NPR self-spoof

I've got to find out if this will be aired locally:

Holiday recipes that explore the "interesting and symbiotic" relationship between Jewish and Chinese cultures.

A sudden rise in Native American voter turnout in North Dakota.

Forgotten artifacts from Vermont's vaudeville era.

These offerings on National Public Radio are probing, offbeat and unassailably well meaning, but to paraphrase Oscar Wilde's observation on the death of Little Nell, one must have a heart of stone to hear an NPR pledge drive without laughing.

A parody of public radio, therefore, might seem unnecessary. But WNYC, the principal public radio station in New York and NPR's largest affiliate, has crafted "Pledge This!," a radio comedy about a local station, WACLU ("87.1 — All the way to the left on your radio dial"), which broadcasts a news-and-dulcimer-music format out of cramped studios in the fictional Blandon Park Mall. . .

The half-hour special serves up outré left-wing pieties and public radio stereotypes in the deadpan manner of Elaine May and Mike Nichols. "WACLU, all the way to the left, underwritten this hour by Dr. Tom Richards's Lipo Depot, pleased to support WACLU's continuing commitment to broadcasting excellence and all of your cosmetic surgery needs; and by Funeral Shak, the last word in the last purchase you'll ever make". . .

WACLU employees eat takeout Ethiopian kik alecha. The sound effects on their news programs include baby seals crying, the Chinese national anthem and the hum of an electric wheelchair.

Posted by David on January 4, 2003 12:38 PM