Latest news with #US8
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
South Park has lashed Trump again. So why are MAGA supporters trying to get in on the joke?
South Park has continued its satirical hammering of the Trump administration in its latest episode, taking aim at ICE, right-wing podcasters and introducing a version of Vice President JD Vance – but this time the administration and its supporters are trying to get in on the joke. The second instalment of the 27th season of the animated series dropped on Thursday, two weeks after the first episode showed President Donald Trump in bed with Satan, depicted him nude and making fun of the size of his genitalia and also featuring Trump suing the town of South Park itself. That episode attracted the ire of Trump's MAGA supporters and earned a rebuke from the White House. 'This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement. 'President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history – and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak.' What happened that week The first episode of South Park' s 27th season was released just hours after Paramount's $US8 billion merger with Skydance was approved by the US Federal Communications Commission. It also came a week after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was cancelled, just days after that host had taken aim at Paramount's $US16 million settlement with Trump over his lawsuit against 60 Minutes, which was broadcast on the company's CBS network. Loading Trump had sued the program over the editing of a Kamal Harris interview in the lead-up to last year's US presidential election. Speculation was rife that Colbert's sacking and the settlement with Trump were an effort by Paramount to remove any potential blocks to the approval of the sale to Skydance – and South Park also referenced those incidents in the show. However, Paramount said the decision to end Colbert's show was financial, and reports later claimed the show cost the network between $US40 million and $US50 million ($61 million to $76 million) a year. At the same time, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reached a $US1.5 billion, five-year streaming deal with Paramount in which they also agreed to produce 10 episodes a year. Days later the first post-deal episode emerged, going on to dominate the news cycle, pleasing Trump critics and enraging his supporters and surprising the creators. 'Even just three days ago, we were like, 'I don't know if people are going to like this,'' Parker said at Comic-Con after the first episode's release. Despite the backlash, the show has clearly doubled down on its criticism of the administration and the broader ecosystem around it – even as those in the satirical firing line try to claim the joke as their own. The new episode At the core of the new episode is school counsellor Mr Mackie's new job with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), after he is sacked from his job in favour of Jesus (another long-running character in the show). Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem features heavily in the episode, shooting a dog within moments of her on-screen arrival (Noem admitted to killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, claiming it had an 'aggressive personality' and wasn't particularly good at chasing down pheasants in her memoir No Going Back). Loading The Noem character also leads various ICE raids, including one on a Dora The Explorer concert and another in heaven, while delivering the character's slogan: 'If it's brown, it goes down'. Mackie, naturally, turns out to be an effective ICE agent, setting the story up for its big finale at Mar-a-Lago. There he is welcomed by Trump and Vance, depicted in a kind of Fantasy Island motif, with Trump as Mr Roarke and Vance as the diminutive Tattoo. In an even wilder twist, earlier this week the Department of Homeland Security posted an image of ICE agents from the show, with a link to a recruitment site. Meanwhile, a subplot of the episode has Eric Cartman setting up a rival a right-wing podcast after his fellow fourth grader Clyde's podcast has huge success. Cartman is incensed by the way Clyde has leveraged the bigotry Cartman assumed was his own (taking aim at woke students, women's rights, Black people, Jewish people and others), and is determined to do a bigger and better right-wing podcast, soon calling himself a 'master debater', a gag as silly as it seems. The show uses the arc to target right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, with Cartman's usual beanie gone and his hair styled like Kirk, who has now changed his X profile photo to the image of Cartman in podcaster mode. Towards the end of the episode, Cartman and Clyde head to The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Master Debaters. Again, Kirk appears to have taken the jibes well, posting a clip of that scene on his X feed. Kirk also suggested that some of Cartman's rants are taken straight from his show. Why are MAGA supporters embracing the episode? Melbourne University Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences Lauren Rosewarne says the efforts to co-opt the satire are an attempt to get in on the joke and frame it for MAGA supporters. Loading Unlike The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Rosewarne says, South Park has always had a large conservative audience, making the attempt worthwhile. 'Outsiders might think that is lame, but for insiders it's a way to express bravado in the face of a pop culture attack … for the past six months, you've seen a turn where MAGA thinks of themselves as the mainstream and this [ South Park ] is a reminder that no, you are not,' Rosewarne says. 'They feel they have a lot of cultural capital, more than the first administration... this is about them talking to their own people and reframing it: 'We are not the victims, we are in on it'. They would not do the same to Colbert.'
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
South Park has lashed Trump again. So why are MAGA supporters trying to get in on the joke?
South Park has continued its satirical hammering of the Trump administration in its latest episode, taking aim at ICE, right-wing podcasters and introducing a version of Vice President JD Vance – but this time the administration and its supporters are trying to get in on the joke. The second instalment of the 27th season of the animated series dropped on Thursday, two weeks after the first episode showed President Donald Trump in bed with Satan, depicted him nude and making fun of the size of his genitalia and also featuring Trump suing the town of South Park itself. That episode attracted the ire of Trump's MAGA supporters and earned a rebuke from the White House. 'This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement. 'President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history – and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak.' What happened that week The first episode of South Park' s 27th season was released just hours after Paramount's $US8 billion merger with Skydance was approved by the US Federal Communications Commission. It also came a week after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was cancelled, just days after that host had taken aim at Paramount's $US16 million settlement with Trump over his lawsuit against 60 Minutes, which was broadcast on the company's CBS network. Loading Trump had sued the program over the editing of a Kamal Harris interview in the lead-up to last year's US presidential election. Speculation was rife that Colbert's sacking and the settlement with Trump were an effort by Paramount to remove any potential blocks to the approval of the sale to Skydance – and South Park also referenced those incidents in the show. However, Paramount said the decision to end Colbert's show was financial, and reports later claimed the show cost the network between $US40 million and $US50 million ($61 million to $76 million) a year. At the same time, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reached a $US1.5 billion, five-year streaming deal with Paramount in which they also agreed to produce 10 episodes a year. Days later the first post-deal episode emerged, going on to dominate the news cycle, pleasing Trump critics and enraging his supporters and surprising the creators. 'Even just three days ago, we were like, 'I don't know if people are going to like this,'' Parker said at Comic-Con after the first episode's release. Despite the backlash, the show has clearly doubled down on its criticism of the administration and the broader ecosystem around it – even as those in the satirical firing line try to claim the joke as their own. The new episode At the core of the new episode is school counsellor Mr Mackie's new job with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), after he is sacked from his job in favour of Jesus (another long-running character in the show). Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem features heavily in the episode, shooting a dog within moments of her on-screen arrival (Noem admitted to killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, claiming it had an 'aggressive personality' and wasn't particularly good at chasing down pheasants in her memoir No Going Back). Loading The Noem character also leads various ICE raids, including one on a Dora The Explorer concert and another in heaven, while delivering the character's slogan: 'If it's brown, it goes down'. Mackie, naturally, turns out to be an effective ICE agent, setting the story up for its big finale at Mar-a-Lago. There he is welcomed by Trump and Vance, depicted in a kind of Fantasy Island motif, with Trump as Mr Roarke and Vance as the diminutive Tattoo. In an even wilder twist, earlier this week the Department of Homeland Security posted an image of ICE agents from the show, with a link to a recruitment site. Meanwhile, a subplot of the episode has Eric Cartman setting up a rival a right-wing podcast after his fellow fourth grader Clyde's podcast has huge success. Cartman is incensed by the way Clyde has leveraged the bigotry Cartman assumed was his own (taking aim at woke students, women's rights, Black people, Jewish people and others), and is determined to do a bigger and better right-wing podcast, soon calling himself a 'master debater', a gag as silly as it seems. The show uses the arc to target right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, with Cartman's usual beanie gone and his hair styled like Kirk, who has now changed his X profile photo to the image of Cartman in podcaster mode. Towards the end of the episode, Cartman and Clyde head to The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Master Debaters. Again, Kirk appears to have taken the jibes well, posting a clip of that scene on his X feed. Kirk also suggested that some of Cartman's rants are taken straight from his show. Why are MAGA supporters embracing the episode? Melbourne University Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences Lauren Rosewarne says the efforts to co-opt the satire are an attempt to get in on the joke and frame it for MAGA supporters. Loading Unlike The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Rosewarne says, South Park has always had a large conservative audience, making the attempt worthwhile. 'Outsiders might think that is lame, but for insiders it's a way to express bravado in the face of a pop culture attack … for the past six months, you've seen a turn where MAGA thinks of themselves as the mainstream and this [ South Park ] is a reminder that no, you are not,' Rosewarne says. 'They feel they have a lot of cultural capital, more than the first administration... this is about them talking to their own people and reframing it: 'We are not the victims, we are in on it'. They would not do the same to Colbert.'
ABC News
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
South Park airs naked Trump parody as parent company Paramount merges with Skydance
Just hours after Paramount had agreed to buy the global streaming rights for South Park in a five-year deal worth $US1.5 billion ($2.27 billion), the notoriously controversial TV show kicked off its 27th season with an episode taking aim at Donald Trump. The episode also came as its parent company, Paramount, saw its multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance reach government approval. Federal regulators on Thursday approved Paramount's $US8 billion ($12.15 billion) merger, after months of turmoil revolving around Mr Trump's legal battle with 60 Minutes, the crown jewel of Paramount-owned broadcast network CBS. The Trump administration had been rumoured to block the hard-fought deal with Skydance, until Paramount earlier this month agreed to pay a $US16 million ($24 million) settlement with the president. Critics of the settlement lambasted it as a veiled bribe to appease Mr Trump, amid rising alarm over editorial independence overall. Further outrage also emerged after CBS said it was cancelling Stephen Colbert's Late Show just days after the comedian sharply criticised the parent company's settlement on air. Paramount cited financial reasons, but big names both within and outside the company have questioned those motives. In a statement accompanying the deal's approval, FCC chairman Brendan Carr hailed the merger as an opportunity to bring more balance to "once-storied" CBS. In a no-holds-barred season premiere, South Park shows the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by Mr Trump while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school. Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Mr Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars. The episode also sees the US president begging Satan for sex and threatening to bomb Canada. The season opener also departs from its bare-bones animation to feature an AI-generated short of an overweight Mr Trump staggering through the desert. The short ends with a naked Mr Trump as the narrator says: "Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large." Predictably, the White House was not amused. "This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention," spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. "President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak." The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season. AP/AFP
Sydney Morning Herald
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
I lived my dream on US talk shows – the axing of Colbert's Late Show is about one thing
When I first got to Hollywood in 2011, I had a movie-like experience. I was picked up from the airport by my friend in a red '70s convertible and driven straight to a stand-up comedy night where I performed a set that landed me a job writing for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Having just come from the Melbourne open-mic comedy scene, it seemed surreal that I could all of a sudden land a job on the longest-running late-night talk show in the history of television. If I had stayed in Australia, the best I could hope for would be a gig on brekkie radio – no offence to Kyle and Jackie O. Such is the allure of showbiz in the US. You can turn up and become a star, or you can be caught cheating on your wife at a Coldplay concert. Anything can happen. But over 15 years of working in American television, I've discovered how those showbiz dreams are underpinned by an old boys' club – men (mostly) in suits who all went to the same college, competing for status and bonuses big enough to buy yachts. These business execs aren't patrons of the arts. They're not champions of political causes. They're businesspeople who could just as well be in construction or tech or, if they're really daring, health insurance. This underbelly has now come to the surface with Stephen Colbert's announcement that The Late Show has been cancelled by CBS. The decision came days after Colbert criticised the network for settling a $US16 million lawsuit with President Donald Trump, calling it a 'big fat bribe'. It's speculated that such dissent from Colbert had to be stifled by CBS, to help them secure federal approval of their planned $US8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The network denies this, stating the cancellation of The Late Show was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night' – an explanation that would be far more plausible if Colbert wasn't winning the ratings in his time slot and hosting the only late-night talk show in recent years to grow viewers. For the writers, the performers and the audiences of late night, these shows are a sacred emblem of the first amendment. This is where Johnny Carson cracked wise about Nixon during the Watergate scandal; where Leno ripped into Bill Clinton for his affair; where David Letterman had a regular segment mocking George W. Bush for being downright dumb. All of these presidents copped it on the chin because any indication they wanted the mockery stifled would be an affront to the Constitution. That doesn't seem to be the case with the current administration, which has a glass jaw when it comes to criticism. Colbert himself put it best: 'Donald Trump has the thinnest skin in politics. If you just whisper 'Obama' near him, he bruises like a peach in a wind tunnel.' Loading I can only speculate with the rest of the internet about why this cancellation of a popular, prominent Trump critic happened at this time. But I do have experience rubbing shoulders with the decision-makers at these networks. I've sat in the guest lounge at The Tonight Show (where I would pray my jokes would get big laughs) while network execs stood around talking about golf instead of even watching the show they commissioned. They always seemed to be in their own world, competing over their hobbies, their private jets, their business deals, or the calibre of celebrities they secured for projects. Unlike the writers of these shows, they never spoke about politics. They didn't seem to care if jokes were left- or right-leaning. They just wanted good ratings to further their own careers.
The Age
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
I lived my dream on US talk shows – the axing of Colbert's Late Show is about one thing
When I first got to Hollywood in 2011, I had a movie-like experience. I was picked up from the airport by my friend in a red '70s convertible and driven straight to a stand-up comedy night where I performed a set that landed me a job writing for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Having just come from the Melbourne open-mic comedy scene, it seemed surreal that I could all of a sudden land a job on the longest-running late-night talk show in the history of television. If I had stayed in Australia, the best I could hope for would be a gig on brekkie radio – no offence to Kyle and Jackie O. Such is the allure of showbiz in the US. You can turn up and become a star, or you can be caught cheating on your wife at a Coldplay concert. Anything can happen. But over 15 years of working in American television, I've discovered how those showbiz dreams are underpinned by an old boys' club – men (mostly) in suits who all went to the same college, competing for status and bonuses big enough to buy yachts. These business execs aren't patrons of the arts. They're not champions of political causes. They're businesspeople who could just as well be in construction or tech or, if they're really daring, health insurance. This underbelly has now come to the surface with Stephen Colbert's announcement that The Late Show has been cancelled by CBS. The decision came days after Colbert criticised the network for settling a $US16 million lawsuit with President Donald Trump, calling it a 'big fat bribe'. It's speculated that such dissent from Colbert had to be stifled by CBS, to help them secure federal approval of their planned $US8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The network denies this, stating the cancellation of The Late Show was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night' – an explanation that would be far more plausible if Colbert wasn't winning the ratings in his time slot and hosting the only late-night talk show in recent years to grow viewers. For the writers, the performers and the audiences of late night, these shows are a sacred emblem of the first amendment. This is where Johnny Carson cracked wise about Nixon during the Watergate scandal; where Leno ripped into Bill Clinton for his affair; where David Letterman had a regular segment mocking George W. Bush for being downright dumb. All of these presidents copped it on the chin because any indication they wanted the mockery stifled would be an affront to the Constitution. That doesn't seem to be the case with the current administration, which has a glass jaw when it comes to criticism. Colbert himself put it best: 'Donald Trump has the thinnest skin in politics. If you just whisper 'Obama' near him, he bruises like a peach in a wind tunnel.' Loading I can only speculate with the rest of the internet about why this cancellation of a popular, prominent Trump critic happened at this time. But I do have experience rubbing shoulders with the decision-makers at these networks. I've sat in the guest lounge at The Tonight Show (where I would pray my jokes would get big laughs) while network execs stood around talking about golf instead of even watching the show they commissioned. They always seemed to be in their own world, competing over their hobbies, their private jets, their business deals, or the calibre of celebrities they secured for projects. Unlike the writers of these shows, they never spoke about politics. They didn't seem to care if jokes were left- or right-leaning. They just wanted good ratings to further their own careers.
