The film is an adaptation of the autobiographical chapters from the best selling 1993 book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, developed from a script by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko.

Stern and several of his radio show staff star as themselves, including newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers, producers Fred Norris and Gary Dell'Abate, and comedian Jackie Martling.

Filming took place in the New York City area and Washington, D.C. in 1996 with a budget of $28 million, during which Stern continued to host his radio show each weekday morning.

The soundtrack is formed of songs from several rock bands as well as two original tracks featuring Stern performing with Rob Zombie and the Dust Brothers.

It received mostly positive reviews from film critics, a group whom Stern made a conscious effort to please, including those who did not listen to the radio show or were not fans of his.

Following his appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards as his superhero character Fartman, radio personality Howard Stern boards his flight home and finds himself seated next to a stranger named Gloria who is visibly repelled by him.

Stern, thinking she sees him as a moron, begins to tell his life story, starting with the verbal abuse he received, being very little, from his father Ben.

Robin is eventually brought back, but Howard's antics continue with a naked woman in the studio, resulting in Kenny cutting off the broadcast.

"There's a lot of nudity, some harsh language, a lesbian love scene, and the main character works for an underground sex magazine.

[7][9] This led to Stern working with Rysher founder Keith Samples, Paramount producer David Kirkpatrick,[10] director John G. Avildsen in September 1994[7] and, in August 1994, screenwriter Peter Torokvei, who was hired to complete a "production rewrite" of a script already prepared.

[9] In one abandoned version, Stern recalled a scene that had former radio show regular Richard Simmons "in a tutu in my house chasing my children and saying he can't baby-sit them.

"[11] Around this time, Kirkpatrick had mentioned a film with as many as 75 cameo appearances, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and radio show regular Jessica Hahn.

[9] In addition to Torokvei, assistance over the scripts were developed by Michael Kalesniko, co-author of Private Parts Larry "Ratso" Sloman, Laurice Elehwany, and Rick Copp.

Four scenes for the actors were set up: Stern preparing for a date while reciting a soliloquy on the human condition, a talk with his father on current events, making a prank call, and attempting to hide the evidence after smoking in his bedroom.

Thomas had a choice between Giamatti or Philip Seymour Hoffman as the role of Pig Vomit, and remembered both were "kind of good" but "a little nervous".

Initially, Alt had little interest in appearing in the film because she wanted "to stay uncontroversial and classy" and avoid being associated with Stern's "crazy image", but she changed her mind after reading the script and later praised Reitman for its quality.

[30] The film features actor Luke Reilly portraying Don Imus, a longtime rival of Stern's who hosted mornings at WNBC.

[25] During his preparation in acting as his younger self, Stern listened to tapes of his radio shows from his twenties, noticing his voice "locked in this very high register".

[31] A temporary apartment was built on the Silvercup lot for Stern to live in while shooting took place in order to remove the need for him to commute to and from his family home in Long Island.

Some of the scenes were attempts to recreate real life scenarios from working on the radio show, such as Dell'Abate trying to convince a woman to get topless after she had changed her mind.

A metal stunt penis was placed in Stern's trousers to create the illusion of an erection during the film premiere screening scene.

[24] In October 1996, Stern flew to Los Angeles to view a rough cut of the film that was around 2-and-a-half hours in length, among a small audience in Reitman's personal theater.

In January 1997, test screenings were held in San Jose, California and Seattle, Washington, the latter of which Stern's radio show was not syndicated to at the time.

[43] Stern underwent an extensive media tour to promote the film, appearing on several television shows and granting magazine and newspaper interviews.

[4] Stern also appeared on the front covers of Movieline, Vanity Fair, MAD, Penthouse, Entertainment Weekly, and TV Guide.

Stern appeared at the end of an episode of Wheel of Fortune that aired on the same day as the premiere, giving host Vanna White flowers and a gift while plugging the film.

The star-studded event, attended by 4,200 people, included a live performance of "The Great American Nightmare" by Stern and Zombie, and Porno for Pyros on a stage built outside the venue.

[48] In 2006, a poor-quality rough cut of the film was leaked on the Internet containing alternate dialogue and music, deleted scenes, and a different ending.

The site's critical consensus reads: "A surprisingly endearing biopic about the controversial shock-jock Howard Stern that is equally funny and raunchy.

[citation needed] When the film was released on video, some store customers objected to the original cover featuring Stern with no clothes on.