Monday, February 26, 2007
The Half-Hour News Hour
Well, that's a bit of an odd title isn't it? I mean, it's good to see show titles with more than two syllables in them, but did this edge out Some Amusing Comments About Democrats And Some Constructive Criticism (Also About Democrats) for the Betterment of American Society for the show title?
Whoops, it's started, I almost didn't notice, what with the previous report on Fox News being some humorous thing about the Oscars and about how Barbra Streisand is a dirty liberal, Clint Eastwood's great and how unfair it is that the two term law and death are being held up as reasons why Ronald Reagan can't be president any more. But anyway, eyes down, it's the Fair and Balanced, We Quip You Decide, Fox Comedy Show. It's based on the principle that when Conservatives controlled every branch of U.S. Government it wasn't fair for treacherous Commie pinko rats like The Daily Show not to spend equal time satirising people who lacked power and influence and who called themselves Democrats.
But anyway, here we go. Right, the first sketch involves some fat fella who is making a Presidential address in 2009. Being British I'm not sure who he is, but the applause does. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be playing someone, or if he's some right-wing commentator playing himself. He gives a short monologue about how the country is going to get back on track in 2009. Because, apparently, since the Democrats took over one branch of Government in 2006 the U.S. went to hell in a handcart, falling from it's place as a land of milk and honey beforehand. It's almost amusing. I don't think there's any reason why 'humour by Consrvatives' can't be funny, part of the problem with the first sketch I think is that it comes off just trying to crowbar all of the things Bush supporters hate right now, Speaker Pelosi, Cindy Sheehan and so on, into a sketch. Their names are used instead of punchlines. Oh well, it's only a short sketch and...
Gah! Fuck! It's Ann fucking Coulter! Shit! They really should have had one of those warnings up on screen before that one! Isn't she being investigated for tax fraud? She's playing the Vice-President to 'guy-I'don't-know' but her presence makes me think that he is some right-wing columnist guy. She appears to lack any ability to act but hey, they're still lining up and knocking down left-wing ideas (such as smoke-free zones) so she doesn't really need to do any more than stand straight and read the dialogue boards behind 'guy-I-don't-knows' head. Of course, in America you have that Dinner thing where the President performs a brief skit each year, we don't really have anything like that in the UK so the closest we got to this sort of behaviour was when Margaret Thatcher performed in a Yes Minister sketch in the 80s, when Tony Blair was interviewed by Alan Partridge in the mid-nineties or the last few years of Labour Government.
Don't look at her eyes! Her cold, dead eyes! Sorry...
President: Now stay tuned for the Half-Hour News Hour on the Fox News Channel.
Vice President Evil: If you don't, we'll invade your country, kill your leaders and convert you to Christianity.
Now that would be funny if it didn't appear to be Government policy already.
The first sketch after the titles is news headlines and whoomp! There it is! Straight in with the Hillary Clinton jokes. Although attacking her by bringing up Shrubya's penchant for cronyism is an intriguing way to go. Do Conservatives really not care that Bush won't appoint anyone to a Government post unless they used to be a drinking buddy of his from days long past? Again the 'jokes', she'd staff the White House with lesbians if she got in, she works on a telephone line like one of those dial-a-hookers, aren't funny per se, more kind of 'let's laugh at her because we don't like her'. It's a televisual equivelent of putting someone's face on a dart board. The Iran item, about the Holocaust Denial conference, is funny, though so old I'm sure I've heard it before. And a joke about Harry Potter being gay! Was this show originally filmed about three years ago?
Aah, faux adverts for the ACLU. A worthless organisation because they helped white supremacists get the freedom to march, apparently. Is there a similar sketch about how the US Government of the thirties didn't consider the rise of fascism to be something it should concern itself with? Nope.
Then it's the Obama jokes. I've just realised, they've not mentioned the Republicans or Shrubya once. They've only mentioned the White House in terms of the main two Democratic would-be Presidents. That first skit made it clear they were Republicans, but didn't mention the GOP at all.
An amusing sketch about Ed Begley's electric car not making it to the studio. Hot writing talent from the 1980s there.
Did Che Guevara really 'execute thousands of people without a fair trial'? Wasn't that more Castro's thing? I thought Che was too busy taking his inhalers and sulking in a Bolivian cave to do much of that. Never mind, you can add 'Cubans' and 'left-wing students' to the list of 'things mentioned more than the Republican Party on the HHNH '. The sketch is about a t-shirt salesman being asked about whether it's okay for kids to wear t-shirts honouring someone who set up forced labour camps where people were imprisoned without trial. Mr t-shirt says "Well, in that case they might want to wear one of these..." and reaches for another t-shirt. There is a genuine expectant hush in the studio and you know everyone is thinking: "Is Fox really going to make a joke that could be seen as critical of Government policy?" He holds up the t-shirt. The moment is gone. It's a t-shirt with Mao on the front. There is relieved laughter in the studio.
'Six Degrees of Global Warming'. A sketch to show global warming doesn't exist, by pretending it does and going for reductio ad absurdum . Then another ACLU 'ad'. Oh, now jokes about Ed Begley being raped in prison. Niiice!
So, that's that. HHNH isn't bad because it's conservative, but because it's not very funny. But that's the first episode ever, so it's bound to be rough. It needs to learn to make some jokes at Fox and Conservatives expense, it also needs to go more up to date, jokes about electric cars and Che Guevara? At the moment it seems too much like regular Fox News programming, just without the hyperactive graphics. It lacks the Daily Shows sycophantic guest interviews, which is a definite plus. But after watching it I don't think it achieves anything, it's like the humour of five year olds making fart noises after something they don't like.
Charlie Brooker has more to say here.
Whoops, it's started, I almost didn't notice, what with the previous report on Fox News being some humorous thing about the Oscars and about how Barbra Streisand is a dirty liberal, Clint Eastwood's great and how unfair it is that the two term law and death are being held up as reasons why Ronald Reagan can't be president any more. But anyway, eyes down, it's the Fair and Balanced, We Quip You Decide, Fox Comedy Show. It's based on the principle that when Conservatives controlled every branch of U.S. Government it wasn't fair for treacherous Commie pinko rats like The Daily Show not to spend equal time satirising people who lacked power and influence and who called themselves Democrats.
But anyway, here we go. Right, the first sketch involves some fat fella who is making a Presidential address in 2009. Being British I'm not sure who he is, but the applause does. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be playing someone, or if he's some right-wing commentator playing himself. He gives a short monologue about how the country is going to get back on track in 2009. Because, apparently, since the Democrats took over one branch of Government in 2006 the U.S. went to hell in a handcart, falling from it's place as a land of milk and honey beforehand. It's almost amusing. I don't think there's any reason why 'humour by Consrvatives' can't be funny, part of the problem with the first sketch I think is that it comes off just trying to crowbar all of the things Bush supporters hate right now, Speaker Pelosi, Cindy Sheehan and so on, into a sketch. Their names are used instead of punchlines. Oh well, it's only a short sketch and...
Gah! Fuck! It's Ann fucking Coulter! Shit! They really should have had one of those warnings up on screen before that one! Isn't she being investigated for tax fraud? She's playing the Vice-President to 'guy-I'don't-know' but her presence makes me think that he is some right-wing columnist guy. She appears to lack any ability to act but hey, they're still lining up and knocking down left-wing ideas (such as smoke-free zones) so she doesn't really need to do any more than stand straight and read the dialogue boards behind 'guy-I-don't-knows' head. Of course, in America you have that Dinner thing where the President performs a brief skit each year, we don't really have anything like that in the UK so the closest we got to this sort of behaviour was when Margaret Thatcher performed in a Yes Minister sketch in the 80s, when Tony Blair was interviewed by Alan Partridge in the mid-nineties or the last few years of Labour Government.
Don't look at her eyes! Her cold, dead eyes! Sorry...
President: Now stay tuned for the Half-Hour News Hour on the Fox News Channel.
Vice President Evil: If you don't, we'll invade your country, kill your leaders and convert you to Christianity.
Now that would be funny if it didn't appear to be Government policy already.
The first sketch after the titles is news headlines and whoomp! There it is! Straight in with the Hillary Clinton jokes. Although attacking her by bringing up Shrubya's penchant for cronyism is an intriguing way to go. Do Conservatives really not care that Bush won't appoint anyone to a Government post unless they used to be a drinking buddy of his from days long past? Again the 'jokes', she'd staff the White House with lesbians if she got in, she works on a telephone line like one of those dial-a-hookers, aren't funny per se, more kind of 'let's laugh at her because we don't like her'. It's a televisual equivelent of putting someone's face on a dart board. The Iran item, about the Holocaust Denial conference, is funny, though so old I'm sure I've heard it before. And a joke about Harry Potter being gay! Was this show originally filmed about three years ago?
Aah, faux adverts for the ACLU. A worthless organisation because they helped white supremacists get the freedom to march, apparently. Is there a similar sketch about how the US Government of the thirties didn't consider the rise of fascism to be something it should concern itself with? Nope.
Then it's the Obama jokes. I've just realised, they've not mentioned the Republicans or Shrubya once. They've only mentioned the White House in terms of the main two Democratic would-be Presidents. That first skit made it clear they were Republicans, but didn't mention the GOP at all.
An amusing sketch about Ed Begley's electric car not making it to the studio. Hot writing talent from the 1980s there.
Did Che Guevara really 'execute thousands of people without a fair trial'? Wasn't that more Castro's thing? I thought Che was too busy taking his inhalers and sulking in a Bolivian cave to do much of that. Never mind, you can add 'Cubans' and 'left-wing students' to the list of 'things mentioned more than the Republican Party on the HHNH '. The sketch is about a t-shirt salesman being asked about whether it's okay for kids to wear t-shirts honouring someone who set up forced labour camps where people were imprisoned without trial. Mr t-shirt says "Well, in that case they might want to wear one of these..." and reaches for another t-shirt. There is a genuine expectant hush in the studio and you know everyone is thinking: "Is Fox really going to make a joke that could be seen as critical of Government policy?" He holds up the t-shirt. The moment is gone. It's a t-shirt with Mao on the front. There is relieved laughter in the studio.
'Six Degrees of Global Warming'. A sketch to show global warming doesn't exist, by pretending it does and going for reductio ad absurdum . Then another ACLU 'ad'. Oh, now jokes about Ed Begley being raped in prison. Niiice!
So, that's that. HHNH isn't bad because it's conservative, but because it's not very funny. But that's the first episode ever, so it's bound to be rough. It needs to learn to make some jokes at Fox and Conservatives expense, it also needs to go more up to date, jokes about electric cars and Che Guevara? At the moment it seems too much like regular Fox News programming, just without the hyperactive graphics. It lacks the Daily Shows sycophantic guest interviews, which is a definite plus. But after watching it I don't think it achieves anything, it's like the humour of five year olds making fart noises after something they don't like.
Charlie Brooker has more to say here.
Labels: Conservatives, Daily Show, Fox, Half-Hour News Hour, humour, Rupert Murdoch, Television, United States
