Sirius XM satellite radio is celebrating the renewal of its contract with Howard Stern with yet another installment of its “History of Howard Stern” series. This would be the “highly anticipated fourth chapter in the award-winning series that offers an unprecedented celebration and rare behind-the-scenes look at the life, career and achievements of Howard Stern,” according to the press release that we received.
There is a certain cult of personality tone to all this, but what do you expect? Anyway, one has to give credit to Stern for his ability to recycle himself as a kind of ongoing rags-to-riches success story . . . endlessly on the brink of failure, catastrophe, or disgrace, then the comeback. Makes you want to root for the guy, or not.
In any event, The History of Howard Stern: Act IV premieres today, December 20 through December 31 on Howard 100 and Howard 101—beginning at 6:00 am ET on Howard 100 and 6:00 am PT on Howard 101.
Part IV will explore (this is from the release):
- Memorable moments from the late 90’s/early 2000’s era of the Stern Show
- An in-depth look behind the scenes of the acclaimed film Private Parts , from the casting process and the filming to the larger than life premiere at Madison Square Garden in 1997. Exclusive first-hand accounts and backstage stories from the cast and crew.
- Rare in-studio interviews with JFK, Jr. and David Letterman
- Fred Norris and “The Rainbow Room incident”
- First appearances from show legends Artie Lange , Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, The Jesus Twins, Beetlejuice, KC Armstrong, Sal & Richard, Benjy Bronk, High Pitch Eric and other members of “The Wack Pack”
- Staff fights and famous feuds with celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell
- Howard’s continuing battles with station management
- The Scott Salem Push Up Contest
- In-studio musical performances from Aerosmith, Green Day, and Goo Goo Dolls, plus Dave Grohl ‘s original acoustic performance of “Everlong”
- Stories behind the Howard-produced F/X series, Son of the Beach
- Highlights and stories from the “drunk show” backstage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
- Gary’s legendary “love tape”
- Howard Stern meets future wife Beth Ostrosky
- Archive interviews with Hollywood heavy-hitters Robert Duvall, George Clooney, Warren Beatty and James Caan
- Behind the scenes of staff band The Losers and their memorable performance on Magic Johnson ‘s ill-fated talk show, The Magic Hour
- Truth behind Jackie Martling ‘s departure from the Stern Show and the comedians who auditioned for his chair
- A look back at Howard’s historic broadcast from September 11, 2001
None of the drama over Stern’s place at Sirius seems to have hurt its stock, which now hovers at a little above $1.40 and has even gone higher than 1.50 over the last few months.
