There was a time when you were my favorite country in the world. Sure, you invented the Snuggie and insisted on airing multiple shows about making cakes for some reason, but you were always pretty stable. Well, that's changed and I think I know why.
You're addicted, America. You're addicted to something more insidious than nicotine or cocaine or Pokémon: you're addicted to Opinion Based News Shows.
Don't deny it! I've seen the signs! What started as an innocent attempt to have more talking points at parties has begun to rage out of control. Sometimes it seems you can't even make a move without a little taste of Keith or Glenn just to get you "right".
Well, I'm not going to watch my friend go down without a fight. This is your wake-up call America. This is your intervention.
Bill O'Reilly wrapped up the final portion of his interview with Jon Stewart on last night's 'O'Reilly Factor' and if you tuned in hoping for a night of hilariousness, well...you still got it. But this time, you got it from the right person.
Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show', kept his trademark charm and wit at high volume during the third and final portion of their edited interview, even though the tone and substance of their discussion got a lot more serious.
And thankfully, O'Reilly put down his red nose and took off his clown make-up for this portion of the interview. As Joel mentioned yesterday, O'Reilly is painful to watch when he tries to be funny. Screw waterboarding; the NSA should have hired him as the emcee for their interrogations.
Bill O'Reilly has been on top of the cable news heap for fourteen years now, and for a good reason: whether you agree or not with his politics or his interview style, the man does a great job of putting his interview subjects on the spot and making them squirm. And, let's face it: squirmy interviews make for compelling TV.
One thing O'Reilly doesn't have is a sense of humor. At all. He's just too intense of a personality who takes himself too seriously to be funny. But, for some reason, whenever he gets in Jon Stewart's presence either on 'The Daily Show' or his own 'The O'Reilly Factor,' he spends half the interview belittling 'TDS' and its audience and trying to keep up with Stewart joke-for-joke instead of interviewing him on substance. And it never, ever works.
Here's the first half of the first part of his interview with Stewart, which aired on the 'Factor' last night. The second half is after the jump.
It isn't the first time that these two opposing television forces of Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly have collided. Their last match-up was in 2004. However, tonight on the Fox News Channel you can see the first of two parts of the big O'Reilly/Stewart smackdown during 'The O'Reilly Factor.' Two out of three falls! For the Championship of the World!
Well, maybe not any of that stuff, but it will likely be entertaining. Considering that I've watched O'Reilly on 'The Colbert Report' (Papa Bear came home) and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on 'The O'Reilly Factor' (it was edited for content), I can't see this particular meeting of the minds as anything major.
Of the two, Stewart seems the more savvy but it's likely that O'Reilly will be the winner of any political debate that occurs. After all, he controls the editing room.
Oh please leave political rants in the comments! I beg you! Please, please, please!
As part of his never-ending quest to make himself the news, the "Culture Warrior" has lobbed another fireball on the world of popular culture. This time it's Law & Order SVU creator Dick Wolf, because the show mentioned him.
This week's episode, titled "Anchor," featured a character who kills children birthed by illegal immigrants in America. His attorney, played by John Laroquette, fashions a defense that the TV and radio talking heads who rail against illegal immigrants are responsible for his actions. He even puts one on the stand, played by Bruce McGill, who seems to be channeling a Warner Bros. cartoon version of Lou Dobbs.
The attorney mentions O'Reilly by name, along with Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, as a "cancer spreading ignorance and hate." O'Reilly not only ripped Wolf a new one for working him into his show, but also brought in fellow pundit Laura Ingraham who frankly seemed more upset that she wasn't one of the name smeared in the episode like a jilted prom queen who only scores "Miss Congeniality". Well, darling, there's always Criminal Minds.
Last week, Fox News' "No Spin" pundit Bill O'Reilly was cemented into fame when Sesame Street unveiled their "Spill O'Reilly," the newest talking head on the "Grouch News Network" that includes such greats as Walter Cranky, Dan Rather-not and Sally Messy Yuckayel.
Remember the brouhaha with Sesame Street over their alleged swipe at Fox News? Sesame Street has officially extended an olive branch.
Sherrie Westin, executive vice president of the Sesame Workshop, appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to explain the "Pox News" joke and unveil a new character that pays homage to "Papa Bear" as part of the show's long-standing Grouch journalism homages. Just so there's no confusion, the new Sesame Street character is the guy in the suit on the left, not the right, I think.
It looks as though Lou Dobbs has picked up another spot on another cable news network. This time, he's not the interviewer. He's the interviewee.
Dobbs will appear as a guest on Monday's episode of The O'Reilly Factor where host Bill O'Reilly will grill the former CNN talking head on his sudden departure from his previous employer, his future career options and his never-ending quest to battle the invading armies of the Mexican empire aka illegal-immigrants.
Of course, the timing could not be worse. His appearance should only "fuel speculation" that Dobbs has scored a job at the Fox News Channel. The network's PR team continued to deny such speculation, something they'll continue to do until he scores a job at the Fox News Channel.
Sit a kid in front of a TV for an hour a day and a parent is bound to find something that offends them, other than the fact that plopping impressionable minds in front of a TV unsupervised is considered "good parenting."
Sesame Street is no stranger to controversy. Critics, cynics and crybabies have called out the show on everything from questionable behavior to the ambiguous situations...of puppets. Of course, all of these complaints and cackling criticisms just scratch the surface of a much bigger issue that has largely gone unaddressed: the total loss of our sanity and grasp on reality.
So as we look back at the last 40 years of television's greatest children's show, we see some speed bumps along the way. These are the ones that caused the greatest loss of tire pressure.
My first thought whenever O'Reilly visits The View is Joy Behar. She always looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but sitting next to him. But I suppose she puts up with it -- and has no choice in the matter -- because O'Reilly and Barbara Walters have been friends for a long time, and Barbara, of course, has the final say on who gets on the show and who doesn't.
This is all speculation, of course. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Just reading the body language, which I've learned a little about while watching Tonya Reiman on O'Reilly's Fox show, The O'Reilly Factor.
One last Halloween post. Bill O'Reilly appeared on The View on Friday, dressed as Dracula. It's a basic costume, but it suits him. Of course, the talk turned to the Fox News vs. the White House story, and then O'Reilly, for some bizarre reason, calls Whoopi "jealous" because he has a best-selling book. But what's equally odd is Whoopi's response, where she lists the awards she has won. I think that has been boiling inside her for a while (that part happens about 7:48 in).
And what's with all the weird mugging and looking around that Whoopi is doing? She's actually kinda of an odd person, isn't she?
Whatever your political opinions are and however your cable news tastes run, you have to admit that this Daily Show examination of how Fox News works is pretty smart. Not just as an explanation at how the news side works with the non-news side of the network, but as an explanation of how any organization can spin things their way.
You may have heard that the White House seems to have declared war on Fox News. President Obama has even gone as far as not appearing on one of the Fox News Sunday morning shows even though he appeared on every other network that morning. Now other White House spokespeople are openly saying that the network can't be trusted.
It's not that she's not talented, successful or funny. It's just an odd choice, putting a comedian on the show that takes its goal of crushing losers' dreams on live television so seriously. It would evoke the same reaction from me if they picked Andrew "Dice" Clay as the new judge, if the Diceman was talented, successful or funny.
And besides, why do they need humor and comedy on such an otherwise serious show? There are lots of humorless, vapid and downright boring shows that are crying out for comedic interjection.
Even though the sudden pull out from several sponsors hasn't caused Fox to prematurely eject Glenn Beck from his time slot, he was suspiciously absent from the airwaves this week.
Some suggest this Beck-free week wasn't just a much needed vacation for the host, or for the viewer for that matter.
TVNewser spoke to some Fox insiders who claim the network ordered the silver haired devil to take a week off so some of the heat over his advertising boycott could die down.
America, we need to talk.
It isn't the first time that these two opposing television forces of 
There are a few definitive signs that you have become an icon in television news: getting a 
It looks as though Lou Dobbs has picked up another spot on another cable news network. This time, he's not the interviewer. He's the interviewee. 
Sit a kid in front of a TV for an hour a day and a parent is bound to find something that offends them, other than the fact that plopping impressionable minds in front of a TV unsupervised is considered "good parenting."
It's always fun when Bill O'Reilly visits 
You may have heard that the White House seems to have 
Even though the sudden pull out from several sponsors hasn't caused Fox to prematurely eject Glenn Beck from his time slot, he was suspiciously absent from the airwaves this week. 
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