News-Fright! (Brass Eye)

Member Name: DannoStanno

Product:	Brass Eye
Date:	21/05/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, perfect parody

Disadvantages: controversial in subject matter

This was the show that finally brought Chris Morris, the director, writer and frontman of this show, into the world of popular conscience, though all for the wrong reasons. The 2001 special edition of this Panorama/Newsnight parady on paedophiles caused a barrage of complaints from ignorant viewers who didn't see the irony that it was those sort of moral bandwagon-jumpers that the show was laughing at.

Anyhow, ignoring the paedophile special for now, the show took news programmes to the absolute edge of comedy. Over the top news graphics, irrelevant statistical analysis. A bossy Paxmanesque frontman who's clean cut appearance could get away with saying anything and reports that seemed to build on Morris' previous show (The Day Today) growing even more outrageous and amusing. Each episode concerned itself lossely with a general issue affecting Britain today, the type of generalisation in the subjects allowing maximum licence and giving another dig at real TV newshows. The episodes were:

Animals
Drugs
Sex
Science
Crime
Paedophile special (named Paedogeddon)
Decline


Furthermore, throw in fake campaigns over issues rendered both heart-warming and career-building by unsuspecting minor celebrities and the show grew another new testicle in its comedic scrotum. Real life celebs tied themselves into what they believed (without using their brains!) to be good causes and are caught off guard declaring such nonsense as: "paedophiles actually have more in common genetically with a crab than a human" (Neil Fox). In fact, one episode which created a fake drug called 'Cake' fooled one MP into actually bringing up his concerns in Parliament.

The paedophile special episode came right in the era of lynchings and media fear that a paedophile lurked on every street corner. Morris grasped this concept and made fools of both the media and the nation.

Such a good show and Morris's finest

Summary: A huge leap from the Day to Day to make a clean cut swipe at the media and society