Satire TV

Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era

Edited by

Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson

NYU Press
New York and Lond on

N EW YORK U N I V E R SI T Y PRE S S
New York and London www.nyupress.org 2009 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Satire TV : politics and comedy in the post-network era / edited by Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 9780814731987 (cl : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0814731988 (cl : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 9780814731994 (pb : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0814731996 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Television in politicsUnited States. 2. Television and politics United States. 3. Television talk showsUnited States. 4. Political satire, American. I. Gray, Jonathan (Jonathan Alan) II. Jones, Jeffrey P., 1963 III. Thompson, Ethan. HE8700.76.U6S37 2009 791.456582831dc22 2008045772 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Foreword by David Marc

ix

Part I
1 2

Post 9/11, Post Modern, or Just Post Network? The State of Satire, the Satire of State
Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson

3 37

With All Due Respect: Satirizing Presidents from Saturday Night Live to Lil Bush
Jeffrey P. Jones

Tracing the Fake Candidate in American Television Comedy

Heather Osborne-Thompson

64

Part I I
4

Fake News, Real Funny 85

And Now . . . the News? Mimesis and the Real in The Daily Show
Amber Day

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show: I Thought You Were Going to Be Funny!
Joanne Morreale

104

Stephen Colberts Parody of the Postmodern

Geoffrey Baym

124

Pa rt I I I
7

Building in the Critical Rubble: Between Deconstruction and Reconstruction 147

Throwing Out the Welcome Mat: Public Figures as Guests and Victims in TV Satire
Jonathan Gray

vi Contents

Speaking Truth to Power? Television Satire, Rick Mercer Report, and the Politics of Place and Space
Serra Tinic

167

Why Mitt Romney Wont Debate a Snowman

Henry Jenkins

187

Part Iv
10 11

Shock and Guffaw: The Limits of Satire 213 233

Ethan Thompson

Good Demo, Bad Taste: South Park as Carnivalesque Satire In the Wake of The Nigger Pixie: Dave Chappelle and the Politics of Crossover Comedy
Bambi Haggins

12

Of Niggas and Citizens: The Boondocks Fans and Differentiated Black American Politics
Avi Santo

252

About the Contributors Index

275 277