LIBERTAS EXCLUSIVE: Review of Fox News’ Half Hour News Hour (Episodes 1 & 2)
By Jason Apuzzo on Movie Reviews
LIBERTAS
Let’s cut to the chase: Fox News’ Half Hour News Hour, the conservative-leaning comedy show created by producer Joel Surnow (24), is hilarious — indeed is flat-out, gut-wrenchingly funny. I recently watched DVDs of the show’s first two episodes — Episode 1 is set to premiere on Fox News this Sunday at 10:00 PM EST, and will be repeated Sunday the 25th. Episode 2 will air March 4th. These first two episodes of the show provide some of the funniest, most outrageous moments I’ve seen on a major TV network. You simply will not believe some of the things this show gets away with saying and showing, how politically incorrect the show genuinely is (as opposed to Bill Maher), how many taboos it breaks …
Or maybe you would believe it. Why? Because a lot of us have come to the conclusion that conservatives are, quite frankly, a lot funnier than liberals these days. Whether it’s Rush or Ann Coulter or Michael Savage or whomever, conservatives are simply a lot more amusing and edgier to listen to (which is, incidentally, in large part why the left-liberal Air America network fell apart recently). Conservatives have a kind of counter-cultural, satiric bite to them these days, in large part because conservatives truly are out-of-power when it comes to the culture, Hollywood, the arts, universities, etc. That’s what makes The Half Hour News Hour work so well — it’s just so damned cathartic to see the powers-that-be satirized, whether those powers be: hysterical environmentalists, pompous Democrat politicians, the weirdly predatory ACLU, child psychology ‘experts,’ or — of course — vapid Hollywood celebrities. All of these people — America’s A-list leeches, one might say — get skewered mercilessly in this show, and it’s such a delight.
Again, the show is set to premiere on Fox News this Sunday right after Hannity’s new show - although you’d hardly know any of this, given the soft sell Fox News has been doing of the show. [I know Joel, and yet I still had to visit Rush Limbaugh’s site — Rush is in the show — to confirm the details, because it was nearly impossible to find this information on Fox News’ own website.]
I mention this at the outset because what you’ll be seeing Sunday night is what is termed a ‘pilot’ - i.e., a show the network is testing-out before it decides to fully embark on production. We happened to premiere the original pilot of The Half Hour News Hour (then titled This Just In) opening night at the Liberty Film Festival in November, where it got a wildly enthusiastic response. Shortly thereafter it was picked up by Fox, and now we’re seeing the first two episodes of the show under Fox’s aegis. Needless to say we’re very excited about all this, because this would be the first TV show actually launched at the Liberty Film Festival.
Rush Limbaugh as President. Guess who’s VP?
But whether you end up seeing The Half Hour News Hour as a regular show is entirely a function of ratings - and I can tell you that Fox is hardly doing itself any favors by putting this show on late Sunday night - and next week up against the Oscars. These are not exactly ideal circumstances in which to launch a show — especially one this good.
A few people really deserve kudos on the show, starting with Kurt Long who plays the show’s male news anchor. Kurt really is the show’s anchor because his comic timing and dry wit are what keep you into the thing. Jenn Robertson fills in for the show’s original, bubblier anchor — actress Susan Yeagley, away having a child — but I don’t think Robertson’s timing or demeanor are quite what Yeagley’s were in the original pilot. I look forward to Susan Yeagley’s return. The rest of the cast is filled out with a lot of up-and-coming actors you probably haven’t seen before, most of whom are really wonderful. I would list their names, but Fox News can’t be bothered to do an IMDB listing for this show, so I’ll just tell you who I thought worked over the first two episodes: Ken Davitian from Borat, who does a great skit satirizing Hollywood activism called “Hollywood Helping Humanity.” There’s a very hot, very funny chick who also does the “Hollywood Helping Humanity” segment, a gal who mimics perfectly the way vapid Hollywood narcissists will say ‘thank you’ even when nobody’s applauding them. I just about fell out of my chair on that one.
There’s a very funny ‘child psychologist’ who comes on the show to explain why schoolyard games undermine children’s self esteem. There’s also a guy who comes on to explain - by way of 6-degrees of separation - how every social ill whatsoever can more or less be traced to global warming. And isn’t that true? Even freezing weather, apparently. There’s also a CNN-styled terrorism ‘expert’ who comes on to express confusion over what links so many terrorist plots together (could it be that most terrorists are Islamic? Absolutely not!). Perhaps my favorite skit, though, was the ongoing gag involving actor Ed Begley making his way over for an in-studio interview - an interview he never makes, because he’s driving a hybrid car fuelled by human waste. Begley is represented by a blinking dot moving across a map of LA surface streets, putt-putting his way over — and having some trouble getting over hills. It’s odd that he would be having so much trouble, frankly.
‘Anchor’ Kurt Long.
Incidentally, each episode (thus far) opens with a skit involving a look into the White House, circa 2009 — as occupied by President Rush Limbaugh and Vice President Ann Coulter (I think Drudge is referred to as SecState). Ann in particular is looking at her dominatrix/Ilsa: Harem Master of the Oil Sheiks best in black leather, with a lot of zippers. In the second episode she picks up a phone to call the Pentagon, demurely asking: “Is there any country we haven’t invaded yet?” Fabulous! In the first episode, she also repeats her famous “invade your countries, kill your leaders or convert them to Christianity” line to great comic effect. Of course, you liberals out there - because you have no sense of humor - will not find any of it funny. You’ll find it ‘troubling,’ or something. Fine - go watch 70 year-old Letterman, or maybe watch Al Franken … before his show gets cancelled.
The Half Hour News Hour is by no means perfect - but it’s a great start, particularly given the show’s modest budget. [Hint to conservatives with money: these are the conditions in which all of us in Hollywood work, even when it’s Joel Surnow.] Can we be honest? Television is mind-numbingly dull these days (even Fox News), so this show is genuinely welcome. And the 24-hour news cycle is itself so ripe for parody that it’s astonishing somebody other than Jon Stewart hasn’t tried doing this before.
The Half Hour News Hour is a damn sight funnier than anything I’ve seen on TV in a while — and frankly I already would take it over South Park, any day. Let’s hope Roger Ailes gives this show a chance, more of a chance than the ridiculous new “Red Eye” show on Fox. Joel’s put together a great show here, one that people should be given a chance to enjoy. Frankly, we should be grateful to Joel that this show even exists.
A final, minor note: I’ve seen some drivel on liberal blogs about this show having a ‘laugh track.’ Sorry guys, the laughs are real - provided by an in-studio audience. I know this, because a lot of our friends and colleagues were present at the taping! The laughs are real — because liberals themselves are really, really funny. You guys ARE the punch line.
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