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[Kitten]

http://tv.ign.com/articles/951/951730p3.html
Matt Stone Talks to IGN About How's Your News?

February 5, 2009 - It all began over ten years ago at a summer camp for adults with disabilities in Massachusetts - Camp Jabberwocky. The camp set up its own news team and sent them out for "man on the street" interviews. In 1999, they put out their own docu-feature film directed by Arthur Bradford, which wound up catching the eye of South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The two expressed interest in taking this special news team under their protective wing, and they've been mentoring the group ever since.

IGN had a chance to talk to Matt Stone about the gang at How's Your News? finally getting their own TV show on MTV.

IGN TV: I had the privilege of seeing the pilot of How's Your News? last week.

Matt Stone: Oh cool. What did you think?

IGN: I thought it was really warm and endearing. Very entertaining. These guys weren't really on my radar until recently.

Stone: A lot of people have heard of them, but not that many. Obviously they're not that big. But over the years they've been sort of on the film circuit, and they've been to South By Southwest a couple times doing interviews, so a lot of people have heard the name. But still on a very small level.

IGN: They seem cover a lot of these big celebrity events, like South By Southwest and the Grammys. Are you finding that more and more celebrities recognize them at this point?

Stone: They do. I'm trying to think of a few people specifically but, you know, people like Amy Sedaris and Bill Hader and Tom Morello, I'm throwing out random ones here that I can remember off the top of my head. But people who are kind of into alternative comedy and alternative TV and film, they all know How's Your News? At the green room at the TCAs, I met Matt Lucas, the little guy from Little Britain, the shorter of the two. And I've been a huge fan of him and David Walliams for years and was like "oh my god, Matt Lucas." I had never met him and I was so excited and they introduced us and the first thing out of his mouth was 'I love everything you and Trey have done, but I really love How's Your News?" I was, like, "Well, they're right behind you" and he did the same thing that Trey and I did the first time we met the reporters. He was truly star struck. It's hard to describe why people like us get so star struck when you meet the How's Your News? people except to say that if you've seen a few episodes you do kind of, and this sounds dumb and cheesy, fall in love with them as characters and as compelling people.

IGN: Can you talk about the evolution of this show, from the original documentary?

Stone: You know the show changed quite a bit. I mean How's Your News has always been How's Your News? ever since Trey and I have been involved with it, which really been in sort of a godfather kind of role. Creatively, it's not our baby. We're not there on set. It's really Arthur (Bradford) and the reporters. It's their show. But this show on MTV really started hitting its stride when we figured out that it's really a show about them. It's not a show about America or a show about these big events. After a while you don't care where they are or what they're doing, they're just really interesting people and really fascinating. And as the show goes on you just learn more about them as people and that's where you find the compelling nature of the show. There are these people that you might not expect to "get to know" because you might say to yourself "you know, I don't hang out with a lot of disabled people. They're just not in my life." That's how it works for me anyway. I find myself just wanting to watch what they do and getting to know them.

IGN: Their joy just seems to come through and perhaps that's what's so appealing, since most people in the entertainment world seem to have a hard time finding joy.

Stone: You know, it's really an anti cynical pill. People in the industry especially, and maybe more sophisticated television viewers can sort of see through the gloss. When you see someone on TV that genuinely wants to be there and is genuinely excited about what they're doing, it's infectious. You can't be bummed on it. It's really fun.

IGN: Speaking to their genuineness, which is something that really shines through… do you think they'll be a fit on a network like MTV which nowadays seems to feature a bunch of shows with a slew of un-genuine people? Seeing as how this isn't a show about spoiled brats and their birthdays?

Stone: I said a line back at the TCAs that really sort of encapsulates our take on that which is that we [think] MTV shouldn't be embarrassed about being associated with How's Your News? and I don't think they are, but it's like How's Your News? should be careful about being associated with MTV. How's Your News? has been doing its thing for about ten years now. Critically, it gets amazing reception. And a lot of that is at film festivals which is sort of a higher brow type of thing.

Stone: How's Your News? hasn't changed any of its character, it's just that now it's associated with me and Trey and MTV. So nothing has changed for them except for what network its being put on. It was really Arthur (Bradford) who wanted to go to MTV because he really wanted, because MTV, even though it's position in pop culture has changed just in the past four five years - you have to go back in time to when we pitched this, but Arthur came to me and asked me to help him get this show on TV. And I said, "Well, we can go to PBS or Lifetime" and he was like "No." Everyone else has a place at the MTV table. MTV does have a pretty good track record for having shows that feature just about everyone in America. Everybody in America has a place at that table whether you're gay or straight or black or white. We wanted to go to the center of the sun.

IGN: I have to ask. Have you heard the Christian Bale on-set "Rage against the DP" meltdown yet?

Stone: No, I haven't. Someone mentioned that to me last night and I haven't heard it yet. Is it good?

IGN: It's phenomenal. You're still a few weeks away from new South Park episodes and you guys have such quick turnaround. Could we possibly expect to see something Bale-oriented on an upcoming episode?

Stone: We could. We don't have shows on the air for like a month or so. It's a little ways out so by then it will probably be old news. You know the way the news goes.

[rinygrin]

I'm glad that went for MTV over PBS or Lifetime, however I do love PBS with a passion.
Oh and yayayayayaya @ Matt Lucas and David Walliams! I fucking love Little Britain! :D
That's so awesome that Matt Lucas enjoys Matt & Trey's work, including How's Your News?! :chodaboy: That is fantastic!

[nobby]

I'm glad that went for MTV over PBS or Lifetime, however I do love PBS with a passion.
Oh and yayayayayaya @ Matt Lucas and David Walliams! I fucking love Little Britain! :D
That's so awesome that Matt Lucas enjoys Matt & Trey's work, including How's Your News?!  :chodaboy: That is fantastic!

I LOVE the Little Britain guys too! It makes sense that they love How's Your News--Matt Lucas and David Walliams are so spot on in their "special needs characters" Andy and Ann (ehh-eh-ehhhh!) My professional life has been working with this population--I KNOW caregivers like Lou who just care so very much for their charges that they get taken advantage of. And I LOVE when Lou repeats some abstract esoteric thing that Andy always says. And Ann! Oh my god! I've toured "developmental centers" with CEOs who react the exact same way!! They are oblivious to what the folks are doing NOW--(raising her skirt to pee in the lake) because she's COME SO FAR (she probably used to masturbate into the lake).

I met some folks from Camp Jabberwocky years ago at a Disabilities Expo. The strange thing is, when folks who work with this population for a long time meet OTHER folks who have done the same, it's like we're old friends because we're there for the same reason. We ENJOY these folks. Some can be assholes, like regular folks, but most of them are really cool and find so much enjoyment in stuff that we take for granted (having their own apartment, no matter that it's a shoebox that's three flights up--it's theirs!!)