It has been said that if you have to explain a joke, it's not funny. This wonderful collection proves that nothing could be farther from the truth.Satire TV takes the study of comedy in new directions, expanding beyond earlier work done on classical Hollywood cinema and the sitcom. In politically trying times, the contributors to this volume reveal through analysis of programs such as South Park, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, laughter is not the best medicine-it is the surgeon's scalpel." - -Heather Hendershot, editor of Nickelodeon Nation: The History, Politics and Economics of America's Only TV Channel for Kids