Spill O’Reilly Addresses Dispute Over Pox News as ‘Trashy News Show!’

A few weeks ago, Sesame Street did a segment in which Oscar the Grouch, the perennial curmudgeon, played a newscaster covering a story for the Grouch News Network, GNN. Expressing her unhappiness with the story, a female Muppet viewer tells Oscar the reporter over the phone that she is no longer watching GNN. From now on, she says, “I am watching Pox News. Now there’s a trashy news show!” Though not outwardly stated, it was safely assumed that GNN referred to CNN, and Pox News, well, that should be obvious as well.

The skit got Sesame Street into a bit of trouble, as conservative bloggers called out the children’s show and PBS for being too liberally biased. Just in time for the 40th anniversary, which was covered so thoroughly by the media that even cave dwellers knew about it.

After the kerfuffle, Miranda Barry, the executive vice president for creative at Sesame Workshop, responded by saying that “no political comment or comment about Fox News, subtle or overt, was intended.” She went on to say that the skit was “equal-opportunity parody — Oscar always tries to offend everybody! In the full story, Oscar keeps trying to find angry, frustrated and grimy stories, but each time he finds someone feeling bad, they soon look on the bright side and cheer up. The curriculum for that episode was recognizing emotions.”

Well now it seems an entirely new Muppet news anchor has evolved out of the dispute, and he made a guest appearance on the “The O’Reilly Factor” to clear up a few facts about how grouch newsmen view the world, especially Fox News. His name is Spill O’Reilly, and not only was he piping mad, similar to what can be seen in the widely circulated footage of the news personality he mirrored, but he even took a moment to plug his new book, A Stinking Rotten Pile of Grouchiness. Spill O’Reilly’s clarification: “We grouches are totally unbiased. We are fair and balanced. Completely non-partisan.” And then the truth came out. “We can’t stand anybody! You all drive us crazy,” Spill O’Reilly shouted.

As I watched the clip I waited with bated breath for those magic words, the expletive-laden phrase from the famous Bill O’Reilly tantrum: “Fuck it! Do it live!” But Spill O’Reilly kept it clean, as a Muppet should–even if that Muppet lives in a garbage can.

Muppet News Flash: Spill O’Reilly Enters the No-Spin Zone – ArtsBeat Blog – NYTimes.com.

‘Sesame Street’ Producers Respond to ‘Pox News’ Dispute – ArtsBeat Blog – NYTimes.com.