''How's Your News?'' is an American

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

and also a feature film. It aired Sundays on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the United States, and the feature film based on the same concept was released in 2003. It stars a group of

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

who interview

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

and

politicians A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. It is the continuation of a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

project started in 1999 by

Arthur Bradford Arthur Houston Bradford (born November 19, 1969) is an American writer and filmmaker. He has published two books of short stories, ''Dogwalker'' (2001) and ''Turtleface and Beyond'' (2015), and a children's book, ''Benny's Brigade'' (2012). He h ...

at Camp Jabberwocky in

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

, which was made into a movie of the same name and shown on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

in 2003. ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' creators

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...

serve as the show's executive producers. Season One had a total of 6 episodes. According to the ''How's Your News?'' website on April 9, 2009, the show has not been renewed for a second season on MTV, stating: ''"The decision had little to do with the quality of the series, which was one of the most enthusiastically received and best reviewed programs on mtv this year. It’s just a tough financial time and mtv needed to keep pushing for higher ratings with other shows. Also, we always knew that our series was an unusual fit for their style of programming. We’re not “The Hills” or “America’s Next Best Dance Crew” after all…"'' After completing the feature film for HBO, the concept was pitched to the Trio network, who subsequently backed the short film "On the Campaign Trail", about the ''How's Your News?'' teams trip to both the Democratic and Republican conventions in 2004. The half-hour film was broadcast on Trio and Channel Four England and featured candid interviews with

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

, Andre 3000,

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

and

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

, amongst others. Although it was rarely seen, this half-hour documentary was well reviewed and helped convince MTV of the viability of the concept as mainstream TV series. They funded a pilot in 2006. In 2012 ''How's Your News'' visited both the Republican and Democratic conventions again with support from Matt Stone, and released an hour long documentary special.

Cast

* Jeremy Vest * Susan Harrington * Robert "Bobby" Bird * Sean Costello * Larry Perry * Lucas Wahl * Brendan "B-Money" Lemieux

Episodes

Season One # Los Angeles, CA # Las Vegas, NV # Austin, TX # New Orleans, LA # Louisville, KY # New York, NY

Reviews

Tom Shales, "Disabled Get Last Laugh on MTV's 'News'", ''Washington Post''

* ttps://archive.today/20130120050010/http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/02/mtvs-asks-hows-your-news.html Roger Catlin, "MTV's Asks: 'How's Your News?'", ''Hartford Courant''
Xeni Jardin, "BB Video: How's Your News? Comedy/News by Disabled People, Produced by South Park's Matt + Trey", BoingBoing.net

References

External links

MTV Press release: MTV UNVEILS UNIQUE DOCU-COMEDY SERIES "HOW'S YOUR NEWS?"

Episodes Online
* * * * {{MTVNetwork Shows 2000s American documentary television series 2000s American political television series 2009 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings Infotainment MTV original programming Works by Trey Parker and Matt Stone