Sarah Palin guesting as Tina Fey, but even more awkwardly
June 7, 2018 4:20 PM Subscribe
Live from Omaha, here's a terrible pitch for a conservative Saturday Night Live
Daily Kos quotes more details:
First, don’t try to hide what you’re doing. Bill the show as the red state alternative to Saturday Night Live and broadcast it on the same night at the same time. Be a direct competitor and follow SNL’s format with a regular cast, a celebrity host and a musical guest in front of a live studio audience.
Second, set it in America’s heartland. Omaha, Nebraska would be ideal. And give it a similar name and branding to SNL. Something along the lines of “Live from Omaha! It’s Another Saturday Night!” would work. If lawyers say that’s too close to SNL, get creative but make sure viewers know exactly what the show is intended to be.
Third, take advantage of all the comedic opportunities SNL passes over on a weekly basis for purely partisan reasons. Hammer Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Parody CNN and MSNBC in the same way that SNL delights in making fun of FOX News. Chris Cuomo and Brian Stelter are walking comedy skits just waiting to happen. Have you ever wondered why they’re not an object of ridicule on SNL? There are countless other possibilities SNL regularly neglects which would send conservative Americans into fits of laughter.
Guests would include...
James Woods
Ann Coulter
Greg Gutfeld
Sarah Palin
Adam Baldwin
and a list of musical guests includes Kanye West...
Apologies to residents of Omaha, who no doubt do not want this fictional thing thrust upon them.
Daily Kos quotes more details:
First, don’t try to hide what you’re doing. Bill the show as the red state alternative to Saturday Night Live and broadcast it on the same night at the same time. Be a direct competitor and follow SNL’s format with a regular cast, a celebrity host and a musical guest in front of a live studio audience.
Second, set it in America’s heartland. Omaha, Nebraska would be ideal. And give it a similar name and branding to SNL. Something along the lines of “Live from Omaha! It’s Another Saturday Night!” would work. If lawyers say that’s too close to SNL, get creative but make sure viewers know exactly what the show is intended to be.
Third, take advantage of all the comedic opportunities SNL passes over on a weekly basis for purely partisan reasons. Hammer Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Parody CNN and MSNBC in the same way that SNL delights in making fun of FOX News. Chris Cuomo and Brian Stelter are walking comedy skits just waiting to happen. Have you ever wondered why they’re not an object of ridicule on SNL? There are countless other possibilities SNL regularly neglects which would send conservative Americans into fits of laughter.
Guests would include...
James Woods
Ann Coulter
Greg Gutfeld
Sarah Palin
Adam Baldwin
and a list of musical guests includes Kanye West...
Apologies to residents of Omaha, who no doubt do not want this fictional thing thrust upon them.
What? "Ow, My Balls" isn't good enough for them??
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 4:32 PM on June 7, 2018 [34 favorites]
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 4:32 PM on June 7, 2018 [34 favorites]
I don't think this dude knows a whole lot about Omaha.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [19 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [19 favorites]
Didn't they already try something like this back in 2008 or so? Well, it was pretty forgettable.
posted by smcameron at 4:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by smcameron at 4:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Did you mean The 1/2 Hour News Hour, on Fox News? Or the RightNetwork cable channel? Both folded less than a year later, so 'forgettable' about sums it up.
posted by hangashore at 4:47 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by hangashore at 4:47 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
Omaha is 50 percent Democrat, the home to firebrand left wing state senator Ernie Chambers, half of its mayors for the past 30 years have been Democrats, and Omaha and Lincoln were the only two Nebraska Cities to vote for Clinton in the last election.
Also, Omahans are generally funnier than this. Amber Ruffin from Seth Meyer’s show is a former Omahan.
posted by maxsparber at 4:50 PM on June 7, 2018 [43 favorites]
Also, Omahans are generally funnier than this. Amber Ruffin from Seth Meyer’s show is a former Omahan.
posted by maxsparber at 4:50 PM on June 7, 2018 [43 favorites]
It has taken me 5 minutes to realise that pitch isn't satire. Fuuuuuck.
posted by howfar at 4:55 PM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by howfar at 4:55 PM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
Greg Gutfield. Says it all, really.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:00 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:00 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
And Omaha, via Nebraska's splitting of its electoral votes via congressional district, gave 1 EV to Obama in 2008.
posted by hangashore at 5:00 PM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by hangashore at 5:00 PM on June 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
Let me throw in a token "I think they really mean Council Bluffs" here, but honestly in reading this, I am rolling my eyes harder at all of the prime comedy they think SNL is leaving on the table. This is why conservatives don't have an SNL.
posted by Sequence at 5:18 PM on June 7, 2018 [20 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 5:18 PM on June 7, 2018 [20 favorites]
There should also be sketches which make fun of liberal comedy heroes like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah. Maybe this could take the place of SNL’s “Weekend Update.” Make these hypocrites the butt of the joke for once and see how they like it.
No, anything but that. They'd haaaate that.
posted by zabuni at 5:23 PM on June 7, 2018 [36 favorites]
No, anything but that. They'd haaaate that.
posted by zabuni at 5:23 PM on June 7, 2018 [36 favorites]
I knew that last comment was from an Omahan as soon as I saw the delightful dig at Council Bluffs!
posted by maxsparber at 5:23 PM on June 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 5:23 PM on June 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
make sure viewers know exactly what the show is intended to be.
Apparently the show is intended to be Conservative SNL with guest stars, musical guests...and no regular cast? "Pundits who like to think they're funny" are not the same thing as "comedians", dude.
posted by camyram at 5:27 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
Apparently the show is intended to be Conservative SNL with guest stars, musical guests...and no regular cast? "Pundits who like to think they're funny" are not the same thing as "comedians", dude.
posted by camyram at 5:27 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
“Live from Omaha! It’s Another Saturday Night! With... Mike Huckabee... Dennis Miller... that guy from Good Morning Vietnam who thought he was funny... Ken Bone... your racist uncle... an American flag with a crying eagle on it... probably a gun or a truck or a truck with a gun on it or maybe like a truck that turns into a gun holy shit that would be sweet... Victoria Jackson..."
posted by bondcliff at 5:32 PM on June 7, 2018 [40 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 5:32 PM on June 7, 2018 [40 favorites]
This pitch forgets that heartland conservatives looooved Steven Colbert's show on Comedy Central. They didn't feel like they were the butt of Colbert's jokes, and this love was regardless of their feelings about Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
posted by ardgedee at 5:37 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 5:37 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
This pitch forgets that heartland conservatives looooved Steven Colbert's show on Comedy Central. They didn't feel like they were the butt of Colbert's jokes, and this love was regardless of their feelings about Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
Oh man, this. This is something I keep forgetting because it sort of breaks my brain.
Can anyone explain this?
posted by schadenfrau at 5:43 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Oh man, this. This is something I keep forgetting because it sort of breaks my brain.
Can anyone explain this?
posted by schadenfrau at 5:43 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Dennis Miller’s podcast is like listening to someone slleepily lose their mind
posted by The Whelk at 5:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 5:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
If your plan is to win the culture war and your plan starts "Make a new network television show" I already have bad news for you.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [22 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [22 favorites]
Saturday Right Live
posted by tclark at 5:59 PM on June 7, 2018 [18 favorites]
posted by tclark at 5:59 PM on June 7, 2018 [18 favorites]
Dennis Miller’s podcast is like listening to someone slleepily lose their mind
Has he come up with his joke yet?
posted by Artw at 6:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
Has he come up with his joke yet?
posted by Artw at 6:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
I sort of want to see this happen so I could enjoy watching it fail... except that I know that anyone who thought this was a good enough idea to produce it would be airing hate speech they found hilarious.
posted by Zed at 6:02 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Zed at 6:02 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
If your plan is to win the culture war and your plan starts "Make a new network television show" I already have bad news for you.Sadly, other right wingers are winning the culture wars by gaming YouTube's suggested videos algorithm to target awkward, lonely 12-year-old boys (which is pretty much every 12-year-old boy). It's easy to laugh at this idea, but these are not the culture warriors we need to worry about.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:06 PM on June 7, 2018 [34 favorites]
This is right up there with the "take down Bill Maher to own the Libs" thing from last week.
posted by bongo_x at 6:08 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 6:08 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
Liberals and moderates: “We should make a comedy show. People love to laugh. We should make people laugh.”
Conservatives: “We should make a comedy show. People NEED TO KNOW THAT LIBERALS ARE DUMB, I MEAN THEY ARE JUST THE WORST AND WE SHOULD STICK IT TO ‘EM.”
It’s a real mystery why those shows never seem to take off.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:21 PM on June 7, 2018 [58 favorites]
Conservatives: “We should make a comedy show. People NEED TO KNOW THAT LIBERALS ARE DUMB, I MEAN THEY ARE JUST THE WORST AND WE SHOULD STICK IT TO ‘EM.”
It’s a real mystery why those shows never seem to take off.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:21 PM on June 7, 2018 [58 favorites]
ArbitraryAndCapricious's point is ReasonableAndSensible. As much as I hate to admit it, it's the "meme magic" types that are hitting hard in the culture wars. If you want to shape the future of culture you need to be hitting young minds. This terrible idea on the other hand is at least 30 years too late to hope to make an impact.
SNL did not invent the comedy variety show, the 60s and 70s were filled with them. All SNL did was make one that appealed to Gen X instead of Baby Boomers. This is a concept that appeals to Baby Boomers but is ostensibly aimed for Millennials and younger, which is worse than useless. If you can't show me how liberals and SJWs are ruining America via an amusing set of GIFs then don't even bother trying.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:27 PM on June 7, 2018
SNL did not invent the comedy variety show, the 60s and 70s were filled with them. All SNL did was make one that appealed to Gen X instead of Baby Boomers. This is a concept that appeals to Baby Boomers but is ostensibly aimed for Millennials and younger, which is worse than useless. If you can't show me how liberals and SJWs are ruining America via an amusing set of GIFs then don't even bother trying.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:27 PM on June 7, 2018
SNL did not invent the comedy variety show, the 60s and 70s were filled with them. All SNL did was make one that appealed to Gen X instead of Baby Boomers.
wat
posted by tclark at 6:30 PM on June 7, 2018 [27 favorites]
wat
posted by tclark at 6:30 PM on June 7, 2018 [27 favorites]
The real right wing comedy show is South Park. It’s not that conservatives can’t be funny, it’s that these shows try to be funny AND religious AND have a political message at the same time. So you wind up with satire where they don’t swear and there’s a moment to honor our nation’s soldiers. It’s like expecting Gomer Pyle to be edgy. There’s a reason people like Milo Y are so much more popular.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 6:41 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 6:41 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
Mrs. Betty Bowers is the best conservative christian comedy out there right now.
posted by JohnFromGR at 7:07 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by JohnFromGR at 7:07 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
SNL did not invent the comedy variety show, the 60s and 70s were filled with them. All SNL did was make one that appealed to Gen X instead of Baby Boomers.
GenXers were like five years old when SNL came out.
posted by octothorpe at 7:13 PM on June 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
GenXers were like five years old when SNL came out.
posted by octothorpe at 7:13 PM on June 7, 2018 [11 favorites]
Sometimes I worry that a genuinely hilarious conservative show will come along. As a rule, conservatives aren't funny. Empathy is an important part of comedy, and (in 2018 at least) a lack of empathy is an essential part of being a conservative. But empathy isn't truly essential to comedy. You can be a heartless asshole and still be funny, and we've seen successful comedy that leaned fairly conservative. The South Park guys are all over the map politically, but at times they've read conservative enough that people tried to make "South Park Republicans" a thing. There have been episodes when Parker and Stone were absolutely, infuriatingly wrong about an issue but they were hilarious anyhow. Over the decades SNL has sometimes leaned distressingly rightward, and King of the Hill was straight-up right-wing comedy redeemed only by its gentleness and empathy. (It was like your Republican uncle who votes for all the wrong shit but doesn't hate the gays and gives to charity.)
These shows were ALMOST the kind of comedy that conservatives were waiting for, but they stopped just short. They did a lot of stuff about Those Crazy Liberals, but either they also went after the conservatives (ala South Park and SNL) or they weren't vicious and dogmatic about it (ala King of the Hill). There's already successful bro comedy with zero empathy, like Family Guy and Daniel Tosh, but Seth McFarlane is (somehow) a big lefty and Daniel Tosh is just a snarky wiseguy who would never tell anybody how to vote. It's not too hard to picture either guy becoming a conservative comedy superstar, but fortunately we were spared that. I worry that it's only a matter of time until we see the first mega-popular alt-right comedian, an evil beast who actually knows how to tell a joke. Somebody like that could do a lot of damage. Hell, I think that's kind of how Trump saw himself, until he somehow ended up in charge.
(BTW, we've already seen Sarah Palin's Tina Fey impression.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:17 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
These shows were ALMOST the kind of comedy that conservatives were waiting for, but they stopped just short. They did a lot of stuff about Those Crazy Liberals, but either they also went after the conservatives (ala South Park and SNL) or they weren't vicious and dogmatic about it (ala King of the Hill). There's already successful bro comedy with zero empathy, like Family Guy and Daniel Tosh, but Seth McFarlane is (somehow) a big lefty and Daniel Tosh is just a snarky wiseguy who would never tell anybody how to vote. It's not too hard to picture either guy becoming a conservative comedy superstar, but fortunately we were spared that. I worry that it's only a matter of time until we see the first mega-popular alt-right comedian, an evil beast who actually knows how to tell a joke. Somebody like that could do a lot of damage. Hell, I think that's kind of how Trump saw himself, until he somehow ended up in charge.
(BTW, we've already seen Sarah Palin's Tina Fey impression.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:17 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
GenXers were like five years old when SNL came out.
The oldest Gen Xers were closer to 15 than 5 when SNL first started, and that's ultimately less important than the fact SNL hit its cultural zenith when Gen X was smack dab in the middle of its demographic.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
The oldest Gen Xers were closer to 15 than 5 when SNL first started, and that's ultimately less important than the fact SNL hit its cultural zenith when Gen X was smack dab in the middle of its demographic.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:34 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'd like to know what version of SNL these folks have been watching that hasn't been making fun of liberals in general and Democrats specifically, including Nancy "Palomino" Pelosi.
you're welcome.
posted by ApathyGirl at 7:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
you're welcome.
posted by ApathyGirl at 7:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mr.Encyclopedia: "GenXers were like five years old when SNL came out.
The oldest Gen Xers were closer to 15 than 5 when SNL first started, and that's ultimately less important than the fact SNL hit its cultural zenith when Gen X was smack dab in the middle of its demographic."
I'm a boomer and I was 11 when SNL came out in 1975.
posted by octothorpe at 7:53 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
The oldest Gen Xers were closer to 15 than 5 when SNL first started, and that's ultimately less important than the fact SNL hit its cultural zenith when Gen X was smack dab in the middle of its demographic."
I'm a boomer and I was 11 when SNL came out in 1975.
posted by octothorpe at 7:53 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
Because the key to SNL's lasting success is having a huge axe to grind.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:56 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:56 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
'Liberals and moderates: “We should make a comedy show. People love to laugh. We should make people laugh.”'
Except it was comedians who said "We should make a comedy show." And they just happened to be liberals and moderates. SNL made fun of Clinton when he was in office, made fun of Obama when he was in office... The comedians job is to make people laugh, sure they have a point of view and their own personal politics, but that's not their foremost job; it's to be funny.
Even the overtly partisan comedians realize this (and SNL shouldn't be counted as this, really).
The moment you start with a political agenda, and then attempt to make it funny, you are going to fail.
Note that while SNL does have guests that have an overt political agenda, that's not the majority of their guests...
posted by el io at 8:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
Except it was comedians who said "We should make a comedy show." And they just happened to be liberals and moderates. SNL made fun of Clinton when he was in office, made fun of Obama when he was in office... The comedians job is to make people laugh, sure they have a point of view and their own personal politics, but that's not their foremost job; it's to be funny.
Even the overtly partisan comedians realize this (and SNL shouldn't be counted as this, really).
The moment you start with a political agenda, and then attempt to make it funny, you are going to fail.
Note that while SNL does have guests that have an overt political agenda, that's not the majority of their guests...
posted by el io at 8:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
I'm a boomer and I was 11 when SNL came out in 1975.
This whole derail is intensely stupid but I'll gladly concede if someone can explain why it matters what year a show started when it continued to air for the following 40+ years or can explain how Generation X is somehow not the generation most influenced by it.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:04 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
This whole derail is intensely stupid but I'll gladly concede if someone can explain why it matters what year a show started when it continued to air for the following 40+ years or can explain how Generation X is somehow not the generation most influenced by it.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:04 PM on June 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
King of the Hill was straight-up right-wing comedy redeemed only by its gentleness and empathy. (It was like your Republican uncle who votes for all the wrong shit but doesn't hate the gays and gives to charity.)
O.o
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:27 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
O.o
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:27 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
that guy from Good Morning Vietnam who thought he was funny...
Um...his name is 2nd Lt. Steven Hauk, and Reader's Digest is considering publishing two of his jokes.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:33 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
Um...his name is 2nd Lt. Steven Hauk, and Reader's Digest is considering publishing two of his jokes.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:33 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
I'm a boomer and I was 11 when SNL came out in 1975.
This whole derail is intensely stupid but I'll gladly concede if someone can explain why it matters what year a show started when it continued to air for the following 40+ years or can explain how Generation X is somehow not the generation most influenced by it.
The best way to see what early SNL was really like is to find a clip of SCTV's "Thursday Night Live hosted by Earl Camembert" which unfortunately seems to have disappeared off Youtube.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
This whole derail is intensely stupid but I'll gladly concede if someone can explain why it matters what year a show started when it continued to air for the following 40+ years or can explain how Generation X is somehow not the generation most influenced by it.
The best way to see what early SNL was really like is to find a clip of SCTV's "Thursday Night Live hosted by Earl Camembert" which unfortunately seems to have disappeared off Youtube.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
I would love to see them try this. See, idiot mcgee says "the possibilities are endless" but in fact they're extremely limited. Why? Because the talent pool for this sort of thing is really not that big in general and gets fucking tiny when you remove all the left-leaning people (which is most creative types) who wouldn't go anywhere near this monstrosity. Oh, also remove anyone who has any kind of career ambition and talent, because they're not touching this stinker of an idea with a ten foot pole. No regular cast plus a list of unfunny guest stars is not a recipe for success.
posted by axiom at 8:59 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by axiom at 8:59 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
>This pitch forgets that heartland conservatives looooved Steven Colbert's show on Comedy Central. They didn't feel like they were the butt of Colbert's jokes, and this love was regardless of their feelings about Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
Oh man, this. This is something I keep forgetting because it sort of breaks my brain.
Can anyone explain this?
I was in college when the Colbert Report first came on the air, and the dorm I lived in had a fairly even mix of liberals and conservatives. Watching Jon Stewart followed by Colbert in the dorm's lounge every night was a bit of a ritual for a lot of us. Most of my conservative-leaning friends didn't care enough about politics to be bothered by Republicans being the butt of jokes, but some of the more conservative folks I knew really liked Colbert despite also liking O'Reilly and the other right-wing pundits his character was satirizing. I remember discussing this with one of them once, and them saying something like, "Yes, he's mocking by being really over-the-top, but it's also an homage."
So the short answer is, no, I can't explain it.
posted by biogeo at 9:13 PM on June 7, 2018 [15 favorites]
Oh man, this. This is something I keep forgetting because it sort of breaks my brain.
Can anyone explain this?
I was in college when the Colbert Report first came on the air, and the dorm I lived in had a fairly even mix of liberals and conservatives. Watching Jon Stewart followed by Colbert in the dorm's lounge every night was a bit of a ritual for a lot of us. Most of my conservative-leaning friends didn't care enough about politics to be bothered by Republicans being the butt of jokes, but some of the more conservative folks I knew really liked Colbert despite also liking O'Reilly and the other right-wing pundits his character was satirizing. I remember discussing this with one of them once, and them saying something like, "Yes, he's mocking by being really over-the-top, but it's also an homage."
So the short answer is, no, I can't explain it.
posted by biogeo at 9:13 PM on June 7, 2018 [15 favorites]
I don't think that King of the Hill was really right-wing comedy, for the same reason that All in the Family wasn't--it had a conservative protagonist, and a lot of the comedy came from how he was fighting a losing battle against the world moving on past him. Mike Judge's true right-wing cartoon series was The Goode Family, which recycled every progressive and liberal stereotype that Judge could scrape up, and it was a miserable failure.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:17 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:17 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fundamentally, conservatives have a hard time with humor because they are always punching down, and it would never occur to them to punch up unless they could find a way to do so while using the exact same words and delivery as they use when punching down.
cf. all of the Obama "jokes".
Essentially all humor I have ever seen from conservatives revolves around punching down. Every single piece I can presently think of, although I'm going to allow for failures of memory and not say all humor.
Conservative humor in a nutshell: Haw haw, I made fun of "the mexicans", haw, haw! U mad bro? Do you even lift?
posted by aramaic at 9:40 PM on June 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
cf. all of the Obama "jokes".
Essentially all humor I have ever seen from conservatives revolves around punching down. Every single piece I can presently think of, although I'm going to allow for failures of memory and not say all humor.
Conservative humor in a nutshell: Haw haw, I made fun of "the mexicans", haw, haw! U mad bro? Do you even lift?
posted by aramaic at 9:40 PM on June 7, 2018 [10 favorites]
So the short answer is, no, I can't explain it.
Is this like when people see extra levels of irony that aren’t really there in Team America, only in reverse?
posted by Artw at 9:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Is this like when people see extra levels of irony that aren’t really there in Team America, only in reverse?
posted by Artw at 9:42 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
it had a conservative protagonist, and a lot of the comedy came from how he was fighting a losing battle against the world moving on past him.
I've tussled with people about King of the Hill on Metafilter before, and it kind of surprises me how many people didn't see the show as fundamentally conservative. A typical plot was about a bunch of namby-pamby liberal do-gooders coming to town and ruining something Hank loves, until he sets things right in the end with some good ol' Texan "common sense". The plots usually resolved with him budging just a little (or not at all) while the trendy lefties were exposed as hypocrites or worse. Archie Bunker's politics were supposed to be heinous and ridiculous, but under all that he had a heart. Hank Hill was square and repressed and there was some comedy in that, but mostly I think he supposed to be a lone voice of reason in a world gone mad.
I say all this as somebody who watched the show fairly regularly and liked the characters. I feel like it was about as not-evil as conservative comedy could be, but I think it was still consistently conservative.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:45 PM on June 7, 2018 [9 favorites]
I've tussled with people about King of the Hill on Metafilter before, and it kind of surprises me how many people didn't see the show as fundamentally conservative. A typical plot was about a bunch of namby-pamby liberal do-gooders coming to town and ruining something Hank loves, until he sets things right in the end with some good ol' Texan "common sense". The plots usually resolved with him budging just a little (or not at all) while the trendy lefties were exposed as hypocrites or worse. Archie Bunker's politics were supposed to be heinous and ridiculous, but under all that he had a heart. Hank Hill was square and repressed and there was some comedy in that, but mostly I think he supposed to be a lone voice of reason in a world gone mad.
I say all this as somebody who watched the show fairly regularly and liked the characters. I feel like it was about as not-evil as conservative comedy could be, but I think it was still consistently conservative.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:45 PM on June 7, 2018 [9 favorites]
TV shows are a poor substitute for politics.
posted by The Whelk at 9:46 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:46 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
Benign violation theory (previously) says that humor comes from a violation or threat which the viewer/listener doesn't feel directly threatened by. By that definition, it could be very hard to make "conservative" comedy, because violation of norms is by definition anti-conservative. But the radical right should have no trouble coming up with "humor", i.e. laughing at violations of others which they don't feel threaten them.
posted by agentofselection at 10:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by agentofselection at 10:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [5 favorites]
I think King of the Hill was like--more conservative than most of us here, yeah? But it generally came to the conclusion that the weirdos were, while still weird, generally okay and harmless and not destroying the fabric of society as we know it, which is directly in opposition to the people who want to make something like this. Like, if the Social Justice Warriors pronoun skit included Hank Hill, half the joke would be the pronouns, but half the joke would be why does Hank care this much about pronouns, or whatever. People like this don't want that. They want the whole joke to be "how dare anybody do something other than the status quo", and that's just very bad for humor.
posted by Sequence at 10:02 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 10:02 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
TV shows are a poor substitute for politics.
“So You Think You Can Dance, Comrade?”
posted by Barack Spinoza at 10:04 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
“So You Think You Can Dance, Comrade?”
posted by Barack Spinoza at 10:04 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
Saturday Reich Live
posted by mazola at 10:16 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by mazola at 10:16 PM on June 7, 2018 [16 favorites]
Be a direct competitor and follow SNL’s format with a regular cast, a celebrity host and a musical guest in front of a live studio audience.
"Provide weekly opportunities for easy and direct comparisons between the big name stars that SNL presents and whatever washed-up, D-list schlock monkeys we can get to appear on our show."
posted by rokusan at 10:37 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
"Provide weekly opportunities for easy and direct comparisons between the big name stars that SNL presents and whatever washed-up, D-list schlock monkeys we can get to appear on our show."
posted by rokusan at 10:37 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
TV shows are a poor substitute for politics.
Only two years, seven months and thirteen days to go.
posted by rokusan at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
Only two years, seven months and thirteen days to go.
posted by rokusan at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
I've tussled with people about King of the Hill on Metafilter before, and it kind of surprises me how many people didn't see the show as fundamentally conservative.
The same year King of the Hill was cancelled, Mike Judge tried to do it all over again with The Goode Family, another animated sitcom, but this time about liberals in San Francisco, and it is absolutely dreadful, easily the worst thing Judge has ever made.
Hank and his buddies were conservative, but they were fully imagined characters because Mike Judge liked them as people. The Goodes were ridiculous stereotypes ("vegan cyclist academic activists" doesn't begin to cover it: one of the ongoing gags is that the parents adopted a white baby from South Africa but insisted on raising him as a black kid; another is that they force their dog to eat vegan food and so the dog kills neighborhood pets), but moreover, the hammerbeat that got hit every single time, every single episode, multiple times was that nobody on the show espoused liberal/lefty beliefs except for their own social status or personal gain.
Because Mike Judge really doesn't respect liberal beliefs.
posted by mightygodking at 11:19 PM on June 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
The same year King of the Hill was cancelled, Mike Judge tried to do it all over again with The Goode Family, another animated sitcom, but this time about liberals in San Francisco, and it is absolutely dreadful, easily the worst thing Judge has ever made.
Hank and his buddies were conservative, but they were fully imagined characters because Mike Judge liked them as people. The Goodes were ridiculous stereotypes ("vegan cyclist academic activists" doesn't begin to cover it: one of the ongoing gags is that the parents adopted a white baby from South Africa but insisted on raising him as a black kid; another is that they force their dog to eat vegan food and so the dog kills neighborhood pets), but moreover, the hammerbeat that got hit every single time, every single episode, multiple times was that nobody on the show espoused liberal/lefty beliefs except for their own social status or personal gain.
Because Mike Judge really doesn't respect liberal beliefs.
posted by mightygodking at 11:19 PM on June 7, 2018 [12 favorites]
Have you ever watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail with a friend who has never seen it, and they don't laugh once? And the prince is hella gay I hope he died and his fiance is hella fat anyway I would have kicked her too? That's a simple illustration of how narrow the comedy bandwidth is for conservatives.
posted by Brocktoon at 11:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 11:58 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
I can't be the only that's been around long enough (and still has a memory good enough) to recall this hot mess.
posted by bifter at 1:40 AM on June 8, 2018
posted by bifter at 1:40 AM on June 8, 2018
“So You Think You Can Dance, Comrade?”
A/k/a Dance Dance Communist Revolution.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:52 AM on June 8, 2018 [12 favorites]
A/k/a Dance Dance Communist Revolution.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:52 AM on June 8, 2018 [12 favorites]
I will confess to liking some of P. J. O’Rourke’s middle books (starting with “Holidays in Hell,” say, but not the last few, which I didn’t even bother with): he was genuinely funny.
But have you heard him on that NPR quiz show? He’s terribly unfunny live.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:15 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
But have you heard him on that NPR quiz show? He’s terribly unfunny live.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:15 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
How Dennis Miller Became the Least Funny Person on Twitter
posted by octothorpe at 4:26 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 4:26 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
I will confess to liking some of P. J. O’Rourke’s middle books (starting with “Holidays in Hell,” say, but not the last few, which I didn’t even bother with): he was genuinely funny.
But have you heard him on that NPR quiz show? He’s terribly unfunny live.
I've enjoyed his books kind of for the same reasons I used to enjoy reading Jeremy Clarkson's car reviews before he became the Top Gear guy. I once watched P. J. O'Rourke take all the air out of the room on Late Night With David Letterman simply by saying out loud things that would probably be amusing as asides in one of his essays.
posted by lagomorphius at 5:16 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
But have you heard him on that NPR quiz show? He’s terribly unfunny live.
I've enjoyed his books kind of for the same reasons I used to enjoy reading Jeremy Clarkson's car reviews before he became the Top Gear guy. I once watched P. J. O'Rourke take all the air out of the room on Late Night With David Letterman simply by saying out loud things that would probably be amusing as asides in one of his essays.
posted by lagomorphius at 5:16 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Have you ever watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail with a friend who has never seen it, and they don't laugh once? And the prince is hella gay I hope he died and his fiance is hella fat anyway I would have kicked her too? That's a simple illustration of how narrow the comedy bandwidth is for conservatives.
I've had similar reactions to watching Blake Edward's/Peter Sellers' "The Party" with friends who sit in total silence and then ask what's wrong with me. I get it, kind of. Because it's a terribly wrong movie for many reasons, but I still think it's one of the most brilliantly improvised and genuinely funny movies ever made. (Or maybe because I first saw it when I was four.) I didn't get the Tati/PlayTime connection until many years later.
posted by lagomorphius at 5:25 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've had similar reactions to watching Blake Edward's/Peter Sellers' "The Party" with friends who sit in total silence and then ask what's wrong with me. I get it, kind of. Because it's a terribly wrong movie for many reasons, but I still think it's one of the most brilliantly improvised and genuinely funny movies ever made. (Or maybe because I first saw it when I was four.) I didn't get the Tati/PlayTime connection until many years later.
posted by lagomorphius at 5:25 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
As a former resident of Omaha: please go to hell
Also, Council Bluffs, as was stated up thread
posted by SystematicAbuse at 5:37 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, Council Bluffs, as was stated up thread
posted by SystematicAbuse at 5:37 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well, if they think SNL spends too much on time on Trump and not enough on the Democrats, I have a great solution:
Stop giving the writers more material they can deal with on a weekly variety comedy show, not to mention daily talk shows.
Because yeah. There's good material on the democrats and liberals in general (not what they think, and very likely not what would they find funny other than har har libruls), but if a show has like 15 minutes to spend on what happened lately, I'm not sure who'd pick any snatching defeat from the jaws of defeat moment from the democrats over someone at the state department calling D-Day a strong example of US-Germany relations.
TV writers are hacks, and the jokes are writing themselves. This truly should go down in history as The Onion presidency, because if in another timeline The Onion decided to make a movie about a fictional Trump presidency, stuff really happened writers wouldn't think of.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:32 AM on June 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
Stop giving the writers more material they can deal with on a weekly variety comedy show, not to mention daily talk shows.
Because yeah. There's good material on the democrats and liberals in general (not what they think, and very likely not what would they find funny other than har har libruls), but if a show has like 15 minutes to spend on what happened lately, I'm not sure who'd pick any snatching defeat from the jaws of defeat moment from the democrats over someone at the state department calling D-Day a strong example of US-Germany relations.
TV writers are hacks, and the jokes are writing themselves. This truly should go down in history as The Onion presidency, because if in another timeline The Onion decided to make a movie about a fictional Trump presidency, stuff really happened writers wouldn't think of.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:32 AM on June 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
I will confess to liking some of P. J. O’Rourke’s middle books (starting with “Holidays in Hell,” say, but not the last few, which I didn’t even bother with): he was genuinely funny.
But have you heard him on that NPR quiz show? He’s terribly unfunny live.
O'Rourke had his moments (for white-cishet-middle-class-male values of "moments") when he was the quasi-libertarian outsider taking potshots at any-and-everyone with political power. (cf. the oft-quoted "Republicans claim that government doesn't work, then get elected and prove it.")
Then W got elected and it was like someone took him into a smoke-filled back room and said, "OK, you've had your fun, you helped normalize distrust of government, made a pile of money. You get snarky about the current administration or even just Republicans or conservatives or anybody but liberals and they'll never find your body."
And he was never funny again.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:43 AM on June 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
O'Rourke had his moments (for white-cishet-middle-class-male values of "moments") when he was the quasi-libertarian outsider taking potshots at any-and-everyone with political power.
Yeah, O'Rourke's probably one of the few "conservative humorists" who actually managed to be funny on occasion, but only by taking a Mencken-esque tone that loftily pretends that you and he are the only ones who can see that everything is stupid. See also '90s Dennis Miller. But that's a shtick that can only be ridden so far, as both careers suggest.
Have to say that I'm here for Sarah Palin impersonating Tina Fey, tho. I mean, what the fuck else is she doing these days?
Throw in Charlie Kirk in a diaper and Ben Shapiro on stilts and you got yourself some entertainment.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:05 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah, O'Rourke's probably one of the few "conservative humorists" who actually managed to be funny on occasion, but only by taking a Mencken-esque tone that loftily pretends that you and he are the only ones who can see that everything is stupid. See also '90s Dennis Miller. But that's a shtick that can only be ridden so far, as both careers suggest.
Have to say that I'm here for Sarah Palin impersonating Tina Fey, tho. I mean, what the fuck else is she doing these days?
Throw in Charlie Kirk in a diaper and Ben Shapiro on stilts and you got yourself some entertainment.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:05 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Laugh-In : Hee Haw :: SNL : Whatever this is
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:33 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:33 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
There's also been a change in conservatism since the 90s, like how old Roseanne had a deeply-held belief that hitting children was wrong, whereas new Roseanne believes that is less important than owning liberals.
posted by ckape at 11:52 AM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by ckape at 11:52 AM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
O'Rourke's recollections about his communist days in the seventies were good reading, both funny and sad.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:11 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:11 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
'Act of Creation' by Arthur Koestler suggests that the essence of humour is the shifting between levels, changing frames of reference. The essence of conservatism is the opposite of this, it's about dominance and the constraint of perspectives.
I'm also concerned about the potential in our culture for the rise of a popular new right wing comic, maybe in the style of A. Dice Clay, but with more overt racism & political rabbling. He or She (could easily be woman, maybe like a less obtuse A. Coulter) would not really be genuinely funny, but they would represent an unpleasant zeitgeist. The White House now houses the classic archetype of The Buffoon, but it's not that funny either.
posted by ovvl at 5:42 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm also concerned about the potential in our culture for the rise of a popular new right wing comic, maybe in the style of A. Dice Clay, but with more overt racism & political rabbling. He or She (could easily be woman, maybe like a less obtuse A. Coulter) would not really be genuinely funny, but they would represent an unpleasant zeitgeist. The White House now houses the classic archetype of The Buffoon, but it's not that funny either.
posted by ovvl at 5:42 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
Laugh-In : Hee Haw :: SNL : Whatever this is
So you’re saying it’ll be a timeless classic?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 5:44 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
So you’re saying it’ll be a timeless classic?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 5:44 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wouldn’t that just be actual A.Coulter?
posted by Artw at 5:44 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 5:44 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Conservative comedy never works because:
A. They have no sense of irony or self-mockery, especially when in power
B. You can only tell so many AMIRITE jokes about liberals.
There have been funny cons. PJ O’Rourke, for example. But he came of age in an era when liberals were the establishment. I don’t know that this can happen today.
posted by psmealey at 6:09 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
A. They have no sense of irony or self-mockery, especially when in power
B. You can only tell so many AMIRITE jokes about liberals.
There have been funny cons. PJ O’Rourke, for example. But he came of age in an era when liberals were the establishment. I don’t know that this can happen today.
posted by psmealey at 6:09 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hank and his buddies were conservative, but they were fully imagined characters because Mike Judge liked them as people. The Goodes were ridiculous stereotypes ("vegan cyclist academic activists" doesn't begin to cover it: one of the ongoing gags is that the parents adopted a white baby from South Africa but insisted on raising him as a black kid; another is that they force their dog to eat vegan food and so the dog kills neighborhood pets), but moreover, the hammerbeat that got hit every single time, every single episode, multiple times was that nobody on the show espoused liberal/lefty beliefs except for their own social status or personal gain.
Because Mike Judge really doesn't respect liberal beliefs.
This seems to be a highly specific default position for a number of conservative humorists who are generally accepted (or even beloved) by more hip and left-leaning audiences. Mike Judge, Mike Nelson (from MST3K), Trey Parker and Matt Stone (from South Park), Norm MacDonald, and PJ O'Rourke all tow a similar line:
"Hey, don't actually call me a Republican...I just find liberal principles so *silly*. They don't actually believe that stuff, it's all just trying to seem holier-than-thou."
Conveniently, this line is always espoused by white men who've faced relatively limited hardships in their lives. Interpret that however you wish.
posted by prosopagnosia at 7:19 AM on June 9, 2018 [13 favorites]
Because Mike Judge really doesn't respect liberal beliefs.
This seems to be a highly specific default position for a number of conservative humorists who are generally accepted (or even beloved) by more hip and left-leaning audiences. Mike Judge, Mike Nelson (from MST3K), Trey Parker and Matt Stone (from South Park), Norm MacDonald, and PJ O'Rourke all tow a similar line:
"Hey, don't actually call me a Republican...I just find liberal principles so *silly*. They don't actually believe that stuff, it's all just trying to seem holier-than-thou."
Conveniently, this line is always espoused by white men who've faced relatively limited hardships in their lives. Interpret that however you wish.
posted by prosopagnosia at 7:19 AM on June 9, 2018 [13 favorites]
Do you think Huckabee saw this pitch and felt crushed by the pointed lack of interest? Like...we've all been snickering over how bad his attempts at comedy are, but his absence here seems like confirmation that even conservatives are wincing through his tweets.
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:44 PM on June 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:44 PM on June 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
this is even worse than the left trying to meme
posted by ostranenie at 12:52 PM on June 11, 2018
posted by ostranenie at 12:52 PM on June 11, 2018
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posted by mondo dentro at 4:25 PM on June 7, 2018 [3 favorites]