Line #42 Radio/TheHowardSternShow


1	[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/howard-stern-show_-10199_6075.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:319:Hey now.]]
3
4	''The Howard Stern Show'' is a syndicated radio show that has run from 1982 till present day. Broadcast out of New York by Creator/HowardStern and running from 6:00AM-10AM, and sometimes as late as 12PM. Howard's show was instrumental in breaking down many barriers in radio from deviating from regular talk and corny morning routines and focusing on gross out jokes, strippers and sideshow style characters mixed with some political and pop culture commentary and news segments. Howard's show has been fined by the FCC several times in his career in the process of developing his show's material.
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6	The show started to come together over various stations Howard worked in after graduating college with a media degree. He met and worked with Fred Norris and Robin Quivers, who he found good chemistry with. By the time he reached Detroit, he had established himself as a top notch DJ, preferring talking and doing his schtick versus playing records. While most who would listen to his earliest work would find it tame by today's standards, for it's time it was very edgy for radio.
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8	After Detroit and Washington D.C., the first big success the show found was at WNBC in New York, Howard's home city. The show became a huge hit, seemingly getting more popular the more Howard and his crew fought censorship and management to produce their show the way the wanted it. It culminated in them being fired after several spats with NBC management. The full story is documented in his book and movie ''Literature/PrivateParts''. (Ironically, just two years after he left, NBC sold off their radio ops and WNBC became WFAN, an all-sports station currently owned by CBS.)
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10	He was immediately picked up by WXRK radio, also in New York, where he dropped music completely from his format in favor of a purely morning talk/comedy radio show, and was eventually syndicated throughout the country and the show gained its largest success nationwide. Throughout the 90s, the "King of All Media" would write two books and make a movie based on his show's exploits, as well as three TV shows (one on local NY station WWOR-9 that was a variety (which was proceeded by a couple of pilots for Fox that didn't go anywhere), two on E!, a one on one interview show that was dropped in favor of airing clips from his radio show, which was also duplicated by CBS on Saturday nights for a brief while), and two pay per view events, establishing ''The Howard Stern Show'' as the undisputed biggest radio show in the country.
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12	While the show is famous for being edgy, vulgar, over-the-top, etc., the hardcore fans are just as fond of the interaction with the various members of the staff (particularly if Howard is yelling at someone for screwing up). Additionally, Howard is probably one of the best, if not the best, interviewers in the country; always providing a fascinating look at anyone from a hooker working down the street to an A-list celebrity, often getting them to open up about things they would never say elsewhere.
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14	By 2005, Howard's show was broadcast in several major markets, until Clear Channel had his show cancelled in many of those markets, prompting Howard's move to Sirius Satellite Radio so his un-PC jokes and material can flourish, profanity can't be censored and the FCC is off his back. Additionally the show has its own on demand TV channel, ''Howard TV'' featuring highlights of the show daily plus classic clips and other special programming.
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16
17	!!! Plot
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19	The show largely begins with Howard Stern and sidekick / newswoman Robin Quivers discussing the previous day's show, upcoming events in the day among other topics. These can be several, or if something is really stuck in Howard's craw, can last for hours. Celebrity interviews are normally in the middle of the show and finally Robin's news report which often ends the day-is considered the best parts of the show. Phone calls from fans/protesters and other games the cast plays are usually interspersed in between, like prank calls, feuds between cast members, and calls/visits from the Wack Pack.
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21	Howard Stern has been doing this show now for almost 30 years. Most of the cast and show members have been with him at that time.
22
23	!!! Main Cast
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25	* Howard Stern - host, overseeing creative director, King of all Media.
26	* Fred Norris - cohort, handles a little of everything on the show. Does voices, plays sound effects and writes segments. Oddest member of the show. Longest-running member, has been with Howard (mostly) since he was at his first radio gig out of college in the early 80s.
27	* Robin Quivers - news anchor and co host. Second longest running cast member since the early 80s.
28	* Gary Dell'Abate - Head Producer and Gofer (the infamous Ba Ba Booey!). Been with the show since the WNBC days in the mid 80s, starting as an intern.
29	* Jackie Martling - Head writer starting in the late 80s - left show in 2001 over contract dispute. Returned to Sirius for his own separate show.
30	* "Stuttering" John Melendez - intern turned segment producer. Worked taking calls from listeners and known more for asking celebrities embarrassing questions at press functions or movie premieres (to Chevy Chase "Did you think you'd live to see the day that Garret Morris matters more then you?"). Left in 2004 to be the announcer on ''Series/TheTonightShow''.
31	* Creator/BillyWest - Voice talent on the show who appeared intermittently in the early 90's before becoming a full part of the show before leaving again (he was making too much money in voice acting to be on the show daily). Famous for his Marge Schott impression and operating the Jackie Puppet.
32	* Ralph Cirella - Howard's stylist since the early 90s, probably the most hated regular by the fans.
33	* Creator/ArtieLange - Sidekick for Howard and replacement for Jackie Martling in Fall of 2001. Does jokes and still tours and acts. Was eventually let go for his drug and alchohol problems that culminated in a suicide attempt in 2009. Has cleaned up his act and hosted his own show on DirecTV (now cancelled) and still doing stand up.
34	* Richard Christy - segment producer and often prank caller for the show, despite his inability to disguise his voice, which sounds like an effeminate southern drawl (Even though he grew up in Kansas). Oddly enough, during prank calls, even when he's doing one of his female characters like old lady "Ethel", the prankee almost always still refers to him as a male, even if he gives them a female name! He competed and won the "Get John's Job" Contest in 2004. Formerly a wack packer and oddly, a drummer for several well known death metal bands.
35	* Sal the Stockbroker - segment producer and often co-conspirator at prank calls with Richard Christy. He was the runner-up in the "Get John's Job" Contest behind Richard Christy, but he ended up being hired for the staff anyway. Formerly a wack packer and of course Stockbroker.
36	* Creator/GeorgeTakei - a semi-regular cast member (he lives in Los Angeles, so he is usually only part of the show when he's in New York, often for week-long stints) and is officially the show's announcer. Began in 2005.
37	* Lisa G - News reporter for Howard News. Joined after the jump to Sirius.
38	* Jon Hein - News reporter for Howard News. Creator of jumptheshark.com, joined after the jump to Sirius.
39	* Gary Garver - An employee of Howard's Los Angeles affiliate, Garver did celebrity interviews similar to Stuttering John. Being that he was L.A.-based, Garver had access to much more celebrities than John ever did and access to much more events like Star Trek conventions and award shows. Two of his favorite targets were O.J. Simpson (whom he nailed several times on the golf course) and James Garner, both of whom physically attacked him.
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41	!!! Regular contributors (aka "The Wack Pack")
42	* Fred the Elephant Boy - (Fred Schreiber) A man with a speech impediment, one of the longest running constant members of the pack since the 80s.
43	* Eric The Midget - Sorry, Eric the ''Actor'', a little person confined to a wheelchair with a host of medical issues, known for his negative demeanor and ungratefulness. A regular since 2002, passed away in 2014.
44	* Bigfoot - (Mark Shaw) A large man with a deep voice and odd personality. Won a "Be a New Wackpacker" contest his friends entered him in (he had never listened to the show before). Known for his weird life, a regular since the move to Sirius/XM. Notable quirks include ending most sentences with 'it is'.
45	** Mark Shaw is actually the second Bigfoot. They had a Bigfoot character during the Terrestrial radio days, whose real name was Matt [=McGroarty=], but he passed away from complications related to his size.
46	* Kenneth Keith Kallenbach - A strange young man who kept trying to set himself on fire for the show, among other stunts. A regular since the late 80s, he passed away in the mid 2000s.
47	* Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf - ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. A fan favorite from the mid 90s who passed away in September 2001. A show dedicated to his memory took place the day before 9/11.
48	* Beetlejuice - (Lester Green, Jr.) A little person with a mental disability who nevertheless has supreme confidence. A fan favorite since the mid 90s.
49	* Jeff the Drunk - (Jefferson Curro) An alcholic loser who's (you guessed it) usually drunk (and stoned) on the show. Lost use of one arm due to refusing to go to the hospital for medical problems. Been around since the early 90s.
50	* Mariann From Brooklyn - A super fan who's been calling into the show since the late 80s, known for her obnoxiously annoying voice.
51	* Captain Janx - (Tom Cipriano) The supreme prank caller of the show's regulars, been calling into the show (and others obv) since the mid 80s. Invented saying "baba booey" to various call-in shows (along with "Howard Stern's penis" etc)
52	* King of All Blacks - A regular caller since the early 90s.
53	* King of all Jews - A regular caller since the early 90s.
54	* Blue Iris - An elderly porn star. Now deceased.
55	* Joey Boots - A regular caller since the late 90s. Now deceased.
56	* Sour Shoes - Supreme song parody creator. A regular since the mid 2000s.
57	* Crazy Alice - A bipolar woman and regular since the early 90s.
58	* Underdog Lady - (Suzanne Muldowney) A strange woman known for going around in an Underdog costume, was a regular through the late 80s and early 90s, left the show for over a decade and returned intermittantly since the mid 2000s.
59	* Crackhead Bob - (George Robert Harvey) A former crack addict left with a speech impediment from his drug days, a regular since the 90s. Since his mental state was so diminished that he could only write 'Bob', that is what they called him. Moved to Texas to try to live a normal life, but passed away not long afterward.
60	* Gary the Retard - (Gary Loudermilk) A mentally challenged man from Portland, Oregon, a regular since the late 90s.
61	* Wendy the Retard - A mentally challenged woman from Florida, a regular since the early 2000s.
62	* Rappin' Granny
63	* High Pitch Erik - (Erik Bleiman) A frequent caller who became a Wack Packer. Despite being overweight, possessing terrible personal hygiene and an effeminate voice, Howard managed to hook him up with a girl or two, but like many others, Erik proved to be, at times, needy and ungrateful. He frequently hung around with Joey Boots until Boots' untimely death.
64	* Elegant Elliot Offen - A real character, this guy gained notoriety for jogging around New York in women's underwear. Howard brought him on to the show, where he proved to have NoIndoorVoice and became a grating character, frequently using ten-dollar words ("THE MUNIFICENCE OF HOWARD STERN!") and ending many of his sentences with "Right?" He appeared late in the Terrestrial radio days, but as he was banned from the [=McGraw=]-Hill building (where Sirius's studios are based) for being obnoxious in the elevators, he effectively was banned from the show as well.
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66	!!! Tropes
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68	* BeautifulAllAlong: Most people know Mariann From Brooklyn by her annoying voice (and usually end up picturing her as an ugly old crone), and most are taken aback when they see her (she's quite the attractive woman).
69	* BerserkButton: Howard can be set off by many things, usually when it comes to his competitors who [[FollowTheLeader copied his act]].
70	** Howard LOST IT when he found out that the producers had George Takei do a bunch of Stereotypically Gay skits while Howard was absent, feeling like George and his good natured willingness to do just about anything that was asked was being exploited. He recalled yelling to them that they should be treating George like Tom Cruise (meaning he should have been treated like a star).
71	* {{Bowdlerise}}: CILQ-FM in Toronto, Canada, cut out parts from the show when they aired it. For [[https://www.cbsc.ca/decisionsarchive/19-9900/19-9900-0722_PD_E.pdf example]], on July 14, 2000, removed content included a "comment about blacks and the mentally challenged and property value" at 10:07 AM, along with "Howard imitating [a] mentally challenged [person]" and "more comments about the mentally challenged" at 10:10 AM. However, these edits were not enough to prevent the episode from breaking the rules of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
72	* CatchPhrase: Baba Booey is the most infamous but there are other lesser-known ones.
73	** Ronnie Mund: "Let's fuck some whores!"
74	** K.C. Armstrong: "Noice"
75	** Gary: "Can I ask you a question..."
76	** George Takei: "Oh myyyyyyy..."
77	* CelebrityStar: Howard can have a wide range of celebrities on his show. Kathy Griffin, Creator/WilliamShatner, Creator/HughJackman and Music/CarlySimon among others. Celebrities who are a big deal are often kept a mystery to Stern and staff by wearing blindfolds and guessing such as Music/RingoStarr, Creator/RobertDuvall and Pete Rose.
78	* CloudCuckoolander: Fred to an extent.
79	* ClusterFBomb: The Sirius years can often have scattered profanity, with Howard often cluster F-bombing his staff or callers.
80	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Many other radio hosts and celebrities competed with and denounced Stern at the height of his popularity. Now in what may be the twilight of his career, Stern has made up with many of his former enemies, Bubba The Love Sponge, Rosie O'Donnell, and Creator/ChevyChase to name a few. Can Kathy Lee Gifford be far behind? [[BrokenBase This has proved very controversial with some fans]].
81	** Richard beat Sal in the contest to replace Stuttering John, making Sal irate and considering Richard his sworn enemy. Sal was later hired by the show and he and Richard became best friends.
82	* EvilLaugh: Many people's opinions of Robin's laugh which is constant throughout the show.
83	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Richard and Sal, although the "heterosexual" part seems not to apply at times. Also Gary and Jon Hein.
84	* {{Irony}}: Howard constantly bemoans his staff's lack of professionalism while his show glorifies immaturity and lack of tact.
85	* {{Jerkass}}: Howard can be one at times. Eric the Midget is often one.
86	* JumpingTheShark:[[invoked]] Jon Hein, the writer that originally coined the phrase "Jumping the Shark" and created Jumptheshark.com, now works on The Howard Stern Show as the host of ''The Wrap Up Show'', the show that directly follows The Howard Stern Show and discusses the days events with show producer Gary Dell'Abate.
87	* LikeAGodToMe: In his first year as a full-time staff member of the show, Sal described Howard Stern (whom he had looked up to for years) as "an entity" and "god-like" as a justification for wanting to do anything (''[[IfItsYouItsOkay anything]]'') for him, much to the disturbance of the staff (and Stern himself).
88	--> '''Sal''': There's normal human beings, and then there's Howard Stern.
89	* MistakenForSpecialGuest: George Takei often sits in as an announcer a couple times a year in the Sirius(XM) era.
90	* OnlySaneEmployee: Howard as he would point out to Gary MANY TIMES.
91	* PlatonicLifePartners: Howard and Robin. Howard has stated that he'd refuse to do his show without her and consider each other best friends off air.
92	* ProudToBeAGeek: Howard admits to being a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan and reading ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Batman}} comics. Ralph to an even bigger extent.
93	** Richard is a proud fan of animated shows such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', and commonly geeks out whenever Creator/MikeJudge is a guest on the show.
94	* RefugeInAudacity: A staple of the show.
95	* RoguesGallery: The Wack Pack, a collection of frequent guests who are afflicted, odd or otherwise interesting to say the least. Crackhead Bob, Hank The Angry Drunken Dwarf, Fred the Elephant Boy, Eric The Midget, John The Stutterer, Evil Creator/DavidLetterman, Crazy Alice, Yukko the Clown, Underdog Lady among many others.
96	* SmarterThanYouLook: Despite having plenty of toilet humor and naked women on his show, Stern is a graduate from Boston University and is well versed in current events.
97	* TheChewtoy: Gary, though not as much as he once was.
98	* TheQuietOne: Fred. When he talks, take notice, if you make fun of him, run-he does bite back.
99	* TheUnintelligible: Crackhead Bob and Fred the Elephant Boy have severe speech impediments. John The Stutterer.
100	* TookALevelInJerkass: Gary in the satellite years toughened up to be more competent at his job.
101	* UltimateJobSecurity: Seemingly the entire staff, with Howard refusing to fire anyone even for the grossest incompetence. Howard is much more likely to berate them on air or come up with a CoolAndUnusualPunishment.
102	* VerySpecialEpisode: Joanie "Chyna" Laurer's guest appearance in January 2005 unwittingly turned into this. Having already been having serious personal problems since her departure from the WWE, she underwent an on-air meltdown that saw her drop a ClusterFBomb or twenty in a phone call to former boyfriend Sean Waltman, before ''stripping naked in the studio''. Howard called an end to the interview after that and actually told her on-air that for as much as he appreciates bad behavior from his guests, even he could see that she was in serious need of help.
103	* VitriolicBestBuds: Creator/GeorgeTakei and Artie are a mild version of this trope. Artie has a tendency of telling gay jokes, and George good-naturedly calls him on it.
104	* VocalDissonance: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As his nickname describes,]] Wack Packer, High Pitch Erik is a grown man who's about 6'1" and roughly around 400 lbs., and talks like WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse with a New York accent.
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Context Radio / TheHowardSternShow