Arnold Schwarzenegger Impersonator Fueling Stern

LOSING HIS EDGE

Has Howard Stern's Appeal Instantly Vanished?




After doing our best to avoid playing the "H" card, the Radio Equalizer now sees a few worthy points to make on Howard Stern's grossly overhyped move to SIRIUS Satellite Radio. It turns out the best way to gauge real listener response is to look to Google.

First, some observations:

This statement from yesterday's New York Times story (gasp) hits the nail on the head:

Mr. Stern, who has long cast himself as a victim of stringent federal indecency standards, was finally free to do whatever he wanted. Which, some in the radio business have suggested, might mean Mr. Stern has no more rules to break, no more boundaries to cross.

"The tortured-man aspect was the most compelling thing about Howard," said Michael Picozzi, the program director at WCCC-FM, an independent rock station in Hartford. "He was the guy with a stripper on his lap but a wife at home. He wanted to say dirty words but the F.C.C. wouldn't let him say it."

Mr. Picozzi added, "Now he's not fighting against anybody or anything."

Exactly: virtually overnight, there goes Howard's edge.

And from the San Francisco Chronicle:

"I hyped this thing so much, it could never, ever live up to anyone's expectations," said the self-styled King of All Media, in a rare moment of vulnerability.

That was one of the most shocking things about Stern's latest venture -- but not for lack of trying. Early on in the show, he engaged in phone sex with Playboy bunny Heidi Cortez. He aired last year's scandalous voice mail messages allegedly left by "The Insider" host Pat O'Brien for a female friend.

He played a skit in which David Letterman impersonator "Evil Dave" described anal sex with a porn star. He even attempted to place a call to David Lee Roth, his replacement at CBS Radio.

Here's Howard's sad reality, even if he's laughing all the way to the bank: there really is a limit to how filthy and disgusting one can make the show's content. At this point, what can he do that's still shocking?

The end result is tiring and stale.


Where there is very big listener buzz, however, is with Stern's celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator.

How does the Radio Equalizer know? Because hundreds of Google searchers end up here every time they do the segment, due to this previous article, one of our all-time most popular.

And he continues to fool listeners into believing they're really hearing the California governor:

Wow, did anyone else hear schwarzenegger on howard stern

by AirborneIrish (01/10/2006 09:04:33)

"gays shouldn't get married"

to george takai (aka "Mr. Sulu" from Star Trek) "you should come here (to Cali) George so I can seduce you and change your mind"

"women, and asians should have their licences taken away"

"I don't care about the japanese internment... I am Austrian..."

Before you laugh, remember that MSNBC's Joe Scarborough was infamously fooled on-air by Howard's Arnold impersonator. Ouch.


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George Takai photo: AP, Scarborough: MSNBC