His shtick is getting really shrill lately. Either he’s losing it or he’s trying to make what the writers write funny. Which it hasn’t been of late.
Really? I honestly caught myself finding the show funnier lately than I have in a while. Maybe that’s because I’m childish as all get out and I can’t stop laughing at his take on the constant stream of Republican candidate antics.
I’ll grant you that he’s had a few more very serious moments than I’d prior noticed, but it’s hardly anything exceptionally notable.
I think the problem with the show is that all his correspondents suck, so most shows Stewart carries the whole thing and his constant mugging gets old. Back when Colbert, Helms and Carrell were on, you would get a lot less of Stewart per episode. Now, his show is kind of that thing that is on before Colbert.
There’s a lot of truth in that - at least for me. Jon Stewart doesn’t get old for me, but I do wish the correspondents’ pool was better.
Some correspondents that are on very infrequently I like, but Jason Jones and John Oliver are like an imitation of Colbert, Helms, Corddry et al. that mistakes outright frontal obnoxiousness for the clever irony-baiting that’s the show at its best.
Amen. I actually get embarrassed for Jason Jones when he’s on the show; he clearly doesn’t know anything about his subject matter. I remember he went to Iran during their elections and happened to be on the ground when it looked like an Iranian Spring might be in the works, but all he did was a bunch of stupid jokes about not understanding how their toilets work. Colbert would have used his satire like a razor to expose the hypocrisy of the government of Iran.
I love Jon, but with the exceptions of Wyatt Cenac and Samantha Bee (and even she can be pretty shrill at times), I can’t say I’m a huge fan of their current crop of correspondents.
And also Kristen Schaal is great, but she’s more of a commentator than a correspondent.
Oliver has had some great bits though. His history of Afghanistan was one of the best Daily Show bits ever: “Well, first off…it’s a bit hilly. It’s principal exports are heroin and vengeance. It’s national sport is played with the head of a goat.”
They just got back from vacation.
I miss Aasif Mandhvi (sp?), Rob Riggle, and of course the two Steves. Never much of a fan of the Canadian couple, but Oliver, Cenac, Wilmore and Hodgman are all top notch.
There’s been less of Mandvi and (I think) Oliver lately, which is too bad because they’re the best of the current group.
I like the other correspondents. John Oliver’s banter with Stewart during the World Cup was hilarious, especially before the England-Germany game.
Mandvi left to pursue an acting career, but comes back occasionally. Around the same frequency as Lewis Black, or maybe even less.
The good ones always leave, it seems. At least that one woman with the dark hair that they had on isn’t showing up very often She was god-awful. Kristen Shaal was great as the obsessive (and only) fan in Flight of The Conchords, but I think she sucks at being a DS correspondent. Stewart’s skewering of Fox and the Repubs is always great, but his delivery of the material seems too shrill and forced sometimes. The latest one, when he was flaying Fox over Obama’s omission of the word “God” in his T-day address, really didn’t require the histrionics; it was so bizarre that it likely could have stood alone without commentary. Maybe we need to take a break.
That girl! Yes. I can’t stand her.
I found that line offensive and it’s just flat out untrue. Their national sportis played with a headless goat.
The other way makes them sound barbaric.
Any idea if Moe Rocca left on bad terms? I’ve wondered why he’s never been back since his career hasn’t really skyrocketed (he works constantly but not in things as high profile as TDS) and he’s better than any of the current correspondents (save maybe Oliver).
Wallace Shawn has been on the show a couple of times. He also might be good. They really need a Joel McHale type though- somebody who’s obviously intelligent and naturally funny (and good looking helps).
Really? I think she’s freakin’ hilarous; she and Cenac are the only ones that I like.
Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver are brilliant. Jason Jones can be funny, but not always. Everyone else is pretty meh.
I do think Jon’s gotten a bit more…preachy, I guess? He’s edging toward Olbermann-style ranting these days, and it doesn’t always have a punchline. I like Jon because he’s Jon, though, not just because he’s funny.
Cenac and Oliver are the two I really like currently. Oliver’s schtick (British superiority complex) gets old and Cenac plays a little too broad at times, but they both get me laughing consistently. Jones’s role as foreign correspondent is cool in a new-territory-to-lampoon way, but it’s been very hit-or-miss for me.
Everybody else I could take or leave. Most feel like they’re ill-used by the show; Schaal especially. She’s funny, but it’s the wrong material.
The recent Thanksgiving bit they did with Sara Vowell was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen on the show. Clumsy and unfunny.
Some new blood and new takes in the correspondants would go a long way.
Stewart’s openings are still great, though.
I’m a huge fan of a couple of her books, but I agree. She has no comic timing.
In the early days TDS was just a show, now it is a source of comedic talent, so I guess that when Stewart does the whole show by himself all the correspondents are making money elsewhere or off on assignment. Colbert has it easier being in character. Still, the multi-correspondent bashing of Cain yesterday was some of their best material in ages.
As a Marine Corp officer he was excellent especially when reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan, he was credible to the troops.