The 1/2 Hour News Hour

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The 1/2 Hour News Hour
Image:Halfhournewshour logo.jpg
Genre Comedy
Starring Kurt Long, Jennifer Robertson, Manny Coto, Ned Rice
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 2 (pilot episodes[1])
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Fox News Channel
Original run February 18, 2007 –
Links
IMDb profile

The 1/2 Hour News Hour is a American television news satire show on the Fox News Channel. The program was created as a conservative response to the perceived liberal bias of other news satire shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.[2]

The first pilot aired on February 18, 2007, and the second on March 4, 2007. Fox News Channel has purchased 13 more episodes of the show (according to an announcement by Rush Limbaugh on March 7, 2007). Broadcasts for the new run of episodes will begin Sunday April 22, 2007. Cast and crew of the pilots include Kurt Long (playing co-anchor Curt McNally), Jennifer Robertson (playing co-anchor Jennifer Lang), Manny Coto, Ned Rice, Jennifer Robertson [2] and April Winchell.


Contents

[edit] Background

Originally pitched as "This Just In", the show was turned down by the Fox Broadcasting Company's late-night division before being picked up by Fox News Channel's chief Roger Ailes for a trial run.

Created by Joel Surnow, his description of the show initially was, "The Daily Show for conservatives,"[2] later expanding upon that description by stating, "You can turn on any show and see Bush being bashed. There really is nothing out there for those who want satire that tilts right."[3]

The Fox News channel advertised it on its website by summarizing its bent: "From bashing Obama to trashing Hillary and slamming the ACLU — Finally, there's a show for the rest of us! You made us the #1 new show on cable, so this time we'll hit 'em even harder!"[4]

[edit] Reception

The broadcast of the first episode on February 18, 2007 was watched by 1,478,000 viewers.[5] The rebroadcast of the same episode on February 25 was watched by 971,000 people,[6] the most watched show on any of the cable news networks that night.[7]
The second episode received similar ratings with 1,384,000 viewers, and was the top watched show in cable news from 5pm-11pm. [8]

  • Conservative website Right Wing News, in an article about the premier episode, stated that the show "may be the least edgy show made since Leave it to Beaver."[9]
  • The Boston Globe, in its coverage of the show, stated "All in all, "The 1/2 Hour News Hour" makes you appreciate what Jon Stewart and his writers are able to do, day after day."[10]
  • Variety commented "The right will doubtless welcome the gesture, but for those who really yearn to mix laughs with news and/or politics, try following FNC's Anna Nicole Smith coverage or the current convoluted storyline on 24."[11]
  • The Orlando Sentinel summarized the show by saying, "Their ad contains this line: 'They report. You laugh,' a good variation on 'We report. You decide.' The problem is…there isn't anything to laugh about. I was stunned by the big ad in Friday's USA Today, because Fox News Channel seems a pretty smart business organization. Why waste money on a disaster?"[12]
  • The Chicago Tribune said, "The humor is so predictable and so stale that it fails to produce any laughs."[13]
  • Tom Shales in The Washington Post was more receptive to the show, stating "those on the left anticipating, and probably hoping for, some kind of ghastly disaster will be disappointed-- and may even feel like joining in the (apparently canned) laughter more times than they'd expect. In a nutshell: It isn't terrible." He noted in the same review that "The 1/2 Hour News Hour" is on the semi-amateurish side some of the time, and when it picks on dead revolutionaries such as Che Guevara, it seems lazy as well as tacky."[15]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^
  2. ^ a b c "Fox News Preps News Satire Show", Forbes, 2006-11-20.
  3. ^ Learmonth, Michael. "FNC takes satire out for spin", Variety, 2007-02-12.
  4. ^ Fox News, This Weekend on FNC, March 3-4, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
  5. ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/the_scoreboard_sunday_february_18_53538.asp
  6. ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/the_scoreboard_sunday_february_25_53906.asp#more
  7. ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/12_hour_news_hour_most_watched_program_on_cable_news_sunday_night_54015.asp?c=rss.
  8. ^ "The Scoreboard: Sunday, March 4", Media Bistro, 2007-03-4.
  9. ^ Hawkins, John. "A "1/2 Hour Comedy Hour" Review", Right Wing News, 2007-02-19.
  10. ^ Weiss, Joanna. "Fake news entry cranks up the volume, not laughs", The Boston Globe, 2007-02-17.
  11. ^ Lowry, Brian. "Variety.com - Reviews - The ½ Hour News Hour", Variety, 2007-02-15.
  12. ^ Boedeker, Hal. "Fox News Channel's unfair, unbalanced "1/2 Hour News"", Orlando Sentinel, 2007-02-16.
  13. ^ Ryan, Maureen. "'24' producer strikes out with 'Daily Show' copy", Chicago Tribune, 2007-02-16.
  14. ^ Storm, Jonathan. "Fox News' fake news funny? You decide", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2007-02-16.
  15. ^ Shales, Tom. "Fox News Channel's '1/2 Hour News Hour': Right Funny, in Spots", The Washington Post, 2007-02-17.
  16. ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "The ½ Hour News Hour - TV - Review - New York Times", New York Times, 2007-02-17.

[edit] External links

Fox News Channel
Weekday Programming
Fox & Friends | America's Newsroom | Fox News Live | The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum | Studio B with Shepard Smith | Your World with Neil Cavuto | The Big Story with John Gibson | Special Report with Brit Hume | The Fox Report with Shepard Smith | The O'Reilly Factor | Hannity & Colmes | On the Record | Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld
Weekend Programming
Fox & Friends Weekend | The Cost of Freedom | Weekend Live | Fox News Live | Studio B Weekend | Big Story Weekend | The Beltway Boys | Fox News Watch | Fox Report Weekend | Geraldo at Large | Heartland | The Lineup | Journal Editorial Report | War Stories | Fox News Sunday | Hannity's America | The 1/2 Hour News Hour
Former Programming
The Edge • Fox Magazine • Drudge • DaySide • Fox Online
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