S01.E02: 2001

[Guest]

Airs July 7, 2019

Quote

Fox News Channel is on the cusp of passing CNN to become the number one rated news network when 9/11 changes everything; horrified by this terrorist attack, Roger begins pushing the news with an agenda and finally puts Fox on top of the ratings race.

[Guest]

Going to rescind my criticism of Russel Crowe's performance from last week. I think his performance in this episode was pretty amazing. Ailes seemed to be a pretty low-key psychopath. 

I had no idea that the memo Ailes wrote to Karl Rove was used verbatim in Dick Cheney's speech. And because there was no context between 1995 and this episode, I'm guessing it was 2001 that was the pivot to full-on propaganda posing as "news" on this channel.

Poor Alan Colmes. Hired to be the stooge and made to look like one, too.

[TV Diva Queen]

I feel like I’m watching a horror movie. Jeez. He’s a monster. Was Roger mentioned in the Cheney movie?  I don’t recall. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Man, how I loved the re-enactment of that "patriot" Geraldo's treachery.  It is amusing to watch how that man is still foisted upon certain anchors.  Hannity being the latest.  Seeing how Sean attempts to find common ground with a man he loathes (as do I) knowing he has the backing of Murdoch(s) is great sport.

While it is true Saddam had no prior connection to Bin Laden's group, he was still among the biggest pieces of shite on the planet.  He had already shown he was perfectly willing to attack his neighbors (Kuwait, anyone?) and that he cared not a whit for his people.  Using internal terror, he squelched dissent.  As was once said in Westerns...he needed killing.  Having said this, I do not support the pretexts conjured up to get that done.

There's no arguing Ailes' genius on display in the early hours of 9/11.  It was war.  Identifying the opponents is the key.  Some we got, and get, right.  Others. not so much.  But, Ailes was bang on correct that evil was brought to our shores.  He didn't much care that he used evil to get back at evil.  There's a heckuva argument to be had around this choice, eh?  News Corp is still counting the money Ailes created for it.  

It's difficult for me to believe that Ailes did not have a state of the art mobile phone and that he did not give his wife a heads-up that he was bringing Rupert home.  It was quite a dramatic moment as depicted, though.

Really strong ep, imo.  Given the material, it was a matter of not screwing up by over-hyping the developments.  The basic happenings had as much rama as anyone could ever want or need.

Oh.  Who later became an important contributor to Fox News under Ailes?  His good buddy Karl Rove.   

[atlantaloves]

I am really enjoying this, and I am a MSNBC watching liberal, wow, Crowe is totally killing it. What I can't believe is his character has a beautiful blond wife at home and he is screwing around with another blond on the side.  Was that someone from the news room, or just a hooker. Somebody help me here, all these blonds look alike to me, sorry.  Thanks guys. 

[Guest]

Only post what was featured on each episode. Real-life information not yet featured on an episode is considered a spoiler and should be appropriately tagged.

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

Was that someone from the news room, or just a hooker. Somebody help me here, all these blonds look alike to me, sorry. 

That was Laurie Luhn who Ailes met in the first episode at a bar when he offered her a job at Fox and she was, at first, reluctant to agree because she had been working in some political operation in DC.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

1 hour ago, atlantaloves said:

I am really enjoying this, and I am a MSNBC watching liberal, wow, Crowe is totally killing it. What I can't believe is his character has a beautiful blond wife at home and he is screwing around with another blond on the side.  Was that someone from the news room, or just a hooker. Somebody help me here, all these blonds look alike to me, sorry.  Thanks guys. 

Spoiler

Ailes carried on several "affairs" with rising Fox News starlets/wannabes.

  His predilection for perky blondes was well known and was obvious with his choice of on air talent. 

Spoiler

Just as we saw in this ep with the handling of an accusation against O'Reilly, FN later paid millions for Ailes' maltreatment of women on the job.  I am pretty sure we will see the main one (Martha McCallum) in future eps.  

[atlantaloves]

Thanks guy! You are the best. I have blond blindness....

[teddysmom]

This is hard to watch, to be reminded of the treachery of Ailes and how they helped spread the Bush/Cheney Iraq lie, as well as what a scumbag Ailes was. 

Crowe is good in this I forget it's him sometimes. 

[car54]

The second episode was better---in real life it took me a really long time after the 2000 election and then 9/11 to be able to watch much news and I think I've purposely repressed a lot of it so some of this is almost new to me.

My favorite character is quickly becoming Judy, the assistant--she has almost no lines but she's always there, and the actress is kind of killing it with just being there observing what's happening.

[atlantaloves]

Oh yeah, I am totally into Judy, will she turn on her boss though?

[meowmommy]

On 7/8/2019 at 5:07 AM, Giant Misfit said:

And because there was no context between 1995 and this episode, I'm guessing it was 2001 that was the pivot to full-on propaganda posing as "news" on this channel.

I have to confess I was a Fox News watcher in the pre-9/11 days.  I believed them when they said they were fair and balanced, although I realized they skewed more conservative than the other networks.  I really believe, in hindsight, that back then they were not the partisan shills they are today.  I can't remember when I decided not to watch them any more, but I haven't been able to watch them in years.

Am I silly to be impressed by the scenes where a Brit using an Australian accent plays against a New Zealander/Aussie using an American accent?

And how interesting of the producers to include, without comment, in the video wall Roger is watching on 9/11, in the left corner the late great Tim Russert, and in the right corner the future 45.

[BeatrixK]

Knowing McFarlane's history with 9/11 (He missed his flight on American 11)...it's eerie.

Good lord I am hating Ailes more than I did when I started watching this...and I already thought of him as infected dried mucus.