9 /10 1 Votes
Creative director(s) Jack Helmuth Country of origin United States Presented by Brian Sack Program creator Brian Sack Genres Sketch comedy, Satire | 9.1/10 IMDb Voices of George Lowe First episode date 11 November 2011 Network TheBlaze Opening theme Matt Mangano | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Created by Brian Sack
Jack Helmuth Written by Brian Sack
Jack Helmuth
Matt Fisher
Lauren C. Adams Directed by Angie Morefield
Mike McDermott
Sarah Carlson Similar Real News, The Wonderful World of, For the Record, Glenn Beck Program, Upright Citizens Brigade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The B.S. of A. with Brian Sack was an American sketch comedy program that aired on TheBlaze television network. The show premiered on November 11, 2011. The show's name derived from the title of host Brian Sack's book, The B.S. of A.: A Primer in Politics for the Incredibly Disenchanted (Simon & Schuster, 2011),
Contents
The show featured sketch comedy, mostly of a political nature, interspersed with Sack discussing topical news items with a variety of comedians. The show's performers and writers were drawn largely from members of the Upright Citizen's Brigade improvisational comedy theater in New York City.
Themes
Despite being on a network owned by Glenn Beck the show routinely made fun of political figures and politics of all party affiliations, as well as Beck himself. In an article in The Daily Beast, Beck claimed he green-lighted the show under the condition that Sack not play any favorites, saying, "if it deserves to be poked at, poke." The show lampooned most major political figures and routinely made jokes at the expense of "nanny-state" politics, the Transportation Security Administration and abuses of power by the Executive Branch of the American government.
To a lesser extent the show took on pop culture icons such as Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson and Kim Kardashian, often during a recurring segment called The Experts.
Recurring segments
Pumpernickel Boulevard was one of the most popular recurring segments, the show's overtly left-wing parody of PBS children's program Sesame Street, where Sack finds himself routinely frustrated by the show's well-meaning, absurdly politically correct puppets. The segments have included a "cruelty free" Thanksgiving dinner, a "gender neutral" child and a duet titled "You're Not Hitler" as a response to one of the puppets equating the town's mayor with a Nazi.
The Experts was a panel consisting of actors portraying celebrities or unusual characters as "experts" who opine on a variety of topical news items. The format often results in bizarre moments such as Batman arguing in favor of the White House Correspondent's Dinner or Adolf Hitler discussing his views on breastfeeding in public.
Patriot Kidz featured Sack as "Liberty the Penguin" and Lauren Adams as a cheerful co-host of a Department of Homeland Security show encouraging kids to help the government by snitching on their neighbors and parents.
Brian Explains to an Alien had Sack in a bar setting explaining everyday things such as child beauty pageants and unpaid internships to an alien (played by Matt Fisher) and coming to realize a terrible truth about them in the process.
The Best Stuff of America had performer Matt Fisher ruminate on such iconic Americana as mobile homes and baseball.
The Under-the-Table Sponsors segment recruited a new advertiser every week outside of the network's actual advertisers. In return for payment of "under-the-table" cash directly to Sack, the show's writers created a commercial for the client that aired during the show. More than often the commercial ends with staff member Benjamin Korman being killed.
The Glenn Beck show Highlight of the Week was a clip of Glenn Beck speaking out of context (usually about 2 or 3 seconds) from the Glenn Beck program.