I’ve been forced since moving to AZ to do something I have never really had to do. Something that millions of Americans do each and every day - twice!
Commute to work.
So I have tried books on CD, local radio, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and Comedy on my Sirius Satellite radio…Then about a month ago I heard an advert for Howard Stern, how is he switching completely to Sirius. So I tuned into his show one morning. I have never heard such debaucherous, flatulant, hysterical crap in my life. I knew he was raunchy, but jeez, he really is. I must say some of the things make me want to switch the channel, but others make me laugh to no end.
Does anyone else listen to this fodder? Anyone like it? Thoughts?
I only tune to Stern when my regular morning show, the Monsters In the Morning, cuts to commercial breaks. The Monsters seem to all be friends, with a genuine camaraderie in the studio. They’re all pretty funny people, and generally “Everymen” who all live around Orlando just like me, and talk about going to places I go.
Stern, on the other hand, built his reputation on being the “Everyman” who said what everyone else always thought, who cavorted with strippers and porn stars but still went home to his wife every night. Now that he’s a multi-millionaire who dates a supermodel, I find his “man of the people” schtick to be grating and disingenuous. He’s a huge star, and I get tired of his “Woe is me, everyone hates me and is out to get me” routine all the time. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I find him funny and entertaining, but in small doses.
The people Stern surrounds himself with, however, strike me as talentless sycophants to the highest degree. I actually like Artie, but that’s it. Jackie Martling was one of the least-funny “comedians” I had ever heard, and I was happy to see them part ways. Robin is a braying, self-absorbed moron, Fred is a complete non-entity, and I have no interest in people like Richard Christy or Sal the Stockbroker or whoever Stern’s latest hangers-on and yes-men are. Stern himself is a horrible interviewer (who always interrupts his guests and changes the topic to himself), but as much as I complain about him, he’s a riveting personality, which explains his continued success. I’m also happy he’s out there challenging the FCC and continuing to stand up for free speech and expression. I have no problem with his often-explicit content, but my hat is off to him for weathering the critics and detractors all these years.
I haven’t listened to Howard (or “Howeird” as he called himself at the time) since he was on WNBC. I liked him much better when he mostly played music. Then again, I feel that way about most DJs that switched to talk.
Both. He is capable of being extremely funny, in a general witty kind of way that reveals a man of comic talent.
My suspicion is he’s just a lazy sack. He could put some effort every day into rising above the base and obnoxious sewerage he typically spews forth, but he rarely does. How many fucking times has Stern done the “two strippers making out” stunt? A thousand? Ten thousand? Do something new, for crying out loud.
I still listen… had to turn him off while taking the little phungis to day care when one said “daddy, what is that man going to do to that woman” after stern said “oh, what I would do to you”
I think Artie Lang is hillarious and find the stupid doodie humor and lesbian longing to be a perfect morning diversion… of course, i understand why others disagree to choose not to listen…
i will be making the jump to Sirus… I figure $300 is a worthwhile investment to try it out, especially after all these years of free enjoyment…
I’m a fan of The Stern Show. For me, the best parts of the show are the first hour and the last hour. The debauchery the OP describes is usually contained to the middle hours of the show. The first hour or so is usually general chat amoungst the crew about what they did last night or over the weekend. The last hour or so is the “news” where Howard is at his funniest, riffing off the days top stories. I’m curious if the change to Sirus is going to mess with the format, and I wonder how they will change the break schedule - because even without commercials, they are going to have to take some breaks.
But the antics with guests and the strippers gets a liittle old, even for this thirty-something straight guy (although it’s still better than just about anything else on the radio).
I’ve only seen HS on the E! show and the old WGN show. So this is limited analysis.
Howard is either “on” or “off.” When he is “off”, which is most of the time, he is unbelievably awful. He doesn’t care and he shows it. Can’t interview at all. Random topic jumping. Etc.
Those rare times when he is “on” he is okay to interesting. But… even that gets tired really quickly. The old “Oh, he’s doing that again.” response. So, the longer he’s on the air, the more tired he and his material becomes.
Anyone who puts Jackie Martling on the air doesn’t understand the concept of “funny”.
I think the sole reason he has hung on so long is because the other radio “personalities” are even worse.
He’s funny sometimes, but his mean streak cancels out any good I find in him. Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I think you can be raunchy and hilarious without being mean. I’ll look at his TV show occasionally just to see if I’m still bored by him. Usually I am.
I totally agree with this statement. I’m not crazy about celebrity interviews, but I love when they make fun of them during the news. Some of his funniest stuff is when they are all chatting, rather than doing a “bit”.
I’m also going to follow him to Sirius. I just can’t stomach the local “morning zoo” type of jocks around here and I prefer talk in the morning, as opposed to music.
I’ll admit that he’s been whiny about the FCC ever since they’ve been cracking down even harder (thank you, Miss Jackson), but he does have a point. Other TV and radio shows get away with stuff every day that he’s being censored for.
I do listen to him frequently while driving to work, but only because the alternatives are worse: mostly right-wing blather which I have no interest in. So, while he is the most entertaining thing on the radio in the morning, that’s not saying much. I find him to be a racist, sexist, hateful, self-centered creep. I’ll give him credit for being a pioneer in the “outrageous morning show” idea, but most of the stuff they do doesn’t really amuse me. Who cares if a woman takes off her clothes on the radio? I don’t get it. And honestly, who wants to hear the opinions of a vacuous stripper or Playboy model? And his other staple, making fun of handicapped or mentally-challenged people, is just plain infantile.
I’ll tell you what drives me NUTS, too. I don’t know his crew well enough to recall which one does the sound-effects, but it’s often so annoying that I have to change the station. A properly delivered sound-bite at the appropriate time can be hilarious. But this guy has the worst case of OCD I’ve ever encountered. He just seems COMPELLED to hit the button 4 or 5 times. Sometimes you even miss what people are saying because he has to play the same sound bite over and over and over. After one time, it’s just not funny anymore. But Howard seems to love him. Of course he loves Robin, too, and she’s an absolute idiot.
I never liked him until I read his book. I have no idea why I read that book. I liked him after that and I actually really liked Robin. I started to dislike him again right after 9/11. His 9/11 reaction somehow made me cringe very hard. Robin showed herself to be pretty dim around that time too. The commercial breaks were also much longer than I can handle.
One thing I can say for him is he’s sure funnier than all the morning DJs out there who try to compete with him by being dicks. I tried to listen to morning radio for years but now I just listen to CDs.
He can be funny when you first start to listen to him, but he gets very old, very fast. Who gives a shit if the strippers are naked-it’s RADIO. How the fuck do we even know if they really are? (Of course they are, it’s Howard, but you get my point).
The making fun of handicapped people, how is that funny to any individual over the age of fourteen? And for someone who likes to really tear into people, he’s incredibly thin skinned, throwing a hissyfit if the negative is turned back on him. He can dish it out like nobody’s business, but he sure as hell can’t take it.
His attitudes towards women only bother me in so far that he’s the father of three daughters. How the hell do you think they manage without developing some huge complex?
He’s like a 12 year old boy who likes to say “fuck” when gramma comes to dinner.
I think he can be funny when he talks about the news or is riffing with the crew about their weekends or current events. I also think his interviews can be interesting at times in that he asks a lot of questions that no one else would ask and gets more out of celebrities than the suffocatingly boring fluff you usually hear.
But all the crap with the strippers is just unlistenable/unwatchable.
I used to like his political commentary and views on daily news items. What does he do now? Have people on his show displaying their enormous hemorrhoids? I think he’s lost his mind.