Onion News Network

History

In mid-2006, The Onion began developing Onion News Network in response to the growth of web video content, investing $1 million in its production and hiring 15 staffers. Staff distrusted the project as The Onion Movie was languishing in production hell, but they ultimately settled on a format mocking Fox News. Carol Kolb, former editor-in-chief of The Onion, returned as ONN's head writer, while Will Graham and Julie Smith served as executive producers.

An initial iteration of In the Know using Julie Brister and Brian Huskey of the improv group Upright Citizens Brigade was rejected in favor of scripted segments. This experience also prompted all Onion News Network series to primarily hire former news anchors over professional actors to match the cadence of cable news.

In March 2007, Onion News Network launched as a daily web video broadcast. In 2011, The Onion adapted Onion News Network into a TV show that aired on IFC, while its Onion Sports Network was adapted into an Onion SportsDome TV show for Comedy Central. IFC paid $500,000 per ONN episode, while Comedy Central paid $750,000 per Onion SportsDome episode, both of which helped financially support The Onion in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis diminishing newspaper advertising.

Season 1 of ONN aired on Friday nights at 10 pm. For Season 1, the series was the only scripted live-action comedy series in the United States to employ non-union writers. However, the writers unionized between Seasons 1 and 2 in the midst of a strike threat. IFC renewed Onion News Network for a second season, which was sponsored by Acura. Season 2 aired on Tuesdays for the first three episodes before moving back to Friday nights with the November 18, 2011, episode. In March 2012, IFC announced that they had not renewed ONN for a third season. After the show's cancellation, a pilot for a new series titled Onion News Empire premiered on Amazon Prime Video, which presented a fictitious "behind-the-scenes look" of The Onions "newsroom". It was not picked up for a full series.

Cast

• Suzanne Sena as Brooke Alvarez
• Todd Alan Crain as Tucker Hope #8 (Season 1)
• Ryan Blackwell as Tucker Hope #9 (Season 2)
• Matt Oberg as Tucker Hope #10 (Season 2)
• Brad Holbrook as Jim Haggerty
• Tracy Toth as Tracy Gill
• Brian Huskey as Duncan Birch
• Julie Brister as Lauralee Hickock
• Klea Blackhurst as Shelby Cross
• Dorothi Fox as Nancy Fichandler
• Jeremy Beiler as Jason Copeland
• John Cariani as Michael Falk (the autistic reporter)
• Malachy Cleary as David Barrodale (whose opinions are sponsored by Acura)
• Ester David as Jane Carmichael
• Peak Kwinarian as Brandon Armstrong
• Chaunteé Schuler as Angelique Clark
• Michele Ammon as Jean Anne Whorton
• Kyla Grogan as Andrea Bennett
• Jill Dobson as Madison Daly
• George Riddle as Joad Cressbeckler
• Aaron Lazar as O'Brady Shaw (season 2)
• Michael Torpey as Dan Carlysle, political expert
• Joshua Johnson as Dwight Richmond
• Bobby Rivers as Professor Robert Haige Oberg was the only actor to appear on two different television shows produced by The Onion. Oberg portrayed Mark Shepard in Onion SportsDome and portrayed the "tenth" Tucker Hope on Onion News Network.

Guests

Rachel Maddow and Mike Huckabee appeared as themselves in the fourth episode. Ben Stiller appeared as himself on episode 9, in a fake PSA for "Shaken Man-Child Syndrome". Glenn Beck appeared as himself on the November 1, 2011, episode involving a fictional PBS Frontline documentary about Brooke Alvarez's checkered past which in part may explain her on-air icy demeanor. Beck stated that while auditioning for the part of anchor of FactZone, he implied that Alvarez cut his brake lines and his car ended up in a ditch. Ted Allen appeared on the "Today Now!" special, showing how to cook a dish from his "new book" Pretentious Foodie Bullshit.

Recurring segments

To further invoke the atmosphere of a 24-hour network, The Onion produces the following video series:

• Today Now!: Parody of morning lifestyle and news programs such as NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. Hosted by Jim Haggerty (Brad Holbrook) and Tracy Gill (Tracy Toth), the style is typical of the breezy style often found in morning network television shows, with the presenters uncritical or completely oblivious to the subject matter, regardless of its absurdity (e.g., Haggerty's earnest question about whether an omelet recipe strictly requires a metal shoe-horn to measure the butter into the pan). The series was featured within Porkin Across America.
• War For The White House: ONN's continuing coverage of Presidential and midterm elections, opening with a dramatic video apparently depicting Air Force One and a squadron of fighter planes seemingly attacking the White House. Notable for its consistent use of military terminology (e.g. "Election Analysis Bunker") and deadpan style.
• The Onion Review: Weekly news updates from “America's Finest News Source”
• Onion Special Report: In-depth news coverage accompanied by additional news coverage on theonion.com
• Onion Film Standard: Onion Film Critic Peter K. Rosenthal (Ron Rains) reviews movies both new and old.
• Onion Tips: A self-help style video series that gives suggestions for how people can better themselves and their lives
• Onion Sports Network: A reference to ESPN, OSN usually features clips from SportsDome, a parody of ESPN's SportsCenter. The clips usually focus on parodies of specific SportsCenter segments such as the Budweiser Hot Seat, which becomes The Steam Room on OSN. Hosts present in the jocular style synonymous with ESPN and sportscasters appear on sets that are near-identical knockoffs of the SportsCenter studios. On January 11, 2011, cable network Comedy Central launched Onion SportsDome, an offshoot of the OSN feature, marking the first time an ONN feature became a full-fledged television series. It was cancelled in June 2011.
• News Room: A parody of breaking news segments that appear during commercial breaks or replays on 24-hour news networks. News Room is set in the fictional 24-hour cable news television network's news room with TV's and switchboards in the background. It featured "Tech Trends" as a newsroom segment about technology.
• Tough Season: A mockumentary-style series examining the world of fantasy football starring real NFL athletes
• StarFix: Parody of Access Hollywood
• In The Know: A parody of Sunday morning talk shows like The McLaughlin Group and Meet the Press. The show's full title is In The Know With Clifford Banes, but Banes is never present, with fill-in anchors giving an absurd reason as to why upon introducing themselves. One segment claims to feature the actual Banes, supposedly wearing a latex mask of another presenter.
• Autistic Reporter Michael Falk: A recurring character played by John Cariani

Episodes

Season 1 (2011)

Season 2 (2011)

It was announced on March 22, 2011, that IFC had picked up the show for a second season due to premiere on October 4, 2011.

Critical reception

Onion News Network received generally positive reviews from television critics. Michael Deacon of The Daily Telegraph described it as one "glorious blizzard of absurdity and bathos", while Jack Seale from Radio Times called it a "densely packed, highly intelligent comedy you’ll want to watch for a second or third time". Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that Onion News Network makes other satirical news programs "sluggish by comparison", before going on to say: "If the longstanding SNL segment is a sort of introductory course in wringing humor from headlines, and Mr. Stewart's Daily Show is the advance-level class, Onion News Network is graduate school, requiring much quicker thinking and a greater tolerance for comfort-zone invasion".

Zoe Williams of The Guardian gave a mixed review of the first episode, stating that, "even by the opening credits I was smiling so much I had a sore face". However, she was critical of the content. "Persistently, where the programme could rip into one thing, it instead chooses something more peripheral, more candyflossy," Williams wrote. Williams criticized a sketch relating to racism in the US judicial system, saying: "This is the kind of thing Jon Stewart could say with one eyebrow or the judicious rolling back of his wheelie presenter's chair. It's true, racism in the American judicial system is certainly worth lambasting, but there just isn't the complexity in the issue to warrant a satirical news story that goes on for four minutes."

In April 2009, the program was awarded a Peabody Award noting that the publication provides "ersatz news that has a worrisome ring of truth."

Legacy

In September 2024, The Onion relaunched Onion News Network on its YouTube page, starring former MSNBC host Joshua Johnson as ONN anchor Dwight Richmond.

International airdates

• : Program premiered The Comedy Channel in October 2011. It also airs on ABC2.
• : Airs on Super Channel. Confusingly, the front page of the Canadian edition of The Onion carries the same promotional banner as the U.S. editions, incorrectly implying that ONN is carried by IFC Canada.
• : Program premiered on Sky Arts 1 on November 26, 2011

Notes

References

References

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11. (August 2, 2011). "Onion News Network Writers Join WGA East Fold".
12. Hall, Mike. (August 2, 2011). "Onion News Network Writers Join WGAE".
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14. "The Onion News Network on IFC - Series - On Air - IFC.com".
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21. {{YouTube. B4De1ZuuCjE
22. (November 2011). "Glenn Beck on Brooke Alvarez".
23. [http://www.theonion.com/video/celebrity-chef-ted-allen-cooks-his-favorite-preten,26571/ Celebrity Chef Ted Allen Cooks His Favorite Pretentious Foodie Bullshit Meal] {{Webarchive. link. (November 8, 2011 The Onion)
24. "Chef Cooks 'Dream Omelet' From Recipe That Came To Him In A Dream". The Onion.
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35. Itzkoff, Dave. (March 22, 2010). "Fake Area Newspaper Gets Real Television Show". [[The New York Times]].
36. Luippold, Ross. (December 4, 2010). "IFC Picks Up 'Onion News Network,' 90s Cult Comedy Series". [[HuffPost]].
37. Whipp, Glenn. (January 15, 2011). "The Onion makes big TV push". [[Variety (magazine).