I've been watching old "Larry Sanders Show" episodes, inspired by an enjoyable HBO restrospective of the career of the late Garry Shandling. These shows roughly coincide with the 1990s Clinton Era, and I've been surprised by the number of casually biting hits on both Bill and Hillary Clinton in the fictional talk-show host's monologues. Bill appears as a clownish lecher, Hillary as a mean, dangerous criminal. One joke from last night concerned the hardships of a documentarist trying to interview employees at the White House in order to investigate rumors of a fascist atmosphere. A telephone operator begged the interviewer to go away before someone saw them talking, because Hillary would "hurt him." A typical monologue joke turns on Hillary's exposure to criminal prosecution, requiring no explanation for the audience.
Shandling was no right-winger; his jokes at the expense of the GOP were if anything more harsh. It makes me realize the extraordinary--though unsuccessful--effort to rehabilitate Ms. Clinton during the Obama Era.
2 comments:
That's interesting. I don't remember the 90s TV being directly political in that way, but maybe I didn't watch the right shows. About 2004, I quit watching shows at all.
That is pretty interesting. It would be fun to replay those now.
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