For my money, the funniest show on television is “Fox and Friends” on the Fox News Channel.
I know. A lot of people think “The Simpsons” is funnier, or “Family Guy.” A lot of people like “Two and a Half Men” and “30 Rock,” though why I have no idea. Your premium-cable snobs like “Weeds” and your left-wing political media elitists like “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report.”
But day in and day out, “Fox and Friends” delivers more laughs than all of them combined.
Fewer than 1.5 million viewers watch it each day, which is a puzzlement, though the fact that it’s on at 7 a.m. may be part of the problem. It’s up against the network news shows — “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “The Early Show,” plus the cable news morning shows.
“Fox and Friends” has more than twice the number of viewers of the other cable network news shows. That’s because it’s a situation comedy and more Americans want to be entertained than to get real news.
The schtick of “Fox and Friends” is that while it’s a sitcom, it actually pretends to be a morning news show, just like “Ted Baxter” on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” pretended to be a real TV news anchor. Instead of one clueless news anchor like “Ted,” “Fox and Friends” has three.
(Editor’s note: At this point, we informed Mr. Horrigan that “Fox and Friends” was not a sitcom, but a morning cable news show like “Morning Joe” on MSNBC or “American Morning” on CNN. He insisted that was impossible and that we just didn’t get it.)
The three anchors are “Steve Doocy” (you’ve got to love that name) and the story line is that he used to be a ball-drop reporter for Dick Clark’s “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve”; “Gretchen Carlson,” who preaches conservative values while showing lots of thigh and supposedly was a Miss America in 1989, and “Brian Kilmeade,” a sports expert who supposedly got his job after broadcasting Ultimate Fighting bouts.
I don’t know names of the actors who portray “Doocy,” “Carlson” and “Kilmeade,” but they are brilliant.
Take the July 21 episode, for instance. “Fox and Friends” aired several still photographs taken from a peeping tom video of ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews while the “anchors” discussed how disgusting and perverted it was.
The comedic ironies simply were masterful.
Or take the continuing crusade by “Fox and Friends” against creeping liberalism in American schools. Last month, they had this guy portraying “Rob Schilling,” a long-haired, bearded conservative talk show host-cum-Christian music singer from Charlottesville, Va., doing an “expose” on “pacifist, United Nations and globalist far-left ecology” messages posted in an Albemarle County, Va., middle school.
The evidence: Posted on a cardboard box in the classroom were bumper stickers with messages like “My Patriot Act is the Bill of Rights,” “Good Planets are Hard to Find” and “Defend the Earth.” A Sarah Palin bingo card was tacked on a bulletin board.
“Doocy” was great, pretending to be shocked that the center square on the bingo card was a photo of the then soon-to-be-former Alaska governor and the words “Air Space.”
“Do you look at this as a slam against Republicans or just Sarah Palin or both?” he demanded.
Comedy genius! Outrage over a fake bingo card and bumper stickers on a cardboard box! And the editors here think it’s a real news show.
(Editor’s note: It is.)
No, it’s not.
(Editor’s note: Yes, it is.)
No, it’s not. Leave me alone. The big finish is coming up.
The classic “Fox and Friends” episode, at least equal to the Mary Tyler Moore Show’s “Chuckles’ Funeral” episode (”A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants”) came July 8.
“Doocy” had the day off, but “Gretchen” and a “guest host” were discussing a study that showed that married persons in Sweden and Finland suffered lower incidences of Alzheimer’s disease than single people. “Brian Kilmeade” chimed in to say that it didn’t apply to Americans because, “we keep marrying other species and other ethnics and other. ...”
“Gretchen” acted alarmed, but “Brian” continued, “See, the problem is the Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes. ... Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society.”
Not since Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Archie Bunker has an American situation comedy had the guts to turn racial stereotyping into such comic gold.
A lot of liberal critics, who haven’t figured out the joke yet, were offended. “Kilmeade” later kept the joke going by “apologizing,” saying that America is a “huge melting pot, and that is what makes us such a great country.”
Which is why I predict that “Fox and Friends” will soon add a black “co-host,” perhaps making him the studio shoeshine guy. These zany folks are irrepressible!
Comments
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labmonkey (anonymous) says…
Tom-
I have kind of thought the same thing as Mr. Horrigan while flipping through a couple times. FOX should can it if it wants to be a serious news network.
Weezy_Jefferson (anonymous) says…
Wow, Mr_Nancy_Boy, someone really hit your nerve! It's kind of funny when you get all defensive.
Fox "News" is a colossal joke. Fair and balanced my foot; it's as plain as day to anyone who watches that it's firmly planted in the far, far, right corner. That's what makes it funny. Whenever a conservative's scandal hits the air, it's fun to switch the channel to Fox and listen to them try to make excuses. Or blame Obama. Or pine for Regan. Funny stuff!
Jon Stewart and Bill Maher are amusing because they're over the top. Fox is over the top, too, just in the other direction. I'm sure that's why it boasts good ratings.
scott3460 (anonymous) says…
"See, the problem is the Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes. ... Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society.”
Is this the part that has your panites in a bunch, Nancy? An actual quote from one of the corporate spokesmen. Noticed you had nothing to say on the most damning thing mentioned in the article. How come?
mancityfooty (Corey Williams) says…
Actually, the best part about watching fox infotainment is trying to find actual news and not just listen to pundit spin.
And, yeah, it is all pretty damn funny.
Tom, ratings are like polls. They can make it look however they like. Sorry this pretty funny piece pissed in your cheerios this morning.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…
It's been awhile since I've laughed out loud at a column. I liked the editor notes.
And it's pretty obvious that what Really upset Right-thinker is that little bit on Palin and the slap at the republican party, since the example holds as much water, in general, as right-thinker's general evidence of the "Corrupt Liberal Media."(tm)
randysavage (anonymous) says…
My only question is how many of you haters from the left can actually bring themselves to change the channel from Bill Maher Show and Colbert Report re-runs to watch Fox News. Are you actually watching Fox News or just repeating what you hear from Keith Olberman and read in the Liberal Journal World??
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
c'mon tom:
it is time to put your gal up against mine...
you get sarah palin
I get ann coulter
we both get a night on the town with 'em..
i get chills up and down my spine when ann touches my back with those pyterodactyl-like arms of hers
what you got?
mancityfooty (Corey Williams) says…
Yes randy, when I did have cable, I would watch fox news. It's probably still pretty damn funny now.
And the "Liberal Journal World"? Are you kidding me? How far to the right do you have to be to consider this a liberal paper?
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
I actually think that fox news should be called "fox news digest & commentary" because that is exactly what it is.
and there is nothing wrong with that, but it isn't really a news channel.
Cnn is guilty of the same thing, occasionally. If you wanna get the news without any skew-your best bet is most likely BBC (which has a slant of some kind, just can't figure it out yet)
bankboy119 (anonymous) says…
jonas,
Do a quick search and you will find studies done that have proven there is a liberal bias. Here's one from UCLA that took about 2 seconds to find.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/...
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
No, it was never valid-- it was a hack job that even found Drudge to be liberal.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/12/22/...
Jane (anonymous) says…
Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain.
mancityfooty (Corey Williams) says…
http://pearlyabraham.tripod.com/htmls...
Orwell (anonymous) says…
The problem with "Fox and Friends" isn't its evident bias; it's that the show has no respect for accuracy. It's an embarrassment that Steve Doocy's "journalistic" credentials include his background in our area. The program's "success" in attracting an audience reminds me only of the tobacco industry's success causing cancer for profit.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
"I read newspapers and news magazines and legitimate news sites such as BBC, Reuters, NY Times, Washington Post and even WSJ."
And yet it's puzzling someone so seemingly well-read rarely posts an actual opinion. Odd.
labmonkey (anonymous) says…
All the cable news channels are a joke. Fox and Friends is no better than the fluff that is HLN (which I was forced to watch while running on the treadmill for two years). Although most of my beliefs are in the center/slightly right of center, I cannot stand watching Fox News (or any other news channel). Too many people shouting their opinions at each other and nothing really being discussed.
Weezy_Jefferson (anonymous) says…
"Fox News" is such an oxymoron.
You can gain better political knowledge from "The Golden Girls."
notjustastudent (anonymous) says…
I think it's funny that people keep comparing those on the Right watching Fox to those on the Left watching the Daily Show. It's true that these are the shows both sides watch, but it's not really comparable for one main reason:
The people watching the Daily Show know that what they are watching is news commentary being presented as such, and the people watching Fox think they are watching the news, minus any commentary. In other words, both shows have spin, but one admits it and uses it as the basis for their show's appeal. And since you mentioned the whole switching channels thing, I think it's obvious that some of you have not seen the Daily Show recently, which contains a lot of criticism of Obama. Seriously- Jon Stewert is continually exasperated by some of the idiotic things that come out of Obama's mouth. Just so you know...
jaywalker (anonymous) says…
Jon Stewart is freakin' hilarious, period.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…
bankboy119 (Anonymous) says…
"jonas,
Do a quick search and you will find studies done that have proven there is a liberal bias. Here's one from UCLA that took about 2 seconds to find."
Well, if we're suddenly presenting random studies as qualifiable facts, then I have two words for you.
Global Warming.
jimmyjms (anonymous) says…
Wow, but Tom Shewmon seems like a sad invidual.
jimmyjms (anonymous) says…
"individual"!
Damn little buttons.
GardenMomma (anonymous) says…
Fox & Friends is pretty amusing. Kind of reminds me of the 700 Club.
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
you guys are rockin!
rtwngr (anonymous) says…
Oh PLEASE give me a break on the serious news stuff! When networks allow people like Chris Matthews to proclaim, "I just got a tingle up my leg," at the conclusion of Obama's nomination acceptance speech, how can he be viewed as anything but a panderer. George Stephanopolous was the White House press secretary under Clinton for crying out loud. The mainstream media is so "in the tank" for Obama that it is sickening. The reason you lefties don't like Fox is because they ask questions and report findings that you don't want to hear no matter how truthful they are.
scott3460 (anonymous) says…
"When networks allow people like Chris Matthews to proclaim, “I just got a tingle up my leg,” at the conclusion of Obama's nomination acceptance speech, how can he be viewed as anything but a panderer."
Was Walter Cronkite a panderer when he exclaimed at man's stepping on the moon, or visibly held back tears at the assasination of a President? These are human beings for God's sake!!
"The mainstream media is so “in the tank” for Obama that it is sickening."
The mainstream media is wholly owned and controlled by the corporations and conglomerates that run the country. They are "in the tank" for anything that makes them a profit. If that is hyping the first black President, then they hype that. If it is making the news more entertaining with lots of upskirt shots and a healthy dose of some babe's thigh, then that's what they do. Their bias is profit. The vast majority of the time that means that they are vested in presenting "news" that is aimed at maintaining the status quo for their corporate masters.
tumbilweed (anonymous) says…
Is this what a comment war looks like?
kusp8 (anonymous) says…
What a joke. This article is only designed to inflame and create arguments. There is no doubt that MSNBC is a left-leaning network, Fox News is a right-leaning network, and CNN is just, well, awful. One could argue that Fox News is irresponsible when it claims it is 'fair and balanced'. However, an article like this does little to promote civil discussion and discourse. What a waste of pixels and ink.