Review of SuperNews

If only all news were this entertaining! SuperNews is an animated satire that exposes the absurdity, hypocrisy, and hilarity of the latest political and pop culture events. Hosted by Current TV (a viewer-created-content network founded by Al Gore) since 2005, the show was envisioned by director and writer Josh Faure-Brac, who provides much of the voice work in addition to designing the characters (the resemblances to the actual people are often uncanny). Together with animators Steven Olson and Dustin McLean, Faure-Brac creates a show that is not only funny, but will propel even the most apathetically political individuals to take an interest in current events.

Two kinds of people provide the bulk of the fodder on SuperNews: politicians and celebrities. Some episodes focus only on spoofing Hollywood types, like Shawskank Redemption – where we find out exactly how Paris Hilton got out of jail. Other episodes purely target political figures, with George W. Bush leading the pack (see: his Iraq speech and State of the Union). But in SuperNews, no one is really safe. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. And certainly not liberal filmmaker Michael Moore – who travels back in time to “save” Thanksgiving – or conservative pundit Ann Coulter – who is apparently in a relationship with Hitler.

But

the real magic happens when Faure-Brac meshes pop culture and politics into brilliantly surreal sketches and we get the best of both worlds. In Osama Bin Lohan, Bush and Cheney scratch their heads over how to protect the country from the true terror: Lindsay Lohan’s partying. And in The K-Fed Effect, the Democrats win majorities in Congress, but John Kerry celebrates another victory – Britney Spears divorcing Kevin Federline. Even if you aren’t familiar with the figures depicted in SuperNews’ two-minute episodes, there are plenty of wacky characters and ingenious one-liners to keep you laughing. The satire is all about how America is far from perfect, but it also shows us that at least one right is clearly still intact – the virtually unabated freedom to poke fun at people in power.

On top of all the jokes, there is also usually someone who speaks “the voice of reason” and drives home the message in each episode. So, in Oprah Drops a Da Vinci Load, Jesus Christ is a guest on the show (along with Dan Brown, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, and Tom Cruise) and rounds out the theologically funny and thought-provoking debate about mixing religion with Hollywood.