Jimmy Failla Believes Liberals Will Love His Fox News Comedy Program
New York City cab driver turned Fox News comedian Jimmy Failla says that his show Fox News Saturday Night appeals to audiences on both sides of the aisle — presumably, that would be the aisle of a Hobby Lobby.
The last year has seen the Fox Corporation make significant strides toward establishing a foothold in the comedy world while carving out a little corner just for conservatives. The fledgling Fox Nation streaming service has produced stand-up specials from right-wing comics like Rob Schneider and Roseanne Barr who took their opportunity to rail against the perceived liberal elites of the entertainment world who relegated them to Republican-only platforms as their specific styles of comedy slid out of the mainstream and down the right side of the political spectrum. With Gutfeld! continuing to pull in consistent ratings in the late-night time slot and the conservative comedy movie industry expanding, GOP joke-tellers are seeing an unprecedented volume of opportunities to get their material on-screen.
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Ostensibly, Failla is one of those conservative comedians on the ground floor of this right-wing reawakening — the author of Cancel Culture Dictionary and host of the Fox Across America podcast began his tenure as permanent host on the weekend political satire show Fox News Saturday Night earlier this month. However, Failla believes that his comedy show has universal appeal, telling Forbes in a recent interview, “We’re not doing a Republican comedy show. We’re doing an American comedy show.” Somehow, no one’s bothered to ask him if he thinks Democrats count as Americans.
“I mean, the truth is, I think in a lot of ways late-night talk shows are packaged in a way that’s denying us common culture,” Failla explained, pointing to the bipartisan appeal of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as a desperately missed common ground in comedy that he’s trying to emulate. “For a long stretch there, late night was where we put our differences aside,” Failla continued, “And now, I feel like our differences are the lead on every late night show. I mean, if you watch Colbert, we’re going to talk an awful lot about Trump voters, and the same would go for something like Kimmel.”
Unsurprisingly, Failla didn’t have anything to say about his colleague Greg Gutfeld or his self-titled show, which, just in the last 24 hours, posted clips to the Fox News YouTube channel with titles, “When Will Trump Make His Choice for VEEP?” and “Biden Has Put Himself in a Corner.” No, Failla placed the blame for the hyper-partisan state of late night squarely on the left-leaners while insisting that he’s here to steal their audiences.
Failla says that those who might not agree with his past outspoken conservatism or harshly critical comments toward the left-leaning community should approach his show with an open mind, hoping that, “Liberals, specifically liberals, understand that as a comedian, I’m not here on behalf of a party — other than the keg party. They have to feel safe here, or you’re not doing real comedy.”
The Fox News Saturday Night host says that he wants his show to be a backyard party where the whole neighborhood is welcome, regardless of their politics. We don’t know yet if liberal viewers will accept his invitation to the barbecue, but Fox will certainly bring the tiki torches.
