"Welcome to Red Eye. It's like Return of the Jedi, if by 'Jedi', you mean 'a mysterious rash shaped like an avocado'."
Red Eye With Greg Gutfeld is Fox News Channel's successful comedy offering, a panel discussion show hosted by former Maxim UK Editor Greg Gutfeld, along with his "repulsive sidekick" Bill Schulz, and ombudsman "TV's" Andy Levy. It airs at 3:00 am ET Tuesday through Saturday.The show hovers between News Parody and Faux News, and it's like The View, if The View had a decidedly pro-Camp Gay bias. Dissimile and absurdist tangents abound. Vulgar Humor and Getting Crap Past the Radar is sprinkled here and there, especially when introductions are given. The show features panelists and guests discussing the latest news in politics, pop culture, entertainment, business, sports, and religion.Guests on the show are primarily composed of political pundits, stand-up comedians, musicians, authors, and attractive women, virtually every episode containing one of each (and every single episode having an attractive female panelist sitting in the chair to the far right side of the table, affectionately referred to as the Leg Chair"). Political opinions often vary amongst the guests, with the show's main trio consisting of an oddly perfect balance: Greg's a conservative, Bill's a liberal, and Andy's a Libertarian who hates conservatives and liberals. The show often takes pot-shots at everyone and everything under the sun, including Fox News itself. Despite its middle-of-the-night timeslot, the show has beaten most primetime cable news shows in the ratings, and developed a loyal cult following, making it arguably the only news program that can currently claim this status.
Tropes:
Accentuate the Negative: During an interview with Adam Carolla, they discussed his ability to complain about anything, ranging from a Mcdonald's quarter-pounder to lesbians because "lesbians are great until you realize they want nothing to do with your penis" and "they don't all let you watch".
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "He brushes his teeth with a hedgehog, flosses with barbed wire, and gargles with Mr. Pibb.
Baseball Episode: Red Eye was challenged to a softball match by a strip club. Greg, Bill, Andy, Courtney Friel and Professor Marc Lamont Hill of Columbia University and the strippers divided up and faced off. As one might expect with Red Eye, the game was riddled with oddness and stupidity, from Bill's pathetic headfirst slide/stumble into home plate, Andy's observation that most of the strippers are from "Russia, which I think is somewhere in Africa", and Greg's "stripper injury".
Bill is the most obvious, but all 3 of the Red Eye trio gets a turn. Bill is a Butt Monkey to Greg, who is often a Butt Monkey to Andy, who is in turn the target of jokes from both Greg AND Bill.
Frequent guest Paul Mecurio takes the cake, however. When he's on, Greg and Andy can be just plain mean to the guy.
Call Back: During a Halloween episode, a zombie from Blood Manor named Rachel would silently stand right next to people as they spoke. When asked how he stayed so calm, Andy Levy responded "She was only the second scariest Rachel I ever met," a callback to former panelist Rachel Marsden.
"If you disagree with me, then you're a racist/homophobe."
He often opened the Mail Time with "You write, I read..." followed by something involving blood or awesomeness, such as "You write, I read, then I run you over in a dune buggy made of FIRE!"
Andy Levy often says, "I apologize for nothing," while Gutfeld "apologizes for everything."
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Greg. He's obsessed with unicorns, has a bizarre and twisted sense of humor, and is responsible for the majority of strange fake backstories for everyone. Even when appearing on other Fox News shows, he's just as bizarre as he is on Red Eye. Although he only acts like this for satirical purposes on both shows and not in real life.
Comedic Sociopath: According to Greg's jokes about himself, he is a globetrotting serial killer and molester with a cadre of captured, underaged boy slaves (who may or may not be sexual in nature) he calls "House Boys" he keeps locked in his basement, until he lets them up briefly to amuse him. That's when he's not forcing them to engage in disturbing "games" for their freedom. Also implied that they're all captured immigrants, none of them able to speak English.
Andy: "Ann, you got in a little hot water for something you said about Jews on 'The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch'. As a Jew, I would remiss if I didn't ask: What the HELL were you doing on CNBC?" Ann: "Yes, many have asked." Andy: "Yeah, don't do that again." Ann: "Don't worry." Greg:"After this show you won't be on anything."
Deadpan Snarker: Andy Levy. No one is safe from him (Democrats, Republicans, celebrities, The Black-Eyed Peas, etc.), and his snarking can be absolutelyvicious. His Twitter feed is almost nothing but snark.
Dissimile: Often used during the into of the show, starting with "Welcome to Red Eye. It's like..."
Don't Explain the Joke: Regarding a story about Playgirl "folding", Andy joked that this would save Bill a lot of "unfolding". Angela Mcglowan killed it by explaning it. Played with when jokes about Playgirl getting "cocky"
Greg: "Angela, don't explain that one."
Sherrod Small: "Ohhh, because it's Playgirl...it's got a lot of dicks...oh okay, I gotcha."
Andy: "You know, I didn't even think of it that way, Sherrod, that was good."
"If hilarity were a bowling alley, I'd roll my balls up and down him."
Often crosses over into vulgarity; one introduction even made Greg Proops (host of the Proops Poops segment) recoil.
Early Installment Weirdness: Early episodes of the series were quite strange and felt completely unscripted, and the panelists themselves were rather odd as well. During an anniversary episode's flashback to a very early episode, Greg noted his "fat face", Andrew Breitbart's appearance, and Andy Levy's hairstyle and how he "looked like he belonged in an Oingo Boingo tribute band" as well as Bill Hemmer referring to past-Andy as "Mrs. Andy Levy".
Freeze Frame Bonus: A running gag on the show, where either an image of Pinch making a goofy expression, or images of one of the main trio wearing a creepy metal mask, with subliminal messages such as "OBEY HIM" or "FEED IT" written below them, will flash on-screen for a second at random points in the show.
Another "regular panelist" is Pinch, a puppet that serves as the show's "New York Times Correspondent." It is a copy of the NYT with cardboard eyes and a string attached, performed by Schulz.
Recent episodes have a smaller version of Pinch called Porch, made from a smaller newspaper.
Both have been absent in many more recent episodes, much to Andy's delight.
Greg: "Seriously, someone could have sent this as a murder weapon. Like, all this stuff could have been used at a crime." Bill: "Your DNA is all over it." Greg: "Haha, or it will be."
Name's the Same: In one 2012 segment, co-panelists included wrestler Mick Foley along with Chris Barron, the head of GOPROUD (an organization of LGBT Republicans). During the commentary about some story, Foley made a joke about the song lyrics he thought Barron wrote, prompting everyone to do a Flat "What.". Foley, perplexed asked, "Wait, are you not who I thought you were?" It turns out that he confused Chris Barron of GOPROUD with Chris Barron of the early 90's jam band the Spin Doctors, of "JimmyOlsen's Blues", "Two Princes", and Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" fame (the last song was the one Foley was referencing). This prompted a minutes-long exchange of laughter and Spin Doctors-based jokes, and everyone kept referencing the mix-up throughout the show. During the laughter, Foley paused and then asked "Being completely respectful and not joking at all here: so who ARE you?" prompting even more laughter, including from Barron himself. The whole thing ended up being one big Crowning Moment of Funny, and everyone seemed to have fun with it.
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Whenever Greg appears as British actor Victor Roberts (his alter ego), he uses his regular speaking voice, American accent and all.
N-Word Privileges: After making one of his typical jokes about minorities, Sherrod Small(who his himself black) says "I can say that! You know why? 'Cause I'm racist!"
One of Us: Andy Levy is an unabashed comic book and sci-fi geek, often appearing on the show with his Sonic Screwdriver.
Off the Rails: It is exceedingly common for the Halftime Report to devolve into extended, bizarre exchanges between the panelists that are far removed from the topic, much to Andy's chagrin. This exchange that somehow stemmed from a story about the John Edwards affair:
Greg: Bill, why are you dressed like a runaway? Bill: It's cold in here! I feel bundled up. Greg: He needs a long stick with a little tied-up bandana on the end. Andy: It's called a bindle. Jim Norton: He's like Oliver Twist, if Oliver Twist did poppers. Andy attempts to resume. Bill: He would have if they existed. Call me Dickens. Andy attempts to resume again. Greg: That was so stupid, you're an idiot.
Poe's Law: For one of Bill's man-on-the-street segments, he visited Bronycon, which sparked particularly reactionary bronies to attack and condemn the segment, believing it to be an attack on the fandom by Fox News, and not realizing it was a satirical segment on a comedy program.
Punny Name: Several of Greg's deceased houseboys, including "Dat Ho", "Tu Hung" and "Phen Wei Park".
Split Screen: The Halftime Report is conducted this way and taken to ridiculous levels during de-railed ones, with split screens of the split screens and occasionally having up to five. Also played with by Andy when S.E. Cupp made an appearance, labeling a split screen of the three female panelists "2 Girls 1 Cupp.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: One of the favorite weapons in Greg's arsenal, against political figures who do things he takes issue with. Andy loves to do this, too—most famously during his Twitter-fight with rapper Chris Brown.
Strawman Political: Stereotypical liberalism and conservatism is often lampooned by Greg and Bill, respectively, painting certain news figures (and often each other) as this. When they actually do lapse into stereotypical partisan politics, Andy will call them on it during the Halftime Report.
Occasionally done by Greg to viewers that insult him in their fan mail.
Greg: "Also, while I have your attention, I'm doing a survey: what's it like to be lonely?"
Time Travel: A frequent way of "explaining" how jokes made on Red Eye mysteriously end up repeated onothershows the next day.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: For every Halloween episode, a bloody zombie named Rachel, from the Halloween attraction Blood Manor, will simply loiter on set menacingly while holding a large, bloody hammer. Her presence is never acknowledged until the end of the show (where she promotes Blood Manor). One year even saw her sitting in a guest's seat, with Greg claiming she was a famous author. Whenever Greg would address her, the camera would center on her as she sat silent and unmoving, with Greg responding as if the "author" had answered his question.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Despite all the ribbing that goes on in the show, the main trio are all good friends in real life. In fact, it was Greg who got Bill on the show in the first place.
Dan: "Finally, I don't see what the big deal is about waterboarding. I took my family to the Bahamas, we went waterboarding, it was great." Greg: "Dan, that's boogieboarding." Dan: "Oh." [beat] "Well, I tried to drown my children, does that count?"
Often employed by Greg in (possibly) faux-ignorance; for instance, in a story about the Chevy Volt, he claimed "CRAP" was an anagram of "Volt".
are given. The show features panelists and guests discussing the latest news in politics, pop culture, entertainment, business, sports, and religion.Guests on the show are primarily composed of political pundits, stand-up comedians, musicians, authors, and attractive women, virtually every episode containing one of each (and every single episode having an attractive female panelist sitting in the chair to the far right side of the table, affectionately referred to as the Leg Chair"). Political opinions often vary amongst the guests, with the show's main trio consisting of an oddly perfect balance: Greg's a conservative, Bill's a liberal, and Andy's a Libertarian who hates conservatives and liberals. The show often takes pot-shots at everyone and everything under the sun, including Fox News itself. Despite its middle-of-the-night timeslot, the show has beaten most primetime cable news shows in the ratings, and developed a loyal cult following, making it arguably the only news program that can currently claim this status.
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