Fox nearly sues itself over 'Simpsons' parody

[Cain]

:eek:


NEW YORK (AFP) - Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel threatened to sue the makers of "The Simpsons" over a parody of the channel's right-wing political stance, the creator of the hit US television show has claimed.

In an interview this week with National Public Radio, Matt Groening recalled how the news channel had considered legal action, despite the fact that "The Simpsons" is broadcast on sister network, Fox Entertainment.

According to Groening, Fox took exception took a Simpsons' version of the Fox News rolling news ticker which parodied the channel's anti-Democrat stance, with headlines like "Do Democrats Cause Cancer?"

"Fox fought against it and said they would sue the show," Groening said.

"We called their bluff because we didn't think Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself. So, we got away with it."

Other satirical Fox news bulletins featured in the show included: "Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple..."

While the lawsuit never materialized, Groening said some action was taken.

"Now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he said.

"The Simpsons," featuring the dysfunctional family of patriarch Homer Simpson and his rowdy brood, is now in its 14th year and is expected to become the longest-running situation comedy in US history in 2005.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031029/od_afp/lifestyle_us_television_031029172820

I want to add something mean and sarcastic... but this defies comment.

[Zep]

Not all rich people are bright.

BTW, you can KEEP Rupert - we don't want him back.

[Tricky]

Originally posted by Zep
BTW, you can KEEP Rupert - we don't want him back.
Bugger that, mate. That speiling bit of wallaby chunder is all YOURS, sport. The putty bushranger ought to be in a rathouse instead of earbashing with the pommie dingos topside. A bleeding dole bludger is well in compared to that galoot.

[Jessica Blue]

I remember one comment from a Simpsons episode set in the future...

Hmmm..somewhere along the line Fox news turned into a pornography channel and I never noticed


"Now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he said.

Fox executives obviously have a high opinion of viewer intelligence.

[Frank Newgent]

I know why they're upset. Deliberately distorted news reporting (http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14984) is indistinguishable from its parody.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Tricky

Bugger that, mate. That speiling bit of wallaby chunder is all YOURS, sport. The putty bushranger ought to be in a rathouse instead of earbashing with the pommie dingos topside. A bleeding dole bludger is well in compared to that galoot.

Now, I can understand all that, but the shame of it is my children wouldn't.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Tricky

Bugger that, mate. That speiling bit of wallaby chunder is all YOURS, sport. The putty bushranger ought to be in a rathouse instead of earbashing with the pommie dingos topside. A bleeding dole bludger is well in compared to that galoot.

Isn't that part of NWA's "Straight Out of Canberra?"

Anyway...

Rude and sarcastic, Cain? Coming right up...

I guess with how bad the Franken lawsuit turned out, Rupert was considering a intramural lawsuit so that next time they took their show to court against another party they might manage to not make the judge laugh so hard he cries.

[Cain]

Did a little more research on the topic. Here's the entire ticker; it's funny:

POINTLESS NEWS CRAWLS UP 37 PERCENT ... DO DEMOCRATS CAUSE CANCER? FIND OUT AT FOXNEWS.COM ... RUPERT MURDOCH: TERRIFIC DANCER ... DOW DOWN 5000 POINTS ... STUDY: 92 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS ARE GAY ... JFK POSTHUMOUSLY JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY ... OIL SLICKS FOUND TO KEEP SEALS YOUNG, SUPPLE ... DAN QUALYE: AWESOME ... ASHCROFT DECLARES BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH "OBSCENE" ... HILLARY CLINTON EMBARRASSES SELF, NATION ... BIBLE SAYS JESUS FAVORED CAPITAL-GAINS CUT ... STAY TUNED FOR HANNITY AND IDIOT ... ONLY DORKS WATCH CNN ... JIMMY CARTER: OLD, WRINKLY, USELESS ... BRAD PITT + ALBERT EINSTEIN = DICK CHENEY

I also heard the Groening interview with Terry Gross off NPR's site. It took place last week and the threatened lawsuit was from, I guess, about a year ago. So the misleading headline found its way into my misleading title.

I guess with how bad the Franken lawsuit turned out, Rupert was considering a intramural lawsuit so that next time they took their show to court against another party they might manage to not make the judge laugh so hard he cries.

:)

Suddenly, you're a lawyer, right? Can you explain all these right-wing lawsuits? Now the liberal blogger Atrios has been threatened with a lawsuit from _National Review's_ pathetic Donald Luskin. I remember reading a couple columns from Luskin awhile ago and thinking, "man, this guy is obsessed with Paul Krugman." Well, it turns out my suspicions were warranted. This blogger "Atrios", I guess he tries to remain anonymous, calls Luskin a "stalker" and now the crybaby conservative is threatening a libel suit.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2003_10_26_atrios_archive.html#106746499540074520

Luskin also objects to the comments box, where anonymous fans of the site said mean things about him :( . Poor baby. I knew all that talk about tort reform was bullsh*t.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Cain
Suddenly, you're a lawyer, right? Can you explain all these right-wing lawsuits?


Sure. Here you go:

I knew all that talk about tort reform was bullsh*t.

Yeah, that's about it.

[fishbob]

I guess with how bad the Franken lawsuit turned out, Rupert was considering a intramural lawsuit so that next time they took their show to court against another party they might manage to not make the judge laugh so hard he cries. No, Rupert was considering an intramural lawsuit so that next time he goes to court, he has an even chance of not losing.

[reprise]

So I'm guessing that CNNNN's newsbar (http://www2b.abc.net.au/cnnnn/gbk/newsbar/newsbarnewsbar.shtm) would go over like a lead balloon in the US.

[aerocontrols]

Not true? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44898-2003Oct30.html)

Nonetheless "The Simpsons" (the show, not the characters) issued an apology yesterday: "Matt was being satirical and certainly there was never any issue between the show and Fox News. We regret any confusion."

[CFLarsen]

"Now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he said.

Whoa...I would love to see the actual document where it says that. Talk about condescending attitude towards your customers....!!

[hammegk]

Somehow, I'm beginning to wonder who the joke is on.

It sounds like urban legend 101.

[Schizobunny]

People will do anything they think will get them money, including sueing themselves.

[Ladewig]

"Now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he said.

If I were Groening, I'd have a Foxnews broadcast with a crawl that read: Fox network demands fake news crawls removed from cartoon parody shows. They can't get upset because it is not fake.

[Hexxenhammer]

This reminds me of the episode where Homer is a missionary and at the end they cut to a PBS-like fundraising scene. Someone calls in and pledges $10,000 and Rupert Murdoch says "You've just saved Fox!" Cut to Bart on the phone saying "It wouldn't be the first time."

rimshot.