News anchor tells weatherman to 'keep f**king that chicken'

News anchor Ernie Anastos last night delighted viewers of New York's Fox 5 network by suggesting that weatherman Nick Gregory "keep fucking that chicken": Quite what Anastos meant by his cheery encouragement is anybody's guess, but the blogosphere suggests he meant "plucking", although quite what he would have meant had he …

[Jamie 19]

Priceless.

Not what he stated, but the look on the woman's face.

[tycooon]

A tough job?

Clearly Terry Wogan needs to rethink his comments about news reading being easy that he made last week. It is clearly the toughest job in the universe.... or had he just been on the sauce?

[Winkypop]

Might be a variation on

'spanking the monkey'?

[Adam Foxton]

I guess you could call that

a Fox Par?

[Anonymous Coward]

Priceless

The look on the face of the co-anchor is just priceless. If she'd been pokerfaced he might have had the benefit of a slight doubt. But no, she had to go and confirm his gaffe. Brilliant. If this kind of thing was on regularly I might even go and buy myself a teevee again.

[Robert Hill]

US Advertising reference...

As a service to the UK readership, and to explain the attempted joke, the news anchor was refering to a US advertisment for chickens, which goes "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken", which he was trying to say as "It takes a tough man to give a tough weather forecast" or similar. Hence the follow-on, "keep plucking those chickens" makes a bit more sense if you know the US advertisement.

At least I HOPE that's what he was trying to say...

[Dale 3]

"Thank you for staying up with us"

Second video, after the break. I don't think that was accidental.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

...And that's what passes for "news" in the USA?

Oh dear.

Oh yeah, the gaffes, haha!

[Daniel 1]

Dari Alexander

Yes, she looks both horrified and baffled in ways that words cannot convey.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Well, I'm happy that I don't watch these ADHD-inducing things...

I suspect the FCC, controller of naughty words, will now ask for some monies?

[MinionZero]

@horrified and baffled in ways that words cannot convey

After watching Fox news, most people feel that way.

[Anonymous Coward]

BBC

And yet when a 40-year veteran BBC continuity announcer used the work "fuck" after almost speaking over the 8pm pips just after the shipping forecast, when he thought his mike was muted, he got fired on the spot. I never thought I'd compare the Beeb unfavourably to Fox...

[Anonymous Coward]

Stay Classy, San Diego

I can't help but be reminded of Anchorman, wherein news anchor Ron Burgundy will ALWAYS read whatever is written on the teleprompter; a trait which led to his downfall. Maybe someone has it in for this guy too.

[Frank Bough]

Hang on a minute...

...it sounds like Keep PLUCKING that chicken to my ears. What's all the fuss about exactly, the face pulled by his co-arsehole?

[Charlie van Becelaere]

Perhaps it's all just

a reference to the scene in the movie "Super Troopers" where the trooper calls a motorist whom he's stopped a "chicken fu**er?"

Or not - perhaps he's just totally mental.

Oh, and I agree that the woman's reaction is worth the NSFW action.

[Anonymous Coward]

Only chickens?

I'm not a pheasant plucker

I'm a pheasant plucker's son

and I'm only plucking pheasants

'til the pheasant plucker comes.

Repeat, rapidly, after 4 pints.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Bowdlerization?

Why bother censoring the word? We all know what it is. What's the point of wri**ng it with aster**ks?

[3BEPOTEKCT]

What The Fox?

It was OK to say f++cking in Fox News, Ernie just needed to omit "~en" in the word "chicken". Though, this action was not typical for foxes, they used to have chicken for food recently.

73

[Anonymous Coward]

flucking

i think he meant to say plucking - but ended up saying flucking - given his many gaffs and mis-words over the years I can see why this makes news....

but on a tech site?

[Mike S]

Chickens == Prostitutes

How to put this... hmm...

Think about the novelty rubber chickens with the perpetually open mouths. Think also about the euphamism "choking the chicken."

Around 10 years ago, it was common in rap music to use the term "chicken head" to describe women who were... orally promiscuous. As language evolved, "chicken" became more of a general term for women-for-hire.

[peyton?]

@destroy all monsters

Probably not - the FCC has tried to fine over "fleeting expletives" before and the courts have ruled against them. So long as it's obviously an accident (and the co-anchors face seems to confirm that ;) it's not a big issue.

[Bad Beaver]

Damn, I'm so cynical...

… all I can think is "nice ploy to get folks to see that Dan Brown book"

[Joe User]

Re: Might be a variation on #

@Winkypop: 'spanking the monkey'?

No, that would be "choking the chicken".

[_wtf_]

I wonder?

If his original intent was to do with the beleif that the weather forecasters read chicken entrails to get the foerecast, in the same way as apparently the Romans tried to predict the future. Which would mean he meant to say plucking. But you know how it goes: How many pheasants would the pheasant plucker pluck if the pheasant plucker could pluck pheasants.

I've seen this before somewhere in popular culture, and certainly when I met a weather forecaster and asked him where they get the chicken entrails he knew what the joke was. (probably also had to suppress a desire to strangle me with my own entrails too....)

Paris because she is allegedly a pheasant plucker too.

[Paul Coen]

Ah, Ernie.

Who needs Jim Wolcott from "The Newsroom"? The fact that the public doesn't have to pay to see nightly an entertainer of his caliber demonstrates what an age of wonder this is.

I'd be willing to spend up to $30 on pay-per-view to see footage (with audio) of the folks in the control room during this incident.

[Dave 38]

what? no title?

'and fuck you San Diego'

[Tom 11]

5 days posted...

I see know one has played poultry to a bad fowl language joke...

Mines the one with the matching boa.