Fox News Tried to Sue The Simpsons?

[Cush]

sorry if it's a repost, haven't been following the threads lately:

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/blog/#004436

Fox News loves lawyers all right. Cartoonist and The Simpsons godfather Matt Groenig tells this story on Terry Gross' Fresh Air today (and repeated tonignt on KERA at 7 p.m.) Seems The Simpsons did a Fox News parody, including use of the news crawl on the cartoon segment. Fox News threatened to sue. (Sounds like Al Franken all over again.) The Simpsons stood firm. Fox News backed down. Mr. Groenig figured Fox mobul Rupert Murdoch saw no percentage in the suit: Fox News suing a program appearing on the Fox Network. Hmmm. But if I heard the interview correctly, you won't see any new episodes with the Fox News crawl under Homer and Bart's antics: as a policy matter the network asked the cartoon to drop the concept because viewers might be confused that they're watching real news. I did not make this up.

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. That episode was HYSTERICAL!

I wish I could catch it again. They did a parody of an interview with a Democratic politician, and the anchor kept saying things like: "That was a very ADULTEROUS comment, don't you think?" The scroll at the bottom of the screen was priceless.

[Room101]

20. We should Email (South Park) to do the Fox news Parody

Matt and Tre have balls of steel, they would love to be sued. I believe South Park is way more funnier than the Simpsons.

[Bluzmann57]

2. Real news?!

First of all, Faux news ain't real news. Secondly, IT'S A FRIGGIN' CARTOON!!!!!!!!!!! How stupid would one have to be to think a crawl under a cartoon show would be real? Oh wait, I guess faux "news" viewers can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

[baldguy]

3. Only Fox News viewers would get confused.

[DrBB]

4. Yup, just listened, and that's what he says

"Fox has a new rule that we can't run the crawl because viewers might be confused." Groening, obviously disgusted and amused. Can't hellp but see that as a comment on the quality of Fox news and their own perception of the intelligence level of their viewers. Unconscious self-parody, the harshest form of criticism.

[EX-CONservative]

15. MadTV

MadTV often has parodies of Bill O'Reilly.

They're hilarious. Michael McDonald does a good O'Reilly...

[LeftistGorilla]

5. How pathetic....

Thank Gawd we don't get Faux news in Canada...
at least now yet...

[FDRrocks]

6. Groenig?

Would Fox network have to pay, since they aired the show? Was Fox suiing itself?

[CatWoman]

7. I remember that show!!

Bwahahahahaha: "This is Fox News, your station for evil"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[elperromagico]

8. You've got to be kidding me

This is about as ridiculous as that hoax story which claimed Metallica had copyrighted the chords E major and F major. The Simpsons has a long history of poking fun at Fox; suddenly Fox News is exempt?

...viewers might be confused that they're watching real news.
Oh, that's rich! Perhaps the headline should read:
Fox News Viewers Too Stupid To Differentiate Between Reality And A Cartoon, Says Fox News

[Dr Fate]

9. Now ther's an odd concept: "journalists" opposing free speech!!???

Traditionally news organizations are friends of the court on the behalf of defendants when it comes to free speech cases- in this Bush/Bizzarro world- news organizations are the ones doing the suing!!!

I thought Republicans opposed "frivolous lawsuits"?????

[elperromagico]

10. Republicans oppose "frivolous lawsuits"

when they involve a doctor cutting off the wrong leg or leaving a sponge inside a patient. You know, silly stuff like that.

This lawsuit against The Simpsons is full of merit. Or full of something...

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

11. Ladies and Genelemen...I give you the end of the world.

Come on. The end's gotta be near if this is happening!

It's official: NOW I've heard everything.

[loudnclear]

12. It's called winning through intimidation.

That's why FOX sees nothing wrong with Cheney intimidating the CIA analysts.

[rasputin1952]

13. I remember the one where the 'sattelite' for Fox...

was a piece of space junk with band-aids on it. I laughed like hell at that one too!

FAUX must really be feeling the heat if they are running around trying to sue everyone that says something they don't like...even if it is TRUE!

Pathetic bunch of whiners if you ask me, I have yet to see anything of real content from them anyway. That the FOX & Friends 'news' program in the AM went head over heels because that one little twerp shouted down Janeane Garaffolo, (making a complete ass out of himself at the same time), considered that it's "Glory" story, shows just how immature and ridiculous they are.

I wonder if, when Murdoch dies, they will keep up the same charade?

News my ass, it is a pathetic attempt to swerve idiots onto a farther RW agenda than they are already on. :puke:

[EX-CONservative]

14. New anchor?

Will Kent Brockman be a new contributor to Fox Snooze? :silly:

[elperromagico]

16. Give me Kent Brockman

over Shepherd "I Like Hitting Women With My Car" Smith any day.

[earthman dave]

17. It depends how you define 'confuse' ...

Part of Fox's game is to blur the distinction between reality and fantasy, with various techniques of association, to train their viewers so they can do the nod-and-wink style 'fair and balanced' shit, and so the viewers just accept it unconsciously, code phrases and the like. Having the simpsons parody their style probably would make it less effective, and in a very broad sense, 'confuse' the viewers (if by ' confuse' you mean jar them out of the pleasant happy trance that our friend Mr Murdoch likes them to be in)

[snippy]

18. I once emailed Roger Ailes asking if Homer Simpson was the target

audience for Fox News. I did not get a reply. Maybe I should have asked whether it was Archie Bunker.

[submerged99]

19. thought it was a myth or something

My brother told me about this but I thought that it was probably an urban legend spread via the email. The reason I thought that was because Fox News suing another Fox program sounded to ridiculous even for the meatheads at Faux News.

Something else I never see O Reilly address is the teen sex and "weed smoking" on that 70's show, since he is so outraged about people like Ludacris "leading the youth" astray. Why doesn't O Reilly ever blast that 70's show and let his audience see that he indeed is a courageous as he says he is.

These guys..I don't know what to say about the morons.