Two cubicle drones debate depersonalization via Twitterverse in the season premiere of *Supernews!*Image courtesy Current TV
Since 2005, Current TV's animated spoof Supernews! has mashed Flash animation with accidentally hilarious subjects ranging from Davos and wiretaps to Transformers. In the new season, premiering Friday, show creator Josh Faure-Blac takes steady aim at digi-cultural phenomena like Twitter, Craiglist, emoticons and more.
By the way, Faure-Blac (pictured, right) has a Twitter account. "I am not a hater," he clarifies.
Besides Twitter, the SuperNews! dartboard also includes Craig Newmark's alt-market site Craiglist, which will be skewered along with emoticons, Mars and Evite in future episodes.
Wired.com caught up with the SuperNews! satirist to chat about i-Fart and the New De-personalization.
Wired.com: The Twitter spoof seems to imply that depersonalization is our new best friend.
Josh Faure-Brac: Depersonalization with Twitter and Facebook often feels like a lazy person's way to be popular. And if you've read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, you knew this was all coming long ago. But I'm not a hater. I get it. And now that my Twitter cartoon is getting Twooted all over the place I've actually started Tweater-doodling. And it's pretty cool.
Wired.com: Nailed! Are you worried about making the Fail Whale cooler than it already, sadly, is?
Josh Faure-Brac [Laughs] You know, I had no idea that the Fail Whale was all that cool. When I started writing the piece, I was really an outsider. The people I work with at Current TV are almost frighteningly tech-savvy, and when I suddenly heard them talking about Twitter, I was pretty much that guy in the cartoon saying, "Twitter, what's Twitter?" The reaction I got was pretty much the same as in the cartoon too. So I signed up, realized it was a bizarre universe that would be fun to explore. When I was Googling images for the look of it, the Fail Whale kept popping up. So I had to use it.
Wired.com: So now that you're on Twitter, do you feel that friendship in 140 characters or less is not truly friendship?
Josh Faure-Brac: Kinda sorta. I’m sure people make acquaintances and maybe meet people that become friends but I’m worried that good old fashioned real friends who listen to you and aren’t staring at their cell phones while you talk are becoming a thing of the past.
Craig Newmark gets the Disney treatment after offloading a crappy couch on a future episode of *SuperNews!*Image courtesy Current TV
Wired.com: The Craiglist spoof mashes Superfriends' Wonder Twins and Aladdin's blue genie. If Craig Newmark wasn't so cool, would he sue you?
Josh Faure-Brac: [Laughs] God, I hope he’s cool. I imagine that he is. You know, I played with a few different voices before I settled on the nerdy one. I’m sorry, Craig. I love you, but it just felt right to give you a super nerdy voice.
Wired.com: Are Craiglist's trust issues overruled by its uncanny knack for matchmaking on the cheap, as your spoof indicates?
Josh Faure-Brac: I bought a couch on Craigslist once. When I got it home, it smelled like cat pee. Then what do I do? Nothing, it’s Craigslist. You’re stuck with it. But I love Craigslist. It really is like a weird, nerdy genie that can give you anything you want, if you just make a wish.
Wired.com: Your emoticon war segment was great. How hard is it to make emoticons funny?
Josh Faure-Brac: Oh, emoticons are hilarious! Who are those little guys? Why do they only have one emotion? I have so many questions and would love to live in their little world. I just have to figure out what kind of emoticon I’d be, so I can fit in. How about a high-fiving-while-pounding-a-beer emoticon?
__Wired.com: __What internet targets were spared this time around?
Josh Faure-Brac: You know, I took it pretty easy on the iPhone and all its dumb-ass apps this season. I feel like I really dropped the ball on that. I just downloaded Easy Fart, because the learning curve on iFart was way too high.
Wired.com: So who's up next for a ribbing?
Josh Faure-Brac: Seth Rogen. Can he please make another movie where he’s a schlubby pot-smoking masturbator who scores hot chicks? I think he’s ridden that pony into the dirt. He’s funny, amazingly talented, and clearly works harder than most in Hollywood. But maybe he should date fat chick in his next movie.
Wired.com: Do you miss Bush, Cheney and Rove? They were joke flytraps for SuperNews.
Josh Faure-Brac: I don’t. Not in the least.
Photos courtesy Current TV
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