The election and the end of funny TV
No matter who wins the election, TV comedy and news will lose
If “you can’t wait for Election Day to be over,” said Joal Ryan in E! Online, you clearly don’t work for “Saturday Night Live" (click for NBC video). Or for Jon Stewart, Tina Fey, David Letterman, Fox News, MSNBC, “The View,” or “any other TV show or TV star that, in a fall of crushing economic news, has gotten fat off the presidential campaign.” This election has produced huge ratings boosts for cable news and political comedy shows, but the fun's over come Wednesday.
Yes, “it’s all fun and games until someone gets elected,” said Tim Goodman in the San Francisco Chronicle. But the election won’t hit all shows equally. Stewart’s “The Daily Show” will “remain vitally important and relevant” no matter who wins. But after being “revitalized” by Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin, “‘Saturday Night Live’ immediately goes back to being unwatchable.”
That may be for the best, said Thomas Schaller in Salon. “Our perverse Palin-mania revealed a deeply felt need for a humorous escape from a broken government and financial system,” and for all the good political comedy this year, “now is a very unfunny time for America.” Hopefully, what’s bad for the “satirical industrial complex” will be good for the rest of us.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Magazine interactive crossword - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine solutions - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published