Red State Update

"Red State Update" is an ongoing online satirical political series of short films produced in the United States by performers Jonathan Shockley and Travis Harmon. [http://www.travisandjonathan.com] Red State Update is one of the most widely viewed political satire series on the internet; its YouTube channel is the 20th "most viewed" and 26th "most subscribed" comedy "channel" on YouTube. [http://youtube.com/travisandjonathan] It is also syndicated weekly through the popular online magazine Salon.com. [http://dir.salon.com/topics/red_state_update/]

Shockley plays Dunlap, who makes controversial comments, eliciting responses from Jackie Broyles, played by Harmon. Dunlap often makes commercials for a "Jackie Broyles for President" in 2008 campaign. Jackie has issued a Shermanesque statement denying his intention to run.

Red State Update came to national prominence during the primary season for the 2008 presidential season. Their first appearance on national television was during the CNN-YouTube Democratic debate on July 23, 2007, which posed prerecorded, viewer-submitted questions to the candidates. Of Democrats who were entertaining the idea of former Vice-President Al Gore joining the race, Red State Update asked, "does that hurt y'all's feelings?" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DPnM7BLKA] Joe Biden made a tongue-in-cheek observation that "I think the people of Tennessee (from which both Gore and the RSU pair hail) had their feelings hurt," prompting a video response entitled "Fightin' Joe Biden". The subsequent publicity generated led to a number of appearances on different news stations and a semi-regular spot on CNN's short-lived program "Out in the Open". They gained prominence again in December 2007 when former senator and long-shot presidential candidate Mike Gravel appeared in one of their clips as Santa Claus. [ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22920564-5012748,00.html Cyberspace stars shine | Herald Sun ] ]

Red State Update has since been repeatedly referenced by CNN's offbeat reporter Jeanne Moos. [ [http://mediamatters.org/items/200708300003 Jeanne Moos Larry Craig segment | Media Matters] ] [ [http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/superpower/ Jeanne Moos on GOP YouTube debate | Spiritus Temporis] ] [ [http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2008/03/05/moos.dream.team.dreaming.cnn Jeanne Moos on Dream Team ticket | CNN Video] ] The duo released an album of comedy and novelty songs on July 22nd entitled "How Freedom Sounds". [ [http://www.dualtonerecords.net/store/product-info.php?pid117.html Official Dualtone Records Online Store ] ] Jackie and Dunlap have promised to retire from Red State Update if they do not outsell Miley Cyrus' new album Breakout which was released on the same day in first week sales.

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