NUTWORK

NETWORK (1976)
dir: Sidney Lumet

NUTWORK
MAD #192, July 1977
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker

At the Union Broadcasting Company, anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) has announced that he will kill himself on the air, his best friend Max Schumacher (William Holden) is chairman in charge of the network's news division and has begun an affairwith Diane Christensen (Faye Dunaway), head of programming who has taken over his position and sees this as a ratings bonanza. Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) is executive in charge of the network.

Max has to fire Howard and does it gently over drinks. This and other problems trigger Howard to announce his suicide. Meanwhile, at programming, Diane is looking for a hit show that will put the network in first place.

Footage has been released of the Ecumenical Liberation Army (stand-in for the Symbionese Liberation Army), a communist movement that has kidnapped an heiress and brainwashed her into helping them commit a bank robbery, and filmed it. This gives Diane an idea for a new reality show that will put UBS on the map. Max allows Howard to let him say whatever he wants on the air, including swearing. Diane sees the attention Howard is getting and wants to turn the news into the #1 show they seek.

Diane begins her affair with Max, and makes the news into an entertainment hour, led by Sybil the Soothsayer. Howard is the star of the show, giving his daily rant, the most famous being the oft-quoted “I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!” (see below)

Max is tired of seeing Howard being exploited and wants to give him the help he needs, but is fired because Frank has merged news and programming (they were two separate things once). Max leaves his wife (Beatrice Straight) for Diane. In Howard's rants, he mentions a secret deal the network is making which puts everyone's job in jeopardy.

This is outdated in many ways: Networks used to be the only option. A show had to have at least 30 million viewers to survive. News was once considered a loss leader. There were no all-news network channels at the time, or even basic cable for that matter. Howard asks viewers to write local politicians to protest the corporate merger. At one time, politicians actually listened to their constituents.

Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), head of the parent company, convinces Howard to backpedal on the air. Max is tired of Diane caring more about her career than their relationship and goes back to his wife. The network sees Howard Beale's ratings slip and wants to get rid of him. Not shown: The Ecumenical Liberation Army, which now has a show called The Mao Tse-Tung Hour, is arguing about things like percentage points and syndication rights. They're concerned that Howard Beale, the lead-in to them, is hurting their ratings, so Diane's solution is to have them assassinate Howard on the air.

The last panel has Harry Reasoner, Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor, and Barbara Walters.


NYETWORK
Sick #117, October 1977
w: George Kashdan
a: Dave Manak

The opening panel is a parody of film critic Rex Reed. The old Lennon/Marx joke is used.