Onion News Network Explained

Runtime:22 minutes
Starring:Brian Huskey
Suzanne Sena
Kyla Grogan
Country:United States
Network:IFC
Director:J.J. Adler
Will Graham
Jon Watts
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:20
List Episodes:
  1. Episodes

Onion News Network is a parody television news show that ran for two seasons of ten episodes each, both during 2011, on the Independent Film Channel.

History

In March 2007, The Onion launched The Onion News Network, a daily web video broadcast that had been in production since mid-2006 under the direction of executive producer Scott Dikkers, the Onion's then editor-in-chief, with co-executive producer Will Graham. The Onion invested about $1 million in production and hired 15 staffers to focus on the venture.[1] Carol Kolb, former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion, was the ONN's head writer, and Will Graham and Julie Smith were the executive producers of an ONN TV show project developed by IFC .[2] Season 1 aired on Friday nights at 10 pm.[3] It was implied on-air that the ONN show "FactZone with Brooke Alvarez" is "simulcasted" on IFC Friday nights at 10 pm ET.

For Season 1, the series was the only scripted live-action comedy series in the US to employ non-union writers. However, the writers unionized between Seasons 1 and 2 in the midst of a strike threat.

IFC renewed Onion News Network for a second season, which was sponsored by Acura.[4] [5] Season 2 aired on Tuesdays for the first three episodes, and then moved back to Friday nights beginning with the November 18, 2011, episode. In March 2012, IFC publicly announced that they had not renewed ONN for a third season.[6] Some time after the show's cancellation, a pilot for a new Onion Studios series titled Onion News Empire premiered on Amazon.com, which presented a fictitious "behind-the-scenes look" of The Onions "newsroom". It was not successfully picked up for a full series.[7] [8] [9]

Cast

Oberg was the only actor to appear on two different television shows produced by The Onion. Oberg portrayed Mark Shepard in Onion SportsDome, which aired on Comedy Central until its cancellation in June 2011, and portrayed the "tenth" Tucker Hope on Onion News Network.

Guests

Rachel Maddow and Mike Huckabee appeared as themselves in the fourth episode.[11] Ben Stiller appeared as himself on episode 9, in a fake PSA for "Shaken Man-Child Syndrome". Glenn Beck appeared as himself on the November 1, 2011, episode involving a fictional PBS Frontline documentary about Brooke Alvarez's checkered past which in part may explain her on-air icy demeanor. Beck stated that while auditioning for the part of anchor of FactZone, he implied that Alvarez cut off his brakes and his car ended up in a ditch.[12] Ted Allen appeared on the "Today Now!" special, showing how to cook a dish from his "new book" Pretentious Foodie Bullshit.[13]

Recurring segments

To further invoke the atmosphere of a 24-hour network, The Onion produces the following video series:

Episodes

Season 1 (2011)

No.TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (2011)

It was announced on March 22, 2011, that IFC had picked up the show for a second season due to premiere on October 4, 2011.[5] [15]

No.Title[16] Original air date[17]

Critical reception

Onion News Network received generally positive reviews from television critics. Michael Deacon of The Daily Telegraph described it as one "glorious blizzard of absurdity and bathos",[18] while Jack Seale from Radio Times called it a "densely packed, highly intelligent comedy you’ll want to watch for a second or third time".[19] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that Onion News Network makes other satirical news programs "sluggish by comparison", before going on to say: "If the longstanding SNL segment is a sort of introductory course in wringing humor from headlines, and Mr. Stewart's Daily Show is the advance-level class, Onion News Network is graduate school, requiring much quicker thinking and a greater tolerance for comfort-zone invasion".

Zoe Williams of The Guardian gave a mixed review of the first episode, stating that, "even by the opening credits I was smiling so much I had a sore face". However, she was critical of the content. "Persistently, where the programme could rip into one thing, it instead chooses something more peripheral, more candyflossy," Williams wrote. Williams criticized a sketch relating to racism in the US judicial system, saying: "This is the kind of thing Jon Stewart could say with one eyebrow or the judicious rolling back of his wheelie presenter's chair. It's true, racism in the American judicial system is certainly worth lambasting, but there just isn't the complexity in the issue to warrant a satirical news story that goes on for four minutes."[20]

International airdates

Notes

  1. News: Press 'Play' for Satire: March 23, 2007 The Wall Street Journal Article . March 23, 2007 . August 9, 2017 . June 26, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626151446/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117459985897745975 . live .
  2. News: The Onion launches two new television news shows. Newsday. October 10, 2017. October 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171010211345/http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/the-onion-launches-two-new-television-news-shows-1.2598127. live.
  3. News: 'Onion News Network' Revels in Fake Stories - Review. Genzlinger. Neil. 2011. The New York Times. October 10, 2017. en-US. 0362-4331. October 11, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171011022243/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/arts/television/21onion.html. live.
  4. Web site: IFC Renews "Onion News Network," Greenlights Four New Original Series. https://web.archive.org/web/20110326040426/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/03/22/ifc-renews-onion-news-network-greenlights-four-new-original-series/86693. dead. March 26, 2011. TVbythenumbers.com. Seidman. Robert. March 22, 2011. March 23, 2011.
  5. Web site: The Onion News Network on IFC - Series - On Air - IFC.com . www.ifc.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101128064046/http://www.ifc.com/onn . November 28, 2010.
  6. Web site: 'Onion News Network' Canceled: IFC Spokesperson. The Huffington Post. Ross. Luippold. March 21, 2012. March 31, 2012. March 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170329022553/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/onion-news-network-canceled-by-ifc_n_1370700.html. live.
  7. News: Onion News Network Canceled: IFC Spokesperson. Huffington Post. March 21, 2012. June 24, 2015. Ross. Luippold. June 26, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150626160149/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/onion-news-network-canceled-by-ifc_n_1370700.html. live.
  8. Web site: Amazon Officially Picks Up 'Beta House' and 'Alphas' and Not 'Onion News Empire' and 'Those Who Can't'. Splitsider. May 29, 2013. June 20, 2015. Bradford. Evans.
  9. Web site: 'Onion News Empire' Trailer: Amazon Video Pilot Stars Jeffrey Tambor(VIDEO). Huffington Post. April 24, 2013. April 25, 2013. Katla. McGlynn. April 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130427080131/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/onion-news-empire-trailer_n_3147106.html. live.
  10. Web site: George Riddle is "Joad Cressbeckler". George Riddle on Vimeo. May 29, 2013. March 11, 2018. April 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230423002937/https://vimeo.com/67234589. live.
  11. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/01/31/2622149/the-onion-peels-back-the-curtain.html
  12. Web site: Glenn Beck on Brooke Alvarez. . November 3, 2011. November 3, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111103173522/http://www.theonion.com/video/glenn-beck-appears-in-revealing-documentary-about,26505/. live.
  13. http://www.theonion.com/video/celebrity-chef-ted-allen-cooks-his-favorite-preten,26571/ Celebrity Chef Ted Allen Cooks His Favorite Pretentious Foodie Bullshit Meal
  14. Web site: Chef Cooks 'Dream Omelet' From Recipe That Came To Him In A Dream. The Onion. March 23, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20100223093240/http://www.theonion.com/content/video/chef_cooks_dream_omelet_from. February 23, 2010. dead.
  15. Web site: IFC Renews Onion News Network, Announces New Shows. Paste. China. Reevers. March 23, 2010. August 3, 2010.
  16. Web site: Onion News Network Season Two Episode Guide. Independent Film Channel. September 17, 2010.
  17. Web site: Schedule - IFC.com. Independent Film Channel. September 17, 2010. September 4, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100904153305/http://www.ifc.com/schedule/#search/onion-news. live.
  18. News: Michael . Deacon . 'The Onion' comes to TV . . November 26, 2011 . November 27, 2011 . November 26, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111126205351/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8913697/TheOnion-comes-to-TV.html . live .
  19. News: Jack . Seale . Video preview: Onion News Network . . November 26, 2011 . November 27, 2011 . November 27, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111127154624/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-11-26/video-preview-onion-news-network . live .
  20. News: Zoe . Williams . TV review: Onion News Network; The Killing . . November 26, 2011 . November 27, 2011 . March 28, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328043610/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/nov/26/tv-review-onion-news-network?newsfeed=true . live .

External links

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Onion News Network".

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