Jon’s commentary on how dictators are now allies to the anti-woke crowd was terrific. They have to convince themselves and others that leaders like Putin are not all that bad because these are the people they are in agreement with.
Great stuff, sad no one who needs to hear it really will.
I thought this week’s opening was brilliant all the way through. He answered the criticism perfectly and gutted Tucker all while being very funny.
I agree. Stewart was terrific, and if some were disappointed with his first show, I trust he redeemed himself with them. This was Stewart in top form!
A small moment, but the best one:
“You…are such…a dick.”
Part of Stewart’s style is mixing up well-crafted humour with the occasional intentionally puerile comment like that one, or his paraphrasing of the one about Poles and a light bulb. A big part of what makes good humour funny is the unexpectedness of some zinger, which is why timing and delivery are so important. Stewart is a master at it.
Carlson’s stunningly stupid hagiography of Russia was a gift from the comedy gods. It allowed Stewart to be at his best without once mentioning American politics.
Monday’s episode will be right after the South Carolina primary so he’ll have to confront the specter of Trump head on. Let’s see what happens then.
I think he made it very clear. He’s not going to be the left’s version of Tucker. He’s going to comment on what he sees and how he feels about it no matter what it is. Past history shows that most of the material will come out of the Trump camp.
Anyone watch it last night? He presented his solution for the Middle East but the real highlight was the ending, in which he got very emotional over his dog, which died yesterday.
I’m sure he’d have mixed feelings over that being considered a “highlight”…
It was very sad (as it is with anyone losing a beloved pet). But, it sounds like his dog had a long and very happy life and was loved by his whole family and died in the normal order of things and not some tragedy. A great life for the dog by any measure.
I never thought I’d end a Daily Show sobbing. It was a beautiful tribute to his beloved dog.
Not a mention of South Carolina. Or Trump. Or Biden. He glided past them somehow while accusing the U.S. of complicity in creating the horrifying Middle East situation and presenting a bothsides solution to the Israel/Palestine mess.
Lots of good lines and plenty of mugging at the right spots. It was very well done. Until you thought about it even for a moment and realized that it was a feel good manifesto that has no chance of happening. He should have stopped halfway through, at the peak of rage. Did he ever continue on to propose a two-sides solution when it came to veterans? He raged, and raged, and raged.
Still waiting for the episode on Godot. I mean Trump.
ISTM Stewart is leaving the daily news and outrage to the other host who does this job the rest of the week.
Stewart is looking at some bigger issues. Will Stewart solve peace in the Middle East in one episode? Of course not. I think he did a pretty good job (as far as that goes in a 20 minute interview) showing the difficulties involved even if in a cursory way. I think “bothsiderism” is probably appropriate here because there are two intransigent sides involved. Something the public should be reminded of. I think the men he was interviewing said how his idealistic solution has almost no chance of working. Which highlights the problem.
I have loved having Jon back and wish we could have him 4 times a week. I keep hoping that he will expand his hosting duties as the election draws near. It’s going to be an intense time in American History.
I remember reading something in which either Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah described the job. Hosting the show is only a small part of it. There’s also writing, including supervising the writing staff, producing the remote pieces, hiring correspondents, doing HR stuff, etc. Basically it’s something that can lead to burnout.
Jon appears to have knocked all of the 1st weeks rust off. Outstanding.
The interview segment was strong.
Always very sad when our pets leave us.
FTR, I would support METO.
This should be no surprise. That’s how these shows are made. I do not think there is any mystery to it. Do people think they just wing it each episode?
While Noah and Stewart (and Kilbourn way back) doubtless work hard and are part of the process they do have a sizeable and talented staff (including a writing room with lots of writers). They are not in this alone.
I took that to mean there is a large management component to the job that doesn’t show on screen.
Exactly. And the management component adds to the pressure of the job.
Jon is now appearing as one of the Executive Producers. That term can stretch to mean many things, but I assume he’ll be active in shaping the other three days of the week. He’s not just commuting in on Mondays from his Jersey historic home/estate/animal sanctuary.