Episode 97: RJ Fried, "Tooning Out the News"

Host Katie Rich talks to TOONING OUT THE NEWS co-creator and showrunner RJ Fried about how animation can help us address uncomfortable subjects, the challenges of covering topical issues on a streaming platform, and his transition from professional hockey player to professional writer.

RJ Fried is a writer and performer. He co-created OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT, was the head writer on PROBLEMATIC WITH MOSHE KASHER, a writer on THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, and wrote on the Writers Guild Award-winning series TRIUMPH’S ELECTION WATCH 2016.

He’s currently showrunner for the animated satirical news program TOONING OUT THE NEWS, which he co-created with Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, and Tim Luecke. The show features a cast of animated characters, led by anchor James Smartwood, who lampoon top news stories and interview real-world guests, newsmakers and analysts.

Seasons 1 and 2 of TOONING OUT THE NEWS can be streamed on Paramount+. Season 3 can be streamed on Comedy Central, and new episodes air on Wednesdays after THE DAILY SHOW.

Katie Rich is an Emmy-nominated, WGA and Peabody award-winning writer, actor and producer who attended Northwestern University before joining Chicago’s Second City. After Second City, Katie joined the writing staff of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, where she worked for seven seasons. She has also written for and consulted on many award shows such as The Emmys, The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The ESPYs, and NFL Honors. You can hear her writing on NPR's LIVE FROM HERE or actually hear her voice on Showtime's OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT, HBO’s BATMAN: THE AUDIO ADVENTURES and Netflix’s CHICAGO PARTY AUNT, on which she also served as co-creator and executive producer. Katie currently lives in Los Angeles where she is co-executive producer on the spin-off of HBOMax’s HARLEY QUINN. Follow Katie on Twitter at @katiemaryrich.

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