Here we will annotate an example of Harry Shearer’s work on satire through a recurring satirical sketch and an example of “News of the Godly” which will be shown in each episode. Commentary is shown in green text. To get to the next page, either go through the drop-down menu on the top left, or click the link below titled “March 24, 2013”.
March 24, 2013
| Time | Annotation | Layer |
|---|---|---|
| 29:44 | This is one of the longest running segments in Le Show which follows the "Continental Public Radio" or CPR. It is a foundational sketch in that it satirizes the genre of a news radio broadcast. | Commentary |
| 30:12 | "Forbids the banning, bans the forbidding" is a play on the narrative of the author coming through the satire. This seems mostly to be satire of the news reporter itself, as to forbid and to ban are synonyms. So, it seems to be making the play about the reporter "reading" off lines rather than having commentary or really saying things live. | Commentary |
| 30:39 | One of the interesting distinctions that we see between satire that Shearer uses in these more political issues is the play on words and intention. "Resistance in its DNA" being a metaphor or story-like segue into the next segment that news reporters would use, and in this case being how the gentleman from Alabama is going to reference the similarities between the resistance to the legalization of gay marriage and the abolition of slavery. Beyond that, it is also a play on modern language associated in anti-gay rhetoric. | Commentary |
| 32:00 | Shearer continues to use this character as an exaggeration, specifically sighting how he would not give out any lisences whatsoever, even to straight people. This is foreshadowing again to the next segment where a man is lecturing about how social structures made outside the framework of the Bible show themselves as complete nonsense. | Commentary |
| 35:00 | Ira Zipkin mentions that she has finished her reporting, and makes the claim that it was finished due to the fact that the sun was coming down. This is referencing a type of Southern small towns called "Sundown towns." The name coming from the idea that if you were a person of color, you would be in danger once the sun came down. The irony of this being that these towns are known for being "lawless," and the entire racket of this episode was how much they cared for the implications of a law. | Commentary |
| 35:00 | This example, the "All in All" segment, is one that shows us how Shearer goes about satire in his normal way. We see here, the sketches are distinct in that they are fictional, yet the purpose is to shine the truth behind the exaggerated fiction. This is the picture-perfect definition of satire that we layed out on the first page. A key difference between this form of satire and the dark humor is the use of exaggeration in relationship to language, which we can see in the examples highlighted in the other two episodes shown. | Commentary |
| 52:15 | "News of the Godly" is a very common segment in Le Show, and it covers news related to religion. Trigger Warning: as we will see with this week, and the next two episodes, they are often covering news about clerical sexual abuse of children. | Commentary |
| 52:15 | It is also important to note here that this segment is much different than the sketch we see with "All in All", in that it is Shearer as himself, reading off news about the Church. However, this doesn't necessarily exlude the use of humor. | Commentary |
| 53:00 | I think an aspect that is important in what Shearer is trying to note is that these are children who are being manipulated by the Church even after their experience with abuse, as they continue to not notify the parents before questioning the children. | Commentary |
| 53:40 | Here is the first comment we get from Shearer that attempts to add some humor. This is ultimately very interesting in that he is merely repeating the words, emphasizing the words, that the clergyman was using in his quote. This is similar to what we distinguished in the satire vs. dark humor discussion, as he isn't creating or using fiction to create some moral point, he is merely emphasizing something that has happened. It is also interesting due to the fact that I would be surprised if anyone would normally categorize that as a joke of "dark humor," but it does seem to hit the definition of "joking about cruelty." | Commentary |
| 0:00 | Open/ Bristol Palin, marriage equity, confederate flag | Opening |
| 4:14 | "Mama Roux" by Dr. John | Song |
| 27:12 | "You Talk Too Much" by Joe Jones | Song |
| 41:30 | "Neanderthal Love" by Harry Shearer | Song |
| 54:58 | "Simcoe Street" by Sonny Landreth /Close | Song |
| 29:44 | All in All: Same Sex opposition | Sketch |
| 35:37 | What the Frack?: A 'game changer' in Oklahoma | News |
| 39:21 | Neanderthals intermingled with humans in Europe | News |
| 7:13 | Reading the Trades: The Navy is still on Windows XP, Lean Cuisine is finding its 'brand soul' | News segment |
| 14:27 | News of the Warm: Mexican seabirds coming to LA | News segment |
| 20:36 | News from Outside the Bubble: Tony Blair's friend says Iraq hurt the party | News segment |
| 22:50 | News of the Olympic Movement: The 'bike helmet' stadium in Tokyo--$2 billion | News segment |
| 44:30 | The Apologies of the Week | News segment |
| 51:58 | News of the Godly: 'Did you enjoy the abuse?' | News segment |