Weekly World News on Aliens in the Family
Weekly World News is a tabloid which ran in print from 1979 to 2007. Its earliest years focused on typical tabloid fodder, covering lurid murders, celebrity gossip and showbiz behind the scenes, and oddball but actual stories clipped from other sources, with fabricated stories inserted more sporadically.
By the late 1980s, however, it was outdoing the National Enquirer with stories of two-headed people and alien visitations. By the time of the first "Batboy" story in 1992, Weekly World News was increasingly focusing on the intentionally outlandish and broad humor. An online only version launched in 2009.
The September 1, 1981 issue included a profile of David Rudman under the headline "Teen lands his dream job working with the Muppets." The same issue included actual stories about George Hamilton, doctor turned sitar player Shyam Yodh, and pictures of zoo animals in humorous poses mixed with fake accounts of an exorcism and the invention of a mechanical womb machine with punning scientist names like Giorgio Data and Warren Pearse.[1]
References[]
- Cookie Brody reads an issue of Weekly World News with the cover story "Alien Meets Clinton" in the Aliens in the Family episode "You Don't Have a Pet to Be Popular."
Sources[]
- ↑ Weekly World News. Sept. 1, 1981