Recent news reports declare that Howard Stern is in talks with Simon Cowell of America's Got Talent to join Sharon Osborne and Howie Mandel as a judge. Comments on news sites and blogs have been scathing, with viewers loudly declaring they will abandon America's Got Talent in droves if Stern is a judge. Here's a sampling from the ABC Go site:
Posted by: anon | November 11, 2011, 10:52 am 10:52 am
No way would I subject myself to such a low class, no talent individual. I enjoyed watching the show and I enjoyed Howie and Sharon. However, if they add Stern it will be a definite no for me. Good Luck with that
Posted by: Jacki | November 11, 2011, 11:18 am 11:18 am
If he is a judge I will never, never, never watch this show again.
Posted by: LYN | November 11, 2011, 11:20 am 11:20 am
Howard Stern couldn't judge the bottom rim of a rusty old garbage pail, as far as I'm concerned.
Just my opinion. Will NOT continue to watch the show if he's voted on!
Posted by: Sue | November 11, 2011, 11:38 am 11:38 am
OMG... Well here goes another faithful viewer if he becomes the next new judge... I highly dislike him!!!
I've been a Stern Show listener for almost twenty years, and I'd like to dispel the "myth" that Howard is some sort of lecherous, black hearted monster. On December 13, 2010, Sir Paul McCartney played at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem for Sirius XM glitterati, investors and even a few lucky subscribers who could win tickets in a lottery.
Stern took a phone call from a man named Lance Thibault that brought most of us listeners to tears -- and touched Howard too. He'd been on hold for over four hours while driving a truck for a living before speaking to "The King of All Media." Lance's father, Harry Potter, Jr. (yup, that's his real name) was a Howard Stern and McCartney fan and had end stage cancer. In an adult (pardon the double entendre) version of "Make-A-Wish," Howard shocked Lance and made us cheer with pride by giving him two tickets to this exclusive show. Lance told me this week, "We didn't think my father was going to be able to get out of bed for his condition was so bad and it wasn't till the day of show when he said he was going to try. We took a stretch limo being that it was such a special night and the extra room needed for us and the wheel chair. My father said it was the best night of his life."
Harry died on December 22, 2010.
I can't understand how Americans can look past transgressions so easily in their pop icons like Chris Brown, Woody Allen and even Michael Jackson. And yet Howard Stern, who has a record of clean living, fidelity to his family and has raised three children who've never been on Perez Hilton with their skirts above their heads, is cast as Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter would say otherwise. If he could.
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Howard rocks.
And so does Beth.
:-)
Howard rules!
:-)
People seem to have an opinion on him who have never listened to his show. He gives FANTASTIC interviews (unlike the drivel you see on talk shows), offers insightful views on current events and politics.
Yeah so there's some vulgarity and porn stars on his show sometimes. But as a woman I have never felt that he was degrading to women. He's not out there dating multiple women and cheating on his wife like so many of the celebrities everyone thinks are just perfect.
Bravo.
:-)
Soupy Sales was in his 70s at the time and had come to work at the same radio station as Stern. Sales, of course, was the original Stern, Howard even tells the story of how as a kid he he thought the Soupy Sales television show was the greatest thing on television.
After Soupy arrived at the station Howard did everything he could think of to make the old man miserable. It reached the point where Soupy -- one of the friendliest persons in show business -- admitted on air "I do not like that man."
I've had no use for Stern after that and hope I never will again.
All kinds of awful pranks and threats and bullying. And this hurt me on two levels: first, I was a long time Soupy fan, and second I was a die-hard Stern fan.
Watch some of the Soupy Sales television clips. He was a genius. He was doing Stern bits before Stern was born.
When he came to the radio station he was an old man. His timing was off and his material dated. Still, he should have been afforded respect and admiration for his pioneering television work 40 years earlier. He was obviously there because he was broke and needed the money.
But Stern wouldn't have any of that. Stern smelled weakness and when Stern smells weakness he has to destroy that which is weak.
Which he did.
Also, Howard has changed a lot over the years. For example, he was an irrational, bloodthirsty hawk in the first couple of years after 9/11. But by 2004, he was screaming to get Bush out of office and Kerry in. He now (rightly) regards his support for the war in Iraq as one of the biggest mistakes in his life.
With regard to "America's Got Talent", if Howard became a judge, I'm sure there are many people who would stop watching in a huff. I'm also sure that many people who don't currently watch would start. I've never seen the show. I'd at least give it a shot if Howard became a judge. But I think that's all a moot point. I don't think it'll happen. I think Howard is just amused by the buzz that is created by the suggestion of him as a judge.