By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
The Daily Show has been dark for the second week in a row now, and I’m desperate for a laugh. Without the constant drip-drip-drip of humor, I’m finding it harder to deal with the dark side. I need a satire fix in the worst way. Colbert amuses, but Stewart provides rib-ticklers and belly laughs. These shows consistently prove my theory that lefties have the ability to poke fun at themselves, with a sharp eye for hypocrisy and an aversion to cruelty, all required for genuine political humor.
In my experience — and I’ve tried to be vigorously unbiased — the radical right doesn’t inspire much humor (except accidentally), and they lack the nuance for satire, although they cite the acerbic wit of Ann Coulter or the quick response of “entertainer” Rush Limbaugh to prove me wrong. Listening to this pair of hate-mongers for more than a moment or two makes me want to stick something sharp in my eye, so perhaps that explains my political choice. Or, conversely, my political choice explains my sense of humor.
Back in 2007, lusting after Comedy Central’s success, FOX News launched a political comedy show to go after Dems the way Stewart skewers the Pubs. Ineptly shooting for ‘clever,’ it was named The 1/2 Hour News Hour. It barely completed the season and was canceled for lack of viewers, who are mostly old white guys and members of the Dorbin-Dorbin-Derp-Derp Club. The cast was weak, the jokes mean. The laugh-track sounded staged and obvious against the disappointing void of humor. Dennis Miller was a regular, his previous SNL charm pretty much gone after 9-11, drowned in the bathtub of Islamic paranoia, patriotic clamor and militarism. Turns out satire must contain some kernel of truth to succeed. In short, The 1/2 Hour News Hour was a dud.