CNN
From our “When television fantasy meets reality” department … Reach back in your minds to the year 2006. I know it’s hard, so I’ll wait. Ladedadedumdumda. Ready? Okay. Back then, NBC offered up a program called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - a dramedy (actually, more drama) that focused on the backstage trials and tribulations of a hit late-night, sketch comedy program. One of the stars of the program was comedian D.L. Hughley, who played Studio 60 veteran Simon Stiles. Simon, along with Harriet Hayes, performed a weekly sketch similar to Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” entitled “News 60,” which skewered the week’s news and newsmakers.
Now for the fantasy meets reality part. D.L. Hughley will be debuting a weekend show on CNN that will feature his comic take on the week’s newsworthy events. See, there was a connection through all that commentary!
The show will be called D.L. Hughley Breaks the News (working title) and premieres on October 25th at 10 p.m. Taped before a live studio audience Breaks the News will feature Hughley’s take on news events as well as one-on-one interviews with a range of newsmakers. According to Jon Klein, president of CNN’s U.S. bureau, D.L.’s commentary will be funny, thoughtful and unpredictable. He also says that the show will allow the CNN audience to stop and laugh after a week’s worth of depressing, disheartening news. Okay, I added the “depressing, disheartening” part.
Here’s the thing: Fox News tried this a few months ago and failed miserably. What’s to say that Breaks the News won’t be the same type of disaster? Yes, they have a big name like D.L. Hughley going for them, and he is quite funny. The issue is more with the format. We already have “Weekend Update” and The Daily Show which do this “non-news” format very well. Unless Hughley and his team at CNN can do something different with the format, I can see the show making a quick departure.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Oct 21, 2008 @ 18:32 EST5EDT
