Plagiarism in this week's Onion!
October 18, 2001 5:19 PM Subscribe
Plagiarism in this week's Onion! Their story "NBC To Add Dateline: Flursday" is a direct ripoff of the "Dateline: Katilsday" joke from Family Guy Episode 14, where Lois explains "Oh, NBC invented another day so they could air another episode of Dateline." (Here's the audio file.)
Methinks this was no more than an honest mistake.
The Onion folks have proven themsleves to be nothing short of brilliant. Can the same be said of the writers of Family Guy?
posted by aladfar at 5:43 PM on October 18, 2001
The Onion folks have proven themsleves to be nothing short of brilliant. Can the same be said of the writers of Family Guy?
posted by aladfar at 5:43 PM on October 18, 2001
The Onion folks have proven themsleves to be nothing short of brilliant. Can the same be said of the writers of Family Guy?
Yes, definitely.
posted by ljromanoff at 5:48 PM on October 18, 2001
Yes, definitely.
posted by ljromanoff at 5:48 PM on October 18, 2001
come on, nbc creating another day so they can air more dateline? thats not a common idea. I will say, however, that I agree w/ the fact that sometimes the creator of jokes that passed around get uncredited...
posted by tomplus2 at 5:53 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by tomplus2 at 5:53 PM on October 18, 2001
Why would The Onion, which is actually funny, need to copy from The Family Guy, which isn't?
posted by Doug at 6:01 PM on October 18, 2001 [1 favorite]
posted by Doug at 6:01 PM on October 18, 2001 [1 favorite]
most likely a case of vague memory turning into a 'new' idea.
posted by th3ph17 at 6:03 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by th3ph17 at 6:03 PM on October 18, 2001
OH MY GOD SOMEONE CALL THE DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY!!
i thought onion links weren't allowed anymore.
anyway, good sleuthing, sherlock.
posted by sugarfish at 6:08 PM on October 18, 2001
i thought onion links weren't allowed anymore.
anyway, good sleuthing, sherlock.
posted by sugarfish at 6:08 PM on October 18, 2001
Why would The Onion, which is actually funny, need to copy from The Family Guy, which isn't?
JMHO, but you're entitled to it...Family Guy is a brilliant show, one of the funniest on television. Stewie the baby kills me...
Anybody have any thoughts on "The Tick"?
posted by vito90 at 6:17 PM on October 18, 2001
No, I'm sure Ann Coulter originally had this idea way back in the month of Smarch.
posted by gazingus at 6:25 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by gazingus at 6:25 PM on October 18, 2001
You BASTARDS! The Onion loved you! LOVED YOU! And you threw it all away!
They didn't hurt nobody!
I hope you heartless fucks can sleep at night.
Damn you all! Damn you all to HELL!
grrrrrrrrr.
posted by ColdChef at 6:44 PM on October 18, 2001
They didn't hurt nobody!
I hope you heartless fucks can sleep at night.
Damn you all! Damn you all to HELL!
grrrrrrrrr.
posted by ColdChef at 6:44 PM on October 18, 2001
I also noticed that Conan O'Brien made almost that exact same joke months ago while taking unsuspecting tourists on a "tour" of NBC studios.
posted by clevershark at 7:13 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by clevershark at 7:13 PM on October 18, 2001
Stewie the baby kills me...
i once emailed stewie... he actually responded. for that, i will love him forever.
posted by lotsofno at 7:47 PM on October 18, 2001
i once emailed stewie... he actually responded. for that, i will love him forever.
posted by lotsofno at 7:47 PM on October 18, 2001
It seems to me that satire, by nature, will riff on jokes or themes found elsewhere in the cultural landscape. How else would it be timely, recognizable, and immediate? Its like Gulliver's Travels or Dante's Inferno, full of barbs and caricatures that are lost on us, but would have been instantly sussed out by their respective contemporary audiences. That's the point, isn't it?
posted by hipstertrash at 9:09 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by hipstertrash at 9:09 PM on October 18, 2001
I love the idea that someone is complaining about the Family Guy being ripped off, when the design for Stewie is a virtual carbon copy of Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan.
posted by MegoSteve at 10:08 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by MegoSteve at 10:08 PM on October 18, 2001
> That's the point, isn't it?
What's the point? Duplicating throw-away one liners from 18-month old tv shows? That's not really a up-to-the-moment riff.
Definitely could be "a case of vague memory turning into a 'new' idea". We'll probably never know.
posted by sylloge at 10:47 PM on October 18, 2001
What's the point? Duplicating throw-away one liners from 18-month old tv shows? That's not really a up-to-the-moment riff.
Definitely could be "a case of vague memory turning into a 'new' idea". We'll probably never know.
posted by sylloge at 10:47 PM on October 18, 2001
What's up with the guy on the Family Guy, whose chin looks way too much like a scrotum? I can't stand to watch him. Weird!
posted by hitsman at 11:37 PM on October 18, 2001
posted by hitsman at 11:37 PM on October 18, 2001
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posted by NoMoreLSAT at 5:43 PM on October 18, 2001