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A Failed Experiment
This very short-lived series on Comedy Central was a weekly commentary on the news, written and hosted by Christopher Hitchens. It predates Jon Stewart's far more successful "The Daily Show" by a few years.
Being a Briton, Hitchens brought a very English set of sensibilities to the show and, indeed, to look at it, one might have assumed the show was produced in England. Unfortunately, this probably proved to be its downfall, as it was likely too alien for American audiences, and definitely not a fit for Comedy Central viewers.
Whereas "The Daily Show" is vaguely formatted like a news show (which allows them not only to comment on the news, but also parody news presentation itself), "Everything You Need to Know" was straight monologue commentary, with Hitchens as host/narrator, as well as writer. His material was essentially witty editorial, and he matched it with a dry, deadpan delivery (think of the narrator/book in the radio series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). If you're into cerebral British humor, then this is probably right up your street. Unfortunately, it wasn't up anyone else's.
Example: Hitchens assembled footage of network news coverage of the massive floods up and down the Mississippi river that year and observed, "The same question was on the minds of all the news anchors -- namely, what to wear to a flood." He proceeded to comment on the specious nature of the anchors' wardrobe (mostly foul-weather wear). His thesis was that Dan Rather wearing a parka is completely silly because, honestly, Dan Rather is the absolute last guy the network is going to send into actual foul weather. However, this thesis was not overtly stated, leaving the viewer to come to the same realization.
Whereas this sort of thing might play well in England, in the US I imagine Hitchens came off as pompous and dull. I won't say it's cancellation was any great loss, but I would have been interested to see where else the show might have gone. Today, "The Daily Show" now largely fills the gap left by "Everything."
Being a Briton, Hitchens brought a very English set of sensibilities to the show and, indeed, to look at it, one might have assumed the show was produced in England. Unfortunately, this probably proved to be its downfall, as it was likely too alien for American audiences, and definitely not a fit for Comedy Central viewers.
Whereas "The Daily Show" is vaguely formatted like a news show (which allows them not only to comment on the news, but also parody news presentation itself), "Everything You Need to Know" was straight monologue commentary, with Hitchens as host/narrator, as well as writer. His material was essentially witty editorial, and he matched it with a dry, deadpan delivery (think of the narrator/book in the radio series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). If you're into cerebral British humor, then this is probably right up your street. Unfortunately, it wasn't up anyone else's.
Example: Hitchens assembled footage of network news coverage of the massive floods up and down the Mississippi river that year and observed, "The same question was on the minds of all the news anchors -- namely, what to wear to a flood." He proceeded to comment on the specious nature of the anchors' wardrobe (mostly foul-weather wear). His thesis was that Dan Rather wearing a parka is completely silly because, honestly, Dan Rather is the absolute last guy the network is going to send into actual foul weather. However, this thesis was not overtly stated, leaving the viewer to come to the same realization.
Whereas this sort of thing might play well in England, in the US I imagine Hitchens came off as pompous and dull. I won't say it's cancellation was any great loss, but I would have been interested to see where else the show might have gone. Today, "The Daily Show" now largely fills the gap left by "Everything."
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