“Yeah, but it’s cable right?”
Griffin was added to the New Year’s coverage team for entertainment purposes, and entertaining she was, even though she had been threatened by CNN’s legal department with summary dismissal, if she uttered any of the words made famous in the classic George Carlin routine.
So, Griffin kept slipping in double entendres all night, such as references to the “big BALL drop”, and “Courtney COX’s” new TV show, or her preference for certain dog breeds, like “Shih Tzu.”
But this was the exchange that apparently ran afoul of CNN’s standards and practices:
ANDERSON COOPER: Oh of course, I did.
My favorite moment was when here, when balloon boy, Falcon, said, who
the hell is Wolf? Do you remember that?
KATHY GRIFFIN: What? Falcon?
ANDERSON COOPER: It’s Falcon Heene.
KATHY GRIFFIN: Falcon? How do you say it?
ANDERSON COOPER: Terrible. Really terrible.
On the video, it apparently sounds like Kathy is saying f***ing
instead of Falcon. “Just add me to the list of ‘serious reporters’ who
had trouble pronouncing the name ‘Falcon,’ ” she says in a statement,
reported by The Washington Post.KATHY GRIFFIN: What? Falcon?
ANDERSON COOPER: It’s Falcon Heene.
KATHY GRIFFIN: Falcon? How do you say it?
ANDERSON COOPER: Terrible. Really terrible.
Kathy, of course was just recycling Carlin’s trenchant observation that many “dirty” words can be said on TV, so long as the context is changed. “You can say ‘Roberto Clemente has two balls on him,’ but you can’t say ‘I think he hurt his balls on that play,’” Carlin joked in his famous routine.
So, I think Kathy Griffin would have been okay, if she could just have just worked in a reference to Norfolk, Virginia. Which reminds me of a supposed Norfolk High School cheer:
“We are the girls from Norfolk,
We don’t drink,
We don’t smoke,
Norfolk! Norfolk!”
The also reminds me of a story, which I concede may be apocryphal, of
a time when Adrian Cronauer once appeared on CNN’s 1990s-era midday
talk show, “Sonia Live.” Host Sonia Friedman was interviewing the
real-life Air Force DJ, about the way Robin Williams portrayed him in
the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam.”We don’t drink,
We don’t smoke,
Norfolk! Norfolk!”
“Did you really say, ‘Good Morning, Vietnam?’” Sonia is said to have asked Cronauer.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And what do you think the troops were thinking when they heard that?“
“I think they were thinking, ‘F*** You,” Cronauer reputedly answered, without the asterisks.
“Uh, you do know this is a live show,” a flustered Sonia stammered.
“Yeah, but it’s cable right?” pointed out Cronauer.
Right. It’s cable. You can say almost anything. Notably, CNN did not apologize for any of the other sexual references made by Kathy Griffin, but curiously it still hasn’t posted any video highlights of the big night on its web page.
But thanks to technology reputedly invented by Al Gore, you can watch the clips on YouTube.
Tags: Adrian Cronaur, CNN, F-bomb, George Carlin, Kathy Griffin
Comments (14)
0
Jim Garamone · 180 weeks ago
The apology was ridiculous. CNN knew exactly what it was getting when it hired Griffin.
0
NSR · 180 weeks ago
You know...Al Gore never made that comment about that internet you're
referring to. It's funny, because it sort of fits with your post on
conventional wisdom...after awhile, nobody knows what's true - or who is
deliberately being dishonest.
0
jamie · 180 weeks ago
Re: Al Gore. You are right. First of all I was just attempting to be
funny, and second, he exact quote was "I took the initiative in creating
the Internet." And yes it has been taken out of context. Snopes does a
good job of setting the record straight.
/web/20130618010522/http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp
In a New Year already filled to the bandwidth with
reviews/opinions/analysis, the one brief observation worth saving keeps
being auto-refreshed in my head--
"This is just not the same CNN that Ted Turner founded in 1980. The blogosphere, web news, twitter, have all made what CNN used to do when I first joined the network obsolete, namely concentrate on straight reporting of mostly serious news."
If they can get a live feed, IT is BREAKING NEWS- Today it's helicopters over Vegas, last week it was a burning warehouse in Miami. Oh yeah, anything with the word "standoff." TODAY'S Breaking News- "US and UK to establish joint intelligence force in Yemen." Maybe their first Press Conference will go live around the world as they announce--
"Yemen isn't just a venue where they sent off a bomber, that there are connections between Yemen and east Africa, and Yemen and Afghanistan, and Yemen and Europe. Yemen is very much of an important operational base for these (Al Queda) guys."
What a concise understanding and an actionable warning!
And what a Griffin-esque moment for a nation of tweets.
The quote isn't from next week's news, but from a FRONTLINE documentary on the FBI's JOHN O'NEILL- /web/20130618010522/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew.
The quote is from 2000 after the bombing of the Cole. O'Neill and his counter-terrorism experts had Yemen covered, he had Al Queda pegged, he almost had the 9/11 pilots cornered. He came home briefly. But his return to Yemen was blocked by US Yemeni Ambassador Barbara Bodine. Her words were enough to have O'Neill's visa denied.
And a nation worries about the words of Kathy Griffin.
Oh. The humanity.
"This is just not the same CNN that Ted Turner founded in 1980. The blogosphere, web news, twitter, have all made what CNN used to do when I first joined the network obsolete, namely concentrate on straight reporting of mostly serious news."
If they can get a live feed, IT is BREAKING NEWS- Today it's helicopters over Vegas, last week it was a burning warehouse in Miami. Oh yeah, anything with the word "standoff." TODAY'S Breaking News- "US and UK to establish joint intelligence force in Yemen." Maybe their first Press Conference will go live around the world as they announce--
"Yemen isn't just a venue where they sent off a bomber, that there are connections between Yemen and east Africa, and Yemen and Afghanistan, and Yemen and Europe. Yemen is very much of an important operational base for these (Al Queda) guys."
What a concise understanding and an actionable warning!
And what a Griffin-esque moment for a nation of tweets.
The quote isn't from next week's news, but from a FRONTLINE documentary on the FBI's JOHN O'NEILL- /web/20130618010522/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew.
The quote is from 2000 after the bombing of the Cole. O'Neill and his counter-terrorism experts had Yemen covered, he had Al Queda pegged, he almost had the 9/11 pilots cornered. He came home briefly. But his return to Yemen was blocked by US Yemeni Ambassador Barbara Bodine. Her words were enough to have O'Neill's visa denied.
And a nation worries about the words of Kathy Griffin.
Oh. The humanity.
0
Guinevere · 179 weeks ago
LOL@advisor...if you did ever have an advisor,. or previously had ever
had an advisor, we'll fake that you didn't as well...because the only
real imposter, works(or should I say, supported by?) for another country
and is NOT supporting Obama...LOL For us NON-public figures, and
non-politicians, we don't do false prophecy for the supposed
"Christians" that don't seem to think the White House is even a
"prominent place"
0
proliance · 179 weeks ago
I saw the Adrian Cronauer interview on CNN. He told the interviewer
that when he shouted "Good Morning Vietnam" over the air, the soldiers
in the field would reply "Get *****d!"
And when a startled Sonia Friedman said that this was a live show, Cronauer replied that he thought it was taped.
And when a startled Sonia Friedman said that this was a live show, Cronauer replied that he thought it was taped.
0
LennyH · 179 weeks ago
CNN knew at least a week before the show that Griffin was going to do
something like this and still elected to keep her on. I saw her on the
Craig Ferguson show the week after Christmas and she very clearly told
the audience to watch the show to see what happens. She referred to
losing her check and said that she really didn't care about losing it.
Another George Carlin she is not.
0
Alan · 179 weeks ago
This woman has a history of this and CNN still kept her on. They never
should have used her in first place. She is disgusting, rude and just
plain vulgar, in any venue she goes.
0
Josh · 179 weeks ago
While I find Griffin nauseating on many levels I do sorta feel bad for
the 30 or so people that may have actually been watching CNN while she
was on... and not because of the f-bomb slip.
0
Tom · 179 weeks ago
Yes, it's sad to see CNN in its present "super-market tabloid" mode.
It's right up there with the National Inquirer and that ilk. I used to
watch CNN regularly but now, on the rare occasion I do switch to it,
about 15 seconds of their blather is all I can take. I quickly need to
switch to something more informative, reliable and substantive ... like
John Stewart.
0
raccman · 179 weeks ago
Kathy Griffin, even with her "new" face is still not funny and should really seek a new career !
This post is off topic but it is about a very very important story that
has been reported in a newspaper in the UK, the Telegraph if I remember
correctly, and us spreading around the internet. Reports say that
accusations are being made that 7 or 8 Afghan children between the ages
of 11-17 were handcuffed an executed by depending on which report you
read either US forces, US led forces, or US paramilitary personnel.
At this moment even an enemy of the US military industrial complex such as myself can not believe these reports. But the US better get out in front of these accusations and give its side of the story because it is a PR disaster in the making, even if there is only some truth to what is alleged.
Furthermore for this not to be covered in the US press just makes the US look like it is run by Pravda refugees who fled to the US and all got high level positions in the US news media.
If this story does turn out to be true I and I imagine millions if not hundreds of millions of others would be so pissed off that if the Al Quida were to carry out a Beslan style attack on a US school there would be no sympathy what so ever for anyone in America. If these reports are true these executions were not carried out by some rouge elements but as a US government decision. The Geneva convention clearly allows tit for tat reprisals when one side breaks the Geneva convention .
To a thinking questioning person such as myself the story does not seem probable. What I would not find hard to believe is that while US forces were working with the forces of some Afghan warlord, the forces of the Afghan warlord executed some children, for revenge, without the knowledge or consent of US forces in the area.
What has anyone else heard about this incident?
At this moment even an enemy of the US military industrial complex such as myself can not believe these reports. But the US better get out in front of these accusations and give its side of the story because it is a PR disaster in the making, even if there is only some truth to what is alleged.
Furthermore for this not to be covered in the US press just makes the US look like it is run by Pravda refugees who fled to the US and all got high level positions in the US news media.
If this story does turn out to be true I and I imagine millions if not hundreds of millions of others would be so pissed off that if the Al Quida were to carry out a Beslan style attack on a US school there would be no sympathy what so ever for anyone in America. If these reports are true these executions were not carried out by some rouge elements but as a US government decision. The Geneva convention clearly allows tit for tat reprisals when one side breaks the Geneva convention .
To a thinking questioning person such as myself the story does not seem probable. What I would not find hard to believe is that while US forces were working with the forces of some Afghan warlord, the forces of the Afghan warlord executed some children, for revenge, without the knowledge or consent of US forces in the area.
What has anyone else heard about this incident?
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