Now Stern’s the King of All Internet Sites

It’s no surprise that cyberspace swirls with Web sites and news groups devoted to Howard Stern. After all, for years he’s been telling his radio listeners about his own forays online, and his second bestseller, “Miss America,” steams with transcripts of his sexual conversations in Prodigy’s chat rooms.

A check of the Internet search engines turned up thousands of references to Stern that steered this browser to pathetically obsessive sites operated by zealous fans (some of whom have unrelated products to sell), the laugh-out-loud home pages of Stern troupers such as Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling, and the slickly commercial site promoting Stern’s film, “Private Parts,” which opened Friday.

My guess is that Paramount Pictures sought little involvement from Stern in setting up https://www.Private-Parts.com because it’s fairly dull and tame, despite what the introductory warning would have us believe (“If you’re under 18 . . . please leave the Web site now”).

Sure, the site offers visitors the options of clicking whether they love or hate Stern and then venturing into busy chat rooms. There are stills, clips and audio from the movie, as well as bios of the cast members (including Luke Reilly, who plays Don Imus, and Irene De Cook, who is Stern’s Leather Weather Lady, which she really was during his year on Detroit’s WWWW-FM). But the overall effect is more that of a press release, with Stern quoted as saying, “I knew being in the movies would be a new world for me,” and other canned lines.

Serious fans of Stern’s radio show, based in New York City and syndicated across the country, will find one-stop shopping at https://soho.ios.com/ ~ spomeroy/howlinks.htm. This address presents a long menu of sideshows, such as “The Official Tiny Tim Site,” an archival mother lode on the late show-biz oddity, who had visited Stern’s studio from time to time; a Web site that gives club dates and other info on longtime radio collaborator Fred Norris’ rock band, and “Jokeland,” Martling’s page.

“Jokeland,” also found at https://www.JackieJokeman.com, reflects the smoky rooms and self-deprecation long associated with Stern’s chief comedy writer. For example, the site links a visitor to a snapshot-illustrated rehash of Martling’s recent stand-up appearance at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, as observed by one Bobby Jay, a buddy who recalls that it was “the 100th time we’ve seen his act (my insomnia was cured during the first dozen or so).”

Perhaps the most authoritative site in the Stern universe is the one carefully maintained by Kevin Renzulli. Renzulli was chronicling Stern’s radio antics and publishing the King of All Media Newsletter years before the broadcaster himself put his words on the printed page. Now Renzulli’s Interactive King of All Media Newsletter, at https://www.koam.com, serves the dual purpose of providing a helpful primer to the Stern show.

Paul D. Colford’s e-mail address is paul.colford@newsday.com.