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Bill O’Reilly Asks Whether Family Guy‘s Emmy Nod Is An Attack On Sarah Palin

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A few months back, the animated show Family Guy fell onto the political radar when it featured a character with Down Syndrome whose mother was “the former governor of Alaska.” Now that episode’s soundtrack is up for an Emmy award. Bill O’Reilly asked guests Margaret Hoover and Gretchen Carlson to speculate on whether the motive for the nod was political, as an attack on Sarah Palin.

The program itself did not get the nomination, according to O’Reilly’s report, but, rather, the song that plays at the beginning of the episode, which has lyrics about Down Syndrome. After playing a refresher clip of the Family Guy episode for those who had forgotten, O’Reilly asks Hoover and Carlson: “Are the Emmys making a political statement of support for Family Guy‘s alleged attack on Palin by nominating the soundtrack to that particular episode for an award?”

Hoover sees a serious problem with the message it sends about special needs people in American society, and called it “rewarding people who are making special needs children the brunt of our jokes.” Even if the episode itself wasn’t nominated for content, the lyrical content of the theme song was enough to be seen as an endorsement of this type of humor.

Unlike her colleague, Carlson didn’t analyze the potential general messages the Emmy organization was sending out. She took the political route, and in no unambiguous terms called the move “a total attack on Sarah Palin, end of story,” by the academy that hands out nominations. She said that the reason Family Guy did not get what she would deem to be an appropriate reprimand, why they chose to air the story, and, later, why the powers-that-be who give Emmy nominees handed one to Family Guy was because Sarah Palin had a child with special needs and “Hollywood hates Sarah Palin.”

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  • TfT

    Interesting. Kind of reminds me of Kathleen Parker’s admission that the only reason she got the pulitzer was because she bashed conservatives.

    It is what it is.

  • Latin2

    According to a recent Gallup Poll dated June 15 2010 Conservatives make up 40% of the US population, and Liberals only make up 20%…how many Conservative writers does Mediaite have writing these stories? Independents who make up 40% helped get Obama in office, but have now turned against him…so are there more Conservative writers at Mediaite for the total U.S. population?

    http://www.gallup.com/poll/141032/2010-conservatives-outnumber-moderates-liberals.aspx

  • The Real Royal King

    There couldn’t be any other explanation, could there? Conservatives are always victims, as we know.

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    “Hollywood hates Sarah Palin.”

    No, Sarah Palin hates Hollywood. She attacked them at every oppotunity with her “Hollywood Elite” mantra.

    Do you think that doesn’t have an effect? That they would forget?

    Paybacks a bitch. lol

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    Latin2 said:….

    Off topic posts might fly over at TVSnooser but here they make you look like just another teaturd jackass.

    Go back home.

  • timzank

    The Emmy nomination is typical, it’s akin to what the “cool” kids do in high school. Hollywood is (by and large) just like that clique everyone knew that always looked down upon everyone else and made fun of others they felt were not “enlightened”. Snotty, condescending, and holier than thou, making fun of the common people.

    Not surprising at all really. May they all enjoy their back-patting circle jerk and create more “art” for one another while the rest of us slog through real life with real jobs and real bills to pay.

  • Hugo Daun

    Seth is a clever, talented guy and I’m sure he appreciates the publicity O’Reilly has supplied.
    Gotta love the fake outrage, though.

  • Big_F-ing_Deal

    Gretchen is all bent out of shape because she has two special needs children of her own.

    Doocy and Kilmeade.

  • Latin2

    Big_F-ing_Deal said:

    Go back home.

    Why are Liberals so racist?

  • Azarkhan

    Of course Hollywood hates Sarah Palin and has proven it by relentlessly attacking her since she was nominated to be VP. Only a retard or a Leftist would deny it. (sorry, that was redundant)

  • The Real Royal King

    I just don’t get this blanket indictment of Hollywood. After all, Hollywood includes Mel Gibson whose strong fundamentalist Christian values are reflected in much of his work, if not his life.

  • Azarkhan

    “I just don’t get this blanket indictment of Hollywood”

    You’re right Royal. Let’s amend that to 95% of Hollywood.

  • The Real Royal King

    I think there is some mutual jealousy at work between the Drop Out Governor of Alaska and Hollywood. DOGA would have loved nothing more than to be a starlet, but she never could make it through the door to the casting couch.

    Hollywood can’t come up with a plot as compelling as a failed beauty pageant queen who attends five colleges to get one degree; marries a secessionist fisherman; gives birth to a randy daughter who gets knocked up by the local hooligan, both of whom drop out of school, one of whom has a mother who deals drugs, one of whom poses nude, and both of whom announced a tardy wedding in a trashy magazine, but not to the mother of the bride; gives birth to a son whom, etc., etc., etc.*

    Of course, there is tension.

    *The story once so compelling in a Jerry Springerish sort of way has somehow becoming boring, hasn’t it?

  • The Real Royal King

    Azarkhan said:
    “I just don’t get this blanket indictment of Hollywood”

    You’re right Royal. Let’s amend that to 95% of Hollywood.

    Would that be the results of a Rasmussen poll, the most accurate because it polls likely actors?

  • timzank

    The Real Royal King said:
    I think there is some mutual jealousy at work between the Drop Out Governor of Alaska and Hollywood. DOGA would have loved nothing more than to be a starlet, but she never could make it through the door to the casting couch. Hollywood can’t come up with a plot as compelling as a failed beauty pageant queen who attends five colleges to get one degree; marries a secessionist fisherman; gives birth to a randy daughter who gets knocked up by the local hooligan, both of whom drop out of school, one of whom has a mother who deals drugs, one of whom poses nude, and both of whom announced a tardy wedding in a trashy magazine, but not to the mother of the bride; gives birth to a son whom, etc., etc., etc.* Of course, there is tension. *The story once so compelling in a Jerry Springerish sort of way has somehow becoming boring, hasn’t it?

    You wanna do a side by side family history of fuckups with Palin and oh, let’s say, the Kennedys, The Gores, The Clintons, The Spitzers, The Pattersons, etc….Every family has baggage King, no one is immune, but if it makes you feel better, bash away, as it reflects no so much on the targets of your diatribes, but on your shallowness.

  • Azarkhan

    “but she never could make it through the door to the casting couch.”

    Unlike the leftist whores who did make it to the casting couch.

  • Azarkhan

    “Would that be the results of a Rasmussen poll, the most accurate because it polls likely actors?”

    No. That would be the result of common sense, of which I have an abundance, and you have none.

  • valkyrie101

    Isn’t the family guy a FOX show? So is Bill esentially attacking his own network? http://www.fox.com/familyguy/

  • DukeCO

    Their argument might hold water if it wasn’t for the fact that Family Guy was nominated for Best Comedy last year & has been nominated for something like 12 emmys previously. I guess those were given in anticipation of them making fun of Sarah Palin this year.

  • The Real Royal King

    timzank said:
    You wanna do a side by side family history of fuckups with Palin and oh, let’s say, the Kennedys, The Gores, The Clintons, The Spitzers, The Pattersons, etc….Every family has baggage King, no one is immune, but if it makes you feel better, bash away, as it reflects no so much on the targets of your diatribes, but on your shallowness.

    Yes, I can tell by your intense need to respond you are not in the least concerned about the particular “target”.

  • The Real Royal King

    DukeCO said:
    Their argument might hold water if it wasn’t for the fact that Family Guy was nominated for Best Comedy last year & has been nominated for something like 12 emmys previously. I guess those were given in anticipation of them making fun of Sarah Palin this year.

    Yes, but such a thoughtful analysis doesn’t advance the Palin Victimization Meme, does it? Moreover, it seems to run afoul of our strict copy and paste phenomenon.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Soya/1088592828 Shawn Soya

    LOL
    Looks like latina2 has decided to infest both tvnewser AND mediate

    Good luck, guys. You are going to need it.

    (and good thing this site has a “thumbs down” feature, so she can FINALLY realize how idiotic her comments are)

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    Unfortunately for Mr. O’Reilly Family Guy’s been nomnated and winning emmys for a while now.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Heckman/1446404196 Scott Heckman

    The girl who voices the down syndrome girl actually has downs and she thought the skit was funny. So who gives a shit what Fox News thinks. They are just pissed because they never win cable news Emmys…..because tabloid tv does not count as emmy worthy.
    Here is the youtube link when the girl call Palin humorless…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7zvGGSkLe0&feature=PlayList&p=472F217D3868451B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=39

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Heckman/1446404196 Scott Heckman
  • writer

    Royal King hates Palin for not living up to the high standards of someone like, say, Ted Kennedy. After all, Palin has yet to drive a car into water, then leave a woman to drown. The King’s standards are very high for whom he chooses to admire.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Heckman/1446404196 Scott Heckman

    Was Kennedy ever changed? Yes or No, a law is not considered broken until charges are filed. Lets see how many times Palin has been sued for ethics violations. Many………http://palingates.blogspot.com/2009/04/sarah-palin-and-law.html

  • writer

    Yes, being sued is much worse than leaving a woman to drown.

  • The Real Royal King

    writer said:
    Royal King hates Palin for not living up to the high standards of someone like, say, Ted Kennedy. After all, Palin has yet to drive a car into water, then leave a woman to drown. The King’s standards are very high for whom he chooses to admire.

    That’s why you’ve never been allowed to board the ship. As a rightist, you are a worshipper of icons. As a moderate American, I didn’t need to go prostrate before Senator Kennedy to appreciate the facts that, his many flaws notwithstanding, his burdens at times intolerable, he could still and did still dedicate much of his time and energy to making America a demonstrably better place and to a personal outreach uncharacteristic of most politicians. And, in all of this, he never had to stoop to turning himself into the victim. Palin, by contrast, has never looked beyond the end of her nose. She has never done anything to help anyone else, unless in so doing, she helped herself. Idolize her all you want. Draw lovely icons of her as the BVM if you wish. But in so doing, you do nothing for her or for your nation. Icon worship is its own punishment.

  • writer

    In other words, King, if someone agrees with you politically, you don’t give a damn what they do in their personal life, and will even defend leaving a woman to drown. Your ideology trumps all.

  • Averreauxii

    These culture warriors are the greatest BSers ever. I loved how Gretchen “I’m Too Moral For You” carlson refused to publicly state her position on abortion when she was put on the spot.

    Like mentioned above, they neglected to say that the actress playing the DS girl character is herself suffering from DS and she enjoyed playing the part. Faux outrage as always.

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