SNL Mocks News Coverage Of Balloon Boy Hoax (VIDEO)

Cable news networks cut away from the president's discussion of rebuilding New Orleans this Thursday to cover the "balloon boy"--a 6-year-old who was thought to have been aboard a run-away helium balloon. Of course, it turns out the boy was not aboard the balloon at all, but instead hiding inside a cardboard box in his family's attic. News networks have been criticized for the amount of time and energy they spent covering this fake affair and SNL was not about to miss out on the fun. Weekend update got a surprise guest--no, not Falcon Heene, but the balloon itself floated all the way from Colorado for another moment in the sun.


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Comments

[ricmarc]

once again i forgot this silly show was on. it is nothing but a network time killer.

[IWW]

MR. Mad Scientist should have known "kids say everything" and that his next door neighbors were filming his release of the mylar.
Better yet he is probably a Glen Beck follower therefore, he should know that satellites are watching our every move.

[HarryKeller]

Continuing ...

The real joke is on the news organizations who have the resources to make a trivial calculation. Instead of checking (where have we seen that before?), they just go ahead and report the "news" without question. Imagine the coup if one of these scientific­ally-chall­enged organizations were to have done the calculation? The headline might be "Science Proves Boy not in Balloon." The rest of the news world would have had egg on its face. Now, they all do.

Instead of hours of dull non-news, it would have been a one-minute education, a teachable moment.

It's too bad so few people think anymore. I blame our schools' science classes that teach lots of rote stuff such as words, formulas, laws, theories, procedures, etc. and don't teach the nature of science, scientific thinking skills, and appreciation for the complexity and ambiguity of the work scientists do.

Or, perhaps, only the ones who don't learn these things go into journalism.

[HarryKeller]

The sheriff is charging the family with felonies? He should be charged with stupidity.

Even if he doesn't understand the basics of buoyancy, he could ask someone who does. The question is simple: "Can that balloon thing lift a six-year old boy to 15,000 ft?" You have to have some idea of how big the balloon is, of course. My own estimates suggest that the hot air balloon would have a lift, at sea level, of about 50 lbs from the air alone. I assumed 300° F air because the boy would be in real trouble if the air were too hot. Even that temperature would probably cause his mucus membranes to be damaged. In Fort Collins, at one mile altitude, the lift is considerably less.

Of course, the balloon must lift itself (maybe 10 lbs) and some sort of internal structure on which a boy could sit (maybe another 10 lbs). Thus, the boy must weigh less than 30 lbs, not likely! Even if you could get the balloon and boy off the ground, they wouldn't go very high or far.

To be continued...

[chedet]

but how many people would have thought that scientifically? I knew it from the beginning that the boy wasn't in the balloon. It just seems impossible. Turns out to be true only that I didn't realize it was some sort of a scam.

[Helanren]

I suppose that finally proves it was really a hoax. You could see the shadow of the puppeteer's cross!

[Foreground]

Skeptic. Maybe the balloon is the second coming of Jesus.

[FunPie]

Honestly, SNL is almost becoming funny again! Good stuff. Course, there's clever fodder all over about this idiotic story...

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/

[benatmediacurves]

MediaCurves.com conducted a study among 303 viewers of a news clip featuring the “balloon boy.” Results showed that half of viewers (51%) reported that the media coverage surrounding the story was overdone. The majority of viewers (75%) reported that they saw the news story on television. Almost half of respondents (40%) indicate that the received the news through Internet news sites.
More in depth results can be seen at:
http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7598-BalloonBoy/Index.cfm
Thanks,
Ben

[RingoTheDingo]

Jenna Elfman's unborn child on the tv show Accidently on Purpose is rumored to be named Falcon in honor of the Balloon Boy saga

[Jinxykb]

The video never materialized, but I REALLY ENJOYED THE BEER COMMERCIAL! This has happened once too often with the NBC video's when they are posted here!

[tarraslovan]

THis isn't as bad as the Tig notaro hoax.

[kilgore trout]

With material this weak, year after year, it's a mystery why SNL didn't go off the air decades ago. It hasn't been fresh and funny since around 1980.

[kilgore trout]

Oh my.... there are going to be thousands of balloon-boy costumes this Halloween, aren't there? Another reason to keep the front gate locked.

[Ricardo01]

Oh yeah, those Charles Rocket, Joe Piscopo, Denny Dillon, and Gilbert Gottfried SNLs of 1980 are just classic.

[The Albany Kid]

The balloon was cute, but the "urban champagne" skit was the best, IMO. I just have to find a bottle of "Minneapolis Mystery"!

The "BET" skit was funny too and the "300" skit was pretty decent.

[jaundicedview]

SNL has become so lame. Seth whats-his-name seems to think he's pretty funny though.

[MadMadMan]

Would you say as lame as CNN fact checking their skits??

[fausto412]

yep, our so called news organization need to be put down.

[sus2222]

For Lee Camp

( BELOW)

" But there's a BOY STUCK IN A WELL !!! " ( David Cross)

[LeeCamp]

My one-minute video response to balloon boy - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-camp/moment-of-clarity---the-d_b_325470.html

[wadenelson1]

Excellent!

[DeniseD]

That just might catch on.

One of those pictures of the homeless camps is right outside of Sacramento, for those who are wondering. It is also in Michael Moore's new movie. It is really sad for me because I love Sacramento.

[Sandmanj]

Imagine if Heene, instead of making up a story about a boy in a baloon had instead made up something really ridiculous about some mideast country sitting on tons of wmd's and preparing to build an atomic bomb with something called "yellow cake" from Africa for delivery to the USA in long-range missiles. Surely no one in America is THAT gullible.

[twoopeneyes]

Nice,.....

[SatinPanties]

Who would swallow THAT story!?! Nope, Americans, we are Number 1!! Not gullible at all!

[DeniseD]

I actually never believed it, but that is because I have a very difficult time with trust. I am the quintessential skeptic.

[Pammy2]

Yes, thank god we're all too smart for THAT.

Two thumbs up, Sandman!

[graceland9]

fanned

[condor101]

Very well stated.
Bush & Co. Lied and through their actions, killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and then later destroyed our economy.
Did they get charged with war crimes? NO
They are sitting on their billions of dollars laughing at the world while protected by the secret service, CIA and their military henchmen.
The true criminals against humanity are free and about.

And yet, for this hoax which resulted in no deaths or injuries will probably result in lengthy prison terms of at least 5 years or more.
What a wonderful society.