Acceptable Targets: To put it bluntly; ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Does it exist? Howard Stern will mock and make fun of it. Every person, every concept, every group. No one is safe from his jokes or sketches.
Broken Base: There are a group of fans who feel the show started going downhill after Howard's divorce and when Jackie Martling left during 2001. Another argument among the fanbase is whether or not the show became better after the move to censorship free satellite radio, or if the show was better when Stern had enemies like censors and meddling executives to fight against.
Creator's Pet: Eric the Midget, while not a member of the show, he makes numerous calls into the show and Howard devotes a lot of time to him. Eric is polarizing to say the least and turns off many. The Stern show always had characters like him around, but never allowed them to dominate or be on as much as Eric.
To name one. On The Howard Stern Show in November 08 1994, Howard was on the phone with a man going by the alias Prince. The man was calling from the George Washington Bridge, with the intention of committing suicide by jumping off. Howard tries to keep him talking until help arrives, while trying to talk him out of it. A bystander shows up, listening to the show, while driving on said bridge and she stalls the man until the police arrives. You heard that right, Howard Stern stopped a man from killing himself.
Crowning Music of Awesome: The jazzy tune that opened the show for many years, the current theme written specifically for Howard by Rob Zombie, or any number of the musical performances done by profession musicians, many of which are rare acoustic performances that aren't to be heard anywhere else.
Jumping the Shark: Jon Hein, the writer that originally coined the phrase "Jumping the Shark" and created Jumptheshark.com, now works on The Howard Stern Show as the host of The Wrap Up Show, the show that directly follows The Howard Stern Show and discusses the days events with show producer Gary Dell'Abate.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Gilbert Gottfried as a guest was loathed by half the audience and loved by the other half. Now most audience members love Gilbert, though he hasn't changed his act or attitude much.
The Scrappy: Although there are plenty, one of the main ones is Ralph Cirella. Ralph has been part of the show for over 20 years, but is generally disliked. Howard once responded that Ralph gets more hate mail then KKK member Daniel Carver.
Howard's wife Beth also qualifies.
Seinfeld Is Unfunny: During his rise to fame, Stern was considered by many as the most hilarious man in morning radio, and even his detractors would call him different and original, hence why they wanted to stamp him out before he could spread. Skip forward some years, too many imitators to count, and the censorship free internet, and many are left wondering why he was considered special to begin with. As for being different and original, no one did Howard's style of material when he first arrived. When he became a hit, everyone wanted to do a Howard Stern style show, yet many competitors were so bad that when Howard was syndicated into their market, he conquered them in the ratings very swiftly. Lately, Howard hasn't changed his act much, and a smaller number of people have access to him on satellite radio, so many other radio shows now do a "Howard Stern Show" styled radio show, and people have no idea that Stern was ever that unique. His impact has diminished because of this.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The change from terrestrial radio to satellite along with changes to staff and segments along with it.
The Woobie: Again, Gary. Artie with his substance abuse.