The Double Entendre Hidden in the Name of One of Fox News’ Longest-Running Shows

It’s a joke hiding in plain sight.

Today, people with even only casual familiarity with Fox News can name the cable channel’s morning show: Fox & Friends. But most don’t know where the name came from, or that it has a somewhat eye-popping origin story. Before it was Fox & Friends, the Fox News flagship morning show had a different name: Fox X-press. Hosted by Steve Doocy (formerly the “weather guy”),  Brian Kilmeade (formerly the “sports guy”) and E.D. Donahey, the show featured banter about politics, entertainment, and sports—and good-natured, if decidedly un-PC, ribbing of each other. It was a less formal, freewheeling environment that set it apart from network morning shows, for both viewers and its hosts. “What I liked about Fox were the people,” E.D. Hill, who went by E.D. Donahey in the late ’90s, told host Josh Levin for the second episode of Slow Burn: The Rise of Fox News. She added: “Most network-level places are not happy, fun places. People are fairly miserable, and they’re all out to get each other. And it was the opposite at Fox.” In 1998, Fox X-Press held a contest to see if viewers could come up with a better name for the show. The winning entry from a pool of thousands came from a couple in central Florida, who appeared on the morning show to explain their brainstorm. (According to the Orlando Sentinel, they also saw Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway and went to a Yankees game when they came up to New York City for the taping.) “Well, it, it has one of those double meanings at the time,” explained John Strange, who had submitted Fox & Friends with his wife, Peggy. “You had a very nice-looking lady in the middle surrounded by you guys. So I figured fox, along with the friends on the outside.” Doocy and Kilmeade were the friends. Donahey was the fox. In a follow-up call for the podcast, she called  Strange’s characterization “sweet!” In 2011, for the 15th anniversary of Fox News being on air, the couple appeared again on Fox & Friends to tell the name’s origin story. This time, Peggy got to say how she felt about the fox and friends concept. “[E.D.] was beautiful and Gretchen [Carlson, co-host at the time] is beautiful. It just seems to fit,” she said. You can learn more about the evolution of Fox & Friends, and hear directly from E.D. Hill about her time with Fox News, in “A Network for Normal People,” Episode 2 of Slate’s narrative podcast Slow Burn: The Rise of Fox News.  This week, you can find the show in Amazon Music collections like “Best Podcasts This Week.” Listen ad-free on Amazon Music, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Slate is published by The Slate
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