"Private Parts" - The Movie and movie news

February 6, 2001 - Howard denied this story on today's show...

from aint-it-cool-news.com
January 31, 2001

Does the King Of All Media Have A New Film Project In The Works?

Hey folks, Harry here... this is a secret... Pssst... don't tell anybody. Right now it seems that Howard Stern and his Production Company are putting together his next film project for possible release around the middle of 2002 or possibly early in the year 2003. Right now it is being considered to be an Action/Comedy sort of thing that is being co-produced between Paramount Pictures and Miramax. The title is, as of now, A GIRL IN TROUBLE, but since there is also another project in the works with the same title... that may change, but as of now the film will feature Howard Stern, Em Stern and Shirley Manson (presumably as 'the girl in trouble') Stern may actually decide to wear a quadruple crown on this baby, writing, directing, producing and starring... but I have also heard the rumor that a certain ADAPTATION fella has been being whispered to. As for what kind of trouble this girl is in? Well, is she knocked up? Did she break a nail? Did she play with a cigar somewhere once? I don't know, but we're on the case now.

Movie promo poster

World Premiere: February 27, 1997
U.S. Theatrical Release: March 7, 1997
Worldwide Theatrical Release: June 1997
U.S. Video Release: July 22, 1997
U.S. Pay-Per-View Release: August 29, 1997
U.S. Premium Cable Release (HBO): February 7, 1998
U.S. DVD Release: December 15, 1998
U.S. Cable Release (USA): August 27, 1999

Movieline magazine cover

from Movieline magazine

from: E! Online News
Thursday, August 26, 1999

Howard Stern Goes Prime Time

Howard Stern finally makes it to prime time Friday. Is it the end of the world as we know it?

Not really.

The radio raunchster's foray into the almost-family hour comes courtesy the commercial TV premiere of his 1997 autobiographicalcomedy, Private Parts, scheduled to air on cable's USA Network from 9-11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

A landmark broadcast, the R-rated flick will be presented uncut--albeit in altered uncut form. Its "problematic language" (in network parlance) is drowned out by bleeps; its lesbian orgy sequence (and other nudity), made safe for viewers via artfully positioned digital boxes. Stern and film producer Ivan Reitman oversaw the censor-mandated additions.

"Frankly, I'm amazed we got away with as much as we did," Stern says in a specially taped introduction to the USA broadcast.

But others aren't amazed at all. In the summer of South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut and other envelope-shoving film fare, can it be that Howard Stern is...tame?!?

"I don't see that Private Parts represents some new shocking excess, given the material that's been on cable," says film reviewer/radio host Michael Medved, a frequent critic of Hollywood (as well as Stern's Saturday night TV show on CBS). "The basic point of it glorifies marriage. It's pro-family. It's actually an embarrassingly wholesome movie."

Still, per standards and practices, some stuff did have to go.

Examples:

 - A scene featuring a young Howard Stern (Matt Friedman) puffing a marijuana cigarette in his parent's house shows up on TV as a young Howard Stern puffing a digital box.

 - A scene featuring a female radio guest demonstrating her ability to swallow a 13-inch kielbasa shows up on TV as a female radio guest demonstrating her ability to, yes, swallow a long, gray digital box.

A USA spokeswoman says those scenes--and others--were altered not for comic effect, but per the requests of network censors. So, what exactly is "wrong" with, say, the smoked sausage scene? Too "suggestive," the flack says. Or as Stern puts it during one of his cameos in the Private Parts broadcast: "These boxes are here to protect your family from indecency."

Either that, or to prepare the TV nation for Fox's upcoming bleepin' adult comedy series Action.

*****

from: Reuters/Variety
July 27, 1999

Kind Cut For Stern

By John Dempsey

NEW YORK (Variety) - Cable's USA will run the TV premiere of Howard Stern's picture "Private Parts" with minimal interference from the network's censors.

Neil Hoffman, USA's senior VP of programming, said the network will show a version of the movie, to premiere Aug. 27 at 9 p.m., in which "there won't be any cuts, edits or pieces of film removed" from the print.

Instead, Hoffman said, electronic blurring will cover exposed breasts in a few scenes, and there'll be bleeping of the four-letter words but no substitution of euphemisms.

USA got Stern to film a running commentary on the changes to the movie, which the network will shoehorn into the airing. The network is making copies available well in advance to critics and reporters.

"We had to be responsive to our advertisers and to our standards and practices guidelines, but we also wanted to do something different," Hoffman said.

Unlike HBO, which is commercial-free and ran "Private Parts" unaltered in its pay TV window, USA is a basic-cable network, which is heavily advertiser-supported and is available to almost all cable subscribers.

Ivan Reitman, the producer of the movie, and Paramount's Rysher Entertainment, which sold it to USA, worked with the network on the changes, Hoffman said.

But sources said that when the movie goes into TV syndication after its USA run, Rysher will follow typical practice and edit out the nudity, as well as substituting less profane words for the more egregious ones.

Penthouse magazine cover

from the: LA Times
Sunday, May 2, 1999
Ann W. O'Neill / Court Files column

DJ Claims Playing Pope's CD Got Him the Boot

By Ann W. O'Neill

--SNIP--

PRIVATE PARTS BONUS:

A writer for the feature film "Private Parts" is suing the production company and Rysher Entertainment, claiming they backed out of a promise to pay him a $37,500 bonus.

"Private Parts," you might recall, told the story of the rise of shock jock Howard Stern to his perch as the self-proclaimed "King of All Media." Stern was not named in the suit, filed in Santa Monica.

The New York-based writer, Larry Sloman, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. His suit claims that Rysher and Private Parts Productions "fraudulently induced" him to lend his writing services to the film. Rysher had no comment.

Howard proven a true Blockbuster!


March 10, 1998 - You saw it live on UPN as Howard won the Blockbuster Award for "Best Male Newcomer" of the year for "Private Parts!" The highlite, beyond a doubt, was Howard's acceptance speech, as he said, "I've decided to spend my allotted time by making out with [presenter] Heather Locklear!" Heather was a great sport as Howard took her down onto the floor. Congratulations, Howard!

Howard conquers Europe!


In July 1997, Private Parts won the grand prize in Czech film festival! Congratulations, Howard!

*****

from: Reuters/Variety
July 28, 1997

Stern Prized By Czechs

By Steven Gaydos

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Watching a peculiarly American pop culture creation like Howard Stern make his first media splash in the Czech Republic made traveling 15,000 miles almost bearable.

Stern's autobiographical -- not to mention auto-erotic -- feature film debut, "Private Parts," unreeled earlier this month as part of the competition lineup at the 32nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

As part of his much-self-promoted crusade to be known as the King of All Media, Stern just notched another victory: Private Parts not only competed in the A-status festival race -- it took home a prize.

The Betty Thomas-directed comedy tied for the festival's Audience Award with Vladimir Michalek's "Zapomenute Svetlo (Forgotten Light)," a Czech drama about a Catholic priest in a conflict of conscience and politics.

The packed house in the Grand Hall of the town's Hotel Thermal went nuts for the raucous and ribald Stern-starring biopic, which is titled, for Czech consumption, "Soukrome Neresti," or "Private Vices," which loses Stern's point, as it were, in the translation.

The award is voted on by ballots submitted by the audiences after the screenings. For the entertainment industry conspirators among us, consider this: in this venerable spa town out in the far western corner of Bohemia, ballot-stuffing from the shock jock's rabid American fans wasn't the reason for his victory.

The Czechs and the rest of the international film buffs simply enjoyed and appreciated the quality of the film, which was noted by dozens of Stateside critics when the film made its U.S. bow earlier this year. In fact, the original strong buzz on the film set Stern up for a rare deflation when the picture wound up grossing an underwhelming $41 million domestically.

In Karlovy Vary, however, Stern got the last laugh, and on a stage filled with film and culture dignitaries from Czech president Vaclav Havel to Academy Award-winning director Milos Forman, "Private Parts" walked away with a trophy. Unfortunately, neither Thomas, Stern nor the film's Czech-born producer, Ivan Reitman, was on hand to savor the moment, or see the giant billboards dotting the city bearing a huge still of Stern as his Fartman character, bending over in front of an acolyte.

Which is a shame, because all of the principals on this film can appreciate the irony of Stern's scatological visage decorating the Karlovy Vary colonnade where an aged Goethe courted his lover and Beethoven strolled on afternoons long past. They'd also have gotten a genuine emotional charge out of seeing their tale of an iconoclast in conflict with a savage bureaucrat screening for an appreciative audience only a few years free of five decades of savagely bureaucratic oppression.

Howard conquers England!


from The Times of London Film Reviews
June 1997

Films: Do Not Miss
CRITIC'S CHOICE
PRIVATE PARTS (18): American broadcasting phenomenon Howard Stern comes to the movies in a very funny comedy chronicling his progress from adolescent geek to outrageous exponent of talk radio. He drives his bosses nuts; audiences, however, revel in his anarchy. So do we.
Warner West End (0171-437 4343)

Opening weekend is big success!

Opening weekend box-office receipts made "Private Parts" the #1 movie in America. It grossed $15.1 million dollars, beating the #2 movie (Tim Allen's "Jungle2Jungle") which came in with $12.7 million dollars. As of June, 1997, Private Parts has made about $42,000,000 domestically and is currently opening world-wide. Congratulations, Howard!

Entertainment Weekly cover

The World Premiere Party!

Well, the world premiere was last night (Feb. 27, 1997) in New York. The media coverage was unbelievable! MTV provided coverage of the festivities going on outside before the show, E! television had the live, after-movie goings-on, with interviews of many, many of the celebrities in attendance. One bonus of E!'s coverage was their cut-aways to Howard taping his Friday (2/28/97) radio show there. It looked & sounded like everyone really enjoyed the movie...every mention was superlative. MTV will be replaying their coverage this weekend, so you can still catch what happened if you act quickly!

Here's a page with some still pics of "Private Parts" outtakes.

Mr. Showbiz interviews Howard about Private Parts.

Some fan pictures of the Premiere Party are here and here.

Go to Howards' tapes page for movie soundtrack info!

Here is an end of filming article by John Clark that appeared in the LA Times' Calendar section on Sunday, September 1, 1996.

Los Angeles magazine cover

Here is an article by Dallas Morning News radio columnist Al Brumley on "Private Parts" and fans' reactions to Howard numerous promotional appearances for it. Howard mentioned this article on the March 24, 1997 show.

The original movie poster that appeared in the paperback version of Private Parts is here. A sign of what might have been. A 430K jpg.

The Internet Movie Database has pages of "Private Parts" info.

All movie information courtesy of, and thanks to: Bijan

Straight from the latest production charts....
EVERY stinkin cast credit down to "shoppers" and "2nd assistant casting directors"
The cast listing is at the very end...possible role for Dennis Rodman it says....hmmm, I thought it was only 1954-1986 that the film covered.

Bijan

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Last updated: 8-August-2002

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