# State of the Onion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587 "2003-01-30T12:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/1 "2003-01-30T12:14:00Z")
Is it just me, or has [The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/) 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? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/2 "2003-01-30T12:22:49Z")
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 … ---
**Author:** ![AchimbaProphet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@AchimbaProphet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AchimbaProphet)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/3 "2003-01-30T12:59:33Z")
The current one (VOLUME 39 ISSUE 03) is allright. I tend to agree though that recently it has lacked some qualities. ---
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/4 "2003-01-30T13:07:47Z")
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. J. ---
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/5 "2003-01-30T13:09:01Z")
Memo - don’t type and eat sandwich at the same time. “‘it’s not as funny as it used to be’ became” ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/6 "2003-01-30T13:33:42Z")
Nah. Their story about the U.N. demanding inspections of WIlly Wonka’s Chocolate Factory was one of their best ever. But still, I think they should recognize that parody alone can only carry you so far. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/7 "2003-01-30T14:01:43Z")
I miss the Herman T. Zweibel editorials. They are excellent, but I think the writer who did them got bored with them. I loved them. Sob. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/8 "2003-01-30T14:05:37Z")
meh, it had a rocky few months, but the Willy Wonka article this week was Excellent. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/9 "2003-01-30T15:20:08Z")
OK, I just read the Willy Wonka article. I retract (a bit). ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/10 "2003-01-30T15:29:49Z")
Oh, come on! How can it have jumped the shark now, that Larry Groznic is a regular columnist? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/11 "2003-01-30T16:05:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/12 "2003-01-30T16:13:40Z")
Jean Teasdale should have her own blog, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/13 "2003-01-30T16:17:59Z")
C’mon, “Ask A Bride And Groom’s Self-Penned Wedding Vows” last week was one of the best ever. It was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/14 "2003-01-30T16:23:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*C’mon, “Ask A Bride And Groom’s Self-Penned Wedding Vows” last week was one of the best ever. It was hysterical. \*\* Hah! Everyone know “Five Or Six Dudes Jump Out Of Nowhere And Just Start Whaling On This One Guy” was the best Onion story ever! :). ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/15 "2003-01-30T16:35:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/16 "2003-01-30T18:06:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*Hah! Everyone know “Five Or Six Dudes Jump Out Of Nowhere And Just Start Whaling On This One Guy” was the best Onion story ever! :). \*\* Which, by the way, is today’s entry on my daily “Dispatches from the Tenth Circle” calendar! ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/17 "2003-01-30T18:58:36Z")
I always find the horoscopes and _The Onion in History_ the funniest part every week. The rest is usually, “ehhh, more of the same.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/18 "2003-01-30T20:06:30Z")
For me, “What Do You Think?” never gets old. The rest is getting somewhat played. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/19 "2003-01-30T20:07:38Z")
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. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587/20 "2003-01-30T20:25:06Z")
“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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-of-the-onion/151587.md?page=2)