Tooning Out the News | |
---|---|
Also known as | Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News |
Genre | |
Created by |
|
Voices of |
|
Narrated by | Mitch Lewis |
Theme music composer | Tom Polce |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language |
|
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 263 (2 unaired due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Editors |
|
Running time |
|
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | Paramount+ |
Release | April 7, 2020 – November 12, 2021 |
Network | Comedy Central |
Release | October 5, 2022 – May 3, 2023 |
Related | |
Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (TOTN) is an American live-action/animated satirical news television show created and executive produced by comedian and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, R. J. Fried, Chris Licht and Tim Luecke. The series premiered on CBS All Access (now Paramount+) on April 7, 2020.
In March 2021, the show was renewed for a second season starting with an exclusive half-hour special to promote the launch of Paramount+ on March 4, 2021, which was followed by a full premiere on March 9, 2021. [1] On October 4, 2021, both short-form episodes would expand to a half-hour starting on October 8, 2021, and the show would switch to a weekly format. [2]
On May 18, 2022, Comedy Central picked up the show for a third season renewal consisting of thirteen episodes, which premiered on October 5, 2022. [3] On February 7, 2023, the third season was expanded with twelve additional episodes, including a special coverage based on the 2023 State of the Union Address. [4] However, On May 18, 2023, Comedy Central abruptly cancelled the show after the third season, leaving only two episodes remain unaired and incompleted due to production delays caused by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike amid the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. [5]
Describing itself as an animated news program, Tooning Out the News combines live-action and animation and focuses on topical news satire form from real-life news stories as well as lampooning current events, political issues, media coverages, social commentaries, pop culture topics, and often aspects of the show itself.
The first season consisted of four main segments, "Big News with James Smartwood," "Inside The Hill," "Hot Take," and "Virtue Signal," which resemble shows seen on cable news channels, plus added interstitial vignettes covering other stories not mentioned in the main segments. Some interstitial vignettes are previewed on The Late Show. The second season was added with two new segments, "The Establishment with Tory Hughes" and "Smart Talk Tonight." "The Establishment with Tory Hughes" and the vignettes were dropped in the third season with a new segment, "Sparks!".
Three of the main segments originally debut on Paramount+ Tuesday through Thursday (the morning after a new The Late Show with Stephen Colbert episode), with the fourth, plus a compilation "Week in Review" show containing all four plus vignettes are released every Friday. In the second season, both short-form episodes expanded to a half-hour, which was released every Friday starting on October 8, 2021, and the series would switch to a weekly format. [6] The third season airs on Comedy Central every Wednesday, following after The Daily Show . [3]
This section needs to be updated.(December 2023) |
This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards.(December 2023) |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023) |
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another articletitled List of Tooning Out the News episodes . (Discuss) (December 2023) |
This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably.(December 2023) |
The show features interviews with newsmakers, journalists, analysts, politicians, activists, and celebrities, including:
This article is missing information about List of Tooning Out the News episodes.(February 2024) |
Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First released | Last released | Network | |||
1 | 112 | April 7, 2020 | December 11, 2020 | CBS All Access | |
2 | 121 | March 9, 2021 | November 12, 2021 | Paramount+ | |
3 | 23 | October 5, 2022 | May 3, 2023 | Comedy Central |
The show was originally set to premiere on March 16, 2020, but production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7] [8] The show was debuted on April 7, 2020, instead, after production continued via remote work, with animators and showrunner RJ Fried, who has also produced The Late Show and Showtime animated series Our Cartoon President , working via Zoom and Slack. [14] [15]
On October 4, 2021, both short-form episodes would expand to a half-hour starting on October 8, 2021, and the show would switch to a weekly format. [2]
On March 29, 2022, co-creators and co-executive producers Mike Leech and Zach Smilovitz renewed their overall deal at CBS Studios, initially signed in 2020, where they will continue to write and produce across all platforms.[ citation needed ] On May 18, 2022, the show would move to Comedy Central as part of its adult animation push, with Paramount+ will simultaneously serve as its streaming home. [16]
On July 23, 2022, senior researcher Jonathan van Halem was offered the role of News Producer, making him the first person of Dutch descent to hold the position in the show's three-season history. [17]
On September 29, 2022, the animation staff at Tooning Out the News publicly voted to join a union with The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, making them the first group of animation workers and production staff in New York to vote in favor of unionizing.[ citation needed ] At the same time, the guild is generally submitting a letter for voluntary recognition to CBS Eye Animation Productions, an animation studio division of CBS Studios.
The show is produced by "The Late Show"'s animation studio, Late Night Cartoons, Inc., which was inspired by the idea of parodying an animated version of the popular cable news program. The concept of the show gradually took shape with the help of short clips that featured animated cartoon pundits on "The Late Show". On a parallel track, the animated anchors were interviewed by a range of guests while working to produce the segments for the week.[ citation needed ] Originally, the show's production used motion capture to "record" the actors' performances on the show, after converting David Letterman's old personal screening room at the Ed Sullivan Theater as a control room. [18]
After the pandemic forced animators to work from home, they switched to remote production, shipping equipment to animators' houses and using Adobe Character Animator to animate the show's virtual hosts, which allowed guests to interact with the show’s animated hosts and panelists in real-time. While the show usually takes months to produce, an episode of Tooning Out the News is turned around a few days before airtime for the concept to stay current, with the topical productions and real-time animation works done remotely.[ citation needed ]
The pandemic also forced producers to find a remote solution for guests, who were set to be filmed in the studio. Because the show's back-and-forth banter required low latency, producers partnered with The Video Call Center to handle the acquisition and quality control of guest connections. [19] The VCC developed a custom process that enables the show’s animated hosts and correspondents to have topical, live, natural conversations with newsmakers and journalists. [20]
Tooning Out The News has received critical acclaim and garnered mixed-to-positive reviews from news and television critics for its take on current affairs, hyper-topical coverage, and real-life interviews. It currently holds a 5.6/10 rating on IMDb with 55% of users giving it a positive review, while Rotten Tomatoes score remains hidden, despite several reviews being posted by users.[ citation needed ] The show has also been featured in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Times , NPR , Comic Book Resources , Mediaite , and The Daily Beast .[ citation needed ]
The show also garnered nominations for numerous awards, including two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series, but eventually lost to Carpool Karaoke: The Series .[ citation needed ] However, despite being considered for nominations at the 72nd and 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, "Tooning Out The News" was not nominated for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series.[ citation needed ]
Year | Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Variety Series | Tooning Out the News | Withdrawn | [ citation needed ] |
2021 | Critics' Choice Award | Best Short Form Series | Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News | Nominated | [21] |
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series | Nominated | [22] | ||
2022 | Producers Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Short-Form Program | Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News | Nominated | [ citation needed ] |
2022 Webby People's Voice Award | Technical Achievement Video | Won | [ citation needed ] | ||
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series | Nominated | [ citation needed ] | ||
2023 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy-Variety Talk Series | Addison Anderson, Sarah Caldwell, Stephen Colbert, RJ Fried, Julie Greiner, Mike Leech, Ron Metellus, Bob Powers, Libby Schreiner, Zach Smilovitz, Hannah Wright | Nominated | [ citation needed ] |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Scripted Variety Series | Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News | Withdrawn | [ citation needed ] |
The characters from 'Tooning Out the News' have made appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and in various marketing campaigns to promote the show.[ citation needed ] From October 9–10, 2020, the hosts from Tooning Out The News made their appearance at 2020 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.[ citation needed ] On February 4, 2021, James Smartwood made his cameo appearance in a marketing campaign for Super Bowl LV commercial to promote ViacomCBS' launch of the rebranded streaming service Paramount+.[ citation needed ] On July 23, 2021, the hosts from Tooning Out The News also made their appearance along with a special coverage to promote the show during Paramount+'s "Peak Animation" panel at 2021 Comic-Con@Home.[ citation needed ]
Comedy Central is an American adult-oriented basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel carries comedy programming in the form of both original, licensed, and syndicated series, stand-up comedy specials, and feature films. It is available to approximately 86.73 million households in the United States as of September 2018.
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014 and the CBS talk program The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015.
MTV Animation is the animation department of the television network MTV. The department's parent company is MTV Entertainment Studios, which is owned by Paramount Global. MTV Animation gained substantial popularity in the 1990s, with many of their largest successes including the original broadcasts of Liquid Television (1991–1995), Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997), Daria (1997–2002), and Celebrity Deathmatch (1998–2007). Of the animated shows that aired, Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria ended up being the most successful, with both shows developing a cult following.
Atomic Cartoons, Inc. is a Canadian animation studio founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller, and former Warner Bros. Animation employee Rob Davies. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, it produces service animation for a wide variety of clients, as well as creating its own properties. Since 2015, the company has been owned by Thunderbird Entertainment.
Little Airplane Productions was an American television production company co-founded by Josh Selig and Lori Shaer in 1999. The company produced Oobi for Noggin, Wonder Pets! for Nickelodeon, and 3rd & Bird for the BBC. It also released independent short films. In 2017, the company was bought by the European-based Studio 100, which entered a co-production agreement to create the comedy series Doctor Space with Little Airplane.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second iteration of CBS' Late Show franchise. The program is taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, the same studio as its predecessor Late Show with David Letterman. It airs live to tape in most U.S. markets weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT, as with its competitors Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Our Cartoon President is an American adult animated satirical television series that premiered on February 11, 2018, and ended on November 8, 2020, on Showtime. The series was created by Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Matt Lappin, Tim Luecke, and R. J. Fried and is based on a recurring segment from Colbert's late-night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is an American adult animated science fiction television series created by Mike McMahan for the streaming service CBS All Access. It is the ninth Star Trek series and debuted in 2020 as part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. The franchise's first animated series since Star Trek: The Animated Series concluded in 1974, and also its first comedy, Lower Decks follows the low-ranking support crew of the starship Cerritos in the 24th century.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years is an American animated television series developed by Luke Brookshier, Marc Ceccarelli, Andrew Goodman, Kaz, Mr. Lawrence, and Vincent Waller that premiered on Paramount+ on March 4, 2021. The series is a prequel and spinoff of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, featuring younger versions of the characters as they attend a summer camp. In August 2021, the series was renewed for a 13-episode second and final season, set to be released in 2024.
My Little Pony: Pony Life is an animated television series that aired on Discovery Family from November 7, 2020 to May 22, 2021. It is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise. The series, acting as a successor, spin-off and reboot to 2010's My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the fourth animated series based on the franchise overall, was produced by Entertainment One, in collaboration with Boulder Media.
Big Nate is an American animated television series developed by Mitch Watson and based on the comic strip and book series of the same name by Lincoln Peirce. It follows the adventures of the titular protagonist, alongside his friends, in sixth grade. The executive producers are Mitch Watson and John Cohen. Peirce is also collaborating with the producers for the show. The show premiered on Paramount+ on February 17, 2022. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on July 7, 2023.
Toon In with Me is an American live-action/animated anthology television series created by Neal Sabin for MeTV and MeTV Plus. A special preview episode aired on January 1, 2021, with the main series officially debuting on January 4, 2021.
CBS Eye Animation Productions is an American animation studio, division of CBS Studios owned by Paramount Global. The studio is closely associated with the Star Trek franchise with its first projects, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy. CBS reinstated it as an animation division in late 2018 before its re-merger with Viacom in late 2019.
Fairview is an American adult animated satirical sitcom created by R.J. Fried and executive produced by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. It premiered on Comedy Central on February 9, 2022, and was cancelled after one season.
An Aniform is a two-dimensional cartoon character operated like a puppet, to be displayed to live audiences or in visual media. The concept was invented by Morey Bunin with his spouse Charlotte, Bunin being a puppeteer who had worked with string marionettes and hand puppets. The distinctive feature of an Aniforms character is that it displays a physical form that appears "animated" on a real or simulated television screen. The technique was used in television production.