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Comedy Ethics

Saturday Night Live has, not for the first time in its three decade run, ignited an ethical controversy with politically incorrect humor. Was SNL ensemble member Fred Armison’s impression of blind New York Governor David Paterson, including a wandering eye and featuring slapstick disorientation, legitimate satire or, as Paterson and advocates for the blind claimed, a cruel catalyst for discrimination against the sight-challenged?

It is not an easy call, though the opposing sides of the argument probably think it should be. And it raises long-standing question about the balance between ethics and humor.

 

     

1/31/2009

The Bad News Bears Play Basketball

1/24/2009

More “American Idol” Ethics: Simon Stands Up for Integrity!

12/21/2008

Comedy Ethics

8/17/2008

Lipsync Ethics

8/2/2008

The Bret Favre Mess

7/14/2008

The Despicable "Baby Borrowers"

6/29/2008

Clint, Spike, and the Iwo Jima Whitewash

6/22/2008

Another Little League Ethics Mess

5/28/2008

The Ethics of Horse Racing and the Death of Eight Belles

5/19/2008

The Ethics of Child Stardom, Part 2: Miley Cyrus in Vanity Fair

5/13/2008

The Ethics of Taking Up Space

5/11/2008

The Ethics of Child Stardom, Part 1: Rewarding Irresponsible Conduct

5/11/2008

Ethics Quiz: A Whatsis from Roger Clemens

3/17/2008

Blackface Ethics

2/17/2008

Competition Ethics: The Human Body Part Rule

12/23/2007

The Ethics of Supporting the Sinner

12/18/2007

Clemens and Bonds: Together Forever

11/28/2007

Fairness to Barry:Ethics Blindness and Bonds’ Defenders

11/21/2007

Opinion, Expression and Action: The Ethics Tale of Dog and His Son

11/11/2007

A DreamWorks Bait-and-Switch: Sweeney Todd, the Secret Musical

11/11/2007

Ethics and the Limitations of Loyalty: Lawyers, LeBron, and Kevin Millar

10/21/2007

The Ethics of Iggy: Ellen Degeneres, Celebrity Bullying and the Irresponsible Use of Power

9/19/2007

Torturing Dogs, Neglecting Children and Stealing Signals

9/5/2007

Michael Vick’s Defenders and the Misuse of Analogies

8/14/2007

More Cheap Joke Ethics

7/31/2007

Laughing at Lindsay: Late Night Ethics

7/23/2007

Lies and Child Exploitation: The Making of "Kid Nation"

7/23/2007

Sadists Can’t Be Heroes: the Michael Vick Scandal

6/25/2007

Remembering Thommie Walsh

6/15/2007

Author Ethics: ‘The Sopranos’ Finale

6/4/2007

A-Rod’s Trick Play: the Scoreboard’s Verdict

5/17/2007

"Survivor" Ethics: The Saga of Dreamz and Yau-Man

5/4/2007

Raising a Generation of Cheats: the Sports Connection

4/30/2007

NBA Tanking

4/29/2007

Heroic Tale Ethics, Part 1: Gary Thorne, the Bloody Sock, and Curt Schilling’s Good Name

4/29/2007

American Idol Gives Back…and Lies

4/12/2007

The Don Imus Case: An Ethical Quandary

4/8/2007

Ethics Dunce Emeritus Pete Rose

3/28/2007

Wheelchair Racing Ethics

3/19/2007

Brown Bears and Fair Chase Ethics

3/12/2007

American Idol Ethics: Free Sanjaya!

3/2/2007

Baseball Ethics Lesson: When Friendly Advice is Unethical

3/2/2007

Classical Music Ethics: The Strange Revenge of Joyce Hatto

2/17/2007

Tim Hardaway, Homophobia, and the Ethics of Hate

2/7/2007

Misplaced Kindness and "American Idol"

1/25/2007

Of ‘Hounddog,’ Ideologues, and Ethics Tunnel Vision

12/21/2006

Dreaming of a "Black Christmas"

11/29/2006

Mark McGwire: Unfit for the Hall of Fame

11/20/2006

Borat Ethics

11/11/2006

When a Bully Runs Amuck

10/25/2006

Tony LaRussa’s World Series Ethics

10/11/2006

Buck O’Neill (1911 – 2006): Ethics Can Be Tough

10/10/2006

The Ethics of a High School Football Rout

9/4/2006

Take the Little League Baseball Ethics Challenge!

5/31/2006

Frank Robinson, Leadership, and the Golden Rule Rationalization

5/5/2006

Hair-do Ethics on "The View"

5/1/2006

The Ethics of "United 93"

4/24/2006

More American Idol Ethics

3/29/2006

Movie Actor Ethics

3/25/2006

South Park’s ‘Chef’: Hypocritical or Enlightened?

3/22/2006

A Crash Course in Ethics

3/15/2006

Learning from Bonds’ Defenders

3/13/2006

Being Fair to Barry Bonds

3/13/2006

More Cartoon Ethics

3/10/2006

‘Project Runway’: Full Disclosure

3/8/2006

Musical Ethics: Pimp Rap

2/1/2006

Too Late for Oprah To Be Ethical

1/26/2006

Making Cynics at the Monster Truck Rally

1/18/2006

Even on American Idol, Integrity Matters

12/28/2005

Ethics on DVD

12/6/2005

Too Unethical to Coach, But Not to Teach

11/21/2005

Harry Potter Ethics

11/10/2005

The Ethics of Quitting, Part II

11/7/2005

Tyra Banks and the Fat Suit

10/18/2005

The Umpire Strikes Out

9/29/2005

Cheating Palmeiro

9/26/2005

Xtreme Cruelty: Reality TV Strikes Again

9/22/2005

The Case of the Persecuted Prodigy Pianist

8/22/2005

The Horse and Sally Hemmings

8/14/2005

The Ethically Incoherent NCAA

8/4/2005

The Palmeiro Mess, continued

8/1/2005

Rafael Palmeiro: Disgraced

7/30/2005

"Cooter" Lashes Out

7/22/2005

The Ethics of Tactical Misconduct

7/5/2005

All-Star Ethics

6/29/2005

More Than Just Voices

6/21/2005

Ethics Lessons from the Little League Playoffs

5/11/2005

Andre Agassi Does Something Surprising

5/3/2005

Idolizing Cruelty on American Idol

4/17/2005

Ethics Test at Fenway Park

3/1/2005

Motives Matter

1/18/2005

Ball Games

1/2/2005

The Look and The Twilight Zone

12/6/04

Anti-heroes in the NBA

12/6/04

Waiting for the Heroes

10/29/04

The Red Sox and Our Values

10/16/04

The Redskins Problem

10/5/04

Major League Cruelty

9/6/04

No Apologies for Kobe

8/29/04

Paul Hamm

8/2/04

Fox and Time-Warner: Ethics Polluters

7/20/04

Get a New Drum 8/2/2004

7/20/04

Whoopi and the Fat Republicans

7/20/04

The Sci Fi Channel (Trivial Liar July 2004)

6/30/04

Fahrenheit 911

6/16/04

Matt Starr (June 2004 Ethics Dunce)

6/14/04

Three Bozos

5/27/04

Ravens Logo

5/8/04

Moore vs. Disney

5/7/04

Spiderman Whiffs!

5/6/04

The Rocket

4/26/04

godsendinstitute.com (May 2004 unethical site)

4/26/04

Pat Tillman and Values Confusion

4/21/04

The Da Vinci Code

4/1/04

Janet and Jumbo (April 2004 Trivial Liar)

3/29/04
The Ethics of Ridicule
3/04

NHL and Its Fans (March 2004 Ethics Dunce)

3/3/04
Gibson’s Dad
3/2/04
Steroid Confusion
2/20/04
CU Values
2/15/04
LBJ Smear
2/11/04
Pete Rose
2/11/04
Superbowl Boobs
2/04

The Capitol Steps (February 2004 Trivial Liar)

2/04
Justin Timberlake (February 2004 Trivial Liar)
1/04

Steve Irwin (January 2004 Ethics Dunce)

1/04

Pete Rose (January 2004 Ethics Dunce)

1/04
Aaron Boone (January 2004 Ethics Hero)
   
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