Norm Plot Seems Like Artie Lange's Life

I just picked up The Norm Show Complete Series DVD and as I've been watching it, its made me realize a lot of the plot lines regarding Norm Henderson's life seem to parallel Artie Lange's real life. I wonder if Norm wrote this with parts of Artie's real life or whether this show influenced Artie's life. Just seems so weird to see these storylines in light of Artie's life.