Two that stand out for me are one that’s really in-deapth and other that was just a sidebar photo with caption.
I’m thinking of the article “Man Dies After Short, Cowardly Battle with Cancer,” which was a complete spot-on parody of those feel-good stories about the terminally ill.
The other one was a photo of a stern-looking man in a business suit, and the caption read “Area Boss says This Dick Won’t Suck Itself”
I saw a Seinfeld episode yesterday I’d never seen before, which also was the first time I’d watched the show since they quit making it. I barely smiled once, although it used to put me in hysterics.
I think you just get used to the style and the predictability of it makes it boring.
The Onion does the same thing, every week, with no variation. It’s old. If you read the headline, you know exactly, almost word-for-word, what’s going to be in the article. The worst, for me, is the “Ask The ___” feature they have every few weeks. Why do they even bother to write it? They could just say “Hey, what if a bear wrote an advice column, and instead of answering the questions people wrote in, it talked about salmon and hibernating? Wouldn’t that be funny?” There, I just saved somebody the ten minutes it would’ve taken to write that feature.
As to why I read it every week, it’s because I’m bored.
The only parts I still read regularly are the AV Club and the one-line headlines. I think they have become a victim of their form–such a tightly controlled format makes it hard to avoid repetition.
That’s why I’m impressed with The Daily Show–they’ve changed over the years within their self-imposed format, and the show still feels pretty fresh.
The Onion has its moments. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it isn’t, just like with all other comedy groups. My favorite story is “Parents of Teen Suicide Victim Saw it Coming a Mile Away.”
I always find something hilarious on The Onion every week. Usually, the full articles are the hardest, because you have to repeat one joke in about two dozen clever ways. But when they’re good, they’re golden. My favorites are the Infographics, The Onion in History, and What do you think? This last thing always has three or four out of six dead-on hits. And I keep telling myself that this is the week that they’ll change the pictures, and that I’ll be the first to notice. 
Wouldn’t these be funnier if they actually answered or at least acknowledged the questions asked in the style of the writer instead of just rambling on about nothing?
I rarely read the full articles: I don’t have a lot of patience, and for the most part, if the title/premise isn’t going to make you laugh, the article won’t either. But I definately don’t think they’ve lost anything over time. Myabe you’re just developing an immunity via cynicism.
If anything, the real problem is Japan. Who needs parody when you have things like this: http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/naughty02.htm
For me, you know something is past its prime when the Canadians start ripping it off.
Yeah, I know “you’re not The Onion,” but you’re pretty darn close.
The funniest thing I have read in many, many months in the Onion was last week’s A/V Club interview with the commentators from the Daily Show on Comedy Central. Pure genius.
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3902/avfeature_3902.html
Meh. I dunno about the current status of Onion funniness. I’m waiting for it to re-enter its prime. it will become all powerful once more.
God…those Statshot things…
"How do we like our cock?"
…with the little bars in the graph depicted as erect penuses (penii?)
Please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers this. I hurt myself laughing.
Retro-Crazed German Youths Invade Poland
Best. Ever.
Or somebody actually parodies it with The Olive (“America’s other news source” or some such).
Damned if I can find The Olive on line anymore, though. It was only one issue, after all.
Yayy! Someone else who feels the way I do. I’ve never found that section funny.
micilin, are you listening? Someone else agrees with me!
The “Onion in History” sections are pretty much always good for a laugh.
[nitpick]“Boss’s Dick Not Going to Suck Itself.” This was one of my favorites[/nitpick]
Two other favorites were “Orphan Can’t Take a Joke” and “Bully Not So Tough After Being Molested.” I agree about the predictability of most of the content, but there’s no other website that regularly makes me laugh out loud like the Onion does.
–peepthis, anxiously waiting for the next Smoove B. column
Never liked the “Ask The…” columns, but I can’t get enough of “This Week In History” and “What Do You Think?” Also, the AV Club has some of the best interviews outside of NPR’s “Fresh Air.”
Yeah, comedy is going to lose a little of its freshness after many years, because of the familiarity (and from running out of ideas). I still laugh just thinking about headlines like “Vegetarian Opens Meatless Can of Whoopass” and “New e-Toilet to Revolutionize On-Line Shitting.”
And of course:
"Jenna Bush’s Federally Protected Wetlands Now Open For Public Drilling."
But for full-length articles, I gotta take “Lutheran Minister Loves To Fuck His Wife.” And “Ask Sir Mix-A-Lot” was a scream.
All in all I honestly believe it’s as good as it’s ever been. I think you have to apply Adams’s Rule; only one in five jokes will succeed, but after a few months people only remember the one that worked and forget about the four that didn’t. Next year we’ll all remember the Willy Wonka article, which was hilarious, but we won’t remember the Playstation article, which wasn’t, and we’ll wonder why the 2004 Onions are so much worse than the 2003 Onions.
Best short headline ever: “Hamburger Helped.”
As for the agony colums, jimm, I gave up on reading those ages ago, but ‘Ask a Gutshot Cop’ was funny. And sick.
Once you realise that the articles are just the same 5 jokes over and over, it gets a bit boring.