# Is The Onion getting stale? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923 "2000-06-20T01:32:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/1 "2000-06-20T01:32:07Z")
Maybe this should be in MPSIMS, or GD, but I’m putting it here anyway. When reading this week’s (week pof the 14th) issue, I had a a repeated sense of deja vu. Are they recycling old ideas? Have I been reading it so long that it just _seems_ like I’ve read it before? Or am I just confused? ---
**Author:** ![Rock-n-Rolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Rock-n-Rolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rock-n-Rolga)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/2 "2000-06-20T01:41:15Z")
You’re not alone. I got that feeling from reading this week’s issue as well. Even checked to see if I had opened an old one by mistake. Maybe they’re on vacation and doing re-runs? Just a guess… ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/3 "2000-06-20T01:41:53Z")
From time to time the do seem to repost articles. The most obvious ones I remember, are the holiday specials, like Easter and Christmas. I was thinking the same thing actually, when I read the last Onion. Perhaps they’re all goofing off over the summer? Well, at least it helped me locate some articles I’d been missing… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/4 "2000-06-20T01:51:38Z")
If TV goes into reruns for half the year, why shouldn’t they. ---
**Author:** ![Zarathustra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/898d66/32.png) [@Zarathustra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zarathustra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/5 "2000-06-20T01:54:15Z")
You mean The Onion isn’t _real_? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/6 "2000-06-20T02:28:28Z")
From what I’ve seen, it’s always been pretty lame. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/7 "2000-06-20T02:51:13Z")
Yup. Lots of repeats lately. Thing is, they’re usually mixed in with new articles, so _someone’s_ working over there. ---
**Author:** ![your\_zer0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e47774/32.png) [@your\_zer0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/your_zer0)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/8 "2000-06-20T03:59:22Z")
Bit off the subject but: how much of a national circulation does the Onion get? I live near Madison where the paper is printed, and I always assumed that they had a very small circulation. Please deconfuse me ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/9 "2000-06-20T05:15:20Z")
Oh I love The Onion, but the formula is stale and is only getting more stale. You know what I mean the “Lets take a trivial issue and make it into a news story and if it criticizes middle class life the better.” There’s a sort of ground zero where you realize completely formulaic but decide to either keep reading it or let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/10 "2000-06-20T05:28:08Z")
Yeah, I’ve noticed a TON of repeats lately. I dunno. Maybe they’re bored. On a brag note, one of the writers, Tim Harrod, and I used to be friends about 3 years ago when we both hung out in the Simpsons trivia rooms on AOL. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/11 "2000-06-20T10:56:16Z")
The 6/14/00 Issue definately has a repeat story: “God Answers Prayers Of Paralyzed Little Boy - ‘No,’ Says God”. This was the first Onion story I read. It was hilarious the first time, but now it’s kinda stale. Maybe Charles Schultz was secretly the writer for The Onion. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/12 "2000-06-20T13:30:13Z")
Yeah, some of the stuff is being repeated, but I don’t remember this one: > [@](#): > > **Kodak, Nabisco Apologize For Drunken One-Night Merger** > ROCHESTER, NY–Kodak CEO George Fisher apologized to shareholders Monday for a drunken one-night merger with Nabisco. “We kind of lost track of how much we’d drank, one thing led to another, and, before you know it, we’re signing contracts,” a contrite Fisher said of the $182 billion deal. “I am deeply sorry for the mistake and hope that the 36,000 Kodak employees who were laid off in the merger will find it in their hearts to come back.” Nabisco CEO James Kilts said his company is “still very much in love” with current partner R.J. Reynolds and expressed hope that “we can work through this and remain RJR-Nabisco for many years to come.” 😃 Then again, I don’t read The Onion every day. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/13 "2000-06-20T13:38:38Z")
I think, sadly, the bloom is off the stinking rose. There’s an unwritten (till now!) law that successful humorists only have five good years in them till they run out of ideas and go stale: Dave Barry, Russell Baker, Andy Rooney, Roz Chast. Now “The Onion.” That’s why I’m so glad I’ve never become successful! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/14 "2000-06-20T14:01:16Z")
This thread is better suited for **In My Humble Opinion** , so I’ll move it there. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/15 "2000-06-20T14:16:39Z")
yes, it’s gotten stale. and so is the BOFH sadly enough. i do believe Mr. Travaglia is getting soft. The usual hijinks and corrupt pranks of my years ago idol are gone. Is he growing up? :::shudder::: ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/16 "2000-06-20T21:17:10Z")
Actually, I think the Onion started to go downhill around the time they switched to printing the front page in color. As for the article re-runs, yeah, they do it all the time. Once they ran “Area Bowl Cashed” twice within just a few weeks of each other. It wasn’t even all that funny the first time. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2000, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/17 "2000-06-21T16:38:32Z")
Well, if you read it religiously, of course it will turn stale. It’s all the same joke. However, the joke itself is pretty funny in small doses, so one should limit oneself to _The Onion_ only at intervals. (For example, I had it open in another window while I was reading this thread, and I thought a couple of the stories this week were quite funny – notably [Republicans Back Universal Lawn-Care Bill](http://www.theonion.com/onion3623/republicans.html).) ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-onion-getting-stale/22923/18 "2000-07-07T03:53:33Z")
One of the more recent issues was all repeats–the aforementioned one witht he paralyzed boy’s prayers.