C-SPAN Too Funny

On the eve of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, C-SPAN has posted a YouTube video collection of the event's best jokes at its expense.

Being such an integral part of the Washington scene, the cable-backed public service suite of networks gets almost as many barbs as POTUS at the annual gathering, which C-SPAN also covers live each year.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmusEAUWgw[/embed]

Among the best zingers was this one from Larry Wilmore: "It's good to be on C-SPAN. I'm glad I'm not on your rival network: "No input. HDMI 1."

Then this one from Joel McHale: "C-SPAN is like one of those paranormal activity movies. It's just grainy shots of empty rooms interrupted by images of people your're pretty sure died a few years ago."

And this from Seth Myers: "People think Bin Laden is hiding in the Hindu Kush, but did you know that every day from 4 to 5 he hosts a show on C-SPAN?"

The video serves a dual purpose as a promo for watching the festivities on C-SPAN on Saturday night (April 28). "Don't change your routine," the video ends. "Watch the White House Correspondents' Dinner on C-SPAN.

One joke not in the video was from Barack Obama at his final appearance at the dinner in 2016, when he joked that he was at his last, "and perhaps the last," such dinner. That was at least partly prophetic.

Related: Obama Leaves 'Em Laughing at Last WHCA Dinner

The dinner goes on, but it will be the second year that the current President has begged off, asking in an e-mail to supporters this week why he would "want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?” when he could be rallying his base at a rally in Michigan.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.