Republican girls gone wild

November 27, 2006 11:27 AM

Described as "the View meets the Daily Show and takes a right turn," The America Show, Episode 1 and Episode 2 are pilots that are being floated for possible TV broadcast. Weigh in on their potential. The driving force behind the show is conservative comic Julia Gorin, who also recently launched Political Mavens as "a celebrity-studded conservative answer to Arianna's Huffington Post."
posted by madamjujujive (247 comments total)

Yeah, but is it funny?
posted by grubi at 11:34 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

What do you think is supposed to be superimposed on the blue screen behind them?
posted by billysumday at 11:35 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

My eyes! My mothafuckin' eyes!1!one1!
posted by Mister_A at 11:37 AM on November 27, 2006

Whoa, déja vu ;-)
posted by clevershark at 11:38 AM on November 27, 2006

Seriously though, do watch these clips. I watched them and NOW I AM PUNCHING MACHINE!!!
posted by Mister_A at 11:41 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

The chick in the middle renders Episode 1 unwatchable.

I would love to see a funny, conservative-leaning show on the lines of the Daily Show. But there aren't any consistently witty conservatives, are there? PJ O'Roarke and Bob Dole (I am dead serious about Dole) are the only ones I can think of who you can even make a case for.
posted by ibmcginty at 11:42 AM on November 27, 2006

This is supposed to be entertainment?
Um.

Right.

I'm gonna go read a book now.
posted by daq at 11:43 AM on November 27, 2006

This whole thing is an elaborate joke, right? I couldn't get past the first minute or so.
posted by IronLizard at 11:43 AM on November 27, 2006

Ooh, a Michael-Moore-is-ugly-and-fat joke in the first 30 seconds, followed up by an Indians-and-Irish-are-drunks joke and a reference to Bill Clinton. How cutting edge.
posted by cmonkey at 11:43 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Not a double tho, clevershark, is it? I jsut glanced at that thread now but did not see this show.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:44 AM on November 27, 2006

Julia's take on the latest report on securing our elementary schools:

“3 Calif. Schools to Fingerprint Students”
Fingerpainting, fingerprinting — is it really that big a difference?

posted by rob511 at 11:45 AM on November 27, 2006

You must watch the second show.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:45 AM on November 27, 2006

How come, whenever I hear the phrase "the conservative answer to", my mind rearranges it to "the shitty humorless version of" something?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 11:47 AM on November 27, 2006 [7 favorites has favorites]

I could not make it past the 45 second mark before UNFIXABLE TRANSFORMATION TO PUNCHING MACHINE!!!
posted by Mister_A at 11:48 AM on November 27, 2006

(watches)... my mind was right, too!
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 11:52 AM on November 27, 2006

Ah. Ad hominem attacks on people. Racist stereotype jokes.

Wake me up when it gets funny/original/intelligent please.
posted by Dantien at 11:52 AM on November 27, 2006

This is brilliant.
posted by dead_ at 11:53 AM on November 27, 2006

I made it 56 seconds - I challenge anyone to top that. I got past the "we don't just make fun of republicans - get used to it" attitude. What snagged me was their attempt to prove their "non-partisanship" by making fun of a republican with a searingly unfunny racist joke...which they flubbed horribly.

Then I checked out the HuffPost parody (it's a parody, right? seriously, please?), home to groundbreaking, well-researched and thought-out articles like this one. I'm impressed.

Thanks for the post! (that part is sincere, btw)
posted by pinespree at 11:54 AM on November 27, 2006

Conservatives do "Larry the Cable Guy" type comedy. They'll get appropriate audiences. The gotta make up for the loss of the fact-based audience somehow. Just like the FOXNEWS Daily Show is a kneejerk response to their loses in the "youth" Demographic.
posted by rzklkng at 11:58 AM on November 27, 2006

I made it 56 seconds - I challenge anyone to top that.

What do I win for watching all of episode 1? Besides it being over?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 11:58 AM on November 27, 2006

This is so terrible, I pulled out my credit card and bought a membership to MeFi, just so I could say how terrible it is. That's right: five dollars of terrible.
posted by bicyclefish at 11:59 AM on November 27, 2006 [85 favorites has favorites]

And by now, I hope everyone realizes that "fair and balanced" doesn't mean presenting both sides objectively. It's just affirmative action for bad ideas.
posted by rzklkng at 12:00 PM on November 27, 2006 [12 favorites has favorites]

Welcome to our terrible world, bicyclefish!
posted by Mister_A at 12:01 PM on November 27, 2006

Sigh. Satire only works when you're *not* the side in power...
posted by kid ichorous at 12:03 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

So the drama club at Eva Braun High School sat around someone's kitchen table and ad-libbed? And they thought it was worth filming?
posted by Mayor Curley at 12:04 PM on November 27, 2006 [4 favorites has favorites]

WEAK, utterly weak.
"we don't just make fun of republicans - get used to it".. No, I don't have to get used to it, Ill just change the damn channel, you sassy cretin.

Nice public access atomosphere they havin goin on.
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:05 PM on November 27, 2006

I was really, truly hoping that it would contain incisive, conservative political humor that would inspire me to respond with a empassioned, defensive analysis of Democratic policies, a justification for the paradoxes of the liberal movement, and historical perspective on the war. You know, kinda the opposite of what an intelligent conservative might do after watching a particularly scathing episode of the Daily Show.

Instead we got fat jokes, race jokes and donkey jokes. Yawn.
posted by ad_hominem at 12:06 PM on November 27, 2006

WEAK, utterly weak.
"we don't just make fun of republicans - get used to it".. No, I don't have to get used to it, Ill just change the damn channel, you sassy cretin.

Nice public access atmosphere they havin goin on.
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:06 PM on November 27, 2006

Awesome.

Back in high school, my friends and I got to messing around with a video camera one time, and we did a sort of sketch-comedy thing. I did a parody of those Joel Hyatt legal ads, which even then I recognized as possibly the pinnacle of hamfisted satire. Later, very much intentionally, I taped over it. (If memory serves, an episode of The Power Hour on MuchMusic.) Never thought it'd be topped. Until now.

From that Political Mavens link:

You are stranded on an island and doomed for certain death. You could contact only one of three people to save you. Which one person do you pick from these choices: Dick Cheney, Neil Patrick Harris, Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Well definitely not Schwarzenegger. I don’t think I’d want to place my fate, surrounded by water, in the hands of someone who married into a family where drowning women – whether by car or airplane — seems to be a pattern.

This purports to be This Week's Daily Comedy Riff. As the saying goes, I don't think any of those words mean what they think they mean. "Week" and "Daily" in particular.
posted by gompa at 12:06 PM on November 27, 2006

What snagged me was their attempt to prove their "non-partisanship" by making fun of a republican with a searingly unfunny racist joke...which they flubbed horribly.


Yeah, that bit had me totally confused. I wasn't sure if they were going for some meta ironic irony thing there or what. Like in the sense of "we're not making fun of someone who would tell this joke, we're making fun of someone who would make fun of someone who would tell this joke."

Whatever their intent, I'd have to say they failed at being funny.
posted by juv3nal at 12:07 PM on November 27, 2006

Curley, i have to concur. Are all pilots this badly edited? I mean, was it done via the 2 deck mixtape editing technique or did they actually use some sort of experienced editor. I dont mean to pick on the quality if they are just doing this for fun, but am I to believe this is being shopped around?

It's not funny, it's not edited well, it's not remotely new or original, so why are we discussing it?
posted by Dantien at 12:07 PM on November 27, 2006

It's not funny, it's not edited well, it's not remotely new or original, so why are we discussing it?

Because it's so monumentally unfunny, badly edited, stale and unoriginal?
posted by gompa at 12:10 PM on November 27, 2006

Gompa, I think my question was rhetorical. But my barely-contained-insult-o-meter agrees with you.
posted by Dantien at 12:13 PM on November 27, 2006

It stinks.
posted by Sprocket at 12:13 PM on November 27, 2006

ohgodohgodOHGOD

I might be willing to forgive the amateurishness of this whole endeavor if not for the implicit assumption by these women that this is somehow a viable counterpoint to stuff like TDS and Colbert. The fact that conservatives can't get through their head that the whole "take that, liberals!" mentality is antithetical to actual humor cements the fact that they don't have what it takes to be funny.

I don't care if someone flubs a joke when they don't make jokes for a living, but when they do it with the attitude that they're somehow sticking it to The Man, it makes my stomach turn with embarrassment.

And PJ O'Roarke just doesn't seem funny to me. Maybe he was once, but has anyone seen any of his appearances lately? I've seen him on Bill Maher, where he somehow manages to get comedically outclassed by congressmen.
posted by hifiparasol at 12:15 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sigh. Satire only works when you're *not* the side in power...

I'm starting to become actually surprised at how many Defenders of the Right Wing don't understand this principle. Most normal people get the idea that the Republicans have received a much higher portion of the criticism, scrutiny, and parody for the last four years because they've controlled a much higher portion of the government.

There are people that do not understand this and are loudly and suspiciously asking why they've been the butt of so many jokes as well as the target of so much criticism.

The only alternative explanation to insanity that I've been able to come up with is that at some level they do understand it, they just still find it productive to mock and criticize the party out of power because (a) they're really not satisfied with it being out of power, they want to completely marginalize it socially if they can and (b) they're hoping it'll be a great distraction from the disasters that ensued when their party irrefutibly had power and was, ostensibly at least, governing. Total failure of policy in Iraq? LOL! Peacenik democrats and outspoken celebirties R funny!
posted by namespan at 12:15 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

A master of self-discipline, I watched ALL of both of 'em, you cut and run, 56-second surrender monkeys. While it's impossible for me, with the harm done by Dubya's policies and 784 days left of his 2nd term, to see the humor in a right wing perspective, those pilots just excruciatingly unfunny. I hope they get air time. Loads of it.
posted by tula at 12:17 PM on November 27, 2006

What do I win for watching all of episode 1? Besides it being over?

I'm sorry - I feel really bad about putting that out there as a challenge. I take it back.

juv3nal: Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit (or maybe I am), but it didn't even occur to me to think that maybe there was anything there other than them telling the joke and thinking it was funny. Whichever it is, it's even better after you read this op-ed.
posted by pinespree at 12:17 PM on November 27, 2006

OK I just finished watching the bus plunge of a second episode. Did they save all the funny for the third episode? Anyone have a URL for that?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 12:20 PM on November 27, 2006

You know what's funny? Speaking the plain, awful truth to powerful hypocrites. That's funny. That's what made Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks, and to a lesser degree, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert funny. If these assholes could pay attention for longer than 20 fucking seconds, they would see that these guys poke sharp sticks every bit as much at the left as they do the right.
posted by psmealey at 12:21 PM on November 27, 2006

I don't care if someone flubs a joke when they don't make jokes for a living

Neither do I.

tula: touche.
posted by pinespree at 12:21 PM on November 27, 2006

In episode 2, they unwittingly came up with the name for this debacle: Republican self-mutilation.
posted by leftcoastbob at 12:23 PM on November 27, 2006

Wow. "The America Show"? "Three Dumb Chicks" is more like it... this manages to be vastly more insipid and brain-dead than even we had predicted, which is no mean achievement.

The only thing it's missing is a hate minute!
posted by clevershark at 12:24 PM on November 27, 2006

I always thought comedy was supposed to be funny? I'm not uptight. I'm an easy guy to make laugh. A picture of a cross-eyed kitty with a hat on will make me laugh. I swear! Make a fart sound when Grandma sits down and I will laugh.

Oh. They must mean comedy in the "classic" sense. You know. Like in ancient Greece. Where at the end of the play not everybody dies. Only in this case you wish they would.
posted by tkchrist at 12:26 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Are all three of them pros, pinespree? She was definitely the most practiced, but she's still not funny. And she still flubs jokes.
posted by hifiparasol at 12:27 PM on November 27, 2006

...hostility toward Jews has grown in direct proportion to the number of Jews killed. In contrast, sympathy for Middle Easterners-a minority in the more traditional, visible, color-coded sense—has increased in direct proportion to the number of people they've killed. It seems, the more people that Muslims kill, the less popular Jews become. This has managed to happen because Jews are the politically incorrect minority.

You know what'd be hilarious? Watching Julia Gorin die in a fucking fire. Big fun.
posted by prostyle at 12:27 PM on November 27, 2006

I would love to see a funny, conservative-leaning show on the lines of the Daily Show.

I don't know if it was set up to be that way, but perhaps owing to the host's "liberals are all pussies" schtick, Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd definitely came across that way. About the only funny moment in the show's limited run came when he had David Cross on, and he absolutely shredded Quinn for being such a complete dumb ass.
posted by psmealey at 12:28 PM on November 27, 2006

From the Political Mavens link:

You can now watch and rate the new installment of “The America Show,” currently viewable on YouTube. It’s ”The View” meets “The Daily Show” and takes a right turn. Or, as The Peoples Cube has described it, a “Republican Girls Gone Wild!”

Excuse me while I barf red white and blue all over the screen.
posted by leftcoastbob at 12:29 PM on November 27, 2006

Haha busplunge indeed! Well met, SS.

How are these ladies not drenched in flop sweat? Do they, like porno chicks, retreat to a secret place where they can feel no shame?
posted by Mister_A at 12:30 PM on November 27, 2006

Sigh. Satire only works when you're *not* the side in power...
True enough. However, keep in mind that (at least in the US of A) Conservative humor tends not to be informed by satire but, rather, informed from a sort of "Fuck-you-I'm-on-top" stance. It's pretty-much a one-note affair.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:33 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Are all three of them pros, pinespree? She was definitely the most practiced, but she's still not funny. And she still flubs jokes.

I don't know anything about the other two...I felt ok taking her to task, though, because it seems pretty clear to me that she's the mastermind here, and she's the one who delivered the joke I was referring to (the Irish-Indian one). I might be wrong about her being the brains behind the show, but she might be wrong about her being a professional comedian, too.
posted by pinespree at 12:33 PM on November 27, 2006

Q: How many GOP women comedians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: Cheney!!


But seriously folks, at around the one minute mark I was wanting to stab myself.
posted by Skygazer at 12:34 PM on November 27, 2006

Make a fart sound when Grandma sits down and I will laugh.

tkchrist, I laughed out loud even reading that, so I feel ever more confident in feeling like the problem is not with us.
posted by hermitosis at 12:35 PM on November 27, 2006

"We don't just make fun of Republicans..." christ, what an asshole.
posted by parmanparman at 12:36 PM on November 27, 2006

:54!

I wanted to make it to a minute, but the *rimshot* killed it.
posted by nathancaswell at 12:38 PM on November 27, 2006

Even their own laugh track seems to find them funny only about a quarter of the time.
posted by PhatLobley at 12:38 PM on November 27, 2006

I seem to recall Tough Crowd as being little more than a bunch of Irish and Italian guys sitting around talking about how black people love crime and menthol cigarettes.

Or was there more to it than that?
posted by hifiparasol at 12:40 PM on November 27, 2006

This is so terrible, I pulled out my credit card and bought a membership to MeFi, just so I could say how terrible it is. That's right: five dollars of terrible.

Sounds like you'll fit right in!
posted by delmoi at 12:42 PM on November 27, 2006

This new breed of Pseudo Conservative are self defined as "not liberal pussy faggots." They have no other true principles than that.

One thing they really believe is that they ARE a ghettoized and marginalized majority being dominated by perverted elite minority. They believe this show IS cutting edge.

They are the Kindergartners who out number the teacher. Children who stomp their feet and eat paste to get attention. Like children they have no other skills but to wail and complain — lacking the ability to articulate or understand their own desires. And not willing to deal with the consequences when they DO get what they want.

That the humor reflects this nature surprises no one.
posted by tkchrist at 12:44 PM on November 27, 2006 [9 favorites has favorites]

I don't know if it was set up to be that way, but perhaps owing to the host's "liberals are all pussies" schtick, Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd definitely came across that way. About the only funny moment in the show's limited run came when he had David Cross on, and he absolutely shredded Quinn for being such a complete dumb ass.

I liked that show, FWIW. Whatever it was, it was Honest unlike a lot of conservatives are simply totally disingenuous, and dishonesty is really not that funny.
posted by delmoi at 12:45 PM on November 27, 2006

I seem to recall Tough Crowd as being little more than a bunch of Irish and Italian guys sitting around talking about how black people love crime and menthol cigarettes.

Actually they would get black people to come on and complain about the Irish and Italians.
posted by delmoi at 12:49 PM on November 27, 2006

I thought it was funny.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:49 PM on November 27, 2006

what I want to know is if the comments on youtube are a joke - the most recent 10, at least, are all positive.

I did make it through the whole video, but I think it was mostly because I was stunned into a state of (panic-fear-disgust), you know, one of those open-mouth frowns. That was truly painful to watch. And I too kept trying to find some kind of meta-something that would justify their having released it. The laugh track made me think of that scene in Natural Born Killers with the laugh track...
posted by mdn at 12:49 PM on November 27, 2006

Not.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:49 PM on November 27, 2006

Now if that train wreck doesn't qualify as a rancid shit sandwich, I don't know what does - completely lacking in any chuckle value, and man, someone who looks like Julia Gorin should be very careful tagging Michael Moore as an overweight, less-than-attractive specimen.
posted by dbiedny at 12:51 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

That website of her's ,is hurting too. At least she blogs. I suspect anyone who hates her will be called an anti-semite. I think a link to the South Park Republican MeFi thread is also called for, for a better read through of Conservative Comedy.
posted by rzklkng at 12:53 PM on November 27, 2006

There is no way this is being shopped around, I call B.S. I wouldn't even be impressed if this were a high school project. Seriously, even when I took some basics at communicty college, the video pieces for GOVT 1201 were way better than this echoey audio no-makeup piece of crap.

I don't know if it was set up to be that way, but perhaps owing to the host's "liberals are all pussies" schtick, Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd definitely came across that way. About the only funny moment in the show's limited run came when he had David Cross on, and he absolutely shredded Quinn for being such a complete dumb ass.

I'd kill for a youtube link to this.
posted by ernie at 12:54 PM on November 27, 2006

I lasted about 2 minutes before bailing out. Blech. Really, if you can't tell jokes, you really shouldn't be in the comedy business.
posted by octothorpe at 12:55 PM on November 27, 2006

Are all pilots this badly edited?

The War At Home looks about like this.
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:56 PM on November 27, 2006

I noticed those comments too, mdn. There's also a video response.

I'm guessing that it means that MeFites are the first group of liberals to happen across the show? We need Bevets in here to confirm.
posted by hifiparasol at 12:56 PM on November 27, 2006

Are all three of them pros, pinespree? She was definitely the most practiced, but she's still not funny.
posted by hifiparasol

You make them sound like republican whores.
posted by leftcoastbob at 12:58 PM on November 27, 2006

Are all pilots this badly edited?

In truth, it appears to have been a "pitch" rather than a pilot. A pilot is what you make when the pitch works, and they give you money to hire directors and cameramen and prop guys.

they're really not satisfied with it being out of power, they want to completely marginalize it socially if they can

Well, yes.

But seriously, that's what they see power as being about. Not being mocked. It's increasingly clear that Bush came into office with his dad's "wimp factor" brand seared into his soul, and everything he's done since is predicated on avoiding the same label.
posted by dhartung at 12:58 PM on November 27, 2006

More Julia: "this is the only time i ever feel like sharing"
posted by pinespree at 12:58 PM on November 27, 2006

:54!

In vi, that means "Go to line 54, dammit."

Okay, not helpful, but it was that or "Metafilter: five dollars of terrible."
posted by eriko at 12:58 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

I am surprised that anyone would release anything so completely and utterly vapid in public, let alone do it under one's real name. Mine may be a minority opinion here, but I don't think it manages to offend (although it tries). You practically feel a bit of pity for the women on the show, who (even though they have some experience at this "comedy" thing) would appear out of their depth in a wading pool.
posted by clevershark at 12:59 PM on November 27, 2006

Wodehouse was a consistently funny conservative. He's up in heaven now.

This show was worse than Thanksgiving dinner with conservatives. They never paused for a laugh.
posted by The White Hat at 1:01 PM on November 27, 2006

Just started watching the show. I was expecting it to be bad, and (as a liberal) offend me. But that stuff was just painfully unfunny.

Wow.
posted by delmoi at 1:02 PM on November 27, 2006

Hey, if Republicans want The Daily Show to rip on Democrats more, all they have to do is vote them into power. I have every confidence that Stewart, Colbert and writers would rip on them every bit as badly, if not much more so: it's actually hard to write good comedy about the banally evil and the monumentally stupid; it's just the same thing over and over again. By contrast the Dems are so so internally conflicted that there's tremendous satire fodder there.

Vote comedy: vote Democrat!
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:08 PM on November 27, 2006

Like Bicyclefish above, I felt it was $5 worth of awfulness (just registered). I reflexively shut it off after 58 seconds or so, then a few moments later had a few quick involuntary spasms of disgust.

Baghdad ER was more comedic than this.
posted by Burhanistan at 1:09 PM on November 27, 2006

Episode 2 gave me cancer.
Also of note is pinespree's link, wherein Julia says "It is not easy being a minority". The Canadian abortion joke was funny, though.
posted by boo_radley at 1:13 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

Concerning Tough Crowd et al, why do the shows that purport to voice the (white?) American working-class do so largely inarticulately, with such a fierce anti-intellectual streak? Between "git-er-done" and Colin Quinn, aren't audiences a little tired of being patronized?

Now if someone would give Jim Goad a show...
posted by kid ichorous at 1:13 PM on November 27, 2006

I just watched the clip posted by pinespree--I know it's hard to believe, but she is even worse in that one than The America Show clip.

That is one evil bitch.
posted by leftcoastbob at 1:14 PM on November 27, 2006

By contrast the Dems are so so internally conflicted

Whereas stupid people are much simpler inside - solid like a potato.
posted by fleetmouse at 1:14 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

1:16, where they zoom in on the middle one.

I really thought I could make it further after reading this thread, but no, it really is that bad. Could they not borrow more than one camera? Or have a cameraman that wouldn't randomly wobble-pan around? How about a desk all three of them could fit behind?
posted by blasdelf at 1:15 PM on November 27, 2006

RE: the comments being all positive; they've set their clips to 'moderated comments'... I get a strange feeling they're not going to let my 'This is the worst thing that I've ever seen' through.
posted by jettloe at 1:17 PM on November 27, 2006

Pour wine into sewage, and it's still sewage.

Pour sewage into wine, and that's sewage too.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 1:17 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I seem to recall Tough Crowd as being little more than a bunch of Irish and Italian guys sitting around talking about how black people love crime and menthol cigarettes.

Actually they would get black people to come on and complain about the Irish and Italians.

And then the Irish would complain about how much it sucks to be Irish.

I loved this show
posted by Mick at 1:18 PM on November 27, 2006

Incongruity is a key element in humor; but what's incongruous about stupid people being stupid, or evil, grasping people being evil and grasping? Let's face it, the Repubs are at or near their inherent carrying capacity for teh funney.

But Dems affect a whole suite of virtues that aren't even in the vocabulary of Republicans, and what makes it really brilliant is that no two lefties actually agree on what any of those virtues amount to in practice! This is a rich seam of chucklesomeness: by my quick, back-of-the-envelope calculations, TDS's funny would increase by at least 2.1 megahoots in the first season of a Democratic administration.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:21 PM on November 27, 2006

hifiparasol: Tough Crowd was probably the closest thing the US has seen to conservative comedy. And yes, full of racist stereotypes and attacks on a perceived sense of abdication of responsibility on the part of whatever group they touched on each week. All that said, it managed to be occasionally funny. It also managed to be shallow and mean-spirited with a palpable sense of desperation. So, as I said, conservative comedy.

This, however, is so poor as to seem like a parody of itself. The left has lots of hypocrises to lampoon, and some of the loudest voices are the silliest and most pandering, and these kids are trying to mumble a Kennedy stab into an oh-so-droll drunk-driving riff? Sweet jesus.

Bicyclefish & burhanistan: welcome!

In the same vein, I'm seriously considering posting a video reply on YouTube as soon as I can visualize a clip which doesn't begin with sixty straight seconds of vomiting.
posted by abulafa at 1:24 PM on November 27, 2006

there aren't any consistently witty conservatives, are there?

Florence King. My politics have nothing in common with hers, but I love her writing. She doesn't exactly have that TV look, though.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:26 PM on November 27, 2006

why do the shows that purport to voice the (white?) American working-class do so largely inarticulately, with such a fierce anti-intellectual streak?

Because the people who like that stuff are of sub-average intelligence, and they're defensive about it. Nobody likes being condescended to, but when you're dumb everything beyond toaster settings seems condescending. So they convince themselves that being provincial is a virtue.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:29 PM on November 27, 2006 [3 favorites has favorites]

And then the Irish would complain about how much it sucks to be Irish.
posted by Mick

Finally, a statement on this thread I can be offended about, rather than just appalled at its unfunniness. And as you know, we Irish and we liberals thrive on finding stuff to be offended about.
posted by ibmcginty at 1:31 PM on November 27, 2006

Like Bicyclefish above, I felt it was $5 worth of awfulness (just registered).

MadamJuju should get a kickback for this new technique of ensnaring new members. Either that, or she should win complete and total forgiveness for making us watch this godawful tripe.
posted by soyjoy at 1:34 PM on November 27, 2006

I threw up a little in my mouth.

Why couldn't they pick topical stuff, like Pelosi's backing of Murtha, and then lampoon her ethics pledge? Instead they go for Liberals are pussies. he he he.

I hope to god Fox picks this up.
posted by prodigalsun at 1:35 PM on November 27, 2006

Is this show supposed to be funny? Because it ain't. Perhaps the liberal media the filtered out the funny?
posted by luckypozzo at 1:35 PM on November 27, 2006

This just goes to prove once again... Germans Love David Hassel- err, I mean... Republicans Aren't Funny.
posted by Area Control at 1:38 PM on November 27, 2006

I found this show quite funny....(pause)...(pause)... (pause)....(pause)....(pause)....(onemorepause).... ...NOTTT!!!!
posted by forwebsites at 1:40 PM on November 27, 2006

forwebsites, ftw.
posted by abulafa at 1:41 PM on November 27, 2006

Concerning Tough Crowd et al, why do the shows that purport to voice the (white?) American working-class do so largely inarticulately, with such a fierce anti-intellectual streak? Between "git-er-done" and Colin Quinn, aren't audiences a little tired of being patronized?

Excellent questions, those. But since I cannot even begin to understand why even a few people find the "git-er-done" thing funny, I'm totally out of my league in answering your more probing questions.

Watching Tough Crowd was no different than spending 30 minutes in any frat house where you had a bunch of white boys, presuming the others in the room shared their prejudices, bullshit about the issues of the day. I couldn't tolerate it when I was in college, and liked it less following TDS.
posted by psmealey at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2006

But Dems affect a whole suite of virtues that aren't even in the vocabulary of Republicans, and what makes it really brilliant is that no two lefties actually agree on what any of those virtues amount to in practice!

Yes, well, Republicans have slogans and Democrats have minds, which tends to puzzle Fox viewers.
posted by fleetmouse at 1:42 PM on November 27, 2006

This reminded me of of something that would have been perfect for the Ackroyd-era "Saturday Night Live."

Dan Ackroyd used to play Leonard Pinth-Garnell, a critic who would lugubriously introduce a short performance of "Bad Conceptual Theater," "Bad Playhouse," "Bad Cinema," "Bad Opera," "Bad Ballet," "Bad Red Chinese Ballet," or "Bad Cabaret for Children," and then exult in its sheer awfulness.

This would be great as "Bad Comedy."

Trademark Pinth-Garnell-isms that might apply:

"Stunningly bad!"
"Monumentally ill-advised!"
"Perfectly awful!"
"Couldn't be worse!"
"Exquisitely awful!"
"Astonishingly ill-chosen!"
"Really bit the big one!"
"Unrelentingly bad!"
"There... That wasn't so good now, was it?"
posted by Mr Pointy at 1:43 PM on November 27, 2006

Julia Gorin makes the baby Jesus cry.
posted by bshort at 1:46 PM on November 27, 2006

Holy WOW, that was bad. I'm offended as a liberal, a woman, a human being... You name it, I'm as offended as that. There have to be funny conservatives somewhere, but these ladies are an embarrassment to their own party. Also, they're annoying.
posted by katillathehun at 1:48 PM on November 27, 2006

Re: a video response being non-stop vomiting; thought so as well but felt something had to be said to those guys about the quality of their work. Video responses are also moderated so I doubt it'll see the light of day; (pls. delete comment if self-plug inappropriate).
posted by jettloe at 1:52 PM on November 27, 2006 [11 favorites has favorites]

Holy WOW part deux: I just fast-forwarded to the end of ep. 1. Ridiculing mothers in mourning? Calling women who use the morning after pill (who might have been RAPED for God's sake) hoes? Real impressive, ladies.
posted by katillathehun at 1:53 PM on November 27, 2006

Ann Coulter is much funnier than that.
posted by slogger at 1:58 PM on November 27, 2006

54 seconds. Probably not a good idea to mock others for being fat and ugly if you yourself are a horrible land monster.

I can't believe i bothered to watch that much.
posted by bob sarabia at 1:59 PM on November 27, 2006

Lacks something I can't quite put my finger on. Possibly, a shred of comedic talent.
posted by davebush at 2:00 PM on November 27, 2006

What are they talking about when they mention the republican from the view being raped and murdered on Law and Order?

Also, L&O dosn't exactly seem like a very 'liberal' show. It's also very anti-muslim, from some of the eppisodes I've seen.
posted by delmoi at 2:04 PM on November 27, 2006

Nice response, jettloe. But would it have killed you to have vomited even just a teensy little bit?
posted by gigawhat? at 2:06 PM on November 27, 2006

Jerry
"I think Gorin converted to Judaism just for the jokes."

Father Micheal
"...and this offends you as a Jew?"

Jerry
"No. If offends me as a comedian."
posted by tkchrist at 2:07 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

The women are not very attractve. The gestures are amateurish. The clothing is god awful. In sum: Shakepeare dild it much earlier with the witches in Macbeth. Oh, yea, and not at all funny.
posted by Postroad at 2:13 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

jettloe, I think self-links are fine in the comments, if labeled as such, and thanks. Some day, they'll look back and thank you for stepping in when others around them did nothing to help.

I've never seen anything as profoundly forced & off-the-mark as these videos. In fact, I've been trying to think of something funny to post for 10 minutes, but I think they sucked all teh funny right out of my brain. I hope it comes back, someday.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:13 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well said, jettloe.
posted by katillathehun at 2:21 PM on November 27, 2006

Well, I made it through 30 secs of each vid. A fresh new take couldn't possibly go after the usual suspects of Michael Moore ("he's fat lawl"), Al Gore, and Barbara Streisand, right?

Right?

To take just one example, Colbert interviews any member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, on a regular basis, and completely takes them down, more specificically their own sense of self-importance. These three gals simply don't have the chops to be invited into the ballpark.

But I'm sure some right-winger out there will fund them in the name of being "fair and balanced."

(And really, average looking people shouldn't throw stones when it comes to personal apperance methinks.)
posted by bardic at 2:23 PM on November 27, 2006

Great, jettloe! ("If people tell you that this is funny, they're lying to you" was spot on!)
posted by leftcoastbob at 2:24 PM on November 27, 2006

The funny thing is, that they probably accumulated "material" for a while and thought that this rancid muck was the best they had. Maybe they based themselves on feedback gathered from the "Larry the Cable Guy" crowd?
posted by clevershark at 2:27 PM on November 27, 2006

Thanks for the positive comment Devils Rancher; those clips just suck the comedy right outta ya. Was gonna do some sort of 'wacky' comedy skit then realised the right thing to do was speak from the heart - forcefully; like trying to get car keys away from a friend who's too drunk to drive.
posted by jettloe at 2:27 PM on November 27, 2006

jettloe: appropriately understated, nice work.

I'm beginning to seriously think that maybe this is some sort of arch-metahumor so advanced that I can't fathom it. Suppose this cabal have built a career around pandering to the unfunniest of audiences with the most humorless vitriol in preparation to one day commit some sort of comic suicide-bombing with one well-targeted zinger delivered when addressing the amassed conservative legions?

Did I just accidentally coin the phrase "suicide bomb" to describe this kind of comic mismanagement?
posted by abulafa at 2:32 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

jettloe was much nicer in his video response than I would've been. So, kudos for that.
posted by NationalKato at 2:35 PM on November 27, 2006

abulafa, I know how you feel...the more time passes the more I feel like we've all been sucked in by one of the most elaborate trolls in history (including the entire Political Mavens site, Gorin's site, her career, etc). The CSM got sucked in too, though, so I don't feel so bad.
posted by pinespree at 2:43 PM on November 27, 2006

jettloe: Fantastic.

On preview, also what leftcoastbob and NationalKato said.
posted by barnacles at 2:45 PM on November 27, 2006

I could rig up a better set than that with my daughter's broken toys.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 2:48 PM on November 27, 2006

I would post a response of me vomiting over and over again but I don't think I've eaten enough today.
posted by bob sarabia at 2:52 PM on November 27, 2006

Ouch...politics aside their jokes made me wince in a bad way. I couldn't make it past the Irish/Indian drinking joke.
posted by aaronscool at 2:52 PM on November 27, 2006

I blame Dennis Miller.

(Not so much for being a Republican, but for not being funny. Ever.)
posted by bardic at 2:54 PM on November 27, 2006

Oh...and please let Fox pick this up. Please please please show us this kind of funny on the fair and balanced tip...
posted by aaronscool at 2:58 PM on November 27, 2006

I think it's important to note that this seems to be an independent vie for a tv show, not FOX's "This Just In" which, I believe, is a completely project.

Also, this just in. I think we've found the cause of cancer, and it isn't Bruce McCullough after all.
posted by tittergrrl at 3:01 PM on November 27, 2006

Argh, completely separate project.
posted by tittergrrl at 3:02 PM on November 27, 2006

slogger for the win, actually.
posted by mistermoore at 3:07 PM on November 27, 2006

I think a funny gag would be getting someone to pose as a rep from CNN and set up an interview to discuss the buzz that's forming around their clips, and the potential for them going head to head with "The Daily Show." Meanwhile, some background investigation is done to learn the names of their childhood pets. Then a fake CNN crew shows up at one of their homes to conduct the inteview, but instead of being interviewed, the gals are forced to watch a puppet show that's nothing more than a dark, accurate recreation of the death of their pets.
posted by davebush at 3:08 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

What are they talking about when they mention the republican from the view being raped and murdered on Law and Order?

A little trauma.
posted by dhartung at 3:09 PM on November 27, 2006

Wow, now I just feel like a jerk.
posted by jettloe at 3:11 PM on November 27, 2006

bardic, I thought Miller was very very funny when he hosted Weekend Update in the 1980s. So funny, in fact, that when I became aware of his lame hateful conservative stuff I was convinced for a while that it was another Dennis Miller.
posted by mistermoore at 3:12 PM on November 27, 2006

Well, he does have a goatee now.
posted by ColdChef at 3:18 PM on November 27, 2006

Wasn't there a study a couple years back that showed that people were often incompetent at a task in direct proportion to how confidently they assessed thier own abilities?

These women must be extraordinarily confident.
posted by maryh at 3:20 PM on November 27, 2006

MetaFilter: The Worst of the Web.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:24 PM on November 27, 2006

And weren't Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy (admittedly, as equally unfunny) supposed to be carrying the banner for conservative humor anyways?

Let's face it, it's hard to do political, topical humor when we have a Republican president who comes with his own laugh-track.
posted by bardic at 3:26 PM on November 27, 2006

davebush, you vicious bastard.
posted by boo_radley at 3:26 PM on November 27, 2006

Oh God, I hate Colin Quinn. Every single thing he does.
He was probably the only host of "Weekend Update" who didn't get "Weekend Update". He never acted like a news anchor, he just did his stand-up routine sitting down!

And "Tough Crowd" was even worse. Whenever I saw it, it was him, the painfully unfunny Patrice O'neal (Black and Irish, perhaps?) and a bunch of people I'd never heard of, sitting at a table and telling well-worn racial-stereotype based jokes/observations. It was like "Mind of Mencia" on Thorazine. Ick ick ick.

I'll have to watch these clips when I get home. Sounds fantastic.
posted by elr at 3:45 PM on November 27, 2006

Ouch...politics aside their jokes made me wince in a bad way.

Me three -- that creepy, painful feeling of vicarious embarassment on behalf of any atrocious performer, aka Sweeney Sisters Syndrome. I'd almost be willing to give these people dayjobs just to keep them off of video. Almost.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:49 PM on November 27, 2006

Look at me, I say LOOK AT ME being irreverent!

Not in these women's wildest dreams would that crap ever make it past the 4AM slot on Community Access TV. Racism and fat jokes haven't been funny in ages.
posted by mkultra at 3:49 PM on November 27, 2006

Whoa. I thought everyone in this thread was knocking this just because of the politics but... wow. That's just... Yeah.

Damn. I need a cigarette.
posted by brundlefly at 3:52 PM on November 27, 2006

Just what the republicans need, something else on their side making them look bad.
posted by Holy foxy moxie batman! at 3:55 PM on November 27, 2006

Conservatives on TV work about as well as Liberals on the radio.
posted by stewiethegreat at 3:59 PM on November 27, 2006

The camera panning irritated my lumbago.
posted by docpops at 4:05 PM on November 27, 2006

This is so unoriginal and so uninspired, I don't understand why there has to be a "conservative answer" to anything. Just make the damn show, if it's good, then great. Quit trying so hard.
posted by brokekid at 4:09 PM on November 27, 2006

Pour wine into sewage, and it's still sewage.
Pour sewage into wine, and that's sewage too. (schlimmbessereng)

well, I'll give ya that, but where do you see the "wine" here?

RE: the comments being all positive; they've set their clips to 'moderated comments'... (jettloe)

ah. sense is made. I even went & looked at "all comments" after posting that above, and was thrown into an bizarre world where 32 people found this video awesome. I know I have a liberal bias, but I honestly think I would find good conservative humor funny, and I already know I don't find bad "liberal" humor funny. Al Franken has been a bit tiresome the last few times I've seen him, and I thought I used to like him - but I think good comedians have to be able to see through multiple lenses to stay funny, and if they get too married to a particular ideology it becomes more of a competition than a joke. That's not to say comedians can't have strong opinions, but I think fundamentally they have to recognize the fallibility that underlies ever human endeavor, and the natural absurdity of life. Comedy is just shining light on that. If you go for comedy with a hope to "win" or "make a point", I think you're doomed to lose, and largely missing the point. Also, as said above, comedy is mostly about bringing the big guys down - if you make fun of the little guy, or ignore comedic opportunity with the leaders because you want to support them, it's gonna backfire.

Are there no good conservative comedians? maybe not. I don't think of Colbert & Stewart as first and foremost liberals, though - I liked stewart long before he had a political show, and plenty of my favorite material from both of them is not political... I remember liking PJ O'Rourke when I was a kid and he was in rolling stone... and around the same period when dennis miller was on SNL, I liked him. Carson probably voted repub and he was generally ok, though I always stayed up for dave, who seemed much closer to my heart. But I'd have believed dave voted repub at the time, too - he was definitely not a card carrying member of the hip downtown NYC liberal activists crowd - he was some random midwestern guy who lived in connecticut, and was hilarious.

And it's not that Colbert & Stewart don't sometimes go for a cheap joke, but it's not what makes them so good. Though I am sometimes a tiny bit worried when the cheapest joke gets the biggest laugh that they will slide into LCD humor... what these ladies are missing is any trace of originality, quick-wittedness, or presentation talent. Even the positive comments they got ultimately all seem to say "ha ha, take that liberals, a hot chick said something bad about you!" (2/3s were generally assessed as hot in the comments)

[apologies for pulling an EB, here...]
posted by mdn at 4:11 PM on November 27, 2006

I just watched Happy Days season one, episode one.

Its humour was, especially at the end, a dead ringer for the humour these girls displayed. There was a joke about Alaska maybe becoming a state and of an eskimo becoming President; there was a joke about the pervy gym teacher feeling up the girls. Opportunities to go risque, for pun's sake for crying out loud... ignored. Ritchie has a "stiff" piece of gum, but there's nothing ribald about it.

Some of the humour is no longer funny: there is no longer humour in the power differential between student and teacher being used to get away with sexual or mental abuse. Innuendo doesn't exist. The humour is consistently gentle, except at moments of stunning perversions of abuse.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:13 PM on November 27, 2006

That was horrendously unfunny. Is it too much of a cheap shot to point out the gal on the right looked like the "before" model in a Garnier Fructis commercial?
posted by MegoSteve at 4:22 PM on November 27, 2006

To quote Weird Al: "I'd rather rip my heart right out of my ribcage with my bare hands and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it 'til I die... than spend one more minute" watching this trash.
posted by thatweirdguy2 at 4:22 PM on November 27, 2006

Oh, and with 14,387 views and only 32 comments, you can pretty much safely assume that the other 14,355 people hated it.
posted by MegoSteve at 4:24 PM on November 27, 2006

The funniest part is that everyone keeps referring to these people as "conservatives"...
posted by nightchrome at 4:30 PM on November 27, 2006

Rosie O'Donnel is a fat Lesbian.

GET IT!
posted by tkchrist at 4:35 PM on November 27, 2006

Hey brundlefly, please take that cigarrette and use it to burn out my eyes. I don't want to risk accidentally seeing that every again.
posted by papakwanz at 4:42 PM on November 27, 2006

I just made myself sit through both full clips, and my respect for jetloe grows and grows. It's not just that the comedy is atrociously bad, as I think somebody already mentioned. It's also that they seem to have no real clue as to why they're defending what they're defending. They just think that if they say "democrat" enough they can get a laugh about it. It's true that it's more difficult to get a laugh from a conservative mindset than a liberal one, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Colin Quinn and Dennis Miller might not be your thing, but maybe Rich Vos (on one end of the spectrum) or Drew Carey (on the other end) are. Ron White (the guy from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour who quit the group because he didn't want the name associated with him anymore) is fairly split on social issues (pro-death-penalty, but also pro-gay-rights, for instance) but when he makes a case for his conservative views, my liberal ass still laughs in spite of itself.

Full disclosure: I used to work for Tough Crowd, and I didn't know about Colin's conservative bent until midway through my tenure there, because it was never really what the show was about. Personally, I liked the show before I was hired, though, if for no other reason than that it was built around getting people with different opinions to argue, and was headed by the guy who knew he wasn't going to be as quick-witted as his guests. Colin's little monologues and the comics' answers to the questions at the end were the only scripted portions (this "show" could certainly stand to be unscripted - it couldn't make it any worse) and the writers and producers were, almost to a person, die-hard liberals.

I had seen Colin on Weekend Update, and hated him for replacing Norm MacDonald and not being a fraction as good. I had seen him on stage, where he bombed night after night at the Comedy Cellar and made me wonder what the hell he was thinking with his act. (There was one good bit where he made a joke about nobody knowing who Madeline Albright was, and when it didn't get a laugh, would respond that it was because nobody knew who Madeline Albright was.) I saw Tough Crowd and, while I enjoyed it, I wondered why they had this B-lister who couldn't even read a cue-card without stuttering hosting it, particularly when they had Lewis Black in their arsenal.

Then, on my first day at the job, Colin made a point of finding me in the snack room, and then he and I spent the next hour and a half avoiding the EP's while joking around and telling stories about where we grew up. I suddenly understood how he had gotten so many plum jobs in the industry - he's one of the warmest, most personable people you'd ever meet, and people just want to work with him, because working with him was a joy.

Also, his biggest priority in booking guests was to make sure they were funny, and could play well without a net. And everyone involved was only interested in putting on a great show. In the end, I guess we put on a mediocre show, but had a great time of it, and I liked it regardless.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:52 PM on November 27, 2006 [11 favorites has favorites]

I keep trying to watch them all the way through, and failing.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:12 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I suddenly understood how he had gotten so many plum jobs in the industry - he's one of the warmest, most personable people you'd ever meet, and people just want to work with him, because working with him was a joy.

Slight derail: It's funny. When I worked in the Movie business I would run across these actors I thought of as hacks. At first I wondered how the hell they got jobs? But always the one common denominator was they were very nice people. Genuine people. And more than that they were very professional (always on time, prepared, ethical, etc) in a business known for flakes and egos.

Sometimes this extended to stars. Some of these people are not just getting work because they are gorgeous, or especially talented.Rather, they make work fun for everybody around them. Directors and producers will go out of their way to create parts just for a nice actor to give a set good chemistry. For example you have Sean Penn - dour, crabby, explosive, and demanding. So you bring in Jude Law - nice, charming, flirtatious and totally professional.
posted by tkchrist at 5:34 PM on November 27, 2006

I used to watch the Rush Limbaugh show in high school to gain insight into how those further to the right saw things. He made me laugh on occasion, but more importantly, he could form coherent sentences and make a point worth at least considering when he got the facts right. These women are no Rush Limbaugh, let along Jon Stewart.

If you're going to put forth the conservative Daily Show, you'd better get someone up there with an ounce of intelligence or you'd be better off calling it the "Yuk, Yuk, If you call us racist it's just because you're a PC leftist Jew" show.

I and many others love the Daily Show because Stewart often says exactly what we're thinking and feeling. If this show is a true reflection of what the other side is thinking and feeling then it's quite sad.
posted by VulcanMike at 5:37 PM on November 27, 2006

Another vote for Ron White. Not my favorite comic, but he definitely has some good jokes.

My favorites are more libertarian than anything else, and let's face it, if you want less government in your personal life you probably vote Democratic most of the time. You certainly don't have to, but ever since political conservatives tied their collective rafts to the Christian right in the 1970's and 1980's, it's kind of laughable (get it?!) that douchebags like Tucker Carlson and Jonah Goldberg like to see themselves as so edgy and irreverent. Outside of the three people who watch Tucker and the 15 or so who read the National Review, the rest of us see them as the desperate little sychophants to power that they truly are. Fascist fantasies just don't make for good yuck-yucks across the political spectrum.
posted by bardic at 5:39 PM on November 27, 2006

Ron White (the guy from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour who quit the group because he didn't want the name associated with him anymore)...

I always thought he was the one funny guy in the group ("I was intoxicated... you threw me into public!"). And until he went all right-wing (basically after 9/11) I thought Dennis Miller was funny, but then that was the same sort of humor I had with my friends when we were in college. Also I never saw his chat show, which probably helps.
posted by clevershark at 5:46 PM on November 27, 2006

Make me (at least) the third person to sign up for a Metafilter account just to comment on this.

I originally tried posting my witticism to the youtube page, but, as has been noted here, they moderate their comments, and I doubt that mine would make it through. So, for the benefit of the world, I have spent my $5, and here goes:

I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. Would I have to turn in my card if I were to say that these chicks are shrill harpies who must make their husbands' lives hell?
posted by Flunkie at 5:47 PM on November 27, 2006 [3 favorites has favorites]

Oh god! It's like watching the Star Wars kid! Except these chicks KNOW they're being taped.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 6:10 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well, the ACLU does stand for freedom of speech! Even for these women's right to call themselves comedians and describe their schtick as funny.
posted by clevershark at 6:11 PM on November 27, 2006

clevershark: I know that, and you know that. But I sort of suspect that they don't know that.
posted by Flunkie at 6:12 PM on November 27, 2006

flunkie

I know what you're talking about. Am I the only one who was surprised in the first episode when the third woman said "the ugly" and then cut away to michael moore?

I could have sworn I was already looking at the ugly. Now that would have been comedy
posted by slapshot57 at 6:14 PM on November 27, 2006

I think the answer to the ongoing question in this thread of why there seem to be very few funny conservatives boils down to something that these ladies demonstrate in spades:

They confuse hatred with humor.
posted by Flunkie at 6:26 PM on November 27, 2006

bicyclefish, Burhanistan, and Flunkie - welcome to MetaFilter and thanks for your comments!

jettloe, I thought your response was fantastic - loved the intervention premise, just the right note. Good on you.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:33 PM on November 27, 2006

They confuse hatred with humor.

Absolutely true. There seems to be "comedy" that is actually funny, funny and clever, and this new "conservative comedy" which seems to be juvenile, racist and not at all clever or funny.
posted by mattoxic at 6:49 PM on November 27, 2006

Oh, good god.

I just went back and suffered through Episode Two.

They say that men vote Democrat because of low levels of testosterone.

So what's their excuse, as women, for voting Republican?
posted by Flunkie at 6:55 PM on November 27, 2006

A lot of so-called humor (especially topical) is not really funny. Instead it tries to marginalize, belittle, show up, and especially call to attention something that the teller hates and/or fears.

For example, if you are working a crowd that believes that one reason for illegal Mexicans to enter the USA is to have sex with white women, then rape or foiled-rape jokes may be a big hit.

Or, if you ever stumble across an old collection of Playboy Party Jokes give it a read. A few jokes are still funny but most revolve around hate/fear of frigid henpecking wives, strong women, gold-diggers, dumb bimbos, and homos.

Hate/fear humor targets the limbic system and its involuntary responses and is the easiest to present to a receptive crowd.

Better humor uses irony, incongruity, or absurdity. It best works with a snappy delivery that blurs the hate/fear point with some rationalization.

Sadly these chicks think that just repeating the lowest hate memes for their crowd is humor.

(and I call them "chicks" because they seemed intent on showing cleavage during the show.)
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:59 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

billysumday: What do you think is supposed to be superimposed on the blue screen behind them?

That's really up to us, isn't it? This may have some video remix potential in spots. Unlike the Star Wars Kid, these birds are fair game.
posted by kid ichorous at 7:00 PM on November 27, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

It's worth remembering that whenever Ann Coulter calls for genocide or the muder of a SCOTUS judge, or when Rush says Donovan McNabb gets attention only because he's a negro, Republicans are very quick to say, well hey now, Ann and Rush are really, deep-down, humorists, performers if you will, and why can't you humorless liberals take a joke?

And granted, we really can't expect logical consistency from these guys, but as long as I'm trying to play their game it goes something like this: The librul MSM is already filled with Bush-hating, gay-loving anchors like Katie Couric and Ted Koppel. So we need to have our comedians, and if they aren't demonstrably funny, it's because the left has brainwashed Americans into not being able to laugh hard enough at Ted Kennedy and Cindy Sheehan. Or something.

I admit, it's weird. But with the country turning against them, it's funny to see how desperate they've become.
posted by bardic at 7:09 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

What these ladies miss - totally - is that you've got to bring the funny first. Then you can dabble in the politics.

And while we're all labeling Jon Stewart a Democrat party hack, remember in 2003 or so how TDS was running a daily smirkfest at the Dems' expense called "Race From The White House"? The whole point of that running gag was that there wasn't one Democrat with the spine to stand for anything...

...until Bush & Company handed Stewart comedy gold with the mismanagement of the war. And the rest was history.

And, for real, I know a lot of very funny conservatives. But you can bet they're not leading with "Michael Moore is fat" jokes.
posted by baltimore at 7:19 PM on November 27, 2006

kid ichorous is my new hero. please, someone with video editing talent get on this.
posted by tylermoody at 7:20 PM on November 27, 2006

Didn't read the comments in this thread. So forgive my HOLY FUCKING CHRIST! I could use a little of their humor on a samosa. Bitter angry people, so much better than lemons.
posted by econous at 7:43 PM on November 27, 2006

2:13.
posted by scrim at 7:53 PM on November 27, 2006

How did they get the camera in there? Oh wait, is this the sexcam thread? *asplode*
posted by moonbird at 8:04 PM on November 27, 2006

econous - always read the comments first. Sure, sometimes you are exposed to a "spoiler" that, had you not known about ahead of time, would have increased your enjoyment of the post. But, isn't that occasional disappointment worth it, to know that you should not, say, click on one of jonson's creepy-scary-beastie links? Or, something like this?

(I still haven't watched the videos, but I'm sure I'll get to them right after I check out all of jonson's extreme close-ups of maneating spiders and lactating crustaceans, or whatever the hell he posts about).
posted by yhbc at 8:06 PM on November 27, 2006

I thought the second episode would be less painful. I even struggled through the staggeringly poorly-conceived school concept because, well, at least it had a set. Sort of. And then for my trouble I got:

HAHA OPRAH IS A LIBERAL AND FAT HAHA PWNED.

Fuck, I want to kick something.

PS. Does anyone else desperately want to shave the redhead? That is atrocious.
posted by scrim at 8:15 PM on November 27, 2006

Reminds me of Bruce Tinsley's Mallard Fillmore, who's said to be a counterweight for Doonesbury, but the symmetry isn't there. Propaganda isn't going to balance out satire.

The Daily Show targets not only the politicians in power (mainly the GOP since '94 and 2000), but TV news itself. If both Jon Stewart and the media were liberally biased, you'd think he'd have nothing to say. But time and time again TDS points out how the media is kowtowing to those in power, not following up on continuing stories, overlooking other news, and favoring the sensational and trivial.

There has to be some decent humor to mine from the right. But instead of picking on the little guy, or straw bogeymen of the "cultural elite" (not the financial elite, notably)... seek out the pompous, the hypocritical, the narrowminded, and poke holes in it.

(I can't resist sharing why my nickname for Dennis Miller is "Monica": he does to Bush figuratively what Ms. Lewinsky did for Clinton literally. I'll be here all weekend; try the roast beef.)
posted by kurumi at 8:25 PM on November 27, 2006

I have to admit, for a highschool project, this is well done.
posted by wumpus at 8:26 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I thought the second episode would be less painful. I even struggled through the staggeringly poorly-conceived school concept because, well, at least it had a set. Sort of. And then for my trouble I got:

HAHA OPRAH IS A LIBERAL AND FAT HAHA PWNED.

That segment threw me for a bit of a loop.

It seemed to be based on the premise that a flaming liberal lesbian Wiccan atheist Muslim Negro abortionist Mexican welfare queen Satanist druggie terrorist (like, um, Oprah) would never, never have the guts to invite a real straight-shooting terrorist-smashing manly man (like, um, Bill O'Reilly) on her show.

But then all of a sudden, out of the blue, they started talking about Bill O'Reilly's appearance on Oprah's show.
posted by Flunkie at 8:31 PM on November 27, 2006

I agree with everyone's well-thought and totally non-herdlike comments: comedy just isn't funny when it does not involve dumb jokes about the President.
posted by esquire at 8:40 PM on November 27, 2006

I know esquire! If these pussies can't see the humor in impersonating a grieving mother of a suicide bomber or jokes without punchlines than fuck 'em!
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 8:50 PM on November 27, 2006

I wonder if it isn't funny because its republicans or if it isn't funny because it's women?
posted by I Foody at 8:51 PM on November 27, 2006

I wonder if it isn't funny because its republicans or if it isn't funny because it's women?

Yeah, because clearly, those are the only possible reasons that people would lie and claim that this absolutely hilarious laff-o-rama isn't funny.
posted by Flunkie at 8:54 PM on November 27, 2006

comedy just isn't funny when it is axe grinding, humorless crap spewed out by talentless thick witted vegetables

There, I fixed your thing for you, esquire.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:54 PM on November 27, 2006

...bevets? How did you get esquire's login?
posted by scrim at 8:54 PM on November 27, 2006

I for one, welcome our new rightwing political comedy overlords.
posted by prodigalsun at 8:54 PM on November 27, 2006

So, esquire, you liked it?
posted by JHarris at 8:57 PM on November 27, 2006

Ok just to be clear: I honestly don't think that women or republicans tend to be very funny.
posted by I Foody at 8:57 PM on November 27, 2006

Oh, THAT'S why you said that! Thanks for clearing that up.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 9:00 PM on November 27, 2006

Described as "the View meets

Oh, sucks.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:37 PM on November 27, 2006

yhbc posted: jonson's extreme... ...lactating crustaceans, or... ....hell

Fair enough, but every American and those less fortunate, should watch these odd people pretending to be Republican. They are pretending aren't they? Please say they are... otherwise I prefer hipster pants, chopper bikes, KachaGoGo and the ever-present threat of M.A.D. Though in fairness not flares, they were hideous.
posted by econous at 9:39 PM on November 27, 2006

For those that suffered through the "Why mommy is a Republican" segment: Was I the only one who, when hearing about how mommy is a Republican because her straight A application was passed over at Harvard by a straight C student, couldn't help but think maybe that student was G.W. Bush getting into Harvard Business School?
posted by twjordan at 9:42 PM on November 27, 2006

I simply cannot decide which of those women I would want put my penis in.
posted by squidfartz at 10:01 PM on November 27, 2006

>to<

Maybe the brunette.
posted by squidfartz at 10:02 PM on November 27, 2006

They just blow. Everything is so feigned. And they are simply repugnant.

But, did anybody notice when they flashed from the Michael Moore photo shop to the focus on Julia Gorin? Did they put his face on her body?!

Episode 2 should be called "Coffee Hour With Fascists."
posted by pwedza at 10:23 PM on November 27, 2006

Also, should somebody maybe tell Julia Gorin that she didn't get into Harvard because her application essay surely proved how much of an idiot she was despite her proclaimed straight-A average?
posted by Navelgazer at 10:27 PM on November 27, 2006

recently launched Political Mavens as "a celebrity-studded conservative answer to Arianna's Huffington Post."

That reminds me, one time Apu described Otm Shank as "India's answer to Brian Dennehy."
posted by ibmcginty at 10:36 PM on November 27, 2006

WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS?
posted by carsonb at 11:30 PM on November 27, 2006

Julia Groin. I smell a Monica.
posted by NewBornHippy at 12:05 AM on November 28, 2006

That really, really sucks.
posted by zardoz at 1:00 AM on November 28, 2006

Is anyone able to find the videos to download wholesale? I want to get to remixin' them into something, oh, I don't know, funny? And then posting as a video response. I got 'em down but I can't get the video to sync with the audio at all.
posted by damo at 1:27 AM on November 28, 2006

The star-rating doesn't reflect the impressive consensus of the comments comment moderator.

Still, people are being generous - two stars out of five. The statistician in me suspects that a breakdown of those ratings would show that almost all of them are either five star ratings, or one-star ratings - I don't think there will be much middle ground :)
posted by -harlequin- at 2:01 AM on November 28, 2006

Why don't they move the camera further back and keep all three hosts in shot at the same time?

Was this directed by Donald Rumsfeld, or something?
posted by tapeguy at 2:32 AM on November 28, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

unbelievably bad stuff. we have nothing to worry about if those morons are the answer to the Daily Show.

i could only make it thru about 1 1/2 minutes.
posted by tarantula at 5:21 AM on November 28, 2006

The Daily Show does make fun of Democrats. I just saw a repeat of the Nov. 8 episode, and almost all of the Stewart's monologue, and all of the contributions by correspondents were directed at the Democrats. And I laughed. A lot.
posted by eustacescrubb at 5:32 AM on November 28, 2006

Wow.

The mods allowed TWO negative comments through! So they really do want to have an open dialogue...
posted by baltimore at 5:58 AM on November 28, 2006

The Daily Show does make fun of Democrats. I just saw a repeat of the Nov. 8 episode, and almost all of the Stewart's monologue, and all of the contributions by correspondents were directed at the Democrats.

The problem is that when you see "makes fun of Republicans" and "makes fun of Democrats", you think "makes fun of Republicans and Democrats".

In their world, they see "makes fun of Republicans", and are immediately short-circuited to thinking "terrorist!"

On the flip side of the coin, regarding their own show, they see "launches constant volleys of strident, acidic malevolence against Democrats" and "makes one racist joke about one particular Republican", and think "makes fun of Republicans and Democrats".
posted by Flunkie at 7:05 AM on November 28, 2006

Welcome to the America Show where we celebrate this fabulous country of ours. The Good [picture of soldiers], the Bad [picture of Osama] and the Ugly [picture of Michael Moore].

Oh come on, I know the Bush and bin Laden families gather monthly for reptillian sex orgies, but isn't it a bit of a stretch to call Osama an American?
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 7:23 AM on November 28, 2006

Wow. Just Wow. I watched the whole thing. Both episodes. I will never, ever get back those 15 minutes again. Have these people never heard of comic timing? Again and again their timing was so off. They wouldn't last two minutes in a comedy club. In my opinion, comedy doesn't apply to political boundaries, I find Larry the Cable Guy funny (and I seem to be in the minority here) but comedy should be something other than a bunch of slack-brained, bigoted harpies sitting around giggling into their coffee. Unless this is a satire, in which case... Ah fuck it, it still wouldn't be funny!
posted by ob at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2006

Wait, don't they have an entire 24/7 parody newscast? Fox News?
posted by pcameron at 8:35 AM on November 28, 2006

To be fair, while the Daily Show does make fun of democrats, it is still from a progressive/liberal perspective. Not that I have a problem with that.
posted by pcameron at 8:42 AM on November 28, 2006

Embarrassing. Cringe-worthy.

It was like watching cheerleaders make fun of the science geeks on some high-school public access show. The timing, the expressions on their faces, their condescending tone, it all felt (ironically) like some youtube video made by a group of girls in front of a webcam.

And then there is the glaringly unfunny commentary. There is satire and there is condescension. This was the popular kid saying 'duhr' to the (in their vernacular) retard. The very lowest of the low of unfunny.
posted by WhipSmart at 8:52 AM on November 28, 2006

I'd love to hear how TDS is "liberal." Methinks the US American concept of liberal is rather out-of-tune with the rest of the western world. Your country has the right and far-right parties: you simply do not have a liberal party.

And so I'm curious as to what you see as being liberal in TDS.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:01 AM on November 28, 2006

damo, how do you download YouTube videos in the first place? I desperately want to have fun with chroma key.
posted by brundlefly at 9:34 AM on November 28, 2006

For those who desire to respond by video, here's a handy Firefox extension.
posted by ed at 1:19 PM on November 28, 2006

It's just appalling on so many levels I don't know where to begin or end. I guess simply it's so juvenile, childish and amatuerish that it could only be funny to close family friends who are too kind to be truthful.

It's also overly mean-spirited, like a child trying to be cruel to another child while trying to make it funny for others and fails miserably.

I don't mind if they want to poke fun at some belief structure, but make it funny. This isn't funny, it just illustrates how sad, irrelevant and pathetic conservatives and their supporters have become.
posted by mk1gti at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2006

somehow I found it funnier to play it back as if their negative statements were positive; as an example 'mommy is a republican because she votes with her brain and not her poonanie' translated 'mommy is a republican because she votes with her poonanie and not her brain'

But don't bother, re-watching both of those segments again is something that would only occur forcefully at Gitmo or Abu-Ghraib. . .
posted by mk1gti at 2:06 PM on November 28, 2006

brundlefly:
First I used basically the same software ed recommended to strip the FLV file (flash video) from youtube. Then I used the Riva Encoder to strip out the original video. You just have to change the output file extension manually from 'flv' to 'mpeg'. However the audio stream in the resulting file is terribly finicky. For example it won't play back in WMP, but it will play back in Media Player Classic. This being the case I've been trying to record the audio separately, then splice them back together but syncing is hell. Mainly this is because I don't have the best software anymore, if you can get it done let me know!
posted by damo at 3:49 PM on November 28, 2006

Just a thought, perhaps those at FOX are watching sites like this to find out what works and what doesn't.

To those at FOX, produce this show! Fantastic! Beautiful stuff! Highly entertaining! Why, if I were a conservative I would find this funny as hell, well worth the money invested to put it on the air! Please produce this show. Inquiring minds want to know.
posted by mk1gti at 5:20 PM on November 28, 2006

I want to be like them.
posted by mazola at 5:31 PM on November 28, 2006

Mainly this is because I don't have the best software anymore,

What would you use for this, given a choice? (And frame by frame editing?)
posted by IronLizard at 6:01 PM on November 28, 2006

IronLizard:
At the moment all I have is flash mx and its video editing capabilities. The problem is the effect that the flash timeline framerate has on the sync. If you change the framerate things contract or expand so that it's terribly frustrating. Something like Adobe (well, I guess it's the same company now) Premiere which has more precise framerate control and timeline editing would work. Also the real software would have stronger import/export capabilities so that one could just import the original MPEG file and not spend hours guessing and checking the sync. Then you can do anything you want, though my personal plan was to send it back to flash because of the ease of adding overlayed graphics and subtitles.
posted by damo at 7:25 PM on November 28, 2006

And I can't tell you how painful it was to watch, watch, watch, and rewatch while I tried to get the sync right. goeiakeewkqwjhhhhh.......
posted by damo at 7:29 PM on November 28, 2006

And so I'm curious as to what you see as being liberal in TDS.

In this country, if you hate bush, you're liberal. If you love bush, you're a conservative.
posted by delmoi at 7:37 PM on November 28, 2006

Have you tried this?

I just found it today, no idea how well it works but I'm going to try it when I actually get around to learning video work. Still working on good photography skills and drawing with inkscape and illustrator and javascript and php and better css and photoshop and all those other dozens of things I'm only mediocre with. </small
posted by IronLizard at 8:12 PM on November 28, 2006

Oh, and closing my tags properly.
posted by IronLizard at 8:13 PM on November 28, 2006

The girls were about as funny and as cruel as we've all been in this thread. I'm not entirely sure there's much difference between what they did and what we regularly do here.

That's "we" in the collective, but perhaps not including you specifically, k?
posted by five fresh fish at 10:32 PM on November 28, 2006

The girls were about as funny and as cruel as we've all been in this thread.

Yeah, probably, but they're trying to be funny. I'm guessing the majority of comments here aren't.
posted by juv3nal at 12:11 AM on November 29, 2006

five fresh fish>

Possibly, but on the plus side, we aren't saying 'Hey, give us money, we'll make a series out of this'. Professional comedians probably should be funnier than internet curmudgeons.
posted by Swandive at 2:13 AM on November 29, 2006

Metafilter: a bunch of people trying to be funny on top of a blue background

Let's pitch that series!
posted by mazola at 6:49 AM on November 29, 2006

Someone should just make a movie of this thread scrolling up the screen and post it on YouTube.
posted by mkultra at 8:36 AM on November 29, 2006

Aggressively bad, as though they wish to harm their viewers.

i think i lifted that from some reviewer somewhere
posted by mistermoore at 3:13 PM on November 29, 2006

Agreed, Swandive. But I thought about that and decided their YouTube contribution is a close parallel to what goes on here. We have a helluva lot of readers, regardless our pay status.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:23 PM on November 29, 2006

I watched all of both of them, and I laughed.

"More like Freudian Rape!" Hilarious! And the theme song at the end of 2 was NEStastic.
posted by hoborg at 1:13 PM on November 30, 2006

i think I made 32 seconds
posted by Frasermoo at 8:02 PM on December 2, 2006

l'chaim!
posted by Kifer85 at 12:09 AM on December 3, 2006

Should you find yourself not wanting to watch the videos, but yet wanting of hint of their essence, it is enough to know that this is the second sentence in Julia Gorin's bio on her own webpage:

Julia's jokes are among the "1,500
Best Jokes Ever Told" in Penguin Group's newly released
Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes.

Indeed.
posted by Harvey Birdman at 1:04 AM on December 3, 2006

That was horrible.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 3:20 AM on December 3, 2006

Is this supposed to be a ripoff of the SNL "Delicious Dish" NPR parody?

And if you're a Republican why would you possibly make jokes about politicians' DUIs, when Bush and Cheney are still in the White House?
posted by rxrfrx at 4:57 AM on December 3, 2006

This show made more money for Matt in one day than it will for Julia Gorin in her lifetime.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:27 AM on December 9, 2006

Yeah, but is it funny?
posted by grubi

That question started off this thread. It's been answered in a definitive "No."

Also, rxrfrx, the "Delicious Dish "was exactly what went through my mind in the first fifteen seconds of the video Tediously self-aware, painfully parochial attempts at wit, smothered in a pungent lagniappe of pathos.

Only, the "Delicious Dish" was intended to be that way, whereas this...
posted by darkstar at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2006

holy fuck on toast. I lean conservative on quite a few issues and this was just ... I am sad for them.

I can just picture them brainstorming jokes and all laughing at how funny they are... and maybe, deep inside, they know they aren't funny, but isn't it nice to have friends? why would i not laugh? that might make her feel bad. "Oh good one! ZING!" this goes on for hours till they have a whole script that all three are pretending is funny....

and now its on the internet and im ashamed FOR them.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 3:42 AM on December 23, 2006

Julia's jokes are among the "1,500 Best Jokes Ever Told" in Penguin Group's newly released Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes.

Now this is comedy -- the kind these three women will never, ever understand.
posted by thejoshu at 11:32 AM on December 25, 2006