Tooning Out the News

Tooning Out the News is an American animated political satire television series executive produced by comedian and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert host Stephen Colbert. The series premiered on CBS All Access on April 7, 2020.

Tooning Out the News
Genre
Created by
Voices of
  • Mitch Lewis
  • Maureen Monahan
  • Simone Norman
  • Addison Anderson
  • Jeremy Bent
  • R.J. Fried
  • Meg Stalter
  • Jack Bensinger
  • Zach Smilovitz
  • Neil D'Astolfo
Theme music composerTom Polce
Country of originUnited States
Original languages
  • English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes112
Production
Executive producers
  • Stephen Colbert
  • Chris Licht
  • Tim Luecke
  • R. J. Fried
Producers
  • Melanie Loebig
  • Nicole Savini
Editors
  • Thomas Berkley
  • Jesse Millward
  • Katey Spinner
  • Melissa Weiss
Release
Original networkCBS All Access
Original releaseApril 7, 2020 (2020-04-07) –
present
Chronology
Related shows
External links
Website

From August 18–20, 2020, the program covered the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[1] It also covered the 2020 Republican National Convention from August 26–28, 2020.[2]

The first season ended on December 11, 2020.

Description

The program consists of four main segments, "Big News," "Inside The Hill," "Virtue Signal," and "Hot Take," resembling shows seen on cable news channels, plus added interstitial vignettes covering other stories not mentioned in the main segments. Three of the main segments début on CBS All Access Tuesday through Thursday (the morning after a new The Late Show with Stephen Colbert episode), with the fourth, plus a compilation "Week in Review" show containing all four plus vignettes, released Fridays. The interstitial vignettes are often previewed on the Late Show, one per night.

Cast and characters

Main
  • Mitch Lewis as Announcer
  • Maureen Monahan as Nicole Vance / Sarah Sabo / Kylie Weaver
  • Simone Norman as Eleanor Palmer
  • Addison Anderson as Rich Ballard / Austin Sparks
  • Jeremy Bent as Teddy Hopper / Jonathan Keene
  • R.J. Fried as James Smartwood
  • Meg Stalter as Bonnie Davis
  • Jack Bensinger as Tyler Templeton
  • Zach Smilovitz as James Smartwood Jr.
  • Neil D'Astolfo as Peter Womack
  • Ziwe Fumudoh as Tory Hughes / Susan Shephard

Recurring
  • Alise Morales as Lila Moreno
  • Nathan Min as Brian Min
  • Ikechukwu Ufomadu as Dr. Ike Bloom
  • Otter Lee as Otter Lin
  • Jeremy Levick as Jeremy Levy-Levin
  • Rajat Suresh as Rajat Mehta

History

The show was set to premiere on March 16, 2020, but production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The series debuted on April 7, 2020, instead, after production continued remotely, with animators and showrunner RJ Fried, who has also produced The Late Show and the animated show Our Cartoon President, working via Zoom and Slack.[4][5]

Production

The show originally used motion capture to "record" the actors' performances on the show, after converting David Letterman's old personal screening room at the Ed Sullivan Theater as a control room.[6] After the pandemic forced animators to work from home, they switched to remote production, shipping equipment to animator's houses and using Adobe's Character Animator to animate the virtual hosts of the show.[4]

Guest stars

The show features interviews with politicians and activists, including:

References
  1. Milligan, Mercedes (2020-08-17). "'Tooning Out the News' Launches Special 2020 Election Coverage with DNC". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
  2. https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/anthony-scaramucci-to-appear-on-tooning-out-the-news-rnc-special/
  3. White, Peter (2020-03-31). "'Tooning Out The News': Stephen Colbert Animated News Show Resumes Production & CBS All Access Sets New Premiere". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  4. Desowitz, Bill (2020-04-16). "'Tooning Out the News' Reinvented Its Animated Workflow to Fight Coronavirus". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  5. Swain, Rhea. "Having the last laugh: How late-night comedy is moving online during coronavirus". The Daily Targum. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  6. Dowling, Amber (2020-04-14). "How 'Tooning Out The News' Pivoted Its Animation Process Amid Coronavirus Pandemic". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  7. Porter, Rick. "Stephen Colbert's 'Tooning Out the News' Restarts With Remote Production". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  8. Goodykoontz, Bill. "Why Stephen Colbert's new TV news parody 'Tooning Out the News' really needs to be great". azcentral. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
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