Glenn Beck - Television Tropes & Idioms

Only in his wildest dreams could an actual suicide bomber hope to do as much damage to this country.

— Keith Olbermann, as quoted on the back of Glenn Beck's book, Arguing with Idiots

Glenn Beck is a highly polarizing political pundit and popular radio and former TV talk-show host. His status as a political talking head has made him a strong magnet to controversy, but his ardent right-libertarian viewpoints set some people's teeth on edge. Probably best known for flowcharts, mobilizing the "9/12" sub-movement within the Tea Party, crying for his country on-air almost regularly (not really Once per Episode, but often enough for his detractors) and his over-the-top antics. Throughout the Internet, there are heated discussions about whether or not he's misleading people for his own ends, Only in It for the Money, completely sincere, certifiably insane, only using the crazy antics as a tool to spread his message, a thorough researcher who wants to know the truth, or the Only Sane Man. Or some combination thereof.

He used to have a show on CNN before moving to Fox News Channel in 2009, where he rose to fame. He aligned himself with the Tea Party political movement in its infancy and spent hundreds of hours over the course of two years talking about current events. In 2011 and despite sky-high ratings, Beck left Fox in a move that had many questioning the friendly farewell from both parties. He has since started his own subscription-based pay cable network, delivering the same performance as on Fox in a much greater quantity and shows no signs of slowing down.

Tropes related to Glenn Beck include:

The Alcoholic: Beck has been entirely honest that he is a recovering alcoholic and has been teetotal since 1994.
Actually Pretty Funny: Anytime he's been parodied, be it on South Park or The Daily Show, he's been the first to admit that it was funny.
- Well, apart from that one time, but that was...understandable.
Arc Words: White House czars.
- Muslim Brotherhood
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Glenn has acknowledged that he has ADD, one reason why he has difficulty reading emails and sitting still on the set. He often calls the random side-notes that he adds in his books "ADD Moments."
- Which brings one to wonder why he isn't medicated for it if his case of ADD is that bad...
  - Well, some people choose not to medicate (since they don't think it's a disorder as such), but Beck doesn't exactly seem like the type to be anti-ableist/pro, disability rights.
  - He actually is on low-dose medication to allow him to function better with other people. However, when he tried higher levels of meds, he found it hindered his ability to see connections with news stories the way he does.
Big Bad: That would be George Soros, from Glenn's point of view.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The common perception among other conservative pundits. Glenn's use of animals and food to illustrate his argument points, over-the-top silliness on set, and emotional presentation make him stick out as either entertainingly absurd or downright crazy.
Catch Phrase: The three values: "Question with boldness, hold to the truth, and speak without fear," that appear in the opening of every episode, all of which were said by the Founding Fathers at one point or another during the the American Revolution.
- "Now I'm not a [expert in subject], but I am a thinker." Usually said in Sarcasm Mode when he's pointing out flaws in an argument he thinks are obvious.
- "It's enough to make blood SHOOT out of my eyes!" in response to an aggravating trend or situation.
- "Hello, you sick, twisted freaks." His usual radio sign-on.
- "Hello, America." His usual Fox News sign-on.
  - "From New York, goodnight, America." His usual TV sign-off.
- "Woodrow Wilson... I HATE that guy!"
  - Alternatively: "One evil SOB."
- "Awwwww yeeeeeeeeeeah..."
- "It's not a matter of right and left, it's a matter of right and wrong."
- "Does the truth even matter anymore?"
Cerebus Syndrome: There people who think that Glenn used to be funny, but has gotten less so overtime.
Conspiracy Theorist: Frequently. The blackboard is often employed for illustration, and he has said that nobody should take his word alone as all the proof they need, encouraging his viewers to look what he says up and determine for themselves whether or not it was true.
Commie Nazis: He often lumps them together in a number of ways. Whether or not they should be lumped together in these ways is another matter.
Dirty Communists: It's safe to say he doesn't like Communism and he isn't afraid to remind you of that all the time.
Dumbass DJ: Was one back in his alcoholic days. He'll even admit as much.
Eagleland: He praises Flavor 1, but his Hatedom sees him and his audience as an example of Flavor 2.
Godwin's Law: Called on him all the time.
Hero Worshipper: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
Hitler Ate Sugar: Often accused of making this argument, especially after one monologue where he condemned social justice, social welfare, and social just-about-anything.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Accused of this pretty much constantly. Jokes about it frequently on his show himself.
Large Ham
Love It or Hate It: invokedIn one of the episode's openings:
Love him or hate him, you can't miss him!
Manly Tears: Occurs pretty often, especially when he's particularly anxious about the state of the country or when mentioning his past problems with his children and family. He Lampshades this:
"I cry more in one hour than a 9-month-old does in a day."
Notable Commercial Campaigns: His long-time endorsement of Goldline sparked some controversy when people accused him of only plugging the company to increase the value of his own gold investments.
Odd Friendship: Beck and... Canadian singer Michael Bublé? He hit it off with Jay Leno when he was a guest on his show and he seems to be on speaking terms with Whoopi Goldberg, though his last encounter with her was a few years ago. It's been reported that he once had a long conversation with George Clooney and they got along great. He's also pals with Penn Jillette.
- Add Ted Nugent to the list, at least during Glenn's time on Fox News.
One of Us: Glenn is a fan of Star Wars and will often compare the people he's talking about to characters from the movies. He also has co-host Pat do a (rather good) Yoda impression regularly.
Patriotic Fervor: Huge staple and recurring theme in his show, often quoting essays and letters of the Founding Fathers and recommending books about American history. There was a period where he had special episodes every Friday, called "Founders' Fridays" dedicated to one of America's founders or heroes.
Pet the Dog: When he showed the opening soundbites of Cenk Uygur in regards to the latter leaving MSNBC, Beck's sidekicks Pat and Stu laughed mockingly at one of Cenk's slip-ups. Beck's response was essentially "I faced similar issues as him, but with different results". The two guys shut up rather quickly.
- He has also come out in opposition to the SOPA and PIPA bills.
Putting on the Reich: The cover of his book Arguing with Idiots, fitting with the Soviet Russia theme of the book.
The Rival: Of sorts with Keith Olbermann. Olbermann talks about Beck like he's a psychotic menace to society. Beck talks about Olbermann like he's a pompous windbag high on his own ego.
Self-Deprecation: Does this a lot.
- He constantly makes jokes about his weight or his hyperactive tendencies. With any poke at his chubbiness by hate mail he gets, Glenn usually responds, "Well, that's one thing I agree with." He tends to portray himself as a Big Eater on the sofa, eating ice cream in his book advertisements.
- During an interview with Canadian singer Michael Bublé, Glenn jokingly quipped that he'll bring out the blackboard and connect him to communism when he will least expect it.
- The back covers of his two hardback books, An Inconvenient Book and Arguing with Idiots, are full of quotes about him from notable figures and publications. All of them are negative. In the middle of the quotes there are pictures of Beck shrugging and with tears in his eyes, respectively.
Take a Third Option: Glenn didn't like the difficulties of delivering the information he wanted to deliver on both CNN and Fox. His solution was to create his own network on the internet.
Take That: Dealt out by mainstream critics and dealt back by Glenn simultaneously.
Temporary Substitute: When Glenn is on leave, Judge Andrew Napolitano fills in for him.
Those Two Guys: Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere, Beck's radio co-hosts. They typically chime in during the less dramatic commentaries, and during the internet-exclusive fourth hour of his program they take over for him entirely.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Even though they respect one another and have toured together a number of times, he and Bill O'Reilly make a lot of jokes at each others' expense. Their debates against one another, while very intense and serious, usually involve the both of them unleashing the Deadpan Snark at some point.
Your Head Asplode: He used to warn people to wrap their heads in duct tape because the next story would cause their heads to explode.