Line #17 Magazine/TheSpectator


1	The title of two British political magazines, one that ran from 1711 to 1712 and a second that started in 1828 [[LongRunners and is still going]]. The second sometimes claims descent from the first but there is no direct connection other than the name.
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3	The magazine has no relation to the 2024 TVB Series.
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5	!!The Spectator (1711)
6	The first ''Spectator'' was a text publication that had a huge lasting impact on the British media scene despite [[BrieferThanTheyThink only lasting a year or so]]. Supposedly written by the fictional 'Mr Spectator', it was in fact anonymously penned by the partnership of [[TheSmartGuy Joseph Addison]] and Dick Steele, with occasional contributions from Addison's cousin Eustace Budgell. Addison and Steele were an OddCouple of good friends, with the Englishman Addison being highly educated and fond of high affairs of state dotted with classical references, while the Irishman Steele was more interested in SliceOfLife everyday affairs. Addison was also borderline asexual while Steele was TheCasanova. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether They first met as pupils at Charterhouse boarding school]]. They were both members of the [[SmokyGentlemensClub Kit-Cat Club]] in London which was an influential part of the [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem Whig Party]] at the time.
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8	''The Spectator''[='s=] stated aim was to give a non-partisan look at British political affairs and daily life (hence the name, Mr Spectator being a neutral observer) but this was BlatantLies as it was a mouthpiece for Addison and Steele's Kit-Cat Whig political thought, albeit handled rather more subtly than in most publications of the time. Sometimes referenced were the cast of Mr Spectator's fictional friends, who were mostly made up of stereotypes and [[StrawmanPolitical Strawmen Politicals]] representing different strands of influence in British society at the time. After its end in 1712, the magazine was briefly revived in 1714 [[ContestedSequel without Steele's involvement]]. It continued to have influence for years later due to, unusually, being re-issued as compilation books throughout the eighteenth century.
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10	!!The Spectator (1828)
11	Founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, the modern incarnation of ''The Spectator''[='s=] political position has changed over time due to the tradition of the editor and proprietor being the same person. It was a radical liberal publication when first founded and remained such for many years, but in the 20th century shifted to the right and is now considered to be the mouthpiece of Conservative thought in the United Kingdom--though it retains columns and writers from outside that area. UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson first rose to prominence (and controversy) when he served as its editor from 1999 to 2005. The number of adultery scandals involving its writers in recent years has led to ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' dubbing it ''The Sextator''.
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13	!!Tropes associated with the 1711 incarnation include:
14	* AuthorFilibuster: One very early segment is basically Addison's love letter to the British Constitution as seen in the form of an allegorical dream.
15	* BunglingInventor: Steele, and some advertising for his inventions sometimes shows up in ''The Spectator''. The best-known one is probably a portable fish pond on wheels intended to deliver fresh fish to inland areas, this being before methods of preservation like refrigeration.
16	* TheCasanova: Steele in RealLife, and the character Will Honeycomb in the magazine, possibly in an AuthorAvatar fashion.
17	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Addison repeatedly criticises the fashion for Italian opera in {{UsefulNotes/London}}, pointing out that most of the people attending it don't speak the language anyway.
18	* GratuitousSpecialEffects: Invoked. Addison complains about this in ''opera'' in issue No. 5.
19	* PerspectiveFlip: One segment is supposedly written by one of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Mohawk_Kings four Iroquois envoys who visited London in 1710]], and is used to criticise negative aspects of [=1710s=] British society through alien eyes--in particular vicious political partisanship and declining church attendance.
20	* StrawmanPolitical: The best-known example is Mr Spectator's friend "Sir Roger de Coverley" (punningly named after a popular dance of the time), a caricature of a Tory squire who was used to gently mock the Tories' policies as being old-fashioned.
21	* ViewersAreGeniuses: Addison-penned articles make use of many quotes from classical literature, sometimes in the original Greek. Of course, it was aimed at an educated audience.
22	* WeirdTradeUnion: The fashion for proliferating clubs in the early eighteenth century was mocked, with clubs devoted to absolutely everything being referenced in the magazine. One that became a particular RunningGag was the 'Ugly Club of Oxford', with readers writing in keen to apply and boasting of their deformities.
23	%%!!Tropes associated with the 1828 incarnation include:

Context Magazine / TheSpectator