Mental Engineering was a public television series where show creator and host John Forde leads a panel discussion featuring critical and humorous analysis of TV commercials. The show originated as a public-access television cable TV program on the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1997.[ citation needed ]
Nationally-known comedians and satirists frequently appeared as panelists. Past guests include Al Franken, Lizz Winstead, Sam Simon, Greg Proops, Louis C.K., Paula Poundstone, Merrill Markoe, Naomi Klein, and Jeff Cesario.
Forde started Mental Engineering in 1998 on cable access in St. Paul. [1] Mental Engineering is considered by some sources to be the first public-access television show to air nationally.[ citation needed ] By September 2001, the program was airing on various public TV outlets including WGBH in Boston and WNET in New York City.[ citation needed ]
In 2002, the episode Super Commercials: A Mental Engineering Special followed Super Bowl XXXVI featured guest personalities Aisha Tyler and Lizz Winstead along with other guests from Minnesota. [2] [3]
By the end of 2008 140 episodes had been produced.[ citation needed ]
The series received positive reviews from several news outlets, including the New York Times, which called it "brilliant." Bill Moyers called it "the most interesting weekly half hour of social commentary and criticism on television," [4] and PBS host Charlie Rose interviewed Forde on the ‘Charlie Rose’ show.
As underwriters fund public broadcasting shows and are recognized in the show credits, ARNAN.com was the show's first carded underwriter when production moved to KTCA. Early funding assistance came from the Lutheran Brotherhood, a fortune 500 non-profit life insurance company that is now part of Thrivent Financial, and from PBS. Seeking broader funding, the show suspended production for 2003-2004, and returned to public TV in 2005.
Two somewhat similar television shows aired on public TV stations in the 1960s: Public Broadcast Laboratory and Your Dollar's Worth, both sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
The Gruen Transfer, a similar program deconstructing advertisements, was launched by the Australian public television network in 2008. The show is currently being marketed by Fox Look under the name "The Big Sell".
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend of the words "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.
Talk Soup is a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, and aired until August 2002. Talk Soup aired selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows—ranging from daytime entries like The Jerry Springer Show and to celebrity interview shows like The Tonight Show—surrounded by humorous commentary delivered by the host. Although Talk Soup poked fun at the talk shows, it also advertised the topics and guests of upcoming broadcasts. Despite this, several talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, refused to allow clips of their shows to be shown on the series. During its run, Talk Soup was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Special Class Program. A show based on it, The Soup, aired from 2004 to 2015.
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Lizz Winstead is an American comedian, radio and television personality, and blogger. A native of Minnesota, Winstead is the co-creator of The Daily Show along with Madeleine Smithberg, and served as head writer.
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