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Adios Howard

Johnny Dickshot Dec 16 2005 08:27 AM

Sad morning for at least one-half of the Dickshot househhold as Howard Stern makes his last broadcast. Actually, the whole "countdown to satellite" thing has been irritating and frequently unlistenable for more than a year. But ... Howard gave me laughs (some days more than others) and energy (almost every morning) for years and years and has basically been a habit. I find the whole thing pretty sad. The bad guys won.

silverdsl Dec 16 2005 09:28 AM

So are you going to get Sirius so you can continue to listen to him? How about other Stern fans here? I assume that a large percentage of his fans will purchase Sirius but I'm curious as to whether a lot of people won't.

Willets Point Dec 16 2005 09:49 AM

I've never been a Stern fan (I find him funny at first but then he begins to wear on me as he's pretty repetitive and predictable and tends to go for shock value over humor), but even if I were paying for radio is just something I won't do. It's a slippery slope. I remember when cable tv first became popular when I was a child the attraction was to watch unedited programing without commercials. Now cable tv stations seem to have more commercials per hour than broadcast tv did in the 70's. The cable media are soaking in the lucre both from subscription fees AND advertising. No matter how appealing these things are when promoted, somehow the consumer still gets screwed.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 16 2005 09:52 AM

I'd buy Sirius if it also had MLB games, since those are basically the only 2 things I listen to on the radio. They don't, obviously, they don't have an affordable or effective portable yet, plus it costs money better used somewhere else, and I have reservations that Howard withourt boundaries will be as funny as he was with them, since a lot of the humor of the show involved rubbing against the edges of what you could get away with. The other thing that bothers me about satellite radio is the idea that you can no longer turn *any* radio on and hear what you want. Howard making his final speech now, badly chopped up by sensors.

metirish Dec 16 2005 09:53 AM

I rarely go out of my way to listen to Stern, I can take him an small doses and those times I can find him funny, but lately(last several months) any time I tuned in it was all about his moving, and it was sooooooooo boring. I don't see a stampede of subcribers getting Sirius just becasue Stern is going to be on, it will be interesting to see how this is in two years.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 16 2005 10:13 AM

Before I started listening to CDs in my car, I'd listen to the radio. I'm a notorious channel flipper, and I'd settle on Stern's show some of the time. Some mornings it was just stupid and I'd resume my channel surfing, but other times I'd find it interesting, intelligent and funny. Even when he's not your cup of tea, it's sad that he was basically forced off of the radio (not literally, but he wasn't able to do his show his own way anymore). I'm sure many people will buy Sirius for his show. If I was going to buy satellite radio, though (and I have no current plans to do so), I'd go with XM Radio for the baseball games. I'm just a baseball junkie.

sharpie Dec 16 2005 10:47 AM

If I went for either I'd go for XM for both baseball and Bob Dylan. But I probably won't.

jerseyshore Dec 16 2005 11:08 AM

personally, once he got divorced he seemed like jus another horny, frustrated millionaire. Although, I do remember, many years ago, almost wrecking my rent-a-car on I-95 in Miami laughing so hard as he went on a Kathy lee Gifford rant

KC Dec 16 2005 02:35 PM

I much prefer to listen to Imus in the Morning instead of Stern. Stern's show had more edge years ago when he was on am. I used to love the late night tv show enough to tape it.

silverdsl Dec 16 2005 02:41 PM

I have XM and I love it. I think what I pay for it is more than worth it and I listen every day. Of course two of the highlights are that XM carries MLB and Nascar (for now - Nascar moves to Sirius in '07) so it's awesome to be able to listen to games and races anywhere that I am in the country. I always used to get frustrated with not being able to find music that I liked on free radio and I hated all the commercials. Well, now I have access to over a hundred commercial-free stations that play music in all sorts of genres so I can almost always find something to listen to. Then there's the news channels - during Hurricane Katrina I couldn't have a TV here in the office but I was able to listen to CNN's feed via XM. So for me satellite radio is great. The only problem is what I'm going to do in '07 when Nascar moves over to Sirius - that's a major reason why I got XM over Sirius in the first place but I don't want to have to give up MLB.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 16 2005 02:43 PM

silver - I don't want to sound insensitive, but I have trouble envisioning someone listening to NASCAR. I always considered it more of a visual kind of thing.

Frayed Knot Dec 16 2005 02:47 PM

I never warmed up to Howard. I wasn't offended, wasn't about to join any protests to take him off the air, just got bored fairly quickly. And mainly I was just never seemed interested in what he was interested in. Those phony "feuds" he was forever promoting between various 3rd rate comics: I never cared whether 'Dice' really did hate Jackie or 'The Belz' and so on; and the endlessly repetitive questions to the scantily dressed skank-du-jour on the show: 'ever been in a three-way?' ... 'ever do a black guy?', just didn't do it for me.

Valadius Dec 16 2005 03:35 PM

I prefer Imus myself. When working on the Corzine campaign this summer I listened to it every day as I drove to work.

sharpie Dec 16 2005 03:37 PM

I also prefer Imus to Stern but I listen to neither. One day, receivers will be available that will get both XM and Sirius and you could pay for both a la HBO and Showtime. That's my prediction for the Phearless Phuture.

HahnSolo Dec 16 2005 04:00 PM

Scarlet, About 15 years ago, I was visiting my sister in the Atlanta area, and we went one Saturday to their "beach club". Well, sure enough, a guy sitting about 15 feet from us had his folding chair, his umbrella, his cooler, and his big old radio tuned to a car race. I was dumbfounded. And here he was talking about how so and so was in a grear position to come back and "win this dag gum race." Seriously. And his wife just sat there nodding in agreement. God bless her. That's love, ladies and gentlemen. So, yes, I guess there is a radio audience for NASCAR.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 16 2005 04:45 PM

Nascar on the radio is hilarious. They position play-by-play announcers around the track and they each give 10-second, increasingly dramatic commentaries and pass it on to the next guy, with a few color men and pit reporters. Guy 1 (frontstretch): it's Gordon in the 24... followed by Eranhardt, Labonte and Ricky Craven in the 32 car... and HARVICK AND PETTY ARE SIDE BY SIDE!!!! Guy 2 (1st & 2nd turn, backstretch): Back in the pack now its Jimmy Spencer with a good run off the corner. He's got his eye Mark Martin in the Viagra ride, approaching the second turn but MARTIN CLOSES THE DOOR AND HERE COMES JARRETT!!!! Color Guy 1: Dad-gum he's quick! Guy 3 (backstretch to 3rd turn): Jarrett now darting ahead of Spencer and Martin, who's slowing down now, he may be loose ... Gordon still leading the draftpack AS HE APPROACHES THE START-FINISH OF LAP 124!!!! Color Guy 2: Martin may be calling the pits! Guy 4: Still falling behind as they approach the th... AND WE'VE GOT TROUBLE IN THE FOURTH TURN!!!! HARVICK SPINS OUT! Guy 1: The caution flag is out as Spencer, Jarrett, Martin, Petty, Craven are all in a wreck at turn 4! Color Guy 1: Golly!

soupcan Dec 16 2005 04:49 PM

Been a big Stern fan since his NBC days. Got Sirius last year before he announced the move so I'm all set. Bottom line with Stern - it's comedy and he's funny as hell.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 16 2005 04:54 PM

Well Soup. Keep us informed next month on how it is. Ive got to rehab listening to Ms Dickshot's "Morning Edition" on NPR.

cooby Dec 16 2005 05:07 PM

soupcan wrote: he's funny as hell. Soupcan, I'm a skeptic here. Convince me.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 16 2005 05:45 PM

At its best, Howard's show wrung humor out of all that was otherwise humorless: In interviews, he'd ask questions no journalist had the courage to ask, and could be ruthless while chopping the publicist-led celebrity culture down to size. He seemed to be able to remove that filter that prevents normal people from admitting they laugh at farts or think impure thoughts at inappropriate times. It was also a bit of an R-rated modern carnival freak show, fostering an "anything can happen" energy rushing out of it all morning long. Howard and his staff assembled when they all were unsuccessful young, poor flunkies many years ago and they were simply allowed let grow (Fred on the sound effects is amazing) and their interaction from day to day took on the feel of a disfunctional-family or a workplace TV sitcom. The whole lets-drop-the-pretense honesty of the show could make them turn against one another, and brutally goof on each other's foibles all the time, but there was a "us against the world" espirit de corps too. I don't think the average listener identified with Howard so much as with Gary, a completely average guy who became the Howard Stern producer only because that was the worst job anyone could have when he got it. Howard was able to lead this show because, IMO, he was visionary who understood his place in radio history. His show did things no show had ever done before (turn music listeners into talk listeners and the DJ/newschick team from programmed automatons to lively personalities who proved they didn't need popular music to capture their demographic, or a local audience if the show was funny enough.

Johnny Dickshot Jan 09 2006 07:15 AM

Soupy -- Need full report... NOW!!!!

silverdsl Jan 09 2006 09:48 AM

Daily detailed summaries of all of Howard's shows dating back a few years and including this morning can be found here: [url=http://www.marksfriggin.com]www.marksfriggin.com[/url]. Presumably he will be continuing to do those summaries every morning into the future as well for those who want to keep up on what Howard's up to but don't want to get Sirius. One problem though is that today at least, while I was able to get on earlier to find out what Howards first show was like, there is apparently too much traffic for the site to handle at the moment and it's down. It's a good resource for Stern fans when it's up though.

Vic Sage Jan 09 2006 01:49 PM

Humor is a very subjective thing. Its an emotional response. Some people find humor in a cat having an M-80 shoved up its ass and watching it go "boom" in a furry puff of smoke. And, similarly, many enjoy the 7th grade antics of the ugly unpopular kid who got to make dick jokes on the radio and became the circus master for the misbegotten, semi-retarded, emotionally damaged, pathetic refuse of society. Because, heck, they're entitled to be celebrities, too! That a moronic voyeur made radio history is certainly true. Of course, being the creator of "Lesbian Dial-a-date" and other such notworthy programming is a dubious accomplishment and doesn't necessarily warrant praise, in and of itself. That Stern was a champion of the 1st amendment... well, only in the way that Nazis who marched in Skokie were. It's a more impressive accomplishment to champion the 1st amendment rights of OTHERS (especially those with whom you disagree), rather than fighting for it for your own economic interest. I find Stern's appeal similar to that of most "reality" tv shows, in that he traffics in humiliation and debasement, doesn't have an interesting thought in his head, and appeals to all that is worst in the human animal. I'm thrilled that Howard is now a satellite show... if he'd agree to broadcast FROM the satellite as well, it would indicate a positive step for our culture. Instead, however, the American empire continues its steady decline, like all other empires before it, into decadence and self-destruction. Stern's popularity is not a CAUSE of this, of course... merely an inconsequential symptom. But when we laugh at Howard's short bus full of hookers, dwarves and emotionally disturbed attention-seekers as it goes careening down the hill, lets remember that our SUVs are tethered to its trailer hitch, so when it hits rock-bottom, we're right behind it.

Edgy DC Jan 09 2006 02:02 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 09 2006 10:00 PM

Howard is one if those guys who afficianados have described as having used to be better almost from the beginning, but is now a pale shadow of blahblah. Serious reflection often leads to the realization that there was no golden age, only occasional sporadic moments where our indulgence paid off --- way too much indulgence --- and even those have been recalled and replayed to a point beyond any real impact. If you ever get a chance or see the play Dead Funny, or, heck, even read it, do.

Rockin' Doc Jan 09 2006 09:18 PM

I guess this falls under the different strokes for different folks. I never saw what all the hype was around Howard Stern and I saw or heard little that I considered funny, but he has difinitely has a loyal legion of fans. I viewed his show as a sophmoric attempt to see how far he could push the limits of the censors. The few times I saw his show on cable, it was little more than an endless series lewd discussions consisting primarily of "Show us your ass", "Take of your top" and "I'd do her".

soupcan Jan 09 2006 10:53 PM

I got nuthin'. I can't listen in the morning cause I'm on the train and the Sirius is in my car. When they replay I'll be able to listen but didn't have a chance tonight. As soon as I'm able I'll listen and fill you in.

soupcan Jan 10 2006 02:03 PM

Okay. Big story of the first Sirius show were'The Revelations'. Deep, dark, shameful secrets that the staff of the show have kept to themselves. Next Monday they will reveal whose secret is whose. In the meantime generating speculation among the Stern faithful. THE REVELATIONS ARE HERE!! by The Webmaster Missed the first show huh? You're dying to know what the revelations are and you expect me to tell you, right (thanks Elliot)? And once you're done reading about them, head into the Vagina Corner to tell us who you think they belong to. OK, first, here's the list of people (in no particular order) who've given their revelations to super-producer, Will Murray (who hasn't given his own revelation): 1. Fred 2. Howard 3. Benjy 4. Artie 5. Robin 6. Sal the Stockbroker 7. Gary 8. Richard Christy 9. Scott Salem 10. JD 11. Jason And now the revelations: 1. I cheated on my wife and she caught me... 2. I once hid in a bathroom closet and pleasured myself when my family members went to the bathroom... 3. In the last year, I got a girl pregnant and had to pay for her abortion... 4. I think I'm addicted to porn - I jerk off twice a day and prefer to masturbate than have real sex... 5. I have spent well over $10,000 on internet porn... 6. My buddy and I once ordered massage girls to our hotel room, but they ripped us off and we were left staring at each other in our underwear... 7. I have pleasured myself with meat and vegetables... 8. I have a half-sister I've never met and don't want to... 9. I've had cosmetic surgery... 10. A guy once blew his load on my chest... 11. I once had my stomach pumped for alcohol poisoning and when I woke up in the hospital, an acquaintance of the same sex was fondling my genitals.. A summary of the rest of the day's events can be found at:[url=www.howardstern.com]The King Of All Media[/url]

cooby Jan 10 2006 02:28 PM

Here's a little tipsheet that was in USAToday that might interest Howard fans I think its from today's show. I was going to post it earlier but wanted to wait until soupy made his report http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-01-10-stern-recap_x.htm

Johnny Dickshot Jan 10 2006 02:31 PM

{takei} Oh myyyy. {/takei}

Lundy Jan 11 2006 09:18 AM

]I got nuthin'. I can't listen in the morning cause I'm on the train and the Sirius is in my car. One of the main reasons I decided to stick with XM is that I have the ability to listen live wherever I am (provided that I get a signal from the sky) so I get to listen to it on the train. As far as I know, Sirius doesn't have a unit that can do that.