fox news comedy fair and oxymoronic

FOX-News Comedy: "Fair and Oxymoronic" (Laugh Track Here)

FOX News Channel appears to be pushing the oxymoronic envelope by

delving into the Underworld of comedy. If Fox News wasn't oxymoronic

enough, producers have decided to add "comedy," so when Fox cancels

out News, television viewers will at least be left with comedy - FOX's

new golden parachute. FOX News Channel has leaked its new version of

the "Daily Show" -- "The Half-Hour Comedy Hour," (laugh track here) on

the Internets (laugh track here) via YouTube (see clip below). The

show is scheduled to debut this Sunday night. Don't worry loyal fans

of satire, FOX wasn't moronic enough to pit the new show up against

the "The Simpsons." Although, I do hope the producers were smart

enough to equip their chutes with rip-chords, because "laugh tracks"

can cushion the blow only so much when you're falling 35,000 feet at

32 feet per/second squared -- only to crash and burn a horrible,

Nielson-rated death (laugh track here).

Unfortunately FOX producers forgot about one significant oxymoronic

variable: "funny Republicans." Don't get me wrong here, I have a

friend who is funny and Republican (no that there's anything wrong

with that), but whenever he attempts to combine the two, he's often

left behind, laughing to himself. Maybe the Republicans should

consider a No Republican Child Left Behind Laughing to Him or Herself

Provision to the NCLB Act when they start toying with it over the next

couple of weeks (cue laugh track). Part of the provision should target

Republican children, subcategorizing those who think they're funny.

These kids should wear "laugh trackers" around their ankles to help

monitor their comedic attempts while simultaneously cuing a barrage of

pre-recorded laughter. The latter will help spur laughter in small

groups, or at least indicate that the targeted child was trying to be

funny, thus cuing those around him to laugh (laugh track here).

(WARNING: please view clip at your own risk. Side effects of watching

this are irreversible and may cause viewers to order cable just for

the FOX channel, or worse, vote Republican.)

The Fallout: Trust me, if you had to watch this clip more than once to

tease out the satiric intent, you're not alone. If you watched it at

work in mixed company, those who laughed aloud are either Republicans,

closeted Republicans, or still subscribe to "Mad Magazine." The most

painful part about this leaked clip, other than the comedic and

satiric miscues, is the canned laughter. The laugh tracks were not

only physically painful (and not from laughing too hard), but they

helped make the show a parody of itself. Whoever came up with the

"laugh track" idea should be killed (laugh track here), although I'm

sure he's already dead, laughing away in his grave (evil laugh track

here).

The tragic irony of this new show is that it probably will appeal to

its target audience. If Republican audiences thought Ted Sporer's joke

about "Osama Obama" was funny, this show may titillate (...uh huh, uh

huh, he said "titillate," Beevis...) their funny bones.

Related Recommended Reads:

"Step Away form the Jokes, Fox News, Before You Hurt Yourself" by Bob

Cesca (Huffington Post)

"Why Aren't Conservatives Funny?" by John McQuaid (Huffington Post)

"`Dreadful' comedy, fair-and-balanced." (Think Progress)