Off topic -- Chicago Tribune's comments on Howard Stern's first day on satellite radio.
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Disclosure -- I have only listened to Howard Stern on the radio once (for about 30 seconds) (back in 1987).
I did not like it at all.
Jon.
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Howard Stern: uncensored, uninteresting
By Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic
Published January 9, 2006, 8:57 AM CST
If there's a four-letter word or outrageous sex act that didn't get mentioned on Howard Stern's new satellite radio show, it wasn't for lack of trying.
Words that once were bleeped on Stern's terrestrial radio program, previously broadcast in Chicago on WCKG 105.9 FM, flowed uninterrupted on Howard 101, the Sirius satellite frequency that's airing Stern's reincarnated show.
And though it's true that the triple-X rated comedy bits and salty on-air patter didn't wholly define the program, the show unquestionably plunged more deeply than ever into material that many listeners would consider obscene.
On purely comedic terms, however, the satellite debut proved surprisingly flat, the program unfolding more as a promotion of Stern's latest than venture than as a bona radio show. After opening with several minutes of technical difficulties – including microphones that produced piercing feedback – Stern and his longtime cast clearly struggled to find something interesting to discuss. The initial repartee sounded spare, slow and stumbling, a palpable letdown that even Stern seemed to acknowledge.
"I hyped this thing so much, it could never, ever live up to anyone's expectations," said Stern, who at his best has proven capable of brilliant satire and shrewd political commentary.
Before long, he was playing unedited excerpts of the salacious voice mail messages that TV personality Pat O'Brien infamously left on a woman's voice mail last year, causing a mini-scandal; aired ribald prank phone calls; and played a bit in which an impersonator of Dave Letterman -- dubbed Evil Dave – described a series of sex fantasies in remarkable detail.
Neither the patter of the show's new announcer, George Takei (who was Mr. Sulu on the original "Star Trek"), nor Stern's fake announcement that he had gotten married (quickly retracted) offered much more than a chuckle.
Yet this was just Day One of the program, and Stern will have plenty of time in which to find his voice in a new setting.
Judging by the opening installment, he'll need it.
Copyright © 2006 Chicago Tribune. |
