Friday, October 24, 2008

David Alan Grier Is Respected, But Can He Be Relevant?

these pics couldn't run with my analysis of David Alan Grier's Chocolate News show on EbonyJet. so i'm posting/teasing here along with excerpts:

When black-oriented comedy or satire falls short it's usually because it's outdated. [...]

This is why I'd suspect most young bruhs and sistahs weren't especially motivated by the previews/trailers/ads for Chocolate News, David Alan Grier's attempt at filling the Black Hole in television programming with his urban version of The Daily Show. Fronted by a guy who hasn't made you laugh since In Living Color, and teasing us with clips premised around ideas like hip hop being sexist/violent/hoe-laden, and white people using the n-word. Ehhh, done and done. Even the mildly amusing ad campaign pictured above right was executed better a couple years ago by a different network.

[...]

2. Can The Satirical News Show Work For Negroes?: Beyond the challenge of execution and high expectations, this is the heart of the problem for a show like Chocolate News. And I can't articulate it better than this waffling Salon review:

When Stephen Colbert launched his "Report," he made it clear to anyone with a sense of irony that he was riffing on Bill O'Reilly and his ilk. But even if Grier were to base his caricature on a media figure like Tavis Smiley or Tom Joyner, how many of us would get it? And how much fun could you make of either of those guys, anyway? Political humor is best served as a poke in the eye of power; Smiley and Joyner's influence and name recognition aren't anywhere near as strong as O'Reilly's."

Only one of these guys can be a satirical news-anchor host

All this said, most of the reviews are optimistic with reservations. Acknowledging the show is not quite funny yet, but if it gets time the talent and concept could lead to a solid piece of television. Which is a fair assessment. Listening to Grier do his Maya Angelou on the radio for NPR translates a whole lot better than seeing another black-guy-in-a-fatsuit routine. So there's hope. Who knows, maybe by the time we get a Black president, we'll also have a Black Daily Show that's worth talking about.


Until then, even if it's a little bittersweet, I might have to settle for my chocolate news no matter what form it comes in.



8 comments:

  1. Anonymous10/24/2008

    Man, why you gotta be hatin on the DAG. He a cool nigga forreal yo. Me and my homeboys stay lovint his nigga shit (no homo).

    On the real tho, you gotta stop the hatin man, grab you white ass a big mac a coke, smile and shut yo tan ass up.

    you dont wanna fuck with the realest, imma fuck you up real good(ay no homo).

    god bless,

    -Playa .VD OUTT!!

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  2. Anonymous10/24/2008

    DAG, yo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10/24/2008

    This just seems like a lame attempt by Comedy Central to replace the success of Chappelle's Show (something they really haven't been able to achieve) by imitating their two biggest shows right now. And judging by the skits I've seen so far, it's really not working for them... Here's hoping it gets funnier before it gets cancelled!

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  4. Anonymous10/25/2008

    TAN, congrats on the book deal!

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  5. Between DAG's show and DL Hughley's, I'm hoping. But what I really miss is the first season of the Boondocks. That was some good, Black satire.

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  6. Anonymous10/29/2008

    It wasn't great, but no way is it less funny than Colbert show. That show only gets by because it mocks Fox News, and liberals hate it so much they will laugh at anything that mocks it. It's just a single joke, one guy being really REALLY sarcastic about the exact same target 5 nights a week. It wouldn't be enough to even justify a recurring sketch on SNL if it wasn;t for the liberal audience's neverending appetite for Bush-bashing.

    DAG's show may not be perfect, but at least it relies on more than one joke.

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  7. Anonymous1/16/2009

    Wow, Its beautiful...

    ReplyDelete

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