perhaps that’s a sign that the show was slightly ahead of its time.

            But I definitely agree with you on the lack of chemistry between Brian and Molly. I found him really childish, which is fine if you also bring intelligence or analysis. He brought neither, but Molly brought it by the bucketful.

            My definite broad memory is of the CNet powers that be ruining the show cos they wanted it to make money, rather than being used to draw people to CNet.

            I genuinely think that if Twit tries to model TNT on Buzz Out Loud when it was at its peak, it could be a great success. But they won’t, and it won’t.

            I’m not even sure of the need for a daily tech news show anymore. We’d be better off if Twit got some really engaging talented reporters and just had them chewing the fat for 30 minutes a day.

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  14. All things considered, I’d prefer Megan and Jason to Mike … They have a better more engaging personality on air. While I agree that it would be nice for them to take the initiative to build their own sources and not just regurgitate from other news outlets, I don’t blame them any more than I blamed Tom or Mike. That just has been the TWiT way since the beginning, and I’ve always accepted the show not as an actual news show, but at the time of Tom/Iyaz/Sarah/Jason/guest it was a good forum of friendly debate and opinions on evolving technology and matters concerning it. When it was revamped into mike’s version, it was two then one host talking at a camera dryly about stuff you might as well read. Supposed experts who are nothing but reporters themselves. I hope that being more engaging, Jason and Megan can fix the show.

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    1. > Megan and Jason … have a better more engaging personality

      What the fuck are you doing here? Don’t you know Megan is stupid and has a bad personality and has the nerve to talk about her kids? That is the party line and I’d suggest you get with the program or get lost.

      Oh and she’s ugly and has bushy eyebrows. I should have mentioned that first, cuz around here that’s the unpardonable sin.

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      1. Oddball Bob said:
        >Megan and Jason… have a better more engaging personality

        What the fuck are you doing here? Don’t you know Megan is stupid and has a bad personality and has the nerve to talk about her kids? That is the party line and I’d suggest you get with the program or get lost.

        Oh and she’s ugly and has bushy eyebrows. I should have mentioned that first, cuz around here that’s the unpardonable sin.

        Thar’s right. Especially the kid talk. Just because she shit out kids, doesn’t mean that the rest of us care. She’s turning the show into Romper Room. And, yes, she’s dumb as a box of rocks.

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