General Franco is still dead! That’s what we thought when we read the Advertiser’s front-page story today under the (print edition) headline “State plans further review of rail issues.”
The paper reported virtually the same thing just a few days ago. Here’s the online headline over the Advertiser’s November 24 story: “Lingle promises thorough review of Honolulu rail project.”
And Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead!
OK, for those of you not around during Saturday Night Live’s amazing inaugural 1975 season, that headline was used for weeks by Chevy Chase in the show’s Weekend News Update. Franco had lingered near death for so long that on slow news days, the network newscasts would tell us that he was still hanging on.
Once he died, the SNL crew parodied the networks and their news divisions with the catch phrase about Franco’s ongoing death. Maybe you had to be there, but it became SNL’s first iconic catch phrase. Wikipedia has a thorough discussion on it.
The Advertiser’s repetitious coverage of the rail project is parody material, since the lead reporter’s approach rarely strays from its view-with-alarm angle. We half expect to read a major story in a week or so on the State's continuing promise of a thorough review.
And Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead!
No comments:
Post a Comment