The ½ Hour News Hour
 |
| The ½ Hour News Hour | |
|---|---|
| File:Halfhournewshour logo.jpg | |
| Starring | Kurt Long Jennifer Robertson Manny Coto Ned Rice |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox News Channel |
| Release | February 18, 2007 – September 16, 2007 |
The 1/2 Hour News Hour is an American television news satire show on the Fox News Channel. The program presents news stories from a conservative perspective, using a satirical format pioneered by Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.
The first pilot aired on February 18, 2007, and the second on March 4, 2007. Fox News Channel later purchased 13 more episodes of the show which started airing on Sunday May 13, 2007. On August 14, 2007, the show was cancelled, with the final episode slated to air on September 16, 2007. Bill Shine, the Senior Vice President of programming at Fox News, stated that, "we are considering ways to retool the show for future scheduling needs." [1]
Cast and crew of the show included Kurt Long (playing co-anchor Kurt McNally), Jennifer Robertson (playing co-anchor Jennifer Lange), Manny Coto, and Ned Rice[2]. Longtime Weekend Update anchor Dennis Miller was a frequent contributor to the program.[3]
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.
This was the first comedy show created by Joel Surnow, a producer best known for his success with the serialized action show 24. 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."[4]
Recurring Sketches
- Guy White: Closet Conservative — a cartoon featuring a conservative man working in an office in which everyone else is a liberal caricature.
- Hollywood Helping Humanity — satirical public service announcements featuring actors endorsing dubious causes, such as recycling breast implants. Actors appearing in this sketch include Leyla Milani, Ken Davitian, and Lorenzo Lamas.
- I'm the ACLU — satirical advertisements "boasting" of controversial causes supported by the ACLU.
- Presidential Addresses — Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh had a recurring cameo role as the President, with conservative pundit Ann Coulter as his Vice President.
Reception
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2007) |
The broadcast of the pilot episode on Sunday, February 18, 2007 was watched by 1,478,000 viewers.[5] The rebroadcast of the same episode one week later was watched by 971,000 people.[6] The second pilot on Sunday, March 4 received similar ratings with 1,384,000 viewers. [7]
The pilots received generally poor reviews. MetaCritic's television division, which produces composite scores based on prominent reviewers' opinions of television pilots, other episodes, and/or DVD releases,[8] gave The Half Hour News Hour pilots a score of 12 out of 100,[9] making it the lowest rated television production ever reviewed on the site.[10] Despite the pilots' poor reviews, the show continued to lead its time slot in the ratings among cable news networks.[11] The show's lead over its competition shrank considerably, however, with its Sunday, August 5, 2007 airing.[12]
See also
References
- ^ "Half Hour News Hour Shelved" mediabistro.com
- ^ a b "Fox News Preps News Satire Show". Forbes. 2006-11-20.
- ^ TV.com profile of Dennis Miller
- ^ Learmonth, Michael (2007-02-12). "FNC takes satire out for spin". Variety.
- ^ "The Scoreboard: Sunday, February 18" mediabistro.com
- ^ "1/2 Hour News Hour: 'Most Watched Program' On Cable News Sunday Night" mediabistro.com
- ^ "The Scoreboard: Sunday, March 4". mediabistro.com. 2007-03-4.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ About Metascores Metacritic.
- ^ 1/2 Hour News Hour, The. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
- ^ [1] San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 2007-13-06
- ^ "The Scoreboard: Sunday, June 10" mediabistro.com
- ^ "The Scoreboard: Sunday, August 5, 2007" mediabistro.com
External links
- Official Site
- Profile at TV.com
- Reviews at MetaCritic
- Fox launches rightwing satire show Dan Glaister in Los Angeles for The Guardian, February 16, 2007