The Day Today (1994– )

A spoof of the the British style of news broadcasting - including ridiculous stories, patronising vox pops, offensively hard-hitting research and a sports presenter clearly struggling for metaphors.

Stars:

Christopher Morris, Steve Coogan, Patrick Marber

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Christopher Morris	...	Christopher Morris (7 episodes, 1994)
Steve Coogan	...	Alan Partridge (7 episodes, 1994)
Patrick Marber	...	Chapman Baxter (7 episodes, 1994)
Rebecca Front	...	Barbara Wintergreen (7 episodes, 1994)
Doon Mackichan	...	Collaterlie Sisters (7 episodes, 1994)
David Schneider	...	Sylvester Stewart (7 episodes, 1994)
Michael Alexander St John	...	Announcer (7 episodes, 1994)
Tony Haase	...	Cathedral Dumping Eyewitness (3 episodes, 1994)
John Thomson	...	Dentist (3 episodes, 1994)

Storyline

A satire of British news programmes. It parodies the 'hard-hitting' Gulf War-era style of journalism, as well as mocking sports journalism, weather reports, American news programmes, business reports, soap operas, 'vox pops', and many other targets.

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Plot Keywords:

journalism | british | broadcasting | spoof | satire | 

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Taglines:

The ground-breaking news show that won an award

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [United Kingdom]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 1994 (UK)

Also Known As:

On the Hour

Company Credits

Production Co:

Framestore CFC, TalkBack Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Christopher Morris: Hello, you.

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Crazy Credits

Thrift Funnel: George Clinton

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Connections

Featured in Comic Relief: Red Nose Night Live 05 (2005)

User Reviews

Bob Dylan has been hospitalised after eating a rotten wolf- movie at ten

Totally inspired, The Day Today is a superb mix of satire and surrealism which launched the television careers of about a dozen comedy personalities- Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Doon Mackichan, Armando Ianucci, Peter Baynham, Patrick Marber, Rebecca Front, David Schneider, the list goes on. The breakneck pacing ensured a collection of brilliant news segments every episode- the riff on reality TV shows, highlights of a bizarre train siege during which commuters reverted to tribal behaviour- alongside a series of regular features such as Mackichan's clearly deranged business analyst Collaterlie Sisters, news reports on The Bureau, a sitcom set in "a high class bureau-de-change", and the inept sports reporting of Alan Partridge. My favourite sketch was a super incisive take-off of excessive MTV style reporting 'for the kids' involving an interview with "controversial rapper Fur Q" (Morris), whose lyrics actually ran "cop, bitch, cop bitch m****rf****r" and whose stage act included the immolation and gunning down of audience members. A cultural analyst (Morris again) then informed us that the situation had been blown out of proportion- "these slayings were obviously ironic". Hilarious.

It's a shame that the general press and many so-called liberals were so quick to condemn the nigh on genius of Chris Morris when he produced the infamous 'paedo' edition of BrassEye, a show which parodied the kneejerk responses it created. It's main problem was not depravity but that it wasn't as funny and cutting as it could have been.

One more thing- I really don't think saying that "Americans won't get" something is valid just because the something involves satire and sarcasm. Sure, British humour may be famed for such qualities but I think 'getting it' relies more on people being smart and the truth is that people are quite stupid everywhere. That's why Big Brother and Full House exist.

5 bomb dogs and a scared police handler out of 5