TVSquad

Major apologies for being late with this review. I've had a bit of a pain in the gulliver the last few days, but I'm doing better now, thank you very much.

Anyway, perhaps it was because I was sick, or maybe my humor sensors just weren't tuned in properly, but this episode kind of left me cold. I'll admit I loved the whole idea of Orel and the Pious Scouts going on a camping trip but never really exposing themselves to nature, and I loved all the signs at the nature preserve that read, "Warning: Actual Nature" and "No Birds After Six PM," and if you really want to make me laugh, a squirrel committing suicide via hanging is always a good way to go, but the overall theme of this episode felt like something I had seen too many times before.

Despite the efforts of ColorOfChange.org and other black activists online, Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute will be co-sponsoring primary debates this fall. The CBC Institute, which includes members of the Congressional Black Caucus, decided that the reach of Fox News was worth it, despite allegations of the channel's "marginalization" of blacks, allegations I don't fully comprehend. I'm not sure how Fox News would benefit from making a conscious decision to show black politicians and pundits in a negative light, unless one's perspective is based on the dubious theory that all black people are liberal.

I couldn't care less about whatever bias guides Fox News, or any other news outlet for that matter, but it seems that any political party would be remiss if it didn't take advantage of this kind of exposure.

I love reporting on the occasional political stuff: it's like tossing raw meat to a pack of wild dogs and watching them tear at each other. Now read this post and fight! Fight and bite, my polemic pooches!

Sorry, I shouldn't refer to my readers as "polemic pooches," that's not very nice. Anyway, here's the news:

The lackluster response to FOX News' Half Hour News Hour and the continued popularity of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have led many to conclude that liberals are funny, and conservatives are not.

I say that's a load of hogwash. It's not about being liberal, conservative, libertarian, or whatever else you happen to be. It's about being funny, or not being funny. To paraphrase something comic Doug Stanhope once told me during an interview: 'if you're good, and you're funny, you can find work.'

That's it. You want to be a stand up comic? Be funny. You want to make a funny TV show people will love? Then make a funny TV show people will love.

All that being said, here are three funny conservatives I admire, not because they're conservative, but because they make me laugh:

I'm neither liberal nor conservative: I belong to a small political party that believes every election should be decided by having the candidates wrestle a kangaroo, and that schools should teach neither creationism nor evolution, but rather a theory that states all of existence is resting on a giant Eggo waffle and that the end will come when we pop out of the toaster and are eaten by a family of pan-dimensional goats.

I ask you: where's my political comedy series?

Here's an original idea: create a sitcom based around two brothers with different political beliefs. Make one of these men liberal and the other one conservative. Also, make sure the liberal is the intellectual one and the conservative is an obnoxious blowhard. Now, to try and distract from the complete lack of originality inherent in this sitcom, put the conservative guy in a wheelchair. See? He's not just some cookie-cutter stereotype, he's a crippled cookie-cutter stereotype.

Anyway, that's the gist of a new pilot called Playing Chicken that was recently ordered by FOX. Perhaps the show will actually make fun of these stereotypes rather than perpetuating the nonsense that all conservatives are obnoxious and all liberals are erudite snobs, so I won't judge too harshly until I actually see it. Actually, who am I kidding? I'm going to judge it quite harshly.

Say what you want about Bill O'Reilly (and I know you will), but the man has no qualms about stepping into the ring with those who disagree with him. He's appeared on both The Daily Show and Late Show with David Letterman, so why would he be shy about appearing on The Colbert Report, a show that, in many ways, owes its existence, or at the very least, its aesthetic, to The O'Reilly Factor? I've said here before I actually liked O'Reilly before his ego outgrew him, but I still love to watch his appearances on Letterman. As annoyed as Dave seems when O'Reilly is on, you know deep down he revels in those confrontational moments.

Fox News' Sean Hannity isn't happy. It seems that the documentary This Divided State has raised the choler of the famous conservative and co-host of Hannity and Colmes. After you watch this footage from the film, you might begin to understand why. Hannity was brought to the ultra-conservative campus of Utah Valley State College before a controversial appearance by Michael Moore. Hannity says he plans to sue the filmmakers based on how the aforementioned footage was used. Of course, whether the footage was edited to make Hannity seem like a smug, self-righteous jerk or whether he actually is a smug, self-righteous jerk is for you to decide on your own.

The "liberal bias" of the media we hear so much about was called into question recently with a study released by Media Matters which claims that Sunday morning political shows such as Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and This Week  tend to have more conservative guests than liberal. Of course, some are arguing against the study. NBC argued that during Clinton's term in office there were also slightly more Republican guests on Meet the Press. The point, I suppose, is that it's not necessarily dictated by who's in office. Also, there's the question as to who's really conservative and who isn't, especially when it comes to centrists like John McCain and others. My advice? Tune into The McLaughlin Group, a show where everyone is equally a raving lunatic, no matter their political affiliation. Or, go to the zoo and watch spider monkeys fighting each other. It's pretty much the same either way.