Is it just me, or has The Onion jumped the shark (yes, I hate that phrase too, but what can you do)? It used to be a Web staple, that I would check every week as soon as it came out, and had me falling off my chair with hilarity. I bought Our Dumb Century and laughed till the tears flowed.
But now… it doesn’t even raise a smile. Is there a critical time period for that kind of humour? Having found it hilarious for five solid years, have I suddenly outgrown it? Or has there been some kind of change to the editorial team that I don’t know about?
I agree with you. I’ve been reading for somewhere between 2-3 years, and it’s not raised much of a smile with me lately - I haven’t checked it every for a couple of weeks. I can’t remember a defining moment when I thought "this isn’t very funny), though, just that now you mention it …
Reminds me of Viz magazine. "it’s not as funny as it used to nbe mecame such a mantra of it’s readership that they even started using it, and variations (twenty-eight pages filled with all your favourite joke!) on the cover.
I still enjoy the onion, thought the honeymoon period is over. They definitely need more Smoove B.
The problem with The Onion is not that they’ve gotten worse over the years, but that they haven’t changed, let alone gotten better. We’re all used to the jokes they tell, so they’re not as funny.
The top story this week (Wonka) was clever, but overall I don’t consider The Onion funny.
But really that’s not my problem with it. I hate the layout of their site. It’s horrible. You see a big ad, the top story, one or two teasers, and once you start scrolling you have to squint to tell what’s a story and what’s an advertisement.
I agree that it’s lost a step over the last year, but I still find the “What Do You Think” department to be the funniest thing I see in any given week: “North Korea may have The Bomb, but it is still unclear whether they have The Food.”
And honestly, I can’t imagine it or any similar organ ever topping its special coverage of Sept. 11th. “Holy Fucking Shit!” was funny, frustrated, shocked, pissed off, and frightened all at the same time and was without doubt the best (however you want to use that word) reaction to those events of any media source, whether serious or not.
“What do you think” and the one sentence headlines (“Vote, voter wasted”) are still hilarious, but the news articles have slid slightly. Still, I’ll be there every Tuesday afternoon.