He just signed on for 5 more years.
No, there was more to it than what you deemed smut. There was the tortured man aspect that was entertaining to many. There was the constant battling with bosses, colleagues, the incompetent staff (Scott the Engineer), the ball busting by Jackie, Stuttering John and even Robin of Howard. It was a microcosm of many people's workplace, where the listener could laugh at and identify with the notion that maybe all workplaces are quirky and dysfunctional. Yes, Howard had sprinkling in of smut, but that is not what made the show fun to listen to. I used to turn the show off when he brought in the strippers or porn stars because it was not funny or interesting. What made the show fun was the constant larger than life characters, whether it was Sam Kinnison, Gilbert Gottfried, regular appearances by Bon Jovi in the early years, the wack packers such as Crazy Alice, Elliot Offen or Crackhead Bob, the wars with the in crowd such as Jay Leno, Kathy Lee Gifford and Rosie O'Donnell, and the railing against others in the "in crowd" in Hollywood. His constant busting on Imus was priceless.
Typical show:
Yes. He's awful.
I started listening to Howard in 1984 when he was on in the afternoons. I literally grew up with the show Does anyone remember his live shows at Club Bene in Sayreville?, the channel 9 show, the Pajama party video, Butt Bongo Fiesta? Back then there was no one doing anything close to what Howard was doing. It was fun, edgy and funny. Now I do not even listen anymore. Howard, Robin, Fred "eric" Norris and Ba Ba Booey have turned old and boring. I never thought I would see the day.
I started listening in the summer of 1984, when he took over Philadelphia and ran Jon DiBella out of town. Remember the Pay Per View show on New Year's Eve? The Channel 9 shows were all on Youtube for a while. Some of the skits they did on that show were really odd. Even the simple ones like him playing Nils Lofgren in basketball and losing were funny. When I moved to North Carolina in 1992, some guy I worked with who had just moved from Tennessee was asking me all kinds of questions about Howard on the radio because he was so intrigued by the Channel 9 TV show, which remarkably was broadcast in North Carolina when Chanel 9 was a super station.
Good to see a fellow dawg shedder on here. Also, for you Beth "fans", here's a site for you:
I hope Artie can get his act together and not die. He seems to have had so many relapses, it is sad.
I'm clearly biased here as my wife and I have a cat that they fostered, and my wife talks to Beth on Facebook about every other day, but what's wrong with having a cause that they care so much about? I feel pretty confident saying it isn't the only charity they donate money to.
I think Howard didn't think it was genuine on the part of Imus.
It's fine that he changed, but he is also trying to change his history. He has gone as far as editing old shows to remove offensive words. He is a huckster who will do or say anything to get ratings.
