Yes, indeed. I wrote the same thing in reply to someone on another thread who suggested they replace Mel with Barbara Simson. Barbara might be fine for a weekend show when there isn't much going on, and there isn't much else in political talk to listen to... but to get your day going in the Morning she was awful (in my opinion).
Maybe she was just nervous, but I got SO BORED listening to her and the other guy - neither of them was interesting and together they had absolutely NO chemistry.
If they felt like canning someone, they could have started with Barbara Simpson! I'm sick to death of her Tom Cruise-like rants about how psychopharmaceuticals will cause you to become a crazed maniac and commit suicide.
I like the Melanie/Lee/OV combo in the mornings, but I think it has hurt them that Lee takes off on Mondays. Suss is getting better as he goes along, but I still find him annoying fairly often. Breaking up the MLOV trio is a mistake, methinks.
I am listening to the re-broadcast. Barbara is wonderful, but I didn't enjoy her much either. She is perfect for an evening or afternoon show, but I guess I need a faster pace in the morning.