As all liberal Americans know, last night was Jon Stewart’s last stint on The Daily Show, which has gone on for 16 years. I didn’t watch the show much, not because I don’t like it (I really do), but simply because I don’t watch much television and don’t get Comedy Central. (I’m in the 0.0001% of Americans who don’t have cable t.v.)
I have watched many clips and episodes on the internet, and delighted in his combination of news and humor. But really, it was more news than humor, or rather commentary that brought home to us what a horrible zoo American politics has become. The humor was merely icing on the cake of his exposes. Like Rachel Maddow, Stewart has been the sane and rational counterpart of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I’ll miss him, even if he did grow soft on religion toward the end.
At any rate, the New York Times reports that he said farewell with wit and panache, and you can see that for yourself by clicking on the screenshot below, which takes you to the entire final episode:
Also, to see perhaps his most famous bit, his 13-minute insanely frenetic imitation of conservative commenter Glenn Beck, go here.
Luddites unite! I’m a proud member of the same club.
As I tell people: I don’t have time for TV.
And: It’s been so long since I’ve watched prime-time T, if I see any of it now, I can’t watch it. It’s like a video game now, loud sounds, flashing lights, etc., etc. Clearly intended for the video game generation.
That said, I have enjoyed all the Daily Show clips I’ve seen. Jon Stewart and I are definitely copacetic.
I’m concerned that you’re not playing good enough video games.
The number of cord cutters is much larger than a fraction of a percent. Last year at this time it was 7.6 million households, or 6.4%; it is probably more than 8-9% by now. I cancelled cable a couple months ago, in part because Colbert had already left and now Stewart is gone.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/08/24/for-millions-of-cord-cutters-cable-tv-fades-to-black/14513495/
It seems many progressive programming is leaving the airwaves. No surprise that the corporate media owns all said airwaves, and there agenda is propaganda and infotainment.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a major factor is cost though, and with Netflix and the internet, you can get a lot of entertainment much, much cheaper than traditional cable + no commercials (or very few).
I have not had cable my entire adult life. Too expensive and I’d never watch it. Netflix + internet is the way to go!
I made the effort to stay awake to watch the final show last night. It was touching. I’ll miss Jon Stewart. He was one of the very few good ones on TV. His group’s journalism was typically more decent, sane, honest and relevant than any of the major news outlets. You know, those organizations whose charter is actually supposed to be journalism?
If you want news/satire/comedy that really informs, watch John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight on HBO. He teaches me a lot about the underbelly of the USA, like the extraodinary disenfranchisement of American Samoa, the Micronesian Dependencies and DC. DC even has a numberplate holder that accurately says “Taxation Without Representation”.
He also has a very funny sketch about how the mainstream media invariably pair off a climate (or other) science denier with a scientist (always Bill Nye), as if the cases for and against were equal. So to restore the balance he got 97 (people dressed as) scientists including Bill Nye against three deniers.
Jeff the diseased lung is one of my favourites.
“I didn’t watch the show much, not because I don’t like it (I really do), but simply because I don’t watch much television and don’t get Comedy Central.”
You could watch it online, you know.
I just watched the show. I will miss JS. I hope he does something new. (after a well deserved vacation)
I very much liked a lot of Stewart’s zinging political commentary, the nose for hypocrisy and bs, the spot-on placing of big dunce caps. And often, he/the show were very funny.
I have one “but,” however. Stewart is not a particularly good interviewer. For one thing, he talks too much. For another, he’s often competing with guests as to who’s funnier, though he can be quite generous there. The one interview that really rankled, though, was his most recent with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whom he just doesn’t get. And he kept pressing the idea of “reformation” as if she were calling for a Protestant-style change in Islam, rather than reform via jettisoning some of its historical baggage. Contrast this, as Jerry indicates, with his kid-gloves handling of the dubious R4za Aslan.
I do know him only from these two “interviews” so I have no high opinion of him.
There were frustrating things on the show, like the aforementioned Hirsi Ali interview, and the time Jordan Klepper reported on the restaurant that gave people discounts for praying, but for every frustrating moment there were at least 10 good ones.
You are probably right; my assessment of him is likely to be unfair, based only on 2 non-random samples.
That’s like saying you don’t have a high opinion of Skittles after only eating a couple of green ones. The bad is vastly outweighed by the good.
I agree, 2 samples isn’t very much.
Never have had cable.
Don’t have, and never have had, any type of cell phone.
‘fraid I don’t want either one … … either.
Kinda UNwired here,
Blue
ps Love me some other – kinda – wired (online – like) J S, however !
the man’s Evolution / Schmevolution series:
http://www.thedailyshow.cc.com/search?keywords=evolution,%20schmevolution
Blue
Lewis Black on evolution was good stuff. The Stewart show will be missed. He was at his best when he was ripping into the idiots over at Fox and the clowns in Congress. Not so good at interviews.
As much as I love Jon, one has to keep in mind that a lot of the brilliant segments were written by his staff, he was just comedically brilliant at delivering it.
Where we saw him more on his own was in the interviews, where he was often hilariously witty and on point, although at times misinformed, as with the Ayaan Hirsi Ali one.
Stewart was truly great, and right about most things. But as others here have pointed out, sadly he was one of those liberals who wrongly treats religion like race and offers it the same cloak of protection from criticism that one would rightly offer to race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. When he interviewed Richard Dawkins, he sounded as dumb as Oprah about atheism.
But man did he ever make me laugh out loud a lot over the years. He will be missed. Hope he wakes up about religion one day.
They used to have a comentator who did a “this week in God” section that pointed out some of the more ridiculous religious news.
Remember years ago when Colbert and Carell (when they were still on the show) had a “debate” over whether Christianity or Islam was the true religion?
Yes I do.
Those two are really good. They should both get their own show.
Are you thinking of Rachel Maddow? She has a segment called “this week in God”.
I love Rachel Maddow. I wish she had her own night time show not just segments on a bigger network.
Yes, I think a bigger network putting more money into her show would be great. She’s on CNBC now, it’s pretty much just her, a microphone and an occasional interview. She deserves a bigger show.
“This Week in God” was done by Colbert when he was on “The Daily Show”. When Rachel Maddow started doing it, she properly credited its origin.
I didn’t know.
I’ve heard many people say that, among Millennials, Jon Stewart represented a sort of gold standard for what journalism is supposed be (if it ever was). He always got around to the truth behind the hypocrisy, using humor to expose it. It’s sad to think there is so little investigative journalism in mainstream media now… to find it, you really have to look.
At least we still have John Oliver!
Whose show has really outdone The Daily Show, and most news programs, in terms of taking complex subjects and examining them in detail. Last Week Tonight is fantastic.
Agreed. I will watch Oliver now as a substitute. Like methadone, I guess.
I viewed them as complementary – Oliver went deep into topics, presenting the facts and providing the broad picture, while The Daily Show skewered media and political representations of those topics, showing the hypocrisy and absurdity of how others are treating said topics. Oliver can’t replace The Daily Show for me, because he isn’t doing The Daily Show – he’s doing something else.
I’m just going to have to hope Trevor Noah is up to the task of succeeding Stewart. Replacing him is too high a bar to ask for.
Just watched a special of Noah’s and he’s pretty good. Wonderful with accents.
I absolutely loved Oliver on The Daily Show, but find his own show sort of tedious sometimes.
I only catch it occasionally, but it seems to me he has the same problem Rachel Maddow has – he tries to carry the whole show. I think he needs a bigger budget like Stewart had. A show with more skits, interviews, and alternative voices. Otherwise he’s great.
I think you’ve nailed it, Rick. Also he doesn’t have all of Stewart’s writers.
The second most important comedian in terms of impact on my life and views, just barely behind George Carlin (who Stewart quotes near the end of this last episode). Not always right, but always sincerely trying to learn, educate and entertain. The impact he’s had on our national discourse over the last decade especially is immeasurable and I’ve no doubt that we are better off for it.
“When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major-league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all time champion of false promises, and exaggerated claims, religion.”
— George Carlin
That man did more to help me recognize the utter nonsense of religion as a teenager than any big name New Atheist. His remains to this day the only celebrity death in my lifetime that I felt as a personal loss.
We recently purchased a new vehicle, and we’re getting a free trial of Sirius. We probably won’t keep it, but we’ve been listening to the George Carlin channel… the man was inspired. His insights into religion and politics were spot on.
Sirius is fantastic, especially when it’s built-in. There are about 6 channels I cycle through. Great for long trips.
It’s crazy listening to routines of his that are 40 years old, yet are as applicable today as it was then if not moreso. Consumerism, entanglement of politics with religious and corporate power, growth of the security state, and even simple little human foibles that we all share… all still relevant today.
sub
I didn’t catch the show much – I don’t have cable TV (or a TV!) either. But I did catch some segments sometimes, and my sister gave me his two “textbooks”, which are also pretty funny.