Edutainment 

T.K. McNeil 

There have long been objections about the blurring of the line between news and entertainment. Elements of show-business (witness the stylish hair and snappy clothes) and filth, filthy “commercial interests” creeping into what are meant to be trustworthy sources of information. A mandate difficult to fulfill while also selling commercial time had appeasing share-holders. We all need to make a living but PBS does all right particularly in terms of programs like Frontline and PBS Newshour and, despite getting funding from some of the more charitably-minded evil corporations, they operate free of any commercial or third-party influence.

(Charlie Brooker)

This has been some very fertile ground for topical comedians. Both those using it as the basis for jokes as well as those who have decided to use it to there advantage. At least in terms of willfully, and overtly, blending elements of showmanship and amusement, literally and figuratively, to put a little bit of apple sauce on some pretty unpalatable facts. The first case is best exemplified, in my humble opinion, by Charlie Brooker, now best known as the mad, dark genius behind Black Mirror. Particularly his NewsWipe and Weekly Wipe programs in which Brooker, who works in a form of Comedy know as “satirical pessimism” responds to the news as though it is just another vulgar entertainment show. A prime example of using the trappings of modern cable news and combining them with humour, as well as genuine earnestness and emotion, is The Dailey Show hosted by Jon Stewart and its spin-off This Week Tonight fronted by John Oliver. Note that two out of the previous three examples have hosts originally from Britain. I think I may be sensing a pattern or at the very least a trend of two (which is absolutely a thing).

(Adam Conover)

Outside the realm of news, there has come to be a new genre of comedy infused information shows (or fact based comedy shows depending on your persuasion) unironically referred to as “infotainment” or “edutainment”, in which every effort is made to try and hide important but possibly uncomfortable or unpopular facts. As well to try and counteract the now well known factor of cognitive dissonance. This is seen most clearly in the hit TruTV series Adam Ruins Everything. A case meta Comedy gone horribly right the show started as a series of shorts on the comedy site CollegeHumor and follows host Adam Conover as he goes about his life as a professional smarty pants debunking commonly held misconceptions and generally annoying everyone around him. One of the show's main strengths is not only itself awareness, most of Conover's friends being played by his real-life friends and former CollegeHumor collaborators but also its self-deprecation. While Conover is presented as being a borderline genius in terms information gathering and retention, his social skills leave a lot to be desired, much of the humour deriving from well-placed sight gags and the built-in, some might say natural, contradiction between Conover's smarty-pants persona while explaining things and his adorkable discomfort and misunderstanding when it comes to dealing with people a human level.