Every year, the internet likes to throw a big old party with fake news stories. At this point, I generally don't think people believe the stories anymore (Although in some cases, I've seen people who are actually that gullible. Also, at times, news items on the internet don't die on the day they're released, and so they can get around outside the context of the date.) I don't know what the first place to run gags in honor of the event was. Magazines have often used their April issue to fool around with fake articles for some time now. Actually, I remember doing the news for Moviefan Online, a now-defunct site, and having fun with fake articles. It was still relatively undone (2002) or so. I feel a strange sort of pride in doing a fake item about Gladiator 2. The scary thing is, it actually caught on--either people thought it was real and passed it around, or studio execs got wind of it and liked what they heard. Because it was my exact fake presence. (The Emperor's nephew, Lucius, was now a Gladiator, and Djmoun Honsou's character was his mentor)

So what is it about this day and fake items. Even people who aren't particularly down with pranks (Either for being too mean or too juvenile) are always up for it. Does it make it a sanitized kind of fun? A kind of internet casual Friday that really isn't that funny if people are allowed?

As both a comedien and a pop-cultural aficionado, I see it as something of an opportunity. An exercise. Writers, messageboard moderators, general denizens of the net can have pretty monotonous lives penning about things that are. Gag stories tend to serve as sort of a walk outside, and stretch muscles. If done well, it can be excellent satire.