For many, Jon Stewart invented TV political parody.
They would be wrong.
It was going on in the 1980's as well. In fact, I'd argue it was even funnier than Stewart back then.
A little show on HBO called NOT NECESSARILY THE NEWS lampooned Reagan just as Bush is being parodied today. In fact, looking at some of these clips, I wonder if Bush may be more Reaganesque than he is being given credit for.
Of the cast, Stuart Pankin is still acting today. Recently, he even hosted an infomercial. The show gave us "Sniglets", Rich Hall's segment on words that should be in the dictionary but aren't. Hall would go on to have a career as well.
Running during the height of the Reagan era, 1983-1986, at least one Best Of VHS was released to video, but nothing to DVD.
It may be dated, but it is still funny today.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
FORGOTTEN TV: NOT NECESSARILY THE NEWS (1983-1986)
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1 comment:
I was a huge fan of NNTN as a kid, even though I didn't get all the jokes.
Recently I discovered that NNTN was essentially a US version of the UK's NOT THE NINE O' CLOCK NEWS, where Rowan Atkinson first gained wide exposure.
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