It took me a long time to process what happened this morning on The Howard Stern Show. In the way that someone might ponder over abruptly getting dumped or unexpectedly losing a family member, it was hard for me to comprehend. I shouldn't have been the least bit surprised that Artie Lange quit, though. He's spoken about quitting a lot in the past, but to be honest, I've been preparing myself for his death rather than his resignation.

Ever since his self-imposed deadline to leave the show passed at the end of 2007, I figured that Artie was there for good...well, for as long as he stayed alive. I recently haven't thought that would be too long because Artie is the opposite of the picture of health. The red flags went up exponentially after I saw Artie's appearance on Donny Deutsch. Just yesterday he fell asleep during the show, slept on a bed that Howard provided, and fell out of said bed without waking up. But Artie remains alive, just possibly not a member of the staff anymore. But what does that mean anyway?

Well, it means that Howard will hire one of the comedians close to the show to fill Artie's seat. Sure, it will be sad, but eventually we will all get used to a new voice and personality. Something tells me this person can't possibly have the likability of Artie, though, who has a certain tell-all, down-to-earth, nice-guy vibe (when he's not attacking someone, that is.) It's why he's managed to make a fortune doing his comedy on the side. People just love him. The bigger question, though, is what becomes of Artie after The Show.

Artie picked himself up after being fired from Mad TV for cocaine abuse and eventually landed his arguably biggest gig yet on The Show. Unfortunately, second chances like that happen once in a lifetime, especially in show business. One of the drawbacks of Artie's honesty on the show has to be that he's advertising himself as a liability to sitcom producers and other possible employers in the entertainment industry. Could he continue on his own in the world of standup? It's possible, but he won't continue selling out 6,000-seat venues like his recent gig at the Gibson Amphitheatre or making what was mentioned once as $70,000 per gig. He's not going to be able to maintain the six bedroom, 9,000-square-foot house, complete with a $6,000 toilet and a Sub-Zero refrigerator he's building on the Jersey Shore and his Hoboken condo or his $100,000 Mercedes.

Life will change for Artie at the least. At the most, Artie won't weather this storm. He's already depressed, overweight, and possibly back on drugs. It's often been noted that the early-morning schedule keeps him under control. Without a reason to get up, there's no telling how bad things could get. If I were worried about Artie before, I'm a lot more worried about him now.

The ideal situation would be for Artie to go away for a month, get some treatment, and return to his seat. I'm afraid that things just went too far this time, though. Even if Artie wants to come back, I don't know if the door is open for him.