From April 4 to Might 23, 2001, Comedy Central ran eight episodes of a 30-minute sitcom referred to as “That is My Bush!,” a sendup of the then-active George W. Bush administration. The premise of the present was as broad as attainable. George W. Bush (Timothy Bottoms) was within the White Home, however his life was extra akin to that of an old style, Eighties-era office sitcom than that of a sitting president. There was a loud, obnoxious chuckle observe paired with shiny, even TV lighting, making the present look intentionally old style and synthetic. Kurt Fuller performed the buttoned-down killjoy Karl Rove, whereas Carrie Quinn Dolin performed Laura Bush.
Greater than being a spoof of the Bush administration, nonetheless (and there was loads to spoof), “That is My Bush!” was a satire of all-American sitcoms. Present creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker (of “South Park” fame) merely used the White Home as a backdrop to mock dated sitcom tropes that Gen-Xers had deeply internalized. The tales concerned fashionable politics (there have been episodes dedicated to the loss of life penalty, abortion, and so on.), but it surely was the stylized, satirical artificiality that was the actual star.
To that finish, “That is My Bush!” made intensive use of “zany” inventory sitcom characters. There was a slovenly neighbor named Larry (John D’Aquino), a ditzy secretary named Princess (Kristen Miller), and a put-upon maid named Maggie (Marcia Wallace of “The Simpsons”). W was additionally given the catchphrase, “One in every of as of late, Laura, I am gonna punch you within the face!” When Bottoms learn the road, he delivered it with theatrical aplomb, and the “dwell studio viewers” often chanted alongside in unison earlier than erupting in applause. This was, in fact, a parody of Jackie Gleason’s home abuse joke from “The Honeymooners” which had the Nice One chanting “One in every of as of late, Pow! Proper within the kisser!” Or “Pow! Straight to the moon!”
It was going to be That is My Bush! or All people Loves Al!
It is price remembering that, politically talking, Matt Stone and Trey Parker are notoriously nihilists. Their work tends to punch proper and left, aiming to mock anybody who believes in something. They could have felt that George W. Bush was a clown and incompetent, however in addition they did not have any heat emotions reserved for Al Gore, Bush’s Democratic opponent within the hotly contested 2000 presidential election. Certainly, in keeping with the DVD commentary observe for “That is My Bush!,” Parker revealed that he and Stone developed two sitcoms concurrently — one for Bush and one for Gore — and agreed they’d begin manufacturing on one in every of them as soon as the winner of the 2000 election was declared.
On the time, Parker thought that Gore would win (he mentioned he was 95% sure of it), and that Al Gore’s present would have been referred to as “All people Loves Al!” The inventory characters, it appears, would have remained the identical. For many who bear in mind the intensive recount strategy of the 2000 election will not be shocked to study that manufacturing on both “That is My Bush!” or “All people Loves Al!” was pushed again by a month. Bush misplaced the favored vote, however received the Electoral School. It was some extent of nationwide scandal on the time. Republicans have solely received the favored vote twice since then, in 2004 and in 2024.
On their contract with Comedy Central, Stone and Parker have been mentioned to be engaged on a sitcom referred to as “Household First,” though it is unclear if that title was going for use. One other DVD commentary observe had Parker describing his and Stone’s writing course of. They’d a two-sided dray-erase board, with one facet boasting hot-button political points, and the opposite facet that includes plots cribbed from “Three’s Firm” episodes. They might then mix-and-match the 2 sides, extrapolating foolish tales from delicate subjects.
It was largely profitable.
How was That is My Bush!?
Bottoms gave a first-rate efficiency as George W. Bush, replicating his clueless expressions and down-home drawl completely. Bottoms, Stone, and Parker additionally gave the W character a definite character … even granting him some liberal values. The satire was equally dead-on, making an open mockery of the “healthful” reveals a technology grew up watching. After all, deconstructing American sitcoms was nothing new by 2001; “Married… with Kids,” “The Simpsons,” and “Seinfeld” had just about kicked that door open over a decade earlier.
As one may predict, “That is My Bush!” was delightfully tasteless. Within the episode coping with abortion, audiences have been launched to a puppet character named Felix the Fetus. Felix, having survived being aborted, got here to appose abortion laws. The unusual fetus puppet was created by the Chiodo Brothers, the masterminds behind the monsters in “Killer Klowns from Outer Area,” “Critters,” and “Ernest Scared Silly.” It was hardly essentially the most delicate factor.
“That is My Bush!” obtained pretty optimistic opinions and lots of publicity for its novel premise. In the end, nonetheless, “That is My Bush!” was canceled as a result of, in keeping with Parker, it was simply too costly. He and Stone acquired very bold, and the worth tag ended up being a whopping $1 million an episode.
This may need been an excellent factor; solely 4 months after “That is My Bush!” went off the air, the World Commerce Middle buildings have been toppled. It will have been exhausting to proceed to depict Bush as a “lovable oaf” in such an setting of nationwide tragedy. Stone and Parker would later mock the post-9/11 jingoism of the George W. Bush administration with the 2004 function movie “Group America: World Police,” a movie about ultra-nationalistic navy defenders … performed by puppets.
