There’s no doubt that Bush is everyone’s favorite politician to parody. Oliver Stone is now even in on the action, getting criticized for rushing W in post to get out the bio pic in time for election day. I enjoy my Bush impersonators as much as the next guy, but as times get tougher, now is also the time for even sharper political commentary.
Right now the liberals owe a debt to Tina Fey, SNL, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart as a huge portion of voting Americans continue to crave political satire on a daily basis. There’s no doubt that getting news with a side of humor just seems less depressing in times of national crisis. The Onion News Network gives us more than straight parody by embracing full-on fake news allowing us to, for a moment, fully embrace the ridiculous state of the union.
Subscribe for daily Tubefilter Top Stories
Creating a political scripted web series, however, is a tough challenge. I don’t think many Americans could fathom how politics have progressed—or digressed—on a daily basis within the last month. Staying relevant with a 24/7 spin cycle is no easy task for a web series, and so far no one seems to have mastered it just yet.
Fun With War Crimes faces the challenge of having wrapped production of the series several months ago, although the season finale posted just recently. While the premise of the show is sufficiently wacky—put George W. Bush in a cracked-out version of Deal or No Deal, throw in a side of reality game show challenges, and give him the sorry life lines of Rove, Rummy, Condi, and Dick.
Howie Mandel and Bush do make a joyously odd duo, but there’s something missing from this wacky game show. While the average American would probably love to watch Bush hooked up to a lie detector a la Moment of Truth, most Americans are also ready to move on. Perhaps this explains the nation’s fascination with Palin—love her or hate her, there’s no denying she’s not your average politician.
While Fun With War Crimes may also not be your typical web show, it’s definitely behind the 8-ball. Poking fun at the mistakes that cost us so dearly is almost no longer funny. While it’s clear the show is taking a liberal stance (they have a count-down banner to the end of the Bush era), they have yet to skewer what Americans are talking about most—the upcoming election.
