7 JAN 2018
OPINION: THE HOWARD STERN SHOW HAS BECOME TOO INSULAR
The King of All Media has been on satellite radio for 12 years now, but his show has a problem.
I listened to Howard Stern on the radio every weekday during high school once he arrived on Phoenix airwaves in 1995. My mornings would always be entertaining in one unpredictable way or another, thanks to the antics of Howard and his crew. Stern was a live wire, jumping all over the place with a bit, a guest, or a caller. Flanked by Robin Quivers – usually the straight woman in any comedic scenario – along with Fred Norris, Jackie Martling, and Billy West (yes, he of Ren and Stimpy fame) – every show was electric. I was hooked. There were no pithy soundbites leading into the next song, and there were no politics (those were relegated to shows on the AM dial). He was just honest. And he was clearly having fun.
So after sticking with the show through college and my move to the Bay Area, I happily followed Stern when he left terrestrial radio for the fledgling Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006. I bought satellite radios for my home and car. And my goodness, the show was on fire those first few years on Sirius. The shackles of FM’s FCC-mandated censorship were broken, and it was like Stern and company were unleashed! Comedian Artie Lange, who’d replaced Martling in 2001 and proven a perfect fit, was profanely hilarious. The rest of the crew complemented the madness.
I wondered if he might retire after his last contract expired after 2015. After all, he was nearly 61 years old at the time and seemed to be developing a more well-rounded life, be it with friends, hobbies, or assisting in his wife Beth Stern’s animal-rescue efforts. But to my surprise, he re-upped, and not for a shorter three-year term as I would’ve guessed, but for five years, complemented by a 12-year content deal that would keep his channels active well into the next decade even if he was no longer doing new shows. Sure, he’d only be working three days a week now, but unlike some fans, I never held that against him. He’d been at the top of his field for decades. He’d earned the softer schedule as far as I was concerned.
To fill the gap left without another professional comedian in the room, Stern doubled down on two things: celebrity interviews and the “wack pack,” the Stern Show’s gaggle of regular callers and personalities who all have some odd personality quirk. The former has been a home run. A-list guests from Paul McCartney to Jerry Seinfeld to Robert Plant have stopped by in recent years, and while some fans accuse Stern of kowtowing to the A-list in order to be accepted by it, I see it as a natural evolution for the one-time shock jock. Yes, he’s gotten older, and yes, he’s changed. But change is good. He seems happy in his marriage and he’s learned how to have a better work-life balance; this includes being friends with fellow famous people rather than seeing them as enemies, as he used to. The point is, these interviews are longer than ever – usually an hour and sometimes more – and the conversations are almost always interesting, even if it’s a public figure I hadn’t taken much interest in previously. They go well beyond the canned, pre-interviewed five-minute chats these stars would do on other programs.
Read Rest Here:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/01/07/opinion-the-howard-stern-show-has-become-too-insular
OPINION: THE HOWARD STERN SHOW HAS BECOME TOO INSULAR
The King of All Media has been on satellite radio for 12 years now, but his show has a problem.
I listened to Howard Stern on the radio every weekday during high school once he arrived on Phoenix airwaves in 1995. My mornings would always be entertaining in one unpredictable way or another, thanks to the antics of Howard and his crew. Stern was a live wire, jumping all over the place with a bit, a guest, or a caller. Flanked by Robin Quivers – usually the straight woman in any comedic scenario – along with Fred Norris, Jackie Martling, and Billy West (yes, he of Ren and Stimpy fame) – every show was electric. I was hooked. There were no pithy soundbites leading into the next song, and there were no politics (those were relegated to shows on the AM dial). He was just honest. And he was clearly having fun.
So after sticking with the show through college and my move to the Bay Area, I happily followed Stern when he left terrestrial radio for the fledgling Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006. I bought satellite radios for my home and car. And my goodness, the show was on fire those first few years on Sirius. The shackles of FM’s FCC-mandated censorship were broken, and it was like Stern and company were unleashed! Comedian Artie Lange, who’d replaced Martling in 2001 and proven a perfect fit, was profanely hilarious. The rest of the crew complemented the madness.
I wondered if he might retire after his last contract expired after 2015. After all, he was nearly 61 years old at the time and seemed to be developing a more well-rounded life, be it with friends, hobbies, or assisting in his wife Beth Stern’s animal-rescue efforts. But to my surprise, he re-upped, and not for a shorter three-year term as I would’ve guessed, but for five years, complemented by a 12-year content deal that would keep his channels active well into the next decade even if he was no longer doing new shows. Sure, he’d only be working three days a week now, but unlike some fans, I never held that against him. He’d been at the top of his field for decades. He’d earned the softer schedule as far as I was concerned.
To fill the gap left without another professional comedian in the room, Stern doubled down on two things: celebrity interviews and the “wack pack,” the Stern Show’s gaggle of regular callers and personalities who all have some odd personality quirk. The former has been a home run. A-list guests from Paul McCartney to Jerry Seinfeld to Robert Plant have stopped by in recent years, and while some fans accuse Stern of kowtowing to the A-list in order to be accepted by it, I see it as a natural evolution for the one-time shock jock. Yes, he’s gotten older, and yes, he’s changed. But change is good. He seems happy in his marriage and he’s learned how to have a better work-life balance; this includes being friends with fellow famous people rather than seeing them as enemies, as he used to. The point is, these interviews are longer than ever – usually an hour and sometimes more – and the conversations are almost always interesting, even if it’s a public figure I hadn’t taken much interest in previously. They go well beyond the canned, pre-interviewed five-minute chats these stars would do on other programs.
Read Rest Here:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/01/07/opinion-the-howard-stern-show-has-become-too-insular
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