# Fox News' Conservative Daily Show: The 1/2 Hour News Hour **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928 "2007-02-20T04:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/1 "2007-02-20T04:21:45Z")
I heard about this a few months ago, and just heard that it premiered earlier tonight. Anyone happen to catch it? (I know, I know – not a lot of people from these boards randomly watching Fox News…) [Tom Shales](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602098.html) says it’s not terrible; this [clip](http://youtube.com/watch?v=YjIfaMwIFxU) leaves me thinking :dubious:. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/2 "2007-02-20T04:29:54Z")
That was painful in all sorts of ways. It’s been said on these boards before: The Daily Show makes fun of the Republicans because Republicans are in power. They’re perfectly willing to make the same jabs at any Democrats who show some backbone. The Daily Show is a fun show that deflates the pomposity of those in power. The Half Hour News Hour looks like it’s a spiteful show that attacks liberals as a counterpoint to a perceived point that The Daily Show is not even making. And what’s with the blow-up doll female co-anchor? That was a sucking black hole for charisma. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/3 "2007-02-20T04:40:11Z")
I laughed at the first jokw about his popularity going to an all time low of 99.9%, but then that was it. And the banter between the two hosts was worse than your typical Oscar presenters. Edit: And the canned laugh track was so freakin’ horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/4 "2007-02-20T04:40:26Z")
The articles that a [Google News search](http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-18,GGLD:en&q=%271%2f2+Hour+News+Hour%27%3a) turns up are far less flattering. [Orlando Sentinal](http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2007/02/unfair_and_unba.html): > [@](#): > > “Weekend Update” on its worst night isn’t this bad. [Boston Globe](http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/02/17/fake_news_entry_cranks_up_the_volume_not_laughs/) > [@](#): > > Maybe that’s the way to think of “The 1/2 Hour News Hour” – not as a comedy show, but as political wish-fulfillment, a list of jokes hurled directly at the choir. In the end, the choir members might feel smugly satisfied. But they probably won’t be laughing very hard. [Philadelphia Inquirer](http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/16718773.htm) > [@](#): > > How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? > > That’s not funny! > > And neither is the new conservative comedy show offered up on Fox News as an antidote, at least in part, to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. [CentreDaily](http://www.centredaily.com/128/story/18226.html) > [@](#): > > “1/2 Hour News Hour” didn’t necessarily win over right-wing bloggers either. > > Brian Scott, of The Blue State Conservatives, ([http://tinyurl.com/24ahu9](http://tinyurl.com/24ahu9)) said that “1/2 Hour News Hour” left a “very sour taste in my mouth.” Meanwhile, Steve H. Graham, of Hog on Ice, ([http://tinyurl.com/339jsa](http://tinyurl.com/339jsa)) simply begged: “Kill the show.” That’s taking the stories right from the top of the page, not selecting them for nastiness. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/5 "2007-02-20T04:49:23Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? That’s not funny! [/QUOTE] No, no … it goes like this: How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? Monica Lewinsky! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/6 "2007-02-20T04:59:03Z")
[QUOTE=Only Mostly Dead] The Daily Show is a fun show that deflates the pomposity of those in power. [/QUOTE] Strictly speaking, the dead-center bullseye for Stewart’s show is not so much the politicians in power, but rather the powerful news media themselves. Pompous interviewers; clueless but extremely opinionated pundits; overheated presentations; pointlessly flashy music and graphics… the whole thing is done in such a deadpan style that it’s easy to overlook the deeply ironic package and just pay attention to the jokes being delivered therein. But it’s the basic, knowing absurdism underlining the whole show that makes it work. And as the new Fox show demonstrates, it’s not just a critical component of The Daily Show’s success but the required starting point, because the lack of it, the lack of any sense of _why_ the thing is funny and a blind reliance on an creakily antiquated setup/punchline structure, is what renders the upstart so cadaverously dull. It’s not that it’s stupid; it’s that it’s _predictable._ And predictable is not a friend of cutting-edge comedy. Of course, that may be deliberate. They may not be interested in the cutting edge, at all. They may be pitching the show directly at the mainstream viewer who doesn’t get, y’know, _irony._ It could be that they’re targeting the audience for _According to Jim_ instead of the audience for _The Office._ If that’s what they’re trying to do, and if they’re able to fine-tune the show to appeal to that demographic, then they’ll probably succeed. If nothing else, virtually everything in the Fox empire is an illustration of how to pursue the middlebrow dollar. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/7 "2007-02-20T05:18:46Z")
_The 1/2 Hour News Hour_? Is the title supposed to be some kind of lame rip-off of _This Hour has 22 Minutes_(a Canadian news satire)? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/8 "2007-02-20T05:52:42Z")
The conservative stalwart NATIONAL REVIEW says the show is like “some left-wing blogger’s mean-spirited parody” of a conservative humorous news show. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/9 "2007-02-20T06:03:41Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] _The 1/2 Hour News Hour_? Is the title supposed to be some kind of lame rip-off of _This Hour has 22 Minutes_(a Canadian news satire)? [/QUOTE] That was my first thought. If that is the case, then the half hour news hour missed the point of the joke. This hour has 22 minutes references the fact that there is really only 22 minutes of actual content due to commercials (I’ve always thought the show should’ve been called ‘this half hour has 22 minutes’. Not quite the same ring though.) I’m not sure why ‘The 1/2 Hour News Hour’ (as a title) is supposed to be funny to be honest. I went into that clip really wanting to have an open mind regarding the show because I want to be able to tell myself, “Dan, you tried it and you honestly didn’t like it because it wasn’t funny and not because you are way left wing. Good job you.” I honestly think I can. The male host speaks with such disdain towards either democrats or the material itself that the material came off dead. I didn’t even crack a smile and what’s worse, I didn’t have any feelings whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/10 "2007-02-20T06:29:00Z")
[Not even an original title](http://imdb.com/title/tt0084966/). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/11 "2007-02-20T07:08:54Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] I laughed at the first jokw about his popularity going to an all time low of 99.9%, but then that was it. [/quote] I was actually the other way around. I wasn’t impressed by the 99.9% line, butI did laugh at several points in the fake magazine ad that digs at Barack’s cult of personality. (Of course, I despise cult of personality in general, while they may have just been shooting for Mock the Lefty.) And I would have still laughed at a couple even if it weren’t 1 a.m. > [@](#): > > And the canned laugh track was so freakin’ horrible. It goes with the general poor production & delivery. This will run out of steam really fast. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/12 "2007-02-20T07:21:35Z")
> [@](#): > > No, no … it goes like this: > > How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? > > Monica Lewinsky! No, it’s: How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb? None, without outside interference of the natural workings of the marketplace, the darkness will cause the lightbulb to change itself. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/13 "2007-02-20T13:17:01Z")
I liked Mark Evanier’s take on this, over at [POVOnline](http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_19.html#012963) : > [@](#): > > All of this is above and beyond the fact that Conservative comedy is, almost by definition, difficult. It’s like (I’ve said this before) making a Marx Brothers movie and trying to make Margaret Dumont the funny one. He also feels that there may be a market for this - the conservatives who think constant mocking Hillary because she’s a bitch (or Kerry because he married one, or Ted Kennedy because he’s a drunk) is enough to base humor on. As an example he points at Dennis Miller, whose current career seems to be based on just this. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/14 "2007-02-20T13:27:45Z")
It was very telling when they highlighted the various headlines from the magazine cover. Viewers already reflexively read all of the headlines in the “master” shot of any fake newspaper or magazine cover; it’s part of the fun of the fake-newspaper gag. Zooming in on each headline, reading it aloud, and adding a beat of canned laughter after each one betrays not only a complete lack of comedic finesse, but a dearth of material _in the very first episode_. What’s more, most of the headlines weren’t funny to begin with. “Kurt” doesn’t have the right energy to be doing political satire: Compare him to Jon Stewart, Dennis Miller, Rick Mercer, or Seth Meyers; they all have a quality that Kurt lacks. He sounds more like a real news anchor (and not a good one, either), which doesn’t lend itself well to a fake news show. “Jennifer” just plain doesn’t belong on TV. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/15 "2007-02-20T14:29:44Z")
Here’s a link to the [opening clip](http://youtube.com/watch?v=F49e64yq8lI&mode=related&search=) that “stars” Rush and Coulter as Prez and VP. Ugh!! Just another indicator that they are preaching to their own choir. Re-inflating the pomposity that _The Daily Show_ does such a superb job at deflating. It has the same gawd awful use of a laugh track as the clip in the OP. Like **drm** (and many other Dopers, I’m sure), I tried to go into it with an open mind, but the bitterness just polarizes me. I hope that it doesn’t recieve too much criticism from the left-wing. I want to see it sink under the weight of it’s own banality, not be kept afloat in a sea of partisan acrimony. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/16 "2007-02-20T14:35:06Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] The conservative stalwart NATIONAL REVIEW says the show is like “some left-wing blogger’s mean-spirited parody” of a conservative humorous news show. [/QUOTE] Heh. Leave it to the _National Review_ to include, even in a criticism of a shitty right-leaning program, a dig against the left. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/17 "2007-02-20T14:41:02Z")
[QUOTE=Pochacco] How many conservatives does it take to change a lightbulb?! [/QUOTE] [ul][li] The market will take care of the lack of light. Just wait.[/li][li] Hundreds. The darkness was a mess left behind by the Clinton administration.[/li][li] Chappaquiddick![/li][li] There is no need to change the bulb, for the Lord Christ Jesus provides the true light![/li][\*] Light can wait. Our main priority is the War on Terror.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/18 "2007-02-20T14:45:34Z")
The Rush/Coulter clip wasn’t _that_ terrible. Anybody notice Ann’s bit at the end? _“And if you don’t (watch), we’ll invade your country, kill your leaders and convert you to Christianity!”_ What’s that if not righty-tighty self-deprecation? Also, you notice that President Limbaugh’s secretary was named [Rosemary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Mary_Woods)? I didn’t bust a gut (or even a saliva strand) laughing, but if they can follow thru on the bipartisan kidding, it’s a good thing. I don’t anticipate they will, though. Also: Howard Dean? _Howard **Dean?!** _ Talk about playing it safe. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/19 "2007-02-20T16:21:41Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] [Tom Shales](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602098.html) says it’s not terrible… [/QUOTE] From that review: “the dreadful, overboard mugging and mincing of ‘Daily Show’s’ obnoxious Jon Stewart,” so consider the source. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928/20 "2007-02-20T18:10:40Z")
My politicial views tend to lean to the right…and I also have a sense of humor. I’ve only seen two clips from youtube on the show to base my opinion on. That said, I found the opening clip with Limbaugh and Colter a little stilted and predictable. However, I was amused by the mockery of Obamamania in the “magazine” clip. I am going to watch the entire show before I render an individual judgement on whether to watch or not. On another note, it was amusing to see a number of “rebuttal” clips to the show on the internet. Nobody seems to care when the daily show or other humor outlets mock anything right of center…so why do these people think it matters if they have an issue with left-based humor? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-conservative-daily-show-the-1-2-hour-news-hour/392928.md?page=2)