Monday, November 20, 2006

the death of irony.

So, apparently, FOX News is planning to create its own Daily Show/Colbert Report-esque comedy show. Really? So, FOX news is going to have fake news? Wait, is this new?

I mean, they'd essentially be making fun of themselves. Probably a left-wing version of themselves, but the problem isn't the ideology they hold, but the way in which they present themselves as "fair and balanced."

I mean, Jon Stewart is a pretty equal opportunity kind of comic. Republicans have been in power, so they've been the targets, but Dems will get it just as much.

I don't think it will sell, either. Talk radio doesn't sell on the left because lefties tend not to like yelling ideologues telling them what to think. Parody won't work for the right because they take themselves too seriously.*

Satire is difficult to pull off. It requires a particular kind of cynicism and skepticism about the system rather than blind acceptance and adherence. But if FOX can do it well, I'll watch.

*I am aware, my conservative and liberal friends, that these are generalizations. But generalizations that are borne out by the data and the failure of Air America Radio.

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