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About time

A right-leaning news satire show. Granted, they need to refine this a bit to make it worth watching, but it's nice to see something from the other side on the entertainment front.

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Fox News Channel is airing two pilots of Joel Surnow's "The � Hour News Hour" to test the market for a right-leaning satire show. FNC is testing the concept on Sunday nights. The first episode will air at 10 p.m. Sunday and repeat the following Sunday. The second episode will air at the same time March 4. The show, which stars comedians Kurt Long and Jenn Robertson, owes quite a bit to "Saturday Night Live" segment "Weekend Update" in both format and spirit. The "newscasters" will take a story of the day and then spin it to a comedic extreme. "We're calling it news with a sense of humor," said Surnow, producer of Fox's "24." "It's a show that satirizes the targets that have been missed by the mainstream satirists on TV." One seg discusses the timeless popularity on campus of T-shirts bearing the iconic image of Che Guevara. "We spin it into a campus T-shirt salesman who also sells T-shirts of Mao and Hitler," said co-producer Manny Coto. FNC will promote the show over the next few weeks and see what kind of ratings it produces in a typically sleepy timeslot for cable news. Ratings will determine whether the show is picked up. Surnow, a personal friend of Rush Limbaugh, said he hopes to get some promotion for the skein on conservative talkradio over the next few weeks. Surnow initially pitched the concept as a latenight skein for the Fox television network, which passed. He took it to FNC topper Roger Ailes, who liked the idea and committed late last year to a trial on Fox News Channel. "You can turn on any show and see Bush being bashed," Surnow said. "There really is nothing out there for those who want satire that tilts right."

I thought Bill O'reilly's factor was a satire show. You can't tell me he's being serious!

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Originally posted by Sunsnail I thought Bill O'reilly's factor was a satire show. You can't tell me he's being serious!

Lol. He may be trying to be serious, but I certainly don't take him very seriously!

But normal right leaning news is already satire!

Are they using a laugh track?

It's a big stereotypical, but I don't think right-leaning individuals are really up for a satirical news show. That one sure sucks anyway.

I see South Park as a "right-leaning" satire. It seems to be doing alright.

South Park is an equal opportunity offender. The best kind. Trey and Matt can't stand either side--and it makes for great TV.

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Originally posted by Shakka South Park is an equal opportunity offender. The best kind. Trey and Matt can't stand either side--and it makes for great TV.

They especially don't like us beady-eyed Canucks...

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Originally posted by Fir3start3r They especially don't like us beady-eyed Canucks...

That's because you guys' mouths come unhinged like the Reach flip-top head, eh!

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"There really is nothing out there for those who want satire that tilts right."

Sure there is, there's at least over 80 years worth of archived slapstick pie throwing.

Bwah, good clip, funny. Does actually remind me of the Bill O'Reilly's outrageous moments in history , especially his "O'Reilly Factor"

I don't think they quite "get" it. Good satire involves tactfully illuminating out the absurdity of the powers-that-be. This show (and conservative "humour" in general actually) tends to manifest itself more as mean-spirited vitriol with a not-so-subtle ideological agenda (Obama smells and does cocaine! lol!). I fail to see how you can do satire properly when you are inherently enamoured not only with the idea of authoritarianism (hey you! support the president!) but a specifically partisan kind of authoritarianism (...unless he's a Democrat!).

Also, the fact that the Daily Show is show on a comedy channel that exists to parody news channels seems (like everything else here) to be completely lost on them.

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Originally posted by Renegade This show (and conservative "humour" in general actually) tends to manifest itself more as mean-spirited vitriol with a not-so-subtle ideological agenda... I fail to see how you can do satire properly when you are inherently enamoured not only with the idea of authoritarianism (hey you! support the president!)

Before we start generalizing the entire right/conservatives as Bush supporting, big-government yearning nutbags, lets realize there are a number under the same label whose ideals clash with these neo-cons that have now been dubbed "conservatives" by the left. Also, I will state it again, as I guess only firestarter caught it. South Park. Created, and each show being written by a card carrying Libertarian. In fact, there was a term created to refer to the brand of politics presented on the show "South Park Republican." The satire on the show is expertly crafted, and in fact is one I find easy to support. I find their satire the most appealing, as they simply have a strong distaste with all of politics. For anyone that has watched, think of the Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich episode.

Co-Creator Matt Stone, ""I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals."

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Originally posted by kush paintings Before we start generalizing the entire right/conservatives as Bush supporting, big-government yearning nutbags, lets realize there are a number under the same label whose ideals clash with these neo-cons that have now been dubbed "conservatives" by the left.

Okay, let me clarify. I will stop generalising the "entire right/conservatives as [being] Bush supporting, big-government yearning nutbags" as soon as they earn that dignity. I am told that there is a "libertarian" wing of the GOP: where have they been for the past six years exactly? I am also told that there is an independent libertarian movement in the US: where have they been on civil liberty issues like abortion, gay rights, habeas corpus or euthanasia recently?

If people on the right of US politics don't want to be lumped in with Bush and the cabal he's appointed then they should start acting like it. When I see a self-described "conservative" actually sincerely denounce "Bush", "big-government" or the "neo-conservatives" then I will happily differentiate them from the riff-raff I'm referring to here. Until that time, however, then I fail to see how I could possibly be wrong in lumping them in dismissively with the "conservatives".

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Also, I will state it again, as I guess only firestarter caught it. South Park. Created, and each show being written by a card carrying Libertarian. In fact, there was a term created to refer to the brand of politics presented on the show "South Park Republican." The satire on the show is expertly crafted, and in fact is one I find easy to support. I find their satire the most appealing, as they simply have a strong distaste with all of politics. For anyone that has watched, think of the Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich episode.

I've got no qualms with South Park. In fact, I personally see it as the genuine counter-balance to the Daily Show: it has a knack for cutting through partisan bullshit, a knack for highlighting the absurdity of many mainstream political beliefs and tilts about as far the right (that is to say, not very far at all) as the Daily Show tilts to the left.

But still, even on issues where I agree with them 100%, the humour does still often come across as mean-spirited virtriol not-so-subtly disguised as a particular ideology. Take the Tom Cruise episode, for instance: I dislike Tom Cruise and his personal crusade, I dislike scientology more than I can possibly express in a single post and yet I felt that the entire episode was nothing more than a prolonged "he's-gay-and-scientologists-are-stupid" joke. Not that they don't have it coming, of course, and not that I didn't find it funny (South Park usually is when it gets preachy) but there was nothing particularly sophisticated about the humour and little to differentiate it from the sort of conservative humour that I'm talking about here (barring the fact that it was non-partisan and included - gasp! -sexual references).

Perhaps there is a form of "conservative" humour that breaks this mold, but I haven't seen it yet. Take South Park, remove the insightful satire, and I think that's pretty much the standard of humour you're going to find on this new Fox News show. Expect plenty of gratuitous Barbara Streisand and Alec Baldwin jokes.

So why can't there be a satirical news show with a more right-leaning slant?

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Originally posted by NeoPhono Are they using a laugh track?

Says it all right there.

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Originally posted by Shakka So why can't there be a satirical news show with a more right-leaning slant?

There very well can be, but I'll call it right now: Whats going to turn out to be the problem with this show and others like it on FOX is most likely it will be filled with truthiness. Sure there will be some good jokes but if Fox news is any sort of model then a lot of the jokes will be based off of false information.

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CNN debunks false report about Obama
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Have you ever heard people laugh at a joke you knew wasn't funny because its not true? Like not factually accurate. It pisses me off especially when morons laugh at it because they're morons that don't know better. Most likely this will happen and when the lefters get upset they'll be passed off as far left nutbags that can't take a joke.

The shows with people like Stewart and Colbert might lean to the left, but everything they do is 100% true, factually accurate, and in no way manipulated for the sake of humor albeit obvious irony and sarcasm. More often than not they do try to at least display the other side of the argument, even if from a left's perspective. With a show like this on FOX you'll get none of that, zero, none, ziltch. They just won't care what the other side is.

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Originally posted by josh4 There very well can be, but I'll call it right now: Whats going to turn out to be the problem with this show and others like it on FOX is most likely it will be filled with truthiness. Sure there will be some good jokes but if Fox news is any sort of model then a lot of the jokes will be based off of false information. ------------ CNN debunks false report about Obama ------------ ------------ Have you ever heard people laugh at a joke you knew wasn't funny because its not true? Like not factually accurate. It pisses me off especially when morons laugh at it because they're morons that don't know better. Most likely this will happen and when the lefters get upset they'll be passed off as far left nutbags that can't take a joke. The shows with people like Stewart and Colbert might lean to the left, but everything they do is 100% true, factually accurate, and in no way manipulated for the sake of humor albeit obvious irony and sarcasm. More often than not they do try to at least display the other side of the argument, even if from a left's perspective. With a show like this on FOX you'll get none of that, zero, none, ziltch. They just won't care what the other side is.

Well, no need to even give them a chance then, right? It's not like we live in a free society. Look what happened to Air America when they tried to get into talk radio.

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