History Series / Screenwipe

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] In his analysis of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, Brooker describes various hosts as characters from an '80s teen comedy -- Sean Hannity as the JerkJock bully, [[Series/TheOReillyFactor Bill O'Reilly]] as the [[DeanBitterman disapproving, uptight principal]], and Glenn Beck as the ClassClown.

-->'''Kemp''' ''(on television)'': This is, without doubt, the hardest initiation I've ever done.
-->'''Brooker''': Yeah? Wait 'til you meet the Minnesota Bear-Fuckers.

[cut]\\

* NameMcAdjective: The most obvious example, "Shouty [=McHeadwoundman=]", is from ''Series/{{Newswipe}}''. "Dermot Q Thingie", "Kate Hugamaboobs" were his names for the hosts of ''Series/TheXFactor''. Piers Morgan was dubbed "Shitslug O'Ballbags". He also likes to use funny names or 'thingy' for people whose names he can't be bothered to remember. And of course, his frequent interview subjects Barry Shitpeas[[note]]played by the series' director, Al Campbell[[/note]] and Series/PhilomenaCunk[[note]]played by comedian Diane Morgan, and who got to front her own set of shows - ''Cunk on Christmas'', ''Cunk on Shakespeare'', ''Cunk on Britain'', and ''Cunk and Other Humans''[[/note]].

-->'''Woman in diet commercial:''' Who says you can't lose weight and enjoy yourself?
-->'''Charlie:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Sands#Hunger_strike Bobby Sands?]]

--> Everyone knows that having your own low-budget show on [=BBC4=], where you sit around and pick holes in the things, ''that'' is where...true...greatness...(breaks down sobbing)

--> Seriously, who the hell's going to tune in just to watch some unattractive, increasingly paunchy and irrelevant TV presenter just sitting around on his own in his house, just talking...and talking...and talking...(gets sad face)

--> TV is largely run by people in their thirties who only dimly remember what it's like to be young. Consequently, when TV tries to court youth, it ends up looking as ridiculous as I do right now. Y'GET ME?

The show usually involves a couple of different segments. He reviews shows and programs, with a shot similar to the one in the page image of him in the living room of his house with his remote (and often various other peripherals such as a laptop, or [=PS2=] or ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' controllers), scathingly reviewing whatever's on screen. Secondly the show often has segments that show how difficult and painful it is to make a television program, or what a career in television is like. The show also features animations by internet animator David Firth (of ''WebAnimation/SaladFingers'' fame), and various other famous (or not) people talking about various aspects of television.

Part of ''Screenwipe'''s appeal is the SophisticatedAsHell contrast of watching Charlie swing between being an incisive, intelligent commentator on modern culture and a poo-flinging ManChild bellowing profanity at the screen and pretending to masturbate. The show inspired [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee]]'s [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation review style]].

{{Spinoff}}s includes ''Series/{{Newswipe}}'' and ''Gameswipe'', and he also made ''Series/HowTVRuinedYourLife'', which is a kind of SpiritualSuccessor.

The show usually involves a couple of different segments. He reviews shows and programs, with a shot similar to the one at the top of the page of him in the living room of his house with his remote (and often various other peripherals such as a laptop, or [=PS2=] or ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' controllers), scathingly reviewing whatever's on screen. Secondly the show often has segments that show how difficult and painful it is to make a television program, or what a career in television is like. The show also features animations by internet animator David Firth (of ''WebAnimation/SaladFingers'' fame), and various other famous (or not) people talking about various aspects of television.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] In his analysis of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, Brooker describes various hosts as characters from an '80s teen comedy -- Sean Hannity as the JerkJock bully, [[Series/TheOReillyFactor Bill O'Reilly]] as the [[DeanBitterman disapproving, uptight principal]], and Radio/GlennBeck as the ClassClown.

Part of ''Screenwipe'''s appeal is the SophisticatedAsHell contrast of watching Charlie swing between being an incisive, intelligent commentator on modern culture and a poo-flinging ManChild bellowing profanity at the screen and pretending to masturbate.

The show inspired [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee]]'s [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation review style]], and is generally a very entertaining and educational watch, even if you're not a fan of television. Due to the nature of the show, it makes excellent viewing for tropers.

* NameMcAdjective: The most obvious example, "Shouty [=McHeadwoundman=]", is from ''Series/{{Newswipe}}''. "Dermot Q Thingie", "Kate Hugamaboobs" were his names for the hosts of ''Series/TheXFactor''. Piers Morgan was dubbed "Shitslug O'Ballbags". He also likes to use funny names or 'thingy' for people whose names he can't be bothered to remember.
** And of course, his frequent interview subjects Barry Shitpeas[[note]]played by the series' director, Al Campbell[[/note]] and Franchise/PhilomenaCunk[[note]]played by comedian Diane Morgan, and who got to front her own set of shows - Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Britain and Cunk and Other Humans[[/note]].

* NightmareFuel: InUniverse. In the Children's TV episode, Brooker admits that as a child he was quite afraid of Mr. Noseybonk from ''Series/{{Jigsaw}}''. His explanation as to why quickly turns into an OverlyLongGag:

''Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'' is a television program written and hosted by Creator/CharlieBrooker, a British CausticCritic, about television and how it's made. The show is similar in content to the ''Screen Burn'' columns that Brooker wrote until recently for ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Guardian]]''. Started in 2006 and ended in 2008.

** "Welcome to Screenwipe, a program all about television."

* CausticCritic: Charlie Brooker doesn't have pet peeves; he has major psychotic hatreds. If he's criticizing something, it will be in the most vitriolic way that he can think of.

* CreditsGag

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Charlie's "jerkass act" is really paper-thin. He's clearly horrified when some of the show's participants for a parody of ''Series/TheApprentice'' mistake him for an actual mean git, and quickly tries to make amends. Also watch his sensitive and balanced coverage of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

** In ''Weekly Wipe'''s 2013 wrap-up, a screen full of penises are displayed for a few seconds as parity for showing several scenes from the uncensored video of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines".

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' "is like a bag of pistachio nuts, really. You have keep reaching for one more, before you know it, your table is covered in empty shells and your fingers stink of salt. Actually, that's where the analogy breaks down."

** And of course, his frequent interview subjects Barry Shitpeas[[note]]played by the series' director, Al Campbell[[/note]] and Philomena Cunk[[note]]played by comedian Diane Morgan, and who got to front her own set of shows - Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Britain and Cunk and Other Humans[[/note]].

* RealSongThemeTune: "AM 180" by Grandaddy, also known as the "''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater Shopping Scene" song.

* YourMom

** And of course, his frequent interview subjects Barry Shitpeas[note]played by the series' director, Al Campbell[/note] and Philomena Cunk[note]played by comedian Diane Morgan, and who got to front her own set of shows - Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Britain and Cunk and Other Humans[/note].

** And of course his frequent interview subject Barry Shitpeas

--> '''Charlie:''' ''[In the face of a random socialite]'' [[NoIndoorVoice FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFF!]]
--> '''Random Socialite:''' ''[Unflinching]'' [[LittleNo No]].

* LogicBomb: In an episode that examines televisual trickery used to bend the truth, Charlie presents the "Truthbot 2000", a [[BeepingComputers deliberately low-budget prop]] he claims can detect falsehoods and alert the viewers. Truthbot instantly points out that it is just a box with some lights and circuits inside with a voice dubbed on later. Charlie asks it how it knows this if it's just a cheap prop, the paradox causes it to overload and explode.

** Strictly, there's no rule about when credits can be shown. So most shows put them at the end, but they're allowed maybe a minute or so [[TheStinger stinger]] afterwards. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm2dj6bIU0 Brooker took advantage of this]] by running them ''10 seconds after the starting sequence'', pretending the show had ended (making any pushback voiceover on the credits completely useless) and getting Victoria Coren, of all people, to run a fake documentary about corners before performing a HostileShowTakeover ''of his own show'' and going into a rant against this trope. Since he'd already run the credits, there was nothing at the end and the episode just slammed straight back into the adverts.

* AuthorFilibuster: [[TropesAreNotBad The show is built on them]].

* CausticCritic

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Charlie's JerkassFacade is really paper-thin. He's clearly horrified when some of the show's participants for a parody of ''Series/TheApprentice'' mistake him for an actual mean git, and quickly tries to make amends.
** Also watch his sensitive and balanced coverage of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.
*** "Perhaps surprisingly, some of the most measured coverage came from [[Creator/FoxNewsChannel Fox News]]."
** As well as his heartfelt [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAftt3UnzoI tribute to Oliver Postgate]].

* OddFriendship: In his ''Screen Burn '' columns in ''The Guardian'', he always held the opinion that humanity would be fractionally improved if everyone who had ever appeared on ''Series/BigBrother'' was loaded into a rocket and [[HurlItIntoTheSun fired into the Sun]], and in one episode of ''Screenwipe'' he reviewed the seventh series of ''Series/BigBrother'' with no softening of this view. Later on he became friends with one of the most memorable contestants of that series, glamour model Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace, (occasionally referred in ''Screen Burn'' as "my improbable friend Aisleyne") and she appeared in a few episodes and ''Screemwipe'' Christmas specials. He lampshaded this in at least one article, admitting that actually meeting such people did make him feel a bit bad about subjecting them to such venom.

* BitingTheHandHumor: Creator/TheBBC, and production company Endemol. Both pay his bills, and both get speared quite often on his show. Television in general - StewartLee mocks him in his sketch for essentially being part of the machine he is criticizing. Brooker himself likened it to being a particularly sarcastic bird, sitting in a crocodile's mouth.

* ExecutiveMeddling: A segment on the Queen's Christmas Speech was cut from the "A Very Screenwipe Christmas" episode at the request of the BBC and replaced with a slide stating just that... accompanied by SystemOfADown's "We Attack". In a milder example, Brooker says in another segment about TheXFactor that Dermot O'Leary is a "really nice guy", accompanied by a caption saying this was at the insistence of his producer.

** Charlie calls several women throughout the series "Peter Cushing", for no reason other than [[RuleOfFunny it sounds funny]].

* NameMcAdjective: The most obvious example, "Shouty [=McHeadwoundman=]", is from ''Series/{{Newswipe}}''. "Dermot Q Thingie", "Kate Hugamaboobs" were his names for the hosts of ''TheXFactor''. Piers Morgan was dubbed "Shitslug O'Ballbags". He also likes to use funny names or 'thingy' for people whose names he can't be bothered to remember.