Peter Bart: CNN’S Edgy New Panel Show Seeking To Become Political Snark Tank
deadline.comNews junkies relished the break in pre-election noise this week in celebrating the 25th anniversary of The West Wing, a show that portrayed politicians as “competent and committed.” Aaron Sorkin, its mastermind, might be caught off-guard when discovering CNN’s new show, Have I Got News for You, which consigns all politicians to a state of buffoonery.
Derived from a steadfastly outrageous BBC format, Got News defies CNN’s codes of impartiality (it tilts liberal) not to mention propriety.
Panelists casually offer sexual references that might even startle Bill Maher, whose show also re-runs on CNN these days. Will angst-ridden American viewers accept a panel show steeped in snark – a sort of political snark tank?
It’s worth a try, says Mark Thompson, the former BBC and New York Times executive who now runs CNN. Almost 800,000 viewers checked out Got News in the post-debate period when the overall news audience seemed to dwindle – ABC News’ ratings were off 17% last week. RELATED: ‘The West Wing’ Stars Reunite At Emmys To Encourage People To Vote & Talk About Political Storylines That Would Have Been “Far-Fetched” Proponents of the CNN venture would point out that, while the news market suffers its tremors, the appetite for humor seems to be thriving.
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