I didn't realize until now how valuable comedy can be not only to entertain but to keep things real. Watching him makes me feel like there is still a boy out there with guts to shout the emperor has no clothes. Making fun of journalists doing a bad job, doing stupid or even harmful things serves to keep them in check. At least those with a shred of self consciousness and decency - not the contract killers. The killers at least get some public humiliation - not that it gets to them that much.
I don't watch Jon Stewart to make me laugh. I enjoy his show because he uses funny as a weapon. Like the kid in Kick-Ass trying to be a superhero. Jon fights injustice with the only weapon he has - his wits and charms. The things he points at are funny (or make me cry) - not the gags so much.
Jon and his writers and fake correspondents are doing what they do best - make jokes - incidentally they also make them at the expense of those who need them most - who need to be put to their place once in a while.
If Jon is able to shape the minds of his viewers, I do hope he succeeds. At the very least, creating a healthy disrespect for the use of hyperbole in political discussions would go a long way to bringing some 'sanity' back into what has become a bitter political divide.
Daily Show has been getting more serious lately. Colbert Report seems to have taken over the funny side. But both are very very relevant still.
Another great political production is Chaser's in Australia. Absolutely love these guys.
I hope there will be more of such shows on a global scale. Countries in Asia, Africa and Europe surely have their own versions, but something that can speak to the whole continent or world would be awesome.
It'd be nice if the video player let me skip to a different place in the video. I accidentally closed my browser after watching for 14 minutes and had no way to go back to where I was at... I guess I won't be watching the rest of that...
Pause the video once it starts playing so it can load the video and then when it loads to where you want to start watching, scrub the player to that spot and hit play. Tada!
I know the last time there was a bloomberg video on hn a person associated with the company read the comments here. Is there any plan to expand the video options to something more palateable to the iPad/iPhone?
Ah this brings back memories of watching The Jon Stewart show when I was in high school. I remember thinking at the time that he was the funniest host on TV, and then he just disappeared.
it's a little depressing that mr. stewart is considered a game changer. i've seen the daily show a number of times. i don't necessarily disagree with much of what he says.
but...his smirking, smug, winking schtick is tiresome, prepackaged drivel designed precisely for semi-disgruntled but well off (hi advertisers!), cnn-watching, barely left of center cube-dwellers.
you do realize that he has a team (a TEAM) of writers that come up with "his" stuff right? he's in the business of selling you. it's a show kids. howdy doody wasn't a _real_ cowboy either.
Not because of the quality of his show and the fact that he has writers. Him having stupid gags is perfectly fine. Having writers watch the gazillion shows on TiVo with him and deciding what is the funniest thing that happened today - this makes the show great.
What depresses me is the sad state of the media. It takes a Jon Stewart, a simple, smart, sincere comic, to show how poor they are doing their job as journalists. He gives a voice to the people who watch the occasional news report and think - WTF! - why is Obama's daughters school menu a part of the news?! There are two wars and half the budget used to pay for them - borrowed money. People getting swept by hurricanes, toxic oil spills - and the politicians and media making it worse - not better. The media should at least show the ineptitude and bad decisions for everyone to see - not what Paris Hilton had for breakfast in jail.
I think you're overlooking the work and talent that goes into producing this (Emmy Award-winning) show. Here is an excerpt from an article that takes a look at the behind-the-scenes routine to making a typical episode:
For the next hour, Stewart paces diagonally across a windowless eight-by-eight-foot room, sucking on an iced coffee and grabbing handfuls of candy. Projected in front of him on one wall is the current script; beneath it, at two keyboards, sit Kristen Everman, a production assistant, and Kira Klang Hopf, an indefatigable senior producer. Head writer Steve Bodow and executive producers Josh Lieb and Rory Albanese perch on small couches. As the studio audience files into its seats down the hall and tonight’s musical guests, Arcade Fire, tune their guitars in the greenroom, Stewart and his team go on a nonstop, rapid-fire jag that tears up and rewrites nearly three-quarters of the script. The typist transcribes, cuts, and pastes; as visual gags pop feverishly into Stewart’s brain, Hopf calls down to the art department, ordering up new video montages and a collage of an “Anchor-Me Terror Baby” to go with a reference to the “birthright citizenship” debate. Many of the new ideas will be scrapped only moments later. ... As Stewart speeds along, hours of work by writers and producers are cut, replaced by improvised digressions.
I don't watch Jon Stewart to make me laugh. I enjoy his show because he uses funny as a weapon. Like the kid in Kick-Ass trying to be a superhero. Jon fights injustice with the only weapon he has - his wits and charms. The things he points at are funny (or make me cry) - not the gags so much.
Jon and his writers and fake correspondents are doing what they do best - make jokes - incidentally they also make them at the expense of those who need them most - who need to be put to their place once in a while.