As one of the moderators on this board (even though I moderate a different forum and not this particular forum), I can definitely confirm - no specifics on "the bet" will be appropriate for discussion on the DIS,
eaj1228.
You were correct to not get specific!
Yep, I heard the Artie references yesterday. I listen to the show every day (even though I am really hanging on by a thread because the show is not the same to me as it was when I was really into it). I feel I have to see it through to the bitter end, but it's rough because I am bored a lot of the time.
I've said it before in this thread, a few times. I am fairly positive that Howard's weird treatment of the Artie subject over the last couple of years (as opposed to how he has no trouble discussing Jackie or other Stern show defectors) has to do with some sort of blame he has received. I have a feeling that, behind the scenes, someone in Artie's camp - maybe Artie's mom, maybe Artie's sister, maybe Artie's people - must have blamed Howard for not doing more to help Artie.
Of course it is not Howard's responsibility to save Artie, but there are people who probably wanted Howard to step up and be more proactive in noticing Artie's problems because Artie idolized Howard so much.
Howard has said many times that he is detached from feelings about people, and that everything is meaningless to him (those are his own words). You can tell that this is largely true. He's not just being funny when he says that. While Artie's behavior on the show was catching everyone else's attention (including Robin, Gary, etc.), Howard stayed blissfully unaware and he now maintains the attitude of ignorance - that he didn't see or know what was happening. That's because he
wanted to stay ignorant, disengaged and detached.
Again, it was and is not Howard's responsibility to save Artie or help Artie or anything like that, but he probably received blame for not doing anything. That is my strong guess. So now he doesn't even want to talk about Artie at all - even in a compassionate, caring way - because it's a touchy subject. He won't have Artie on the show. No one else (like Gary and Jon Hein) can have Artie on their shows. I don't even think Greg Fitzsimmons is allowed to have Artie on his show! I
think Artie has been banned from all shows on both Howard channels, other than what we hear of him in the replays of the old shows. I could be wrong on that, but I don't think Artie has been on any of the shows on either channel since the incident, and there are people who would love to have him on as a guest.
Did anyone see my post from a couple of weeks ago about Artie suddenly being very active on Facebook and Twitter? He is hilarious. If you don't follow Artie on Facebook or Twitter, check him out when you get a chance.
I watched only a portion of AGT, just to see some of what Howard did. Honestly, I can't stand that show. I watch the
singing competition shows, but as soon as AGT starts getting into crazy stuff with bird ladies and ventriloquists and mimes and magicians and strippers and all of that...I tune out.
I wish Howard had joined one of the singing shows and not AGT. I don't think I am going to be able to stick with AGT all season long, while all of the non-singing people go through their performances!
I suspect I will probably just tune in here and there, to pick up a random Howard critique or two, and then change the channel.
