Say it ain't so Conan... "You're French, you're obnoxious and you no speekay English." "I can smell your crotch from here." Canada Condemns 'Racist' Conan O'Brien TV Show By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's government on Friday condemned a show by U.S. late-night television host Conan O'Brien that insulted people in French-speaking Quebec and seemed to suggest everyone in the province was homosexual. Ottawa and the province of Ontario paid $760,000 to help O'Brien -- who appears on the NBC television network -- bring his show to Toronto for a week to boost the city's profile after a deadly SARS outbreak last year. But the federal government said O'Brien had gone far too far with the show broadcast on Thursday in which he went to Quebec, a province which has had separatist governments for much of the last 20 years and is a delicate political topic in Canada. "We want to disassociate ourselves from the comments which were broadcast last night because we do not support them in any way," junior government minister Mauril Belanger told Parliament. At one point in the show, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog -- a hand puppet that is a regular on the show -- said to a Quebecer: "You're French, you're obnoxious and you no speekay English." It told another: "I can smell your crotch from here." O'Brien's team were also shown replacing street signs in the province with those that read "Quebecqueer Street" and "Rue des p*****s." Alexa McDonough, a legislator for the left-leaning New Democrats, described the program as "racist filth" and "utterly vile" and demanded the government seek the return of the C$1 million subsidy. "There may be those who would say, 'Isn't this interfering with freedom of expression?' It's not interfering to say we will not publicly fund this kind of vile, vicious hatemongering," McDonough told reporters. Belanger did not commit to asking for the money back. No one at NBC was immediately available for comment. The complaints over the puppet's comments come on the heels of a similar uproar following criticism of European French-Canadian hockey players on CBC television by the country's best-known sports commentator, Don Cherry. The "Late Night" show, which taped in Toronto all this week and featured guests such as Jim Carrey (news) and Mike Myers (news), was broadcast in Canada by CHUM television, which said it regretted any offense that may have been caused. "We offer our apology and assurance that it is never our intention to air programing that offends any of our viewers," the station said in a statement. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog has landed in trouble before, most famously when it had an altercation with rap singer Eminem at a music awards show in 2002. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&e=2&u=/nm/leisure_canada_conan_dc
What amazes me is that someone was actually watching the show. Is there ANYONE on earth that thinks that Conan O'Brien is even remotely funny? His un-funniness (paired with his unbearable smugness) enrages me, I have to say. If I saw him on the street I would likely attack him physically.
I think Conan O'Brian is the funniest host on late night tv that there is. He blows away Leno and Letterman IMO. I think a lot of people agree with me also since he has been around for 10 years. Canada needs to get a freaking since of humor. It's Triumph for christ sakes. He is supposed to insult people. Get a life losers.
Absolutely. It's not like Conan is a politican, he's a comedian. His comedy is often sarcastic, so it would surprise me if this wasn't taken out of context to the way it was intended. And FWIW, if Americans..er..would that be other Americans... took offense to all of the jibes at us, we would have time for little else. You would think that this has any bearing on anything. Canada has so much going for it that it's embarrassing if this becomes a big deal.
What part of the title Insult Comic Dog would make the Canucks think Triumph would not offend people. The whole schtick is offending people. Triumph is a hand-peppet Don Rickles.
Most people who say things like this, ironically like The Simpsons. Memo: He used to be the head writer for The Simpsons.
Conan is a god-like figure and one of the funniest SOB's on the planet. Singlehandedly, he makes late night TV worth watching. Triumph is one of the funniest things ever. I remember watching him with Bon Jovi ("Go back to the butt from which you came") when he tried to hump Heather Locklear's leg. As for the French Canadians, they are French, which is a big strike against them, but to add insult to injury they want to split Canada in two. In other words, they are major-league assholes. I guess they still haven't gotten over being conquered by those silly English types who smell of elderberries and whipped their asses on the Plains of Abraham. Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!!! South Park, from the movie 'South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut' Times have changed; our kids are getting worse. They won't obey their parents; they just want to fart and curse. Should we blame the government or blame society? Or should we blame the images on TV? No! Blame Canada. Blame Canada. With all their beady little eyes, and flapping heads so full of lies. Blame Canada. Blame Canada. We need to form a full assault; it's Canada's fault. Don't blame me for my son, Stan. He saw the darn cartoon, and now he's off to join the clan. And my boy Eric once had my picture on his shelf, but now when I see him he tells me to f@#! myself. Well? Blame Canada. Blame Canada. It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along. Blame Canada. Blame Canada. They're not even a real country anyway. My son could have been a doctor or a lawyer, it's true. Instead he burned up like a piggy on a barbeque. Should we blame the matches? Should we blame the fire, or the doctors who allowed him to expire? Heck no! Blame Canada. Blame Canada with all their hockey hullabaloo and that witch Anne Murray too. Blame Canada; Shame on Canada, for the smut we must cut, the trash we must bash, the laughter and fun must all be undone. We must blame them, not cause a fuss before somebody thinks of blaming us.
