The Noose (TV series)
The Noose is a Singapore comedy television series produced by MediaCorp Channel 5 which has aired in Singapore for six seasons. Although the name of the show plays on the word The News, the literal gallows humor of the program's name is unlikely to be missed by viewers in a country which executes people by hanging, and the use of "neck-cuffs". The third season began airing on June 1, 2010. The fourth season began airing on March 8, 2011. The fifth season began airing on December 27, 2011 and features topics such as the Mayan Calendar and doomsday and other relevant current issues. A sixth season began airing on April 2, 2013, aligned with the renumbering of MediaCorp news programmes. Michelle Chong will not return to the cast for the sixth season. A seventh season began airing on 1 April 2014 (April Fools' Day), with Chong set to return to the show.
The Noose is a parody of local news programmes such as News 5 Tonight, with fictional news reports and a presentation mimicking that of the actual news. For example, every episode of News 5 Tonight begins with a CGI clock indicating the time, while every episode of the first two seasons of The Noose would spoof it by displaying the time using something more mundane, such as a plastic clock hanging on a wall or an alarm clock. At the beginning of every episode, there is a candid disclaimer (voiced by Alaric Tay) telling the viewer that the stories are not true. Each episode stars Michelle Chong, Chua En Lai, Alaric Tay and Suhaimi Yusof, with various actors and actresses as newscasters and interviewees, often with parodic mannerisms and names.
The show has received recognition both locally and internationally. It earned a nomination at the International Emmy Awards 2011 in the comedy category. The cast has also been nominated and won awards and commendations at the Asian Television Awards.