Satire TV

by Gray, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780814731994
• ISBN10: 0814731996
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

Satirical TV has become mandatory viewing for citizens wishing to make sense of the bizarre contemporary state of political life. Shifts in industry economics and audience tastes have re-made television comedy, once considered a wasteland of escapist humor, into what is arguably the most popular source of political critique. From fake news and pundit shows to animated sitcoms and mash-up videos, satire has become an important avenue for processing politics in informative and entertaining ways, and satire TV is now its own thriving, viable television genre.Satire TV examines what happens when comedy becomes political, and politics become funny. A series of original essays focus on a range of programs, from The Daily Show to South Park, Da Ali G Show to The Colbert Report, The Boondocks to Saturday Night Live, Lil’ Bush to Chappelle’s Show, along with Internet D.I.Y. satire and essays on British and Canadian satire. They all offer insights into what today’s class of satire tells us about the current state of politics, of television, of citizenship, all the while suggesting what satire adds to the political realm that news and documentaries cannot.

Author Biography

Jonathan Gray is Assistant Professor of Communications and Media Studies at Fordham University. He is author of Watching with The Simpsons and Television Entertainment and co-editor of Fandom and Battleground. The Media. Jeffrey P. Jones is Associate Professor of Communication and Theatre Arts at Old Dominion University. He is the author of Entertaining Politics and coeditor of The Essential HBO Reader. Ethan Thompson is Assistant Professor of Communication at Texas AM University-Corpus Christi.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Post 9/11, Post Modern, of Just Post Network?
The State of Satire, the Satire of State	p. 3
With All Due Respect: Satirizing Presidents from Saturday Night Live to Lil' Bush	p. 37
Tracing the "Fake" Candidate in American Television Comedy	p. 64
Fake News, Real Funny
And Now... the News? Mimesis and the Real in The Daily Show	p. 85
Jon Stewart and The Daily Show: I Thought You Were Going to Be Funny!	p. 104
Stephen Colbert's Parody of the Postmodern	p. 124
Building in the Critical Rubble: Between Deconstruction and Reconstruction
Throwing Out the Welcome Mat: Public Figures as Guests and Victims in TV Satire	p. 147
Speaking "Truth" to Power? Television Satire, Rick Mercer Report, and the Politics of Place and Space	p. 167
Why Mitt Romney Won't Debate a Snowman	p. 187
Shock and Guffaw: The Limits of Satire
Good Demo, Bad Taste: South Park as Carnivalesque Satire	p. 213
In the Wake of "The Nigger Pixie": Dave Chappelle and the Politics of Crossover Comedy	p. 233
Of Niggas and Citizens: The Boondocks Fans and Differentiated Black American Politics	p. 252
About the Contributors	p. 275
Index	p. 277
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.