Catch Phrase Of The Year Nominee: Keep Fucking That Chicken

Move over "teachable moment," "death panel," "You lie! and "Imma let you finish"—it's possible that My Fox NY anchor Ernie Anastos' unwitting catch phrase has caught fire! Hell, it might even be the catch phrase of the century! At first, the veteran local newsman's utterance "Keep fucking that chicken!" was limited to the local airwaves, but thank God for the Internet. (And screw the "maybe he meant 'keep plucking that chicken'" because that's just not fun.) Now it's gone national (cable)—on last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart led off with a couple minutes dedicated to it:

My Fox NY/Channel 5 vice president Lew Leone issued a statement, "We are disappointed with Ernie's comment on the air Thursday night," and later on, Anastos said on air, "I misspoke during Thursday night's newscast. I apologize for my remarks to anyone who may have been offended." A staffer told the Daily News, "Everybody likes Ernie, and knows he would never say that on the air. Nobody has a bad word to say about Ernie. He's revered at the station."

After the jump: Remember South Park's take on loving chickens?

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By Jen Chung in News on September 18, 2009 9:10 AM

Comments [rss]

blakelaw

The Keep F'in That Chicken REMIX is here!

http://www.alltheexcess.com/2009/09/ate-musical-tribute.html

NannyState

In case any of you are readers of Viz, the man IS Roger Mellie.

MT

Has anyone figured out exactly what he meant by 'keep fucking that chicken?' I'm baffled.

afbnegx3

I think he meant, "keep plucking that chicken..."

jaycjay

See my earlier comment above. He was jokingly referencing Perdue Chicken's slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" -- comparing weatherman Nick Gregory to famous chicken-plucker Frank Perdue.

AJ

With all the bad news these days... why not lighten things up a little. This is awesome.

Sir Bonkers

Ernie's awesome.

T Howard

"Everybody likes Ernie, and knows he would never say that on the air."

Um, except that he DID say it, so you're qualifier of "never" becomes pointless.

Her face is my favorite part of the whole video. And I also love how he proceeds to catcall her during her workout segment teaser that follows. I'm telling you that man was drunk.

blondeinthecity

drunk? or just plain stupid?

wilfred32

May this moment live on forever... http://www.cafepress.com/MONYC

imadick

this makes me want to watch fox5 news.

LICer

Given the nature of Anastos' preceding comment about the weatherman being a tender man, "Keep choking that chicken" might have been more appropriate. However, the comedic effect would have been far less.

Keep fuckin' that chicken, everyone! ;D

jaycjay

Well... the comment to weatherman Nick Gregory was clearly a reference to Perdue Chicken's catch phrase: "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."

That puts "keep plucking that chicken" in context. The "tough man" in the original line, is Frank Perdue. Frank Perdue (directly or indirectly) plucked a lot of chickens. He was attempting to joke that Gregory was like another Frank Perdue, a tough man making tender things.

Cautious Pessimist

Maybe one of the field reporters has been given the power of God for a couple weeks and is trying to use it to get Ernie out of the way so he can get the anchor position he feels he rightfully deserves?