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Why Greg Gutfeld Will Never Be The Next Jon Stewart Or Stephen Colbert

Posted by Ellen -7835.60pc on December 08, 2012 · Flag

In case you missed it, Greg Gutfeld is on book tour with a typical right-wing pundit screed about liberals - but peppered with his own special brand of what he and Fox Newsies think of as humor. Personally, I have always found Gutfeld to be an unfunny jerk and I have caught enough snatches of Red Eye and The Five to arrive at an educated opinion. And it's not about his politics. I often chuckle at the humor of Bill O'Reilly, Adam Carolla (someone I find outright despicable, as opposed to asinine) and Bernard McGuirk. So there was no way I was going to cough up an extra dime or even 10 minutes of my precious time on Gutfeld. But thanks to Alexander Zaitchik and his excellent review, he read it so the rest of us don't have to.

Apparently, Gutfeld and his right-wing supporters are hoping he'll become the right's Jon Stewart. It's possible they find Gutfeld truly funny and in the same league. But Zaitchik gets to the heart of how Gutfeld is really only at best amusing. And that seems to be all he's aiming for:

Gutfeld's winding road to right-wing punditry began as a student at UC-Berkeley during the 1980s. There he developed hatred for the left rooted in splenetic tendencies and cultural resentments more than any engagement with campus protest. Thirty years later, Gutfeld still doesn't know anything about the era he says forged his political identity. In The Joy of Hate, he shrugs off the debate over Reagan's Central America policies by calling it a bunch of "stupid crap" about which he says he'd "be lying if I told you I had a clue." This is just one of many similar asides, and after a while you start to wonder if it's part of an act when he jokes about not knowing the major combatants of World War II.Such self-denigrating honesty might not fortify Gutfeld's qualifications as an ascendant pundit, but it should at least have given his book a sole endearing quality. But it doesn't. The host of Fox News' The Five and Red Eye (and sometimes sub for Bill O'Reilly) isn't really being self-deprecating. He's bragging. 

...

The right is delusional if it thinks it can replicate the success of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert with Gutfeldian rightwing "irreverence." One of the reasons people are drawn to the Comedy Central shows aside from the jokes is they don't trust other news sources, and Fox News especially. Whatever tweaks Gutfeld may make to his formula in the future, he seems constitutionally (and institutionally) incapable of the basic fact checking, let alone the kind of serious research that goes into the best bits on the Daily Show. Gutfeld's book continues into print his televised talent as a happy vehicle for blatant disinformation -- on basic environmental issues, on major labor disputes, on the economic benefits of oil infrastructure. Leaving aside the content of his politics and the question of whether he's actually funny, this explains why Gutfeld will forever struggle with the demo, and will remain just another target for more popular comedic pundits.
Whether or not we find Gutfeld appealing, his prominence at Fox News raises an important question. Zaitchik rightly asks part of it:
What does it say about the future of conservatism that Fox News keeps expanding the role of a man-child with so little interest in or knowledge about politics?

But I'd argue that we also have to consider what this says about the future of television news if the top-rated cable "news" network finds this guy so beneficial to its lineup.  

If nothing else, it almost certainly ensures that both Stewart and Colbert will remain forefront in our news cycles for the foreseeable future.

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Lucas King commented 2015-06-11 04:46:28 -0400 · Flag
As a life long 2nd generation hard core conservative WHOM after serving in Iraq in 03-04, finally decided to look past the GOP “brand loyalty” and eventually becoming libertarian/independent, I can’t believe how well the author nailed it about Gutfeld!!! He’s so hyperbolously not funny in the least YET FOX News inexplicably keeps promoting him as if the old rich out of touch beltway bred n raised corporate class geezer of the elite who own FOX News keeps thinking “yeah this gutfield is what the cool kids want! They like John Stewart! I can’t imagine any person on TV actually pointing out our elitist class absurdity, so it must mean that he’s popular because he’s liberal, so all FOX news needs is a pretentious ignorant smartass who sings our line of corporate hackdom n well compete right??… See I’m hip I’m cool… Oh young people still don’t like us? Well they just need more Gutfeld!!!….” Oh god the humanity…. As a libertarian I would however really enjoy having a liberty minded pundit equivalent of Cenk Uygar or Stewart for that matter. At least we don’t pretend like FOX lol
Alexis Fasolka commented 2014-07-18 13:34:09 -0400 · Flag
Gutfield isn’t funny at all -he is a mean spirited person and Red Eye is watched by who in the middle of the night? Get real! There is zero satire -zero on the right because it goes over most peoples’ heads. DUH!
Alexis Fasolka commented 2013-09-21 08:44:16 -0400 · Flag
I will repeat this for Rick-Gutfeld is neither smart enough nor does he have an audience bright enough to understand nuance and appreciate satire!
Rick Thomas commented 2013-09-20 20:42:14 -0400 · Flag
The difference between Gutfeld and Colbert/Stewart is that he doesn’t hide his political stance but he’s able to point out the faults of both parties. Colbert and Jon Stewart’s shows only push the left’s agenda, which is why they’re only funny to liberals.
Justin James commented 2013-01-13 17:11:09 -0500 · Flag
why do we have to cyber bully people can’t we just change the station when he is on spread love not hate
Alexis Fasolka commented 2012-12-25 13:23:32 -0500 · Flag
Barry -here is a clue for you-Greg Gutfeld is not funny and could not be funny to progressives because he is playing to the dunces out there perhaps like yourself. Fox viewers are less informed than people who do not even watch the news regularily-what does that say? The demographic for Fox is largely irrelevant and getting smaller and smaller, The average age of the Fox viewer is over 65 and the average IQ is under 50! LOL As for DeMint’s replacement you can get a minority member or grizzly momma like Palin but when the utter the same garbage as far right wing white males and pretty much have the same agenda -it doesn’t mean anything other than they stooges for the good old boys network. Can anybody give me a list of right wing satirists -NO because satire and parody goes over the heads of the likes of your ilk Barry-they can barely understand slapstick!
Victor The Crab commented 2012-12-22 16:13:54 -0500 · Flag
Comment deleted. No talk of violence allowed, even if you’re just kidding.
Chico Brisbane commented 2012-12-10 03:33:16 -0500 · Flag
Gutfield couldn’t carry a show in the Stewert/ Colbert format. He tries to do it more like the format Chelsey Lately uses. Except Gutfield isn’t funny and neither are his guests.
Greg LaVigne commented 2012-12-08 23:48:39 -0500 · Flag
One of the main reasons why conservative political comedy will never really be a thing is that they simply don’t “get” humor. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert succeed at what they do because they have an audience that wants to be entertained more than it wants to be enraged. Conservatives may make a play at something equivalent, but their idea of humor comes from a dark place. They don’t want to laugh, they just want their anger to be justified, and that won’t take you very far from a comedic standpoint
Pete Luzzi commented 2012-12-08 22:31:32 -0500 · Flag
the main reason is the guy isn’t funny or have an iq out of single digits!








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