Even so, they went uniquely weird when their guest, actor/director Al Waxman showed up some weeks back. Suddenly the show sounded as tense and straight as any other supposedly fun-filled morning show.

After Humble And Fred was named ``best morning show in Canada'' earlier this year by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the two met with their management from Shaw Radio. (Shaw has taken CFNY-FM from nowhere since it bought the station from Maclean-Hunter in 1994 to fifth place in Metro's hotly competitive market).

For a while, Waxman says, he thought there might be three hosts of the show, a Humble [Howard], a [Humble] Howard and a Fred [Patterson]. And there's good reason for this.