Comments on: Sense of humour over-ride anyone?

Sense of humour over-ride anyone?

MintSauce — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:38:41 -0800

"Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple..."

Fox News threatens to sue the Simpsons (and as a result, its sister company) over news ticker parody, according to an NPR interview of Matt Groening.

By: mischief

mischief — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:41:59 -0800

Can you spell 'hype'? No, I didn't think so.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:47:58 -0800

My guess is that after the Franken debacle, Fox realized the best way to set a legal precedent would be to get in a lawsuit with themselves. Now, the precedent has been established that will make another network think twice about doing a Fox News parody, while this time a Fox-owned show gets free news time instead of an independent author. Nevertheless, I think there's something to be said about a major news network deliberately making itself look like an ass for ratings.

By: widdershins

widdershins — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:49:23 -0800

... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple... MintSauce, you made my morning.

By: benjh

benjh — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:00:07 -0800

Isn't parody protected speech?

By: alms

alms — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:01:35 -0800

Isn't parody protected speech? Yes. That's why no one can stop Fox from filing these suits.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:17:11 -0800

Also, protected speech only applies to the government. The government can't abridge your rights to speech...but your employer can. Thus the reason Fox can make them not put the ticker on the screen anymore.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:24:13 -0800

"Not many people know it, but the fuehrer was a terrific dancer."

By: rushmc

rushmc — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:33:19 -0800

There hasn't been much press on Metafilter of late...we're slipping from the edge of near-relevance that we had almost attained. So who's going to step up and sue mathowie for the good of the community??

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:47:25 -0800

Nevertheless, I think there's something to be said about a major news network deliberately making itself look like an ass for ratings. Isn't that FoxNews's modus operandi? How can you explain Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly otherwise?

By: Durwood

Durwood — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 07:47:28 -0800

Did anyone actually listen to this interview? When I heard it the other day, I really thought he was joking. Terry Gross (fresh off her dust up with O'Reilly) seemed to take him seriously. Maybe I'll listen to it again just to hear Terry attempt to have a serious discussion about Itchy & Scratchy. In any event, my favorite Simpsons parody of media-types is its poke at the View..I think they call it "Afternoon Yack."

By: btwillig

btwillig — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:03:48 -0800

In other news, Thomas Pynchon to guest appear on the Simpsons.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:31:06 -0800

Heh - I had the Itchy & Scratchy theme lyrics wrong this whole time.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:32:26 -0800

You don't say...

By: btwillig

btwillig — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:40:35 -0800

Doh!

By: pitchblende

pitchblende — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:10:45 -0800

rushmc - you don't even have to sue anymore to get this kind of publicity. You just have to have a lawyer draft a letter threatening to sue, watch the media go nuts and people get all indignant, then never follow up with an actual suit.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:12:49 -0800

"But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news" "Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer... Dow down 5,000 points... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple..." pretty much says it all. i hope to god they aren't ~~RIGHT~~ correct.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 09:54:11 -0800

This is the full crawl from the episode, as transcribed by fans: POINTLESS NEWS CRAWLS UP 37 PERCENT ... DO DEMOCRATS CAUSE CANCER? FIND OUT AT FOXNEWS.COM ... RUPERT MURDOCH: TERRIFIC DANCER ... DOW DOWN 5000 POINTS ... STUDY: 92 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS ARE GAY... JFK POSTHUMOUSLY JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY ... OIL SLICKS FOUND TO KEEP SEALS YOUNG, SUPPLE ... DAN QUALYE: AWESOME ... ASHCROFT DECLARES BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH OBSCENE ... HILLARY CLINTON EMBARRASSES SELF, NATION ... BIBLE SAYS JESUS FAVORED CAPITAL-GAINS CUT ... STAY TUNED FOR HANNITY AND IDIOT... ONLY DORKS WATCH CNN ... JIMMY CARTER: OLD, WRINKLY, USELESS... BRAD PITT + ALBERT EINSTEIN = DICK CHENEY...

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:22:19 -0800

I heard this, too. I thought it was pretty obvious that Groening was making a joke. *shrugs*

By: jennanemone

jennanemone — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:13:07 -0800

Another link, more of the same.

By: meech

meech — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 18:55:19 -0800

Fox News scratches head....

By: Akuinnen

Akuinnen — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:23:20 -0800

Joke? "Nonetheless "The Simpsons" (the show, not the characters) issued an apology yesterday: "Matt was being satirical and certainly there was never any issue between the show and Fox News. We regret any confusion.""