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BlankWillWin
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Conan O'Brian in Canada
« on: Feb 16^th, 2004, 10:34pm »

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Conan O'Brien's Quebec Shows Stir Furor

By COLIN McCLELLAND, Associated Press Writer

TORONTO - Canadian politicians are denouncing "The Late Show with Conan O'Brien" over a sketch in which a cigar-chomping sock puppet hurled insults at French Canadians.

The NBC show came to Toronto last week with the help of $750,000 in Canadian taxpayers' money, a trip that Canadian promoters hoped would help rebuild the city's tourist industry after an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome last year.

In the pre-taped skit that aired Thursday night, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog confronted visitors to Quebec City's Winter Carnival.

When one couple confirmed they were French Canadian separatists, the grouchy puppet said, "Listen closely. Hear that? It's the sound of no one giving a," followed by an expletive bleep.

"You're in North America, learn the language!" he hollered at another.

Triumph asked a rotund man if he was a separatist, then suggested he might want to separate himself from doughnuts for a while. The skit also replaced street signs with insulting replicas, including one that mocked Canadian singer Celine Dion.

Mauril Belanger, the deputy government house leader, told the House of Commons Friday that the government was not amused. He said Ottawa completely dissociated itself from the material.

Alexa McDonough, a member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party, said the sketch was "vile and vicious" and amounted to hate-mongering. McDonough said the government should demand its money back.

"The whole point of trying to help deal with the devastation of the SARS crisis on the city of Toronto was to attract tourists," McDonough said. "How it got morphed into this kind of garbage I don't know."

Chum Television, which airs the show in Canada, issued an apology and removed the segment in a repeat broadcast.

"It is never our intention to air programming that offends any of our viewers," the network said.

NBC has declined comment, and O'Brien mentioned the topic only in passing in his monologue during the taping of the final Toronto show on Friday afternoon.

Guest Jim Carrey, a Canadian, later offered O'Brien a subtle opportunity to apologize by bringing on the mascot for the winter carnival, but O'Brien didn't take the bait.

Separatism and French language rights are a sensitive issue in Canada, especially after Quebec separatists nearly won a 1995 referendum to set up their own country.

Canada's current government is immersed in a scandal over allegations that Quebec advertising agencies were paid $75 million in illegal commissions to confront the separatist threat.

"It's wrong to spread the worst possible ethnic prejudices about Quebecers, which already exist in Canada," said Jean Dorion, president of the Quebec nationalist Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.

But businessman Peter Soumalias, said who helped bring the New York-based show to Toronto, said Canadians were taking the show too seriously.

"It's a silly puppet that tells silly jokes," Soumalias said. "Most people find it funny."

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #1 on: Feb 16^th, 2004, 10:37pm »

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I just have to say, "This is Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, people! Of course what he says is going to be in poor taste! That's the whole point!" *Eric shakes his head*

Eric.

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #2 on: Feb 17^th, 2004, 9:27am »

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4264295/

Canada calls Conan O'Brien show racist

Canada calls Conan O'Brien show racist

A Triumph routine suggested that Quebec citizens are gay Roll Eyes

Updated: 3:58 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2004OTTAWA - Canadas government Friday condemned a show by U.S. late-night television host Conan OBrien that insulted people in French-speaking Quebec and seemed to suggest everyone in the province was homosexual.

Ottawa and the province of Ontario paid C$1 million ($760,000) to help OBrien who appears on the NBC television network bring his show to Toronto for a week to boost the citys profile after a deadly SARS outbreak last year.

But the federal government said OBrien had gone far too far with the show broadcast 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: Youre French, youre obnoxious and you no speekay English. It told another: I can smell your crotch from here.

OBriens team were also shown replacing street signs in the province with those that read Quebecqueer Street and Rue des Pussies.

Government wants its subsidy back
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, Isnt this interfering with freedom of expression? Its 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 puppets comments come on the heels of a similar uproar following criticism of European French-Canadian hockey players on CBC television by the countrys best-known sports commentator, Don Cherry.

The Late Night show, which taped in Toronto all this week and featured guests such as Jim Carrey and Mike Myers, 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 programming 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.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #3 on: Feb 17^th, 2004, 11:24am »

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Well last week at this time they were waiting outside in huge line ups to get into the hottest show in town - the Conan OBrien show. It was on the radio. Indeed everywhere I went for the entire week, morning noon and night I heard about this man's show. I really didn't know much about him before this and don't get his show without cable.

So I gather from the reports coming back that all he did was focus on the stereotypes of Canadians in general and tell everyone how cold it is in Toronto in February. No big surprises there.

Our government spent 1 million dollars + (Canadian currency) on this fellow and this was to improve tourism in Toronto. I think all that happened was Conan O brien got alot of publicity. We all know that Bad publicity is as good as good publicity in the talk show business.

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jetgirl
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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #4 on: Feb 17^th, 2004, 11:43am »

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Conan's very funny & I watch the show regularly. Triumph is ALWAYS offensive (anyone remember the dog show episode?), but compared to some talk radio celebrities, he's not bad at all.

The difference is in the funding. I'd feel better if this clip hadn't been funded by the Canadian gov. If the US gov funded an segment on Howard Stern... now that would make me furious.

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #5 on: Feb 18^th, 2004, 12:04pm »

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Geez, this is just a show people, some guy that is very funny that happens to say something. I found some more stuff that is intresting hear
http: //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3495045.stm

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #6 on: Feb 18^th, 2004, 12:04pm »

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Hey how do i make that a link?

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luci
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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #7 on: Feb 18^th, 2004, 1:10pm »

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avs, you are just so cute! Grin

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #8 on: Feb 18^th, 2004, 2:24pm »

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Conan apologized last night - in english AND in french.

It's hilarious. I read the apology in the morning paper. I will try to retrieve it later (unless someone else finds it first)

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Re: Conan O'Brian in Canada
« Reply #9 on: Feb 18^th, 2004, 9:22pm »

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I found the article, It's in the Toronto Sun http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/02/18/pf-351749.html

Here's the story including the FULL Translation of Conan's apology. I wish I could have seen this. I hope my Quebecois neighbours got a giggle out of it:

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Wed, February 18, 2004

Conan's apology a bilingual Triumph

By Bill Brioux, Toronto Sun

Conan O'Brien may be back in New York, but he's still working on his French. Last night, on O'Brien's first show back in the Big Apple after his week of hosting from Toronto, the late-night talk-show host issued an apology on behalf of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

The nasty puppet pooch pooped all over Quebecers at their annual Winter Carnival in a controversial sketch on last Thursday's Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

After performing his usual monologue, O'Brien began his apology with the help of an interpreter who "translated" his comments into French:

O'BRIEN: "People of Quebec, I'm sorry."

TRANSLATOR: "People of Quebec, I'm an albino jackass."

O'BRIEN: "We meant no harm with our comedy piece the other night."

TRANSLATOR: "The other night, I wet the bed like a little girl."

O'BRIEN: "I was a stranger in a strange land and I was very insensitive."

TRANSLATOR: "I have a small penis."

O'BRIEN: "Quebec, your lively and rich culture is a treasure to Canada, and your unique heritage deserves only praise, not ridicule."

TRANSLATOR: "I have never known the touch of a woman and I never will."

O'BRIEN: "Again, please accept my heartfelt apologies."

TRANSLATOR: "Did I mention I have a small penis?"

NBC is now bracing for attacks from the SSPP (Society of Small Penis People).

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