Howard Stern

LetsRun Matters wrote:

Howard is on summer break and they are running non-stop interviews on Sirius in his absence. He gets celebrities in their comfort zones and gets them to say things they have never admitted before. He is kind of like a psychiatrist/entertainer in these interviews. He really is the best interviewer. I am so glad he re-signed at the last minute. I am new to his shtick, but I am hooked on his interviews and staff interactions. He gets you to become interested in mundane details and interactions of guys like Robin, Fred, Richard, Sal, JD, Ronnie, Benjy and Bababooey (Don't know his real name). My new favorite is Chris Wilding. Would love for a track athlete to get booked on the show.

Was a listener going back to 84 when he was on WNBC on AM radio.

The lazy version of the show today is nothing like in its heyday. I stopped listening a long time ago. Stern is live once a week or so, no? He’s become so soft and liberal in later years. Really sad and pathetic.

Plus, as Stern ages, his hair keeps not only getting fuller, but darker. Thinning light brown hair in the late 80s has become a jet black mushroom like “hair” system of today. That’s the only thing funny about him these days.

Running related: Beth O ran the NYC marathon years ago. So did Robin….. although many claim she didn’t actually complete the race.

Also hope Robin is doing good health wise. Despite the show sucking, I still wish her good health.

For his interview style, he’ll often ask a good question and then interrupt the answer to ask his next question.

And you’re hoping they get back on track.

I would like to see him interview Suzy Favor.

The show went downhill after he got rid of Jackie. He's a good interviewer and an egocentric creep. Not sure he's any better at interviewing than Rogan at this point.

Could care less about the serious interviews. I like it when he brings on some "colorful" personalities and messes with people to no end. Shame that he has got increasingly liberal

He is back on air and Robin comes on and complains about having to work on a Thursday after having been on vacation for 8 weeks. How the mighty have fallen. Then Martin Short and Steve Martin are sitting in the studio looking at a giant TV with Howard on it broadcasting from the basement of his Florida mansion preaching about Covid. I bet the cancellation rate has gone up exponentially since he's been back on air.

He used to be mildly funny 25 years ago. Now he is a complete sellout and hypocrite. He sold his soul to the devil along time ago for love of money, fame, and a young wife. Zero integrity. Zero morals. Zero relevance.

Guys take a break from Howard.

He’s upset me too, so cyber hugs for all of you. Take a break and enjoy your safe space.

I had been listening to Howard since late '96 or early '97, and recording and archiving the show since 2002! I have more or less 19 years of Howard backed up, that's how dedicated I was. However, the summer off and the CONSTANT covid fear mongering has utterly turned me off.

There have been other cracks in the show over the years, but on par it was still worth my effort. It isn't now, I cancelled my sub and I did not record the show when he came back earlier this month. My streak is broken and I'm ok with that.

Stern’s stuff from the 80s and 90s was edgy and funny but now at this point he just has to retire. He just comes off as a cranky old guy now which makes sense as he is a man pushing 70.

Jackie made him funny wrote:

The show went downhill after he got rid of Jackie. He's a good interviewer and an egocentric creep. Not sure he's any better at interviewing than Rogan at this point.

Well, that's just blasphemy right there. Rogan is a meathead.

Howard Stern is an intelligent, thoughtful guy. His overall vibe is sophomoric to be sure, but he is a talented interviewer. I don't listen to him regularly, because I'm not a 14-year-old boy and couldn't care less about his usual titillations, but I do recognize his greatness.

I much prefer to see HIM interviewed, but only because that's when his intelligence and thoughtfulness is really on full display. He was even a good judge on America's Got Talent.

Rogan is indeed a "meathead", and his popularity remains a mystery to me. He's massively overrated.

Started listening to Howard in 1983, and was a big fan until a few years into his Sirius years when IMO he totally

lost his bearings and started "phoning it in". Howard was never the most "stable" person and I think all the money he got and lawsuit he got into with Sirius about getting more of it was extremely detrimental to the show.

He is a very funny guy, and like the OP said he is an excellent interviewer. The show is not recognizable to the one in the eighties and the nineties when Howard was "hungry", edgy and still an "outsider". It's not unlike a great rock band that does their best work in the first five years and then coasts off of that for the rest of their career.

That being said, he still has his moments and for young people just discovering him there is "something there", but for me he's done. I've seen "every move" he's got and it's just warm rehash.

I have mixed feelings about Howard.

I loved the renegade approach in the heyday. Yeah, the model of appealing to the most base form of humor wasn’t as “genius” as he declared, but it was often hilarious.

I thought his two aces-the-hole were being a loyal husband to Alison and having a black woman as a co-host. I thought the divorce would reveal him as a hypocrite, but he kept rolling.

I’ve never had much use for the staff members that fall over themselves to be show participants. Could care less for the Ronnies, JDs, etc. Sal and Richard are pretty good, though.

The Hollywood Howard thing is a mixed bag too. The celebrity interviews can be great, but no doubt Howard has become detached from his audience and by most accounts is a super diva.

Still worth listening when I have a rental car with free Sirius, but wouldn’t pay for it

Rogan appeals to other meatheads. There are a lot of those who follow MMA, so he grabs those people. Oddly enough, he does interview some interesting people. I have no idea how that works, but I assume he pays them for their time. He does have a decent-sized audience, so perhaps that's all that is needed to get solid interviewees.

But yeah, he's a meathead.

He's good and I liked him for a while a very long time ago, but then I realized that I don't care about celebrities.

Pretty much nailed it.

Howard's "innovation" as it were (besides being relentlessly vulgar in a very funny way) was that he essentially "drew back the curtain" on the "behind the scenes" stuff in the studio. He transformed "regular" people like Gary (Baba-Booey) into real characters and participants on the show. You can make a case that he invented the "reality" format

that's basically taken over the world of entertainment. I was actually listening live when "Baba-Booey" was "born", talk about dating myself. Before Howard, DJ's and the ubiquitous "morning zoos" were very scripted and banal, Howard basically threw that format out the window and showed you how "the sausage was made" so to speak.

Sal and Richard are great, some of the stuff they do is truly hilarious with their phony phone calls. Agree about Ronny, always thought he was a complete moron and a jerk to boot.

The sad irony of his career was that he actually became much more "tame" after he migrated to Sirius, which was supposed to "unshackle" him from restrictions of terrestrial radio and it's evil overload, the FCC. By the time he got to Sirius, he had already achieved the mainstream fame and accolades that he had yearned for, and his best work was

far behind him.

IMO, the best thing he ever did was his old "Channel 9" tv show which ran for 3 years in the nineties. It was a rollicking, insane, no holds barred show that really pushed the boundaries of bad taste in every conceivable way. There are a lot of old clips floating around on Youtube that really capture the flavor of it very well. If he attempted some of those skits today, he would be "cancelled" in about 2 seconds or less, they were that offensive and non-pc.

Jackie made him funny wrote:

The show went downhill after he got rid of Jackie.

Jackie Martling used to try to plug chachkies on air and was insufferable about pay. I thought Billy West was far more talented that Jackie.

Artie was a million times funnier because he is well… funny and not just a crappy joke guy.

Long time listener.

Love his interviews, but his questions can become repetitive from person to person. Wasn't surprised Shuli left the show after moving to Alabama and have not listened to his new podcast. I am stunned that he can fill half a show with COVID related discussions for over a year and a half........that drives me up a f#cking wall! His bitching and complaining is part of his actual persona, which egocentric and narcissistic. Was a little put off that he wouldn't see Ronnie before he left, and he has other people over.

Another former listener here. I’m not bitter about Sterns evolution, it just happens. I think it’s a mix of having more money than he will ever need, getting old and not breaking the rules anymore since those rules don’t really exist on satellite radio.

Actually, I never really listened to Stern, I watched the show when it was on E! in the late 90s. He is very intelligent. I think there is much better podcast material out there these days.