The Chaser jumps the shark?

Andrew Bolt Thursday, June 04, 2009 at 11:18am   I knew the Chaser was struggling when it went to so much trouble to mock the (safe) Pope rather than some (very unsafe) Islamist.  Then came the lousy reviews for its first show, and now this reaction to its second: The ABC was inundated with callers outraged by the “Make a Realistic Wish Foundation” skit in which Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor ask actors playing hospital bed-ridden children what they wish for. When one little girl asked to meet Hollywood actor Zac Efron, she was handed a stick instead, with Taylor asking “why go to any trouble when they’re going to die any way”.   Another who said she wanted to go to Disneyland was given a pencil case. Taylor said the “foundation’s” purpose was about “helping thousands of kids to lower their extravagance and selfishness in the face of death”.   Angry callers swamped the ABC switchboard, describing it as “the most disgraceful thing I’ve ever seen on TV”, “sick” and “disgusting”, The Daily Telegraph reports.   One father was left to console his seven-year-old terminally ill son after watching the skit. The art of the shock is belatedly running out of steam, and of room to keep shocking. Also interesting is that the more money the ABC lavishes on the Chaser, the less amusing it is. Correlation or causation?   UPDATE Reader Chris says there is a joke somewhere in that setup, but Chaser sure didn’t find it. The Onion, however, did:

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