Not Necessarily the News

I found bunch of old episodes from the 1982-1985 era, which was the time during which I watched this show and hadn't seen it since. Does it age well? No, but I've seen worse. It is a fun journey back in time, though, and makes you realize just how little there was going on politically in those days compared to now. I mean, it's 1983 and they are still making jokes about Nixon! Anyways, it was fun watching these things again, but they are destined for oblivion.

HBO should release this show on DVD. I remember it and was a fan back in the day. It was a hit or miss affair, but it hit often enough to be pretty funny (though not as funny as the BBC version, "Not the Nine O'clock News"). There were some really hilarious bits on the show and a lot of great comedy writers got their start there, like, Al Jean (of the Simpsons) and Conan O'Brien. I definitely liked the original cast the best but there were even a few funny bits in the later years too. It'd be funny to see just how the politics of the day were made fun of -- because even though the show wasn't great at the time it was probably the best political satire on television. Remember, this was during the extremely lean years for Saturday Night Live when they were just limping along. So NNtN provided all the best Reagan jokes. It sucked that during the Reagan/Bush years, which were ripe for satire and jokes, that SNL was so weak then. I mean, can anyone even recall who was the great Reagan impressionist during those years? During the 70s we remember Dan Ackroyd doing Nixon and Carter, and Chevy doing Ford. In the late 80s/early 90s Dana Carvey made his Bush impression famous. And during the 90s there were two great Clinton impersonators, Phil Hartman and Daryl Hammond. But during the 80s who was the great Reagan impressionist? What a lame cast that was. Anyway, Not Necessarily the News should definitely be released on DVD, not only for the comedy but as a time capsule of political humor.

A now-forgotten series that was based on a British news parody, "Not the Nine O'Clock News" (1979).

NNTN was a fierce reaction to the goofy Americanism founded by Ronald Reagan and the weird policies and attitudes of that time. When Reagan left office, they even made a "tribute" to him in a special.

NNTN used news clips and warped them into biting satire. When NNTN was on, it was deadly.

It also launched the careers of Rich Hall (who left the show and made "guest appearances" thereafter) and Stuart Pankin.

Maybe someday HBO will re-air the series, or re-release it on video, or perhaps a network like Fox will syndicate it. It's a pity, because NNTN has more perspective on that shameful decade than most real news services.

How can you tell a real fan of the show? They'll know what a Sniglet is.

This was back in the day just around the rise of VHS/beta. SO HBO was still the premier channel to get latest release, which at that time was about three years after box release. This show did a lot of dubbing and re-editing so that political figures were saying comedic lines. The sniglet series was also hilarious, and Rich Hall wrote several books containing sniglets. For example, he gave a definition to the act of shaking out only two pills from a bottle, and defined the dirt that the vacuum cleaner can't get at the edge of the floorboard. There were also commercial parodies, one for a hearing aid which drowned out yelling wives and grandchildren. A great show and was not only ahead of its time compared to the daily show, but funnier, too.

As I Fondly Remember the Outrageously Funny Satire From this Show,It's Criminal that HBO Hasn't Cashed in and released it on DVD! A great Selling Slogan Would be "It's time To Laugh (at Reagan) Again!",Even if you Voted for Reagan Back in the Day! The Previous Reviewer Probably Didn't Pay Attention to It at all,when the Series was on the Tube;I believe The Show's Release on DVD would Sell Very Well,and Bring Back the Memories of what Good Times the '80s were; This Show is just as funny as 'Saturday Night Live';So,I Appeal to You Sir:Who are You to Decide how such A Entertaining Show Would Do in this Day on DVD? I Say to HBO: Put It Out On DVD,And Bring Back The Laughs!