Video: “The Half-Hour News Hour” on jihad
posted at 8:47 am on March 5, 2007 by Allahpundit
Glimmers of good ideas last night, especially the “To Catch a Predator” spoof about that kindergartner accused of sexual harassment for rubbing his face in a teacher’s chest. But it never went anywhere. That’s the show’s biggest problem: they start with reasonably solid premises and then just follow them out with no surprises or embellishments along the way. The joke’s over as soon as you realize what they’re referencing.
You can see that in this clip too, a spoof of the “broad strata” apologias for terrorism, although this at least has the merit of educating viewers about some of the bomb plots. They did that in the first show too with the t-shirt skit, which I complained about at the time for its heavy exposition. I guess if you’re going to be didactic with your comedy, you might as well be didactic about this.
The two pre-recorded shows are now out of the can. We’ll probably find out this week what Fox is planning to do with it.
Blowback
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I thought this spoof was entertaining since the Mud Stream Media thinks these guys are all “lone wolves.”
I liked the “no recess” skit as well.
VikingGoneWild on March 5, 2007 at 8:52 AM
When are you guys going to stop knocking the works of others who are on the same side as you purport to be?
MM and Hotair have published quite a lot about the disconnect that MSM and the left perpetrate concerning acts of terror.
Remember what Reagan tried to teach, that Republicans should support Republicans.
He wasn’t talking about the RINOS there.
.
The Machine on March 5, 2007 at 8:56 AM
BTW, if it wasn’t for the laugh track, this skit could have actually been mistaken as a CNN news story IMO…
.
The Machine on March 5, 2007 at 8:57 AM
I still haven’t seen the show, but if this clip is an example of it, I think I’ll start watching.
flipflop on March 5, 2007 at 9:00 AM
Sometimes, the emperor has no clothes.
kmcguire on March 5, 2007 at 9:15 AM
That was probably their best, edgiest bit. The expert also made a good straight man.
Yeah, the show wasn’t that good overall, but I hope they get a chance. If you try and write comedy on a regular basis you know how difficult it is, and it’s hard for me to be too critical of them especially when they also have network execs to deal with. I just hope in the future they’re allowed to be edgier and make fun of conservatives as well. My experience tells me conservatives like self-deprecating humor… when it’s from another conservative.
frankj on March 5, 2007 at 9:15 AM
This was great.
Halley on March 5, 2007 at 9:22 AM
I LOVE the Rush/Coulter bit, but the rest of it kind of dragged. If they had better writers/delivery/?–something!
The premise is great. Something’s missing. The anchors are also dressed VERY drab. Maybe add some humor from MM and the group here? Plus give Coulter and Rush more time/skits.
With Rush and Coulter’s popularity/recent comments, there could be a huge audience for this show.
PoliticallyIncorrectSandy on March 5, 2007 at 9:29 AM
Strange, but this one doesn’t seem like it has a laugh track as much as the last one did. Maybe they mixed the audio differently.
The Monster on March 5, 2007 at 9:30 AM
Because I am autodidactic I know what didactic means.
JasonG on March 5, 2007 at 9:31 AM
I thought this was funny.
Troy Rasmussen on March 5, 2007 at 9:31 AM
I don’t know Allah, I kinda thought the clips were pretty funny. Not being much of a TV person I am still not sure when the show is on but, I would watch it. I got quite a few chuckles out of the clips.
Perhaps, you are being too hard. I have watched the Daily Show more than a few times and about 50% of their stuff just bombs.
Babs on March 5, 2007 at 9:34 AM
I thought this clip was pretty funny, though the laugh track was terrible. As others have said, though, maybe if it continues they’ll be able to get the live audience
dalewalt on March 5, 2007 at 9:40 AM
Well, my wife started watching (and stayed) and found it rather humorous until I pointed out to her that this really COULD be a CNN story.
It’s getting there though, I’d like to see it tried out for a bit.
Oh yes, I couldn’t figure it out of course but then it came to me. MANY people on the left kept saying, “Good ratings with all of it’s free pre-show publicity”.
Wait a second…I DO recall a little publicity about a radio show called AIR AMERICA????
Oh yea, free publicity DOES NOT get the ratings (See the latter)
HarryStar on March 5, 2007 at 9:45 AM
Its not a laugh track. There is an audience – an easily amused audience at that.
This clip was okay; but it was repetitive. It would have been better if they went back to it occassionally during the show, instead of forcing it into a single segment.
lorien1973 on March 5, 2007 at 9:47 AM
When are you guys going to stop knocking the works of others who are on the same side as you purport to be?
aengus on March 5, 2007 at 9:55 AM
Whoops.
aengus on March 5, 2007 at 9:55 AM
HA! That’s EXACTLY what I thought too, I AM WATCHING A CNN NEWS REPORT!!!
NRA4Freedom on March 5, 2007 at 9:59 AM
Just because they are on “our side” does not mean they get a free pass. If you want to march lockstep with people that do not allow dissent then you can join the people across the aisle.
JasonG on March 5, 2007 at 10:11 AM
Everyone here probably knows I’ve been one of the harshest critics of all of the clips shown of this show so far… But I will say this one was actually relatively funny and showed some serious potential. I still think it could have been MUCH funnier with little effort.
RightWinged on March 5, 2007 at 10:14 AM
It’s a side-effect of thinking for yourself. You want to see folks marching in ideological lockstep and administering purity tests, go to Daily Kos. ;)
Enrique on March 5, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Well said, I almost responded to that comment as well… Politics don’t trump humor. I’m not going to pretend something is funny simply because it’s supposed to be on “my side” politically. It’s actually embarassing to associate with most of what we’ve seen from THHNH so far, though again this clip was’t that bad.
RightWinged on March 5, 2007 at 10:29 AM
Enrique steals my thunder.
JasonG on March 5, 2007 at 10:46 AM
When are you guys going to stop knocking the works of others who are on the same side as you purport to be?
The Machine
When are you guys going to put down the Koolaid and realize that just because it came out of a conservative’s mouth, it isn’t necessarily good.
That show was bad the first two weeks and there’s a reason they’re using a laugh track and not a live audience.
Benaiah on March 5, 2007 at 10:47 AM
Not funny….
I mean are you *SURE* this isn’t our own MSM interviewing a official from Homeland Security?
I’m not.
I guess that is why they used the laugh track… so people will know its not the real media.
CrazyFool on March 5, 2007 at 11:11 AM
It did drag but it WAS funny! I caught my self laughing out loud a coupla times during the show. If it could continue to get better and better like this even in small degrees it would be a great show. I think everyone wants something AWESOME out of the can, well I can tell you that Fox Network has canned a LOT of shows right out of the can just cause they wernt instant hits. Shows that were GOOD but just didnt get the time to get a fan base.
Dont believe me? Case in Point.
-Wasteland Man.
WastelandMan on March 5, 2007 at 11:26 AM
those guys get points for just being able to pronounce all those names, but very funny. How often to we do that?
Defector01 on March 5, 2007 at 11:40 AM
I think many of the latest posts by Allahpundit are border line liberal. Is he or she talking a slow path to the darkside?
If someone does not like absurd comedy then maybe this show is not for you. Myself, I do like absurdity and feel dealing with absurdity with absurdity is funny.
Wade on March 5, 2007 at 11:47 AM
I liked this premise a lot, but irrelevant of the politics, these folks just don’t quite have the comic chops of a Dennis Miller or Tina Fey or even Jimmy Fallon in this same venue. A good comic can strengthen a weak line – or no line. Us fossils can remember how Jack Benny could milk even a look without forcing it.
And another comment on the “laugh track”. The producer, in an interview, said it is taped in LA in front of a live audience. And there must be an industry term, but the audience is obviously salted with ringers, particulary the first show, which would get one particularly huge laugh on really “meh” lines. Years ago, I had friends who did local comedy who would ask me to come to their shows because I laughed at the right times.
eeyore on March 5, 2007 at 11:51 AM
I was disappointed, it should be called “The 15 Minute News Hour”. It only ran 20 minutes with commercial breaks! Can’t beleive they’re already running out of ideas…
bspoogeferd on March 5, 2007 at 12:00 PM
This one was a good bit funnier than the last one. Let’s hope that trend continues!
Kevin M on March 5, 2007 at 12:33 PM
You are correct sir. Here is another case in point from Here:
Wade on March 5, 2007 at 12:49 PM
Now that was funny.
John from WuzzaDem on March 5, 2007 at 1:14 PM
I’ve probably said this before, but they basically take a punch line and turn it into an entire bit.
John from WuzzaDem on March 5, 2007 at 1:16 PM
I liked it!
Give conservative comedy a chance. Futurama didn’t start getting good until the 4th season.
JamesVersusEveryone on March 5, 2007 at 2:02 PM
They could have gone in two directions either of which would have been funny. The kid could have acted like it was totally innocent and the catcher could have blown it out of proportion. Or the kid could have gotten remorseful about doing common kidstuff and the catcher would have played the straight man.
At least they have good preferences. The guy in the above clip was too deadpan. The announcers are the foils so any guest should be more outrageous. In the other segment I would have ended with the guest on the floor sobbing, the more emotion the better.
Bill C on March 5, 2007 at 2:09 PM
Oh c’mon, that was funny! And they did it in a way that won’t give CAIR and other groups ammo to complain.
forged rite on March 5, 2007 at 2:18 PM
It was funny, but it does need a little work. They forced a little too much.
Iblis on March 5, 2007 at 2:44 PM
Well attempting to dissect what makes something funny, or not, is a high risk venture. For me, the problem with the bits on this program are they are very predictable–the bit about the terrorists arrested in London and the recitation of their names–the punch-line was obvious.
Think humor is largely predicated on the unexpected, which makes it ill-suited for propaganda or agenda driven content.
honora on March 5, 2007 at 2:57 PM
This was funny and it was much more understated than I was expecting, and it had a little edge there. It could have been a British news spoof show.
I still wish them the best.
see-dubya on March 5, 2007 at 3:19 PM
This clip was okay; but it was repetitive. It would have been better if they went back to it occassionally during the show, instead of forcing it into a single segment.
lorien1973 on March 5, 2007 at 9:47 AM
That’s so the lefties understand it.
oakpack on March 5, 2007 at 4:17 PM
Getting better. Give it a little time. Remember how bad the 1st episode of Star Trek TNG was. Patric Stewart cried in it.
- The Cat
MirCat on March 5, 2007 at 7:18 PM
I caught myself laughing out loud at the pre-school molestors! I like the show…
Pam on March 5, 2007 at 10:36 PM
I watched only the beginning but I’m glad you posted this skit. It was hilarious. Just being able to pronounce all those names was not only challanging but really added to the delivery of the humour of the whole thing. Its a keeper.
auspatriotman on March 6, 2007 at 1:06 AM