Lately I’ve been sampling the Howard Stern radio program again. I don’t listen to the entire program because that would not be tolerable. I had completely stopped listening to his program because I am not that into his type of humor, but all the controversy has got me back into it. So for an hour or so either at the beginning or end of the program I tune in. I guess it is because of the present situation he is in.
It is like a countdown. How many more broadcast before he is taken off or leaves free radio. Do you believe I am saying such a thing in the great US of A? Stern does not plan on being forced completely out of radio, which has been his livelihood for years (all of his working life). He is considering going to pay Satellite radio.
Stern believes that Clear Channel kicked him off there stations because he decided to support John Kerry for President and not merely because of so called indecency on his program as the head of Clear Channel has stated.
He further believes that the religious right has taken over the Republican party and threatens freedom of speech as they seek to impose there values on the American people and this is why Janet Jackson and others are facing the wrath of the FCC plus the reason that fines for violations of decency standards are going to be raised.
Stern is going to ‘bail’ from his free radio program because the fines would very negatively affect his employers, partners, co-workers and wallet.
Stern feels that Clear Channel is trying to silence him to curry favor from the Bush Administration. He is now ranting against Bush daily on his program and is actively seeking his removal from office between farting contest and irreverent jokes.
Most of Stern’s influence is in states that are not going to vote for Bush anyway but he also has influence in a few swing states. The one or two percent that his supporters can move the vote in these states may indeed make him a king breaker and maker although I think the Democrats are favored to win the Whitehouse anyway.
His influence may especially be felt in Florida, which is a very contested state. He has many fans in that state and his program had a huge audience in radio markets in Florida that no longer get his program and these people just may be ‘pissed off’ enough to register and vote against Bush.
Stern believes his battle is a matter of freedom of speech and wonders daily on his program why more people are not coming out in support of him? He should be able to answer that question himself.
He seems to insult everyone in movies, radio……. in fact he seems to insult everyone period but he has a healthy self-deprecating humor also (he is not kidding about his lanky body or handsome (not) face either-he definitely has a face for radio). Any entertainer or personality that is the butt of his jokes will probably be highly insulted.
There have been some moments that I thought were funny in his program since I resumed listening like when some of the callers to his program told him to stick to principle and continue to do his show despite being fined (which could end up being a whopping half million dollars an incident) and he yelled, ‘are you insane!’
One time a young lady called in with this same view and he tried to explain why he wouldn’t by using her wages in a scenario where her money is taken. The young woman didn’t understand and he told his sidekick Robin Quivers (I saw a picture of her in the paper recently. She looks good and has lost weight), ‘you take this. I can’t talk to retarded kids’.
Overall Stern’s humor is not my favorite. I try not to unnecessarily insult people (most of the time) even in a cloaked in humor way.
I guess I can better illustrate the type of humor I tend to like by mentioning a few of my favorite comedy movies (I think I blogged about this before).
Lets start with The Errand Boy (1961, A grade) starring and directed by Jerry Lewis. The camera work is not very good in this movies but it is one of my all time favorite comedy films.
It is about a page on a movie studio lot who does a lot of funny things and runs into a lot of funny situations. The movie will also introduce you to the ‘magic’ of movie making although it is kind of dated (it was dated when I first saw it. I wasn’t even born when it was made). One finds out how movies are (still) made to some degree. The outright laughter I experienced for most of this movie is what makes it such a great comedy movie to me.
The other top comedy movies I have seen in my lifetime are Blazing Saddles (1974, A grade), Young Frankenstein (1974, A grade), Support Your Local Sheriff (1969 A grade), and Airplane (1980, A grade). For all of these movies I laughed often, and heartily. What more can you ask for from a comedy?
Mel Brooks who is one of the best comedy film directors although some of his later works are so so directed Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. The Zucker brothers and Jim Abraham directed Airplane. David Zucker went on to direct several comedy films that are similar to Airplane in many ways (to various degrees of success). I think Airplane is the best of this comedy film type for David Zucker.
Burt Kennedy directed Support Your Local Sheriff. I am not that familiar with the rest of his work but Support Your Local Sheriff is one of the funniest western films I’ve ever seen.
All of these movies usually have me consistently laughing out loud and I have seen all of them about ten (plus) times and at different times in my life and they always make me laugh. I watched The Errand Boy as a kid, teenager and an adult and thought it was funny at every stage. The same applies for almost all of these movies and that is saying something (I think) in my opinion.
I have seen comedy films as a kid that do not seem that funny as an adult. The movie It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World (directed by Stanley Kramer, 1963) for instance was very funny to me as a kid. I would have gave it an A grade. After seeing it again as an adult I’d have to revise that grade to a C. I find a lot of things in the film less funny than before for some reason. I don’t really know why (hmmmm???).