Fox Guy Disses Zahn And CNN Is Not Amused

ny daily news ^ | march 21, 2002

[chillinvillain]

he latest battle between CNN and the Fox News Channel isn't over ratings, but rather words.

CNN officials were upset over a bit by Chicago radio shock jock Mancow Muller during yesterday's edition of "Fox & Friends," in which the motor-mouth punched a male sidekick who he said was a stand-in for Paula Zahn.

"I'll kill you, Paula! I'll kill you, Paula!" Muller shouted while hitting his cohort.

A CNN spokeswoman, who brought the incident to the attention of The News, said it "clearly crosses the line of what's appropriate."

No viewers called Fox about the bit, which was part of the freewheeling morning show, nor do execs there have a problem with Muller's routine, according to a spokesman.

"Mancow does a five-minute segment to give his viewpoint; it's not the viewpoint of Fox News," he said. "The issues of [yesterday] happened to be a story about 'Fox & Friends' Kicking Zahn's a--."

"I find it hard to justify violence on the air," responded CNN's spokeswoman.

"It's like the Three Stooges," snapped back the Fox spokesman. "Did the Three Stooges advocate violence?"

Yield Okay for 'Shield'

FX's gritty new drama "The Shield" appears to be doing fairly well.

The show's second episode averaged 4.05 million viewers Tuesday, down from 4.8 million the first week, a dip of 16%.

Typically, shows lose between 10% and 15% from the first episode to the second — although expectations tend to be lower on cable.

"This is beyond our wildest dreams," said an FX spokesman.

"The Shield" stars Michael Chiklis as a Los Angeles cop.

[NittanyLion]

Her opinion is worthless.

And her legs are evidently worth about $1 million/year, or whatever Fox is paying her now.

[Phantom Lord]

I like Fox & Friends. They use Metallica for bumper music when they come back from commercial. And not 'soft' Metallica, but heavy shit like The Wait

[Phantom Lord]

Dear Lord... how many E.D. pics are we gonna see posted this time? :-)

Not enough

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Yes, sometimes E.D. can be a little annoying, but overall I think she is good for the show.
I don't like how she jumped on the bandwagon against John Ashcroft and the drapes story.
The true story had already come out but she decided to make some stupid comments anyway regarding him covering up the statues.

[crazyj]

can we see more ed pics. I don't think she is dumb but i think that by making her look dumb fox makes her look hotter. if she is too opinionated she wouldn't be half as cute i think.

[Pistias]

You sure are touchy for somebody who likes a guy who gets his jollies and makes his dough off f&#@%$g with people.

[Lost Highway]

Breaking Hard from CNN

Zahn states "I'm rubber and you're glue what bounces off me sticks to you."

More as it developes....

[mewzilla]

And Pink Floyd's Run when they show UBL. We really like that one.

[dmz]

well, at least the Fox spokesman got it right, their network is at about the same intellectual level as the 3 stooges

[Phantom Lord]

If Fox is 3 stooges level, where does that put CNN?

[Diverdogz]

Fox and Friends is annoying to me, too. I can't put my finger on exactly why.
I know it isn't popular FreeRepublic fare, but I enjoy NBC's Today show. Like it or not, they get interviews with the people in the news. This morning, they had on the guy with a baseball bat who chased down a truck-theif after the stolen dump truck crashed. I was glad to hear the interview. The "Batman", while not a policeman himself, comes from a family of police officers, and is into martial arts. It was really cool how he cornered the truck theif.
I don't know if they pay for interviews or what, but Today does get the right people on.

[SunStar]

Correction: Mancow sucks ass.

No correction was needed. Mancow is the best shock jock on the air today, and he is politically conservative.

[SunStar]

You sure are touchy for somebody who likes a guy who gets his jollies and makes his dough off f&#@%$g with people.

What the f*ck are you talking about?

I happen to like a little comedy in the morning, and Mancow is excellent.

[chillinvillain]

Maybe your right. all in all this article sounds pretty funny though i could just see the people at cnn stomping like children over this. Paula needs to loosen up if she is ever going to even catch these three. (It's not that Fox and Friends is that great, it's that CNN is that bad!)

[Mustang]

I agree with your above #14.

The Fox & Friends venue is the real deal. I'm dating my self, but back in the early days of live television morning shows of the 50's...(Garaway, Godfrey, Carson , Allen and Parks)...the suits of 5th & Madison always "dissed" each other. It was called competition.

The ratings ruled. Only those on the failing sheet were not amused. Sometimes life isn't fair. So what else is new.

Mustang sends.

[chillinvillain]

i have no clue who mancow is but i don't like howard stern for one reason, he ridicules stars for being fake but he himself is a big wimp who hides behind his microphone and does nothing but ridicule others ad rate strippers. I admit i listened to him for a semester at college, but i was tired it was like wrestling the same thing everyday with very little variation.

[Mr. Thorne]

How many would you like?

[hchutch]

Lots of `em, please. :-)

[Mr. Thorne]

Nope. Hanging out right here. Don't do Stern, prob'ly wouldn't like UNEDITED ManCow.

However, as the situation stands, he didn't HIT his assistant, anymore than any person in a TV 'fight' gets hit. The bit began with 'so-and-so's Paula Zahn, I'm Fox, OK,' and that's when the 'violence' began.

Also, does anyone else find it particulartly ironic that, what, two sentences after a statement from from CNN's spokeswoman: "I find it hard to justify violence on the air," we have a description of how well "The Shield" is doing.

I mean, I watched an episone of that last week. Violent? Good heavens.

And, finally, does anyone think that losing CNN's spokes-folks from the Fox audience is REALLY going to hurt?

[Pistias]

I agree. So what's the "you're a real comic" about? You got friends on Fox?