The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

18 February 2007

Half Hour News Hour, Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter

BLAZING A TRAIL

New Fox Show Brings Conservative Flavor To Comedy







For decades, comedy on television has been almost exclusively in the hands of lefties, with Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and others dominating this genre.

Now, however, an enterprising team of established writers, including Joel Surnow, Manny Cotto, Sandy Frank and Radio Equalizer friend Ned Rice, formerly of the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, have conspired to create the 1/2 Hour News Hour.

Debuting tonight at 10pm on the FOX News Channel, 1/2 hopes to provide an unfair and unbalanced look at the day's headlines.

Kicking off the first show with a splash, the opening segment fast- forwards to 2009, with President Rush Limbaugh and Vice President Ann Coulter bringing us up to date on recent events.


Here's Sean Hannity introducing the debut skit:





Oddly enough, reactions to the new show have been mixed in weird places, with the Washington Post's Tom Shales giving it a surprisingly good review, while it was torn to shreds at the conservative Hot Air site.

And while there has been a great deal of advance free publicity from blogs and the news media, FOX itself has done little to promote the show on its website.

Just finding this page today was a major ordeal.

Here at the Radio Equalizer, we're thrilled at what this show represents, even if it's merely a work in progress.

Good luck, guys, you're blazing a trail.



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published by Brian Maloney at 12:01

22 Comments:

  • Brian, I've seen snippets here and there and on the web for this show. But I would have to agree with the HotAir gang--the canned laughter adds nothing to this and some of the jokes seem forced. Why don't they get Dennis Miller to write for this program?

    This isn't really a series, but a couple of pilot shows to try and test the audience. If there's enough buzz for it, Fox will have to get on the beam and hire better writers.

    By Blogger The Real Bob Anthony, at 18 February, 2007 13:12  

  • I laughed. I think it's a brilliant idea.

    By Blogger John, at 18 February, 2007 15:09  

  • The show is unfunny but competently done. I think that maybe they just need to find the right audience. There's still plenty of people out there who still detest Cindy Sheehan and aren't effected at all by American's dying in Iraq every day. The show just needs to find that audience (and buy them TV sets).

    By Blogger The Multitaskenator, at 18 February, 2007 15:12  

  • How dumb and humorless are Fox viewers that they need to be cued when to laugh?

    By Blogger none, at 18 February, 2007 17:00  

  • based on these clips, that show blows

    By Blogger Unknown, at 18 February, 2007 21:06  

  • I thought the show was very good, considering it was taped weeks ago and wasn't exactly current. It's what TV needs...alternative humor. Has there ever been a venue wherein the ludicrous left has been overtly mocked on national TV? I don't know of one. This is a refreshing "in your face" to the pompous left who will only be able to catagorize this as "offensive," "mean" and "hurtful"...which in itself is very, very telling!

    My only criticism is that they lose the over the top laugh track and spend a few more bucks on glitzy sets. Good writing, though. I'd be humiliated and embarassed to be a lib in this day and age.

    Heh heh!

    By Blogger rich glasgow, at 18 February, 2007 23:20  

  • I think it's a great idea.

    In fact, I think they should run it even more frequently.

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 18 February, 2007 23:49  

  • That was pretty much terrible--almost made Weekend Update seem funny by comparison.

    By Blogger Political Realm, at 19 February, 2007 00:17  

  • All they need to do is get another well-known "double barreled" neocon,
    and change the name of the segment to "Pork Tried Ice"....

    Give me two ratings periods, and, I'm telling you, you won't recognize Fox News...

    Oh, yeah....Happy Year Of The Pig, y'all!!

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 19 February, 2007 06:50  

  • I haven't seen this, nor knew of its coming. (surprised?) In general I detest canned laugh and applause tracks.

    Maybe they should have a real "conservababe" like Bo Derek be the anchor.

    By Blogger PCD, at 19 February, 2007 09:06  

  • Comming from a degenerate group of thugs who think butt pyramids, and forced gay sodomy are funny as evidenced by the Club Gitmo shirts, I'm sure this show is as funny as lung cancer.
    Cons are disgusting individual, the thought of them makes me lose my breakfast.


    Rich I would be embarassed to be a 32%er, america hates cons and rejected them. No embarassment on our end, your filth, sodomize any kids lately, you filthy pig?



    if your wondering our blog is down the show is still going on live tonight on i-tunes indieairplay (under alternative rock- i-tunes radio) indieairplay.com is down and evilliberals.com is down, however the podcasts are active and the show will be live tonight.

    By Blogger Minister of Propaganda, at 19 February, 2007 09:12  

  • I watched a bit of it last night; I agreed with the viewpoints but the writing was a bit lacking (jokes could have been better, and a bit less
    obvious). Pres. Limbaugh & VP
    Coulter ("kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"),
    global warming dig, Barack Obama
    Magazine, and this:

    "Rep.
    Dennis Kucinich has announced he
    wants to bring back the Fairness
    Doctrine which would limit
    conservative talk radio. Unfortunately he made the
    announcement on Air America
    Radio, so nobody heard it."

    Maybe they can get the guys who did Airplane to work on the show?

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 19 February, 2007 10:29  

  • In some ways it reminded me of Weekend Update or Canada's This Hour Has 23 Minutes (the show that fooled
    GW Bush by saying "PM Poutine has
    endorsed you". The future Pres.
    maybe didn't hear the reporter too
    well (a poutine is a kind of food
    pop. in Canada); maybe thought he said
    "Chretien", and replied "Oh, good to hear!" Or something like that.

    May have been canned laughter but I thought I saw a studio audience in one of the first bits...?

    We do need a conservative counterpunch to the lib humor out there, though. Maybe one problem is that you can't make a joke out of liberals because (hello John Kerry)
    they already ARE jokes... :)

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 19 February, 2007 10:33  

  • Poutine is french fries, gravy....and cheese curds.

    Excuse me, gotta hurl.....

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 19 February, 2007 10:51  

  • sorry racoon, at 25% your party is a joke. America rejects neo-cons. you blew it, America is smarter than you think we are. America regards the Republican party as a disgusting joke. Guess your still under a rock. It is not 2001 any more racoon, your filthy Bush administraton destroyed your Republican party, you have ZERO shot in 2008, the entire country REJECTS neo-conservatism, America may not be far left, but this nation will NEVER again put neo-cons in office. Rudy is a PNAC neo-con, so is McCain, you have NO SHOT
    YOU ARE THE JOKE NOW
    LIMBUGH IS THE JOKE NOW
    HANNITY IS A JOKE NOW
    COULTER IS A JOKE NOW

    THOSE 1.2 MILLION WHO WATCH FOX EVERY DAY, ARE THE OUTCASTS OF AMERICA, THE FRINGE, THE RADICAL AND THE DESPISED BY 80% OF AMERICA

    Racoon, your own country has rejected your cowardly loyalty to the letter "R"

    RACOON: I agreed with the viewpoints

    so you agree with killing and converting people to Christianity?

    so you agree global warming is not real?

    so you agree that Obama is no different from Marian Barry??

    and you wonder why America rejected you in November

    and you will still scratch your head like an ape when you get destroyed in 2008

    This is not 1950 anymore, America is not the hateful, myopic, black man lynching, woman beating, gay bashing, hating of all religions but Christianity, nation it used to be.

    America is closer to what it was supposed to be now than it was in the 1950's. You long for that time
    when Christian, White and Male was 100% right and everyone else was second class. Every night you dream of a time where ladies can be beaten to within an inch of their lives, blacks could be spit on and discriminated and gays could simply be slaughtered, the good ol days. Those days are over, the neo-cons failed to bring back the hate , America woke up and left the Limbaugh's and self hating females like Coulter all alone, shrieking to 1.2 million radicals on Fox news.

    How does it feel, to be a hatefull, myopic piece of human excrement?

    By Blogger Minister of Propaganda, at 19 February, 2007 10:53  

  • >>How does it feel, to be a hatefull, myopic piece of human excrement?

    I don't go around saying that to other people. You're classy so you do.

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 19 February, 2007 11:58  

  • >sorry racoon, at 25% your party is a joke.

    I have no party. I am unenrolled,
    in the People's Republic of Mass.
    where there are about 3 Republicans in office btw

    If you don't live in Mass. already you should move here. You'd love
    it; pal around with Noam Chomsky
    and Ted "Body In The Tidal Pool"
    Kennedy.

    Gore, Kerry: So smart but why didn't they win? Kerry should have won by a landslide but he didn't. What happened?

    >so you agree with killing and converting people to Christianity?

    No, not that viewpoint. I didn't
    agree with all of them. Coulter
    was making a joke.

    >>so you agree global warming is not real?

    10 below with windchill right now.

    Global warming exists. Global
    cooling does, too. The little
    fleas on this big world (that is
    us) didn't contribute significantly to either. In the 70s global
    cooling was said to be the threat.
    Changed your minds, I guess.

    >>so you agree that Obama is no different from Marian Barry??

    Well, Obama never said "The bitch
    set me up" after being caught for
    smoking crack. He's a nice man and I hope the best for him.

    Liberals are so polite, nice,
    and civil. I actually agree
    with you on a couple issues, btw.
    I'm a South Park Conservative

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 19 February, 2007 12:05  

  • Racoon:
    Coulter was making a joke.


    maybe on the show, but she wrote that very line in one of her DEAD serrious colums, and yes, thousands of neo-cons bought a tee-shirt sporting the same line

    Did I go overboard?
    sorry,
    I go crazy at the idea of neo-conservatism and people agreeing with anything they have to offer

    I posted:
    how does it feel, to be a hatefull, myopic piece of human excrement?

    Ok maybe I went overboard, sorry

    By Blogger Minister of Propaganda, at 19 February, 2007 13:24  

  • What were the ratings?

    I loved it; hope it keeps on being unfair and unbalanced.

    By Blogger tradersmith, at 20 February, 2007 10:17  

  • Me, too! I hope they show it every hour, on the hour!

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 20 February, 2007 11:58  

  • I thought it was pretty funny. Besides, it's only the first episode. Go back and look at the first few episodes of the Simpsons and count how many times you'll laugh. You'll only need one hand. Give them a chance to hit their stride and write the show on a weekly basis. (I bet most people criticizing it don't realize that the pilot was filmed a couple weeks ago.) Given a chance to attack more timely issues, I think they'll almost have too much quality material to pick from. After all, making jokes about Liberals is like shooting fish in a barrel. And if the Daily Show or SNL is setting the bar, then it's not really too high to begin with.

    By Blogger Dr. T, at 20 February, 2007 16:54  

  • Brian,
    I see that many liberals took offense to the O'bama skit. It likely was designed to show liberals how shallow and offensive their comments about President Bush and other republicans are to conservatives. It was interesting to see how quickly liberals blow up when the shoe is on the other foot. I hope the pilot blossoms to a regular series. Though, I prefer to leave personal bashing to the liberals without needing to get in the mud with them. Besides, I find the liberal ideology much more ridiculous than any candidate. The stupidity of many liberal positions needs to be ridiculed and gives plenty of fuel for a comedy fire of laughter. Cut the canned laughs and hire Dennis Miller if the 1/2 hour news hour becomes more than a pilot.

    By Blogger rightOcenter, at 05 March, 2007 12:34  

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