Howard Stern "tribute" to Rod

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Skynet74\' date=\'Oct 31 2003, 05:11 PM\']As Crazy as you may think this is.... I feel that Rod would of been absolutely fine with the tribute Howard gave to him. I realize people here are going to be particularly sensitive about the situation. However Rod appeared on Geoff Edwards Radio Show a couple of years back. Rod seemed to understand that Howard's schtick is to be outrageous. Rod basicly defended Howard during this interview. So considering that ....... I feel Rod would of been happy that Howard mentioned him and probably would of found his tribute funny.[/quote]
Probably because it seems like as a talk show host Rod was doing what would be Stern's shtick without the sex jokes.

Also, considering that Gordon McLendon was an ardent conservative, it's surprising that he let Rod get away with being a liberal on his flagship station (although from airchecks I've heard on reelradio.com, he let his talent on his KNUS-FM station in Dallas get away with some anti-Establishment remarks that he probably didn't care for).

[inturnaround]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Oct 31 2003, 05:11 PM\'] Hey, inturnaround...  Thanks for the info, especially so quickly!

 [/quote]
 Hey, don't mention it. I'm unemployed right now so I've nothing better to do. Hehee.

[MyCapableAssistant]

[quote name=\'Skynet74\' date=\'Oct 31 2003, 04:11 PM\'] As Crazy as you may think this is.... I feel that Rod would of been absolutely fine with the tribute Howard gave to him. I realize people here are going to be particularly sensitive about the situation. However Rod appeared on Geoff Edwards Radio Show a couple of years back. Rod seemed to understand that Howard's schtick is to be outrageous. Rod basicly defended Howard during this interview. So considering that ....... I feel Rod would of been happy that Howard mentioned him and probably would of found his tribute funny.

 I've posted a portion of this interview with Rod at the following link


 http://www.johnchartier.com/rodgeoff.rm





John [/quote]
 Like I said, I don't listen to Howard Stern. I'm not a fan of his
and I know he's outrageous, but if the majority think his tribute was
good, then it's fine with me too  ;-)

[DrBear]

Sorry, people who get their kicks at the misfortune of others who have done nothing wrong don't do it for me. As far as I'm concerned, Stern is just typical of why radio is unlistenable any more. From what I've heard of Stern, he's no diferent than the type of people we left A.T.-G.S. to get away from.

[Adam Nedeff]

Sorry, people who get their kicks at the misfortune of others who have done nothing wrong don't do it for me. As far as I'm concerned, Stern is just typical of why radio is unlistenable any more. From what I've heard of Stern, he's no diferent than the type of people we left A.T.-G.S. to get away from.

OK, before I start, I don't find Howard Stern funny; there are people out there doing shock comedy better than him, IMO. That said...

LIGHTEN UP.

This is not a mockery of Rod's death; rather, a mockery of how it was handled. Howard establishes that from the beginning with his griping, and frankly, I thought the whole premise of the segment is pretty funny. The suggested alternative of a "very special Price is Right" is amusing simply because of the impossible notion of a powerful episode of TPIR. The tribute song was good for the most part (didn't like the cancer joke, not because I was offended---which I wasn't---but because it just felt tacked on for shock sake and that never works for me).

Besides, I dare anyone on this board to step up and say that, in a private moment, they've NEVER made a joke about a death. Humor is a defense mechanism, after all. It's how we cope with fear, very often; fear of anything, but especially death. If Howard was "just another guy" who did a low-key, not-professional version of this at a water cooler among friends, it would draw chuckles. But since he did it on a national broadcast with millions of listeners, a few people climb on a soap box and call him degenerate.

I know, I know, his motives are probably not related to coping with fear, and yeah, he was probably going for the shock value in the premise, but remember a few things.

1. Considering it's Howard Stern, this could have been a lot worse.

2. If you were offended, you're probably not his target audience, so it's not like he lost fans forever with this.

3. Am I alone in thinking that Howard appears to demonstrate tremendous respect for Rod a few times in this bit?

With all that said, nobody is more surprised about my defending Howard Stern than me.

[ChuckNet]

Trust me, if they didn't like Rod Roddy they could have been much harsher (and have been with other people).

Case in point (to keep it GS-related): the way he ripped Joshua Morrow after the latter commented on a MG '98 ep how much he hated Stern.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[DrBear]

[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Oct 31 2003, 08:51 PM\'] Besides, I dare anyone on this board to step up and say that, in a private moment, they've NEVER made a joke about a death. (cut) But since he did it on a national broadcast with millions of listeners, a few people climb on a soap box and call him degenerate.
 [/quote]
That's my point. Everyone has the right to say and feel how they think; putting it on the radio makes it worthy of comment if you dislike it, which is what I did.

2. If you were offended, you're probably not his target audience...

I consider that something to be proud of.
I still think he's disgusting.

Edit: And yes, I know I'm starting to sound like Prof.Steve.

[chris319]

I have one thing to say. Howard gave Rod a 4 minute 30 second tribute and Bob Barker gave him 28 seconds.

Come on John, you're smarter than that.

How many pricing games did Howard play on his show? Howard has nothing but time to fill on his show whereas TPIR tried to shoehorn a tribute into an existing formatted episode, hardly a fair comparison.

As for Mr. Stern, among the many problems I have with him is the way he deals with women on his show. That's all I'm going to say.

[Skynet74]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 1 2003, 03:46 AM\']

I have one thing to say. Howard gave Rod a 4 minute 30 second tribute and Bob Barker gave him 28 seconds.

Come on John, you're smarter than that.

How many pricing games did Howard play on his show? Howard has nothing but time to fill on his show whereas TPIR tried to shoehorn a tribute into an existing formatted episode, hardly a fair comparison.
 [/quote]


  I hear ya Chris, but  TPIR shoehorning tributes into episodes like this is a bad way to pay respect in the first place. I would be much more understanding if they offered a Special show in addition to the pre-taped piece. However they never did that with Johnny and chances are they won't with Rod. That is the real reason to be upset. CBS can produce all these Million Dollar Specials (and) they can produce five shows a week for 9 months a year, but God Forbid they devote one show to a major player on the program who has died. Don't let Barker fool you either. If he wanted a real tribute to take place then it definately could.

 All I'm going to say is..... Rod and Johnny .... 38 Seconds combined! That's less tribute time then it takes to play friggin "Race Game"! How happy are you about that Chris?




John

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Skynet74\' date=\'Nov 1 2003, 02:09 AM\'] I hear ya Chris, but  TPIR shoehorning tributes into episodes like this is a bad way to pay respect in the first place. [/quote]
 It's better than nothing. I thought it was as appropriate a tribute as anything. Some of us understand the realities of the business.

I would be much more understanding if they offered a Special show in addition to the pre-taped piece. However they never did that with Johnny and chances are they won't with Rod. That is the real reason to be upset.

John, do you realize that most Americans didn't even know his freakin' NAME? I had "R.I.P. Rod Roddy" written on the whiteboard in my office all week, and 99% of my visitors jerked their thumb at the board and said "Who's that?"

"Today, a special tribute to the Come On Down guy." Not gonna happen. And further, an insult to whoever is currently occupying the chair, IMO.

Don't let Barker fool you either. If he wanted a real tribute to take place then it definately could.

Oh, come on. The conspiracy theory thing does not become you.

All I'm going to say is..... Rod and Johnny .... 38 Seconds combined! That's less tribute time then it takes to play friggin "Race Game"! How happy are you about that Chris?

Dude, they're announcers. Special to us? Yes. Special to 99.9% of the population? No.

Personally, out of deference and support to Randy, who has quite a job to do in the next week and change, I think we should all try to move along with him, at leasr publically. (I don't want to tell anyone to stop mourning if they feel they need to, but I think there comes a point where the public outpour does more harm than good.)

[PeterMarshallFan]

I will put my neck on the line and say I thought the tribute was well done. Sometimes less is more, IMO.

[chris319]

Dude, they're announcers. Special to us? Yes. Special to 99.9% of the population? No.

Did Rod even get a mention on the CBS Evening News? With all the wildfire coverage I wouldn't be surprised if he got squeezed out. David Brinkley and Fred Rogers got packages but they were David Brinkley and Fred Rogers. I know we all loved Rod, and not meaning to belittle Randy's profession, but I would hardly put a game show announcer in the same league as one of television's preeminent journalists and a pioneer in children's television.

[Matt Ottinger]

All I'm going to say is..... Rod and Johnny .... 38 Seconds combined! That's less tribute time then it takes to play friggin "Race Game"! How happy are you about that Chris?

All these years later, I still vividly remember the 1973 Hollywood Squares episode in which Peter Marshall inserted a tribute to Wally Cox at the beginning of the show.  It was brief and heartfelt, just as Thursday's acknowledgement of Rod was.  I assume something similar -- and just as brief -- was done when Cliff Arquette died.  And these were big television stars.  The show goes on.

For a Big Picture perspective, Entertainment Weekly noted Rod's passing in this week's Monitor column of news-in-brief, but devoted much more ink and pictures to the "Legacies" of Jack Elam and Fred "Rerun" Barry.

Thanks to the internet, we have things like Randy West's tribute, and of course the thoughts that our own members have shared in the last week.  Those tributes are by fans and for fans, and I think that makes them special.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Nov 1 2003, 07:26 PM\']
For a Big Picture perspective, Entertainment Weekly noted Rod's passing in this week's Monitor column of news-in-brief, but devoted much more ink and pictures to the "Legacies" of Jack Elam and Fred "Rerun" Barry.

 [/quote]
 Just how many readers of EW would remember who the heck Jack Elam was. They probably don't watch a lot of classic oaters.

[FeudDude]

I thought that the "tribute" did not cross the line of bad taste, and like someone said, it was really a slam on the shortness of Bob's tribute, not on Rod himself.  On the funnyness scale, it gets a 7.   I did think that the cancer comments were stupid in an unfunny way but Howard generally drags out everything for too long and goes for silly shock value.