# Viewers not "Stoned Slackers"; John Stewart surprised, intimidated **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371 "2004-10-03T21:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/1 "2004-10-03T21:55:49Z")
A recent survey indicates that the average viewer of late night comedy knows more about the issues in the presidential election than viewers who rely on other tv news sources, like cable news. Daily Show viewers came out on top among viewers of the three late-night shows (Leno, Letterman and Daily Show). [Comedy Central’s ‘Daily Show’ Viewers Know Politics](http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000643485): > [@](#): > > _Daily Show_ viewers answered an average of 3.59 questions correctly while viewers of _Late Night with David Letterman_ answered 2.91 correctly and viewers of the _Tonight Show with Jay Leno_ answered 2.95 correctly. TV viewers who did not watch any late-night comedy shows within the past week answered 2.62 questions correctly. I saw the Daily Show that re-ran yesterday. John Stewart admitted to his surprise at the survey results, saying that he had assumed his audience was made up of “stoned slackers”. Now that he’s found out they’re primarily intelligent dweebs, he admits to being intimidated. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/2 "2004-10-04T06:55:47Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > A recent survey indicates that the average viewer of late night comedy knows more about the issues in the presidential election than viewers who rely on other tv news sources, like cable news. > > Daily Show viewers came out on top among viewers of the three late-night shows (Leno, Letterman and Daily Show). > > [Comedy Central’s ‘Daily Show’ Viewers Know Politics](http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000643485): > > I saw the Daily Show that re-ran yesterday. John Stewart admitted to his surprise at the survey results, saying that he had assumed his audience was made up of “stoned slackers”. Now that he’s found out they’re primarily intelligent dweebs, he admits to being intimidated. I think the “stoned slackers” quote by Stewart was a sarcastic reference to Bill “shut up, shut up, shut up!” O’Reiley’s use of that term in dismissing Daily Show viewers (probably after hearing that the show’s ratings were beating the snot out of his). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/3 "2004-10-04T07:30:00Z")
I think it’s a little unfair that O’Reilly has gotten so much flak over the joke he made. Stewart makes similar comments about his own audience all the time. ---
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/4 "2004-10-04T07:33:11Z")
I love the Daily Show and I think that Jon Stewart is an incredibly bright guy with an even brighter future (hopefully politically, although I doubt it). On the other hand I think that Bill O’reilly is a genius in his own right and hit the nail on the head when he called the Daily Show viewers “drunken, stoned slackers” (That is what he said, right?) I mean realistically, out of ten friends who watch the daily show, I’d say 7-8 are probably stoned or are stoners and all ten probably drink, so in a weird way they are both right. Goes to show people like O’reilly though that “drunken, stoned slackers” are good for more than just keeping the pizza delivery business afloat though. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/5 "2004-10-04T07:46:26Z")
> [@saluki\_fan](#): > > On the other hand I think that Bill O’reilly is a genius in his own right and hit the nail on the head when he called the Daily Show viewers “drunken, stoned slackers” (That is what he said, right?) If the drunk, stoned slackers are better informed about politics than O’Reilly’s viewers, what does that say about him? It doesn’t say anything about their drinking or smoking habits, but the more knowledgable part does indicate he may have been off with the “slacker” remark. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/6 "2004-10-04T13:02:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I think it’s a little unfair that O’Reilly has gotten so much flak over the joke he made. Stewart makes similar comments about his own audience all the time. Every bit I’ve read about the quote seems to make clear it was a light-hearted joke. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/7 "2004-10-04T13:14:51Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Every bit I’ve read about the quote seems to make clear it was a light-hearted joke. Jon Stewart, in his “surprised, intimidated” speech, did allude to that, saying he felt it was a joke and that Comedy Central ran with it. I don’t know how much of that was spin, but he did seem mildly embarrassed at the bruhaha. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/8 "2004-10-04T13:21:07Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > John Stewart admitted to his surprise at the survey results, saying that he had assumed his audience was made up of “stoned slackers”. Now that he’s found out they’re primarily intelligent dweebs, he admits to being intimidated. In no way was Jon Stewart surprised to ‘find out’ that his viewers are intelligent and college-educated. In the last four years or so, the Daily Show has become a surprisingly sophisticated satire. Jon’s comments about his audience being stoned are part and parcel of the self-depecration he indulges in all the time. I remember when John Edwards fulfilled an earlier promise and announced that he was running for the Democratic nomination on the program. Stewart said something like “You know this isn’t a real news program, right?” Part of what keeps the Daily Show credible is that they keep insisting they aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![PussyCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/9 "2004-10-04T19:50:08Z")
The “stoned slackers” comment does indeed come from an [interview on the O’Reilly Factor](http://www.wonkette.com/archives/the-ostewart-factor-021688.php). When dickhead -ahem- O’Reilly made the comment he gave an actual statistic. It did NOT seem to me that he was purely joking. He seriously believes the stats he gets (although he has been shown how wrong they are several times). **saluki\_fan** , I am not trying to say anything negative about you or your friends, I too have plenty of “stoned slacker” friends, but basing how many people in the world do X on your own acquaintances is not a precise way of determining how the world really functions/feels about things. Based on most of the people I know and hang out with these days I would say Daily Show fans are more educated, drink and smoke less than the stats Stewart gave. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/10 "2004-10-04T21:36:18Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I think it’s a little unfair that O’Reilly has gotten so much flak over the joke he made. Stewart makes similar comments about his own audience all the time. I would agree that the reaction, as so often, was overblown. But I can understand why some people might be offended. It’s like the difference between “we’re a bunch of idiots” and “you’re a bunch of idiots.” The former is self-deprecating and presumably friendly, whereas the latter is not. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/11 "2004-10-04T22:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > **saluki fan** : I mean realistically, out of ten friends who watch the daily show, I’d say 7-8 are probably stoned or are stoners and all ten probably drink, so in a weird way they are both right. Out of the four people in my family who watch the _Daily Show_, I’d say all four have been or are hard-working professionals who never get stoned – although one fondly remembers her days of wine and roaches. Two of us have teenage children. Two of us have teenage grandchildren. Anecdotal information is insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/12 "2004-10-04T22:26:33Z")
I think it’s the context that makes O’Reilly’s characterization of the _Daily Show_ audience such a cause for comment. “You know what’s really frightening? You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it’s true. You’ve got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night and they can vote.” I mean, really. What monumental cheek! Fat, stinking Billy-boy has the gall to represent his show as God’s Own Truth, while Stewart is constantly self-deprecating and always clear that they#re playing for laughs. Which show do you suppose really has more influence over the election? Which is scarier? ---
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/13 "2004-10-04T23:46:45Z")
> [@PussyCow](#): > > **saluki\_fan** , I am not trying to say anything negative about you or your friends, I too have plenty of “stoned slacker” friends, but basing how many people in the world do X on your own acquaintances is not a precise way of determining how the world really functions/feels about things. Based on most of the people I know and hang out with these days I would say Daily Show fans are more educated, drink and smoke less than the stats Stewart gave. Very true. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewers-not-stoned-slackers-john-stewart-surprised-intimidated/267371/14 "2004-10-05T01:37:57Z")
[ahem](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=278175)