April 26th 10:19AM
Brass Eye: Fake News, British Style
If you've never heard of Brass Eye, or its creator Chris Morris, that's not too surprising. But it is a shame. Many Americans — even many American comedians — are completely unaware of its or his existence.
Brass Eye, and its predecessor The Day Today, were British fake news programs that ran on BBC in the 90s. They never made it to the US (in fact, they never even made it to Region 1 DVD), maybe because it's too weird and subversive for BBC America. I've seen bits and pieces of several episodes on YouTube, but only recently tracked them down on Google Video (thanks to which, all seven episodes will now live happily on my iPod forever and ever, amen).
Here's Episode 1: Animals. (More links to come eventually.)
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Oh my God yes! I've just recently discovered this, and it's by far the cleverest, most subversive comedy show I've ever seen. I think the closest thing to it we have here in America isn't a show at all, but The Onion. Brass eye is sort of like The Onion brought to horrible, glorious life.
Ever check out Look Around You? Another awesome BBC weird series that really needs to show up on DVD here.