Connect with us

Entertainment

Jon Stewart saves The Daily Show (and vice versa)

Jon Stewart saves The Daily Show (and vice versa)

 


Jon Stewart is back The daily show in top form, armed to the teeth with counter-arguments.

Against who? You might ask. Or what?

The answer is, basically: everyone.

It's not really a surprise. Stewart, whose brand has long been a scrappy underdog, is as defensive as he is seductive (the title of his Apple TV Plus show, The problem with Jon Stewart, coupled with a sending of his critiques). And his return to Comedy Central was a major gamble for Stewart and his old show. The Daily Show, at its peak, was an unprecedented phenomenon, and Stewart, despite or perhaps because of his insistence that he was just a clown, amassed enormous influence through his mix characteristic of humor, clips, facts and carefully modulated outrage.

But The Daily Show, which was never the same after his departure, has been rudderless since Stewart's successor, Trevor Noah, left in 2022. After a year of hearing endless guest hosts from the experience in sight (despite all this new energy and fresh blood), it was starting to look like a dying franchise. The format also seemed a bit ancient, given the speed with which users of social media platforms humorously address (and riff on) current events frequently in the style pioneered by Stewart. Bringing Stewart back just one day a week (Monday) would revitalize The Daily Show or confirm it as the zombie some feared it had become.

It didn't bode well for Stewart's prospects that The Problem with Jon Stewart was canceled after just two seasons or that, ironically, Stewart's new show sometimes seemed a bit late and derivative, like it was borrowing from oldies from the Daily Show such as John Oliver and Samantha Bee. . There was, moreover, a sense that this man was largely a product of his times. The political climate has changed so quickly and become so resistant to satire that even Jon Stewart could no longer be Jon Stewart.

Sharp. Spiritual. Thoughtful. Subscribe to the Style Memo newsletter.

In other words, there was concern that Stewart, who left precisely as political discourse and social media were going haywire, was, as a master satirist, ill-equipped to address the present in a way that fits the comedians' own assessment of the current information crisis: The form of government that we love so much is analogous, I don't want to say dinosaur, but it is analogous, he said. The daily show: ears edition podcast this week, explaining why he wanted to come back, and the world is now moving at an increasingly infinite digital pace. And reconciling those two things, I think, is the challenge of the moment for people.

Stewart's reasons for returning in this interview are surprisingly gladiatorial (compared to the Stewart of years past, who insisted on his insignificance): you have to be present in this conversation and you have to be as relentless and tenacious as the counter-narrative that is forming.

He's not wrong. But his solution of hosting his old TV show one day a week struck me as a disappointing analog solution, to use his words. The equivalent of dumping a bucket of very high quality water on a forest fire.

However, based on Monday's performance, Stewart can still Stewart when conditions are right. His return to that office was electric. Fans will find it, in its broad outlines, at least, surprisingly unchanged. He remains extremely funny, energetic, precise and adept at inflecting a single element with multiple meanings just by attacking the camera. He looks good, despite several bits of self-deprecation about his age (which he deployed in service of a broader argument about President Biden's mental capacity and whether discussing it was fair game ). And while he can pull off an easy setup out of the park, he's still best in class in a sly mode of argument that surprises the viewer, from an angle they don't really expect. His insistence that Biden's competence is fair game, which Stewart paraphrases for example as a failure to remember details during his impeachment, resulted in a series of clips of various Trumps claiming, in their depositions, that they just couldn't remember it.

He also has remains committed to his approach to political commentary that has cemented his appeal as an impartial truth-teller in some circles while earning him eloquent (and compelling) reviews. The sharpest of these was probably Steve Almonds 2012 essay in The Baffler which, among other things, accused Stewart of defending a far-fetched definition of civility that made possible conversation between opposing parties over passionate but principled disagreements. Citing Stewart's notorious mega-viral exchange with the Crossfire co-hosts as the kind of exception that proved the rule by demonstrating Stewart's extraordinary gift for heated confrontation and his deep reluctance to use it, Almond diagnosed the Daily Show host with an aversion to conflict, to make a statement that could deviate too radically from the cultural consensus and place him at the center of a controversy.

In any case, that has changed.

After eight years away from that desk and chair, Stewart, who was no stranger to fighting scorn or criticism from his own side and whose Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in 2010 (with Stephen Colbert) was in fact a whining against whining, seems to almost want to fight.

He is not only at war with the media, nor with the politicians he regularly skewered as host, nor with Trump, whose candidacy he happily mocked before decamping in 2015. He takes on liberals for shielding Biden from scrutiny, leftists for insisting that some things are unspeakable, and the electorate, in general, for caring too much about the 2024 election and not enough about labor daily aimed at improving the country.

Some of the shooting was indirect. He buried his views on Israel-Palestine by speaking about Biden's failure to reassure viewers of his mental capabilities during a news conference in which he called Israel's response overblown. Stewart mocked Biden for using the same phrase his mother used to gently ridicule the Super Bowl halftime show to describe Israel's relentless bombing of civilians.

But in general it seems willing to make a point (rather than just poking holes in others') and eager to stir things up. This isn't really new: Stewart made waves when he appeared on his old friend Stephen Colberts' show and endorsed the lab leak theory of the origins of covid-19 in 2021. He argued, in his monologue last night, that Biden deserved more scrutiny (rather than less) specifically because of the threat Trump posed, and that it was the job of the candidate (rather than less) voters) to allay concerns about competence. He took aim at his former network specifically referencing China and artificial intelligence, both topics Apple reportedly objected to covering. In his conversation with his first guest, economist editor Zanny Minton Beddoes, he advanced the position that a global ideological realignment was underway along lines that had shifted from capitalism versus communism to revival and awakening.

That's what ties Putin to Trump and Orban to Trump, Stewart said, noting that Putin talking about Orthodox Christianity sounds like an AM radio host.

Opinions vary on the accuracy of these assessments, but what is clear is that in his first episode on The Daily Show, Stewart is invested in charting his perception of the state of discourse. and his plans for his place within it. This specifically includes the case against him, which was largely handled through his special envoys. Dulc Sloan, in a moment where she insisted on standing apart from the American prototype restaurant that many journalists reported on in 2016, refused to go in and ask voters what they thought. I know what they're thinking. That's what everyone thinks, she said, that audiences need more than the same show with an older but familiar face. Even more striking was Jordan Klepper's feigned and hostile response to Stewart's return, in which he accused him of brainwashing voters into accepting the status quo by mocking it as they could be on the streets to make a change. Klepper mocked his 90s sarcastic and bi-siderianism. George Bush is stupid! Al Gore is so boring! Wow. Hot, Jon.

Klepper turns out to be quite intelligent, of course; his hostility melts when he learns that he will be hosting the rest of the week. Not a bad way to defuse criticism of Stewart's thing. It's also, in my opinion, a little beneath him.

Jon Stewart didn't just define political comedy for a generation. It is particularly oriented towards mainstream politics (and information). In a rather cool and incisive model, A civil but skeptical outsider who doesn't work well with groups or think much about them, Stewart fostered a community of cool young people who laughed with him at the absurd political theater coming from those in power, but also perhaps in more damaging of any movement. (Most versions of civic engagement are, because of their corny slogans and sincerity, automatically and profoundly uncool.) The most important point of the well-attended March to Restore Sanity was how effectively Stewart had forged a community of skeptics who believed themselves above the humiliating homogeneity that membership in a political group (any of them political group) implies. Some group identities are acceptable. The Daily Show fans, for example, were cool. The Democrats, on the other hand, were not.

The show offered a way out of the demoralizing trap of membership in the electorate. Stewart punched many holes in polished media narratives and took many politicians to task. But he also dissuaded his audience from subordinating their individual views to the unnuanced battering ram that any collective effort to bring about change will at some point become.

Stewart's more forceful response to his critics on this front was buried in the monologue in a warning that the oxygen and attention the election would inevitably consume should be tempered by sustained civic participation. November 5 matters, Stewart told her viewers, but so does the next day. If the other side wins, the country is not finished, he said, and if they don't win, the country is in no way safe. What followed was an exhortation to eternal civic vigilance and tireless civic work. This doesn't seem particularly coherent. This was certainly not a dismissal of his disdain for encouraging get-out-the-vote initiatives (for example), which he derided. But it feels like a diversion from snark into something that can handle the lack of cheesy coolness that sometimes accompanies collective effort.

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2024/02/13/jon-stewart-daily-show-host-return/

The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos

ExBUlletin

to request, modification Contact us at Here or [email protected]