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NPR's Carl Kasell Responds To Howard Stern

Carl's comments showed what a classy guy he is. Stern, showed what sort of person he is by his comments about Kasell's nomination to the radio hall of fame. Maybe Stern has "sour grapes" over the fact that Car Talk, with Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, made it on NPR, but his "style of talk" thankfully didn't and ended up only on Satellite Radio.
 
MikefromDelaware said:
Carl's comments showed what a classy guy he is. Stern, showed what sort of person he is by his comments about Kasell's nomination to the radio hall of fame. Maybe Stern has "sour grapes" over the fact that Car Talk, with Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, made it on NPR, but his "style of talk" thankfully didn't and ended up only on Satellite Radio.
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The only "classy" way to respond to Stern is to ignore him. Stern doesn't deserve to be dignified with a response.

However, I doubt that Stern has "sour grapes" over being paid a gazillion dollars to take his show onto satellite compared to making the combined salaries of Click and Clack. And I say that as a major fan of the Tappet Brothers and someone who wouldn't listen to Stern when he was on the air for free.
 
My comment about Car Talk and Stern was intended as a "tongue in cheek" comment. As Click and Clack say in various ways, when going to a spot break, oh wait, they don't have spots on NPR, they just have breaks, anyhow, they usually say something like this: Terri Gross reconsiders the offer she turned down to host Wild Kingdom when she hears us say, this is NPR, National Public Radio. The same Mrs. Gross, aka Terri, would probably keel over in a dead faint and upon waking, go and get a show on MTV (which then would be the classier network than NPR) if she ever heard Stern say, this is NPR, because the initials would then stand for National Pubic Radio.
 
I have no love for Stern's particular style of radio. But don't ever think that he's not one of the best at what he does. It's possible his time has somewhat come and gone, but for nearly 20 years he was a genius at reading the mood of the nation when it came to radio and giving people EXACTLY what they wanted. Not to mention a genius at self-promotion, a much-underrated skill. And finally, and there is where I have the most respect for him of everything he deos: he was truly gifted at getting other people (i.e. guests and callers) to say exactly what he wanted them to say. That's a rare skill.

In this particular case, I don't think at all it's "sour grapes"...I think it was just Howard plying his craft and trade. And doing it quite well, actually. Mind you, I think Kasell did a fabulous job of responding - it was an excellent blend of "taking the high road" with a tongue firmly in cheek; it fit Kasell's style perfectly. Just as Stern's comments fit his style perfectly.
 
I worked with Carl, and he's a peach of a guy. A great reporter with a great sense of humor, tireless in his devotion to the facts, and also a great gardener. I worked with him in the old building, and he kept a bunch of flowers in the large window overlooking M Street. I know several of the nominees, but none are more deserving at this point than Karl.

I also know Ralph Emery and feel he is also extremely well qualified. He's older than Bob Kingsley, so he deserved to go in first. Bob and Howard Stern have many more years ahead of them and more chances to be inducted. I'm not a fan on inducting people into Halls of Fame while they're still active. That should be reserved for the people whose careers are behind them. I'm glad they can enjoy it while they're still alive.
 
Howard Stern is clever and entertaining enough to do it successfully without going into the gutter. I wish he had that kind of confidence in himself.
As Howard gets older, his act cannot avoid being viewed more and more as the ramblings of a dirty old man. With that, the "dirty" part may likely be less funny. It's kind of like what I ask about certain Rap stars. What will be their view about what they say today, when they're 60? What legacy are they building? Will they want to dust off their old recordings so their grandchildren can hear what their grandpa was up to? If so, will it come with a lot of excuses?
 
That's an interesting point John. Howard is 56 at the moment. Fart jokes and lesbians do seem a lot more funny coming from a 30 or 40 year old than a 60 year old. It's definitely edging into "dirty old man" territory. FWIW, I've seen "older" comics on Comedy Central that could work fart jokes/lesbians and be pretty damn funny...but their success is definitely based a different style than what Howard is known for. I suppose Howard could evolve his act but I'm not sure it'd be as commercially successful. (shrugs)

And TheBigA, are you insinuating that Carl's career is over?!?! C'mon, man - working the scoreboard at Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is a seriously demanding gig! ;D
 
Maybe NPR will move Carl into the spot of sage commentator that Daniel Shorr occupied for so many years while at NPR. They might even allow Carl to keep doing Wait Wait Don't Tell Me as a bonus.
 
I'm not a doctor, but I play one on terrestrial TV.
I'm not a gynecologist, but I play one on satellite radio.
 
AI4I, Glad to hear. I guess it would be easy for you to find the center of the box! For those who do not know, Center of the box is when the satellite is in its correct orbit. It wobbles a little in a figure 8 pattern and is in alignment from time to time.

http://www.geo-orbit.org/
 
Howard isn't in the Hall of Fame? He should be. His prime days are years in the past, but his contributions to the medium are indisputable.
 
Don C said:
Howard isn't in the Hall of Fame? He should be. His prime days are years in the past, but his contributions to the medium are indisputable.
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Indeed! Stern did more to move listeners from terrestrial antenna fed radio to satellite service than any other person on the face of the earth!
 
Talk_Dude said:
Indeed! Stern did more to move listeners from terrestrial antenna fed radio to satellite service than any other person on the face of the earth!
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While that may be debatable, what's wrong with satellite radio?

Personally I got tired of Howard's act 15 years ago, but there's not even a shimmer of doubt in any one's mind that knows anything about radio that he was one of the most influential figures in radio history. He did for morning drive FM radio what Rush did for AM radio.

That's not saying that Kassell doesn't belong up there, he obviously does. He just made his impact in a different way.
 
Don C said:
Talk_Dude said:
Indeed! Stern did more to move listeners from terrestrial antenna fed radio to satellite service than any other person on the face of the earth!
Click to expand...

While that may be debatable, what's wrong with satellite radio?

Personally I got tired of Howard's act 15 years ago, but there's not even a shimmer of doubt in any one's mind that knows anything about radio that he was one of the most influential figures in radio history. He did for morning drive FM radio what Rush did for AM radio.

That's not saying that Kassell doesn't belong up there, he obviously does. He just made his impact in a different way.
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To a person who wants good audio-only entertainment to listen to, satellite radio is the greatest invention since the in-dash tape player. But, to those in the business of making a profit by selling commercials on terrestrial radio, satellite radio is as welcome as television was to radio stations in the late 1940's, or as cable networks are to over-the-air television stations.

As for what Stern did for FM morning drive, what did he really do? He proved that being sleazy attracts the lowest common denominator. He proved that you didn't have to actually do any work to build an audience, like most FM morning shows that included scripted skits and bits copied from AM morning show pioneers like Rege Cordic. You could just bring in air-headed bimbos as guests and talk about their breasts.
 
Talk_Dude said:
As for what Stern did for FM morning drive, what did he really do?
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Ask all the people who lost their jobs at his FM stations when he left. The Hot Talk format is dead now, but for a good 10-15 years it was a money maker. You obviously project your biases of what you prefer to listen to into your opinions here, which is fine, but to deny that Howard Stern made a lot of money for Infinity/CBS and his most of his syndicated stations is just crazy talk. Not to mention he launched an army of copycats who have made their livings doing his shtick as well. You may not personally like it, but obviously a lot of people did.
 
Don C said:
Talk_Dude said:
As for what Stern did for FM morning drive, what did he really do?
Click to expand...

Ask all the people who lost their jobs at his FM stations when he left. The Hot Talk format is dead now, but for a good 10-15 years it was a money maker. You obviously project your biases of what you prefer to listen to into your opinions here, which is fine, but to deny that Howard Stern made a lot of money for Infinity/CBS and his most of his syndicated stations is just crazy talk. Not to mention he launched an army of copycats who have made their livings doing his shtick as well. You may not personally like it, but obviously a lot of people did.
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I do not deny that Stern made a lot of money for his employers. I do not dispute that even though he is a whore, he is not a cheap whore. He is a very good and successful whore. What I deny is that he deserves the honor of being put in any radio Hall of Fame for his whoring. Stern isn't someone that the radio industry should honor, he is someone the industry should apologize for. Stern's money should be all the "honor" that a whore like him needs or deserves.

Besides, Stern didn't create the "hot talk" format, he milked it for all it was worth and killed it. He sucked it dry, and made a bundle of money doing it.
 
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