# Why are there no topical, humor oriented shows like the "Daily Show" for conservatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247 "2016-11-28T00:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247/61 "2016-11-30T03:03:49Z")
> [@Jane\_Smythe](#): > > My experience of conservative is that they don’t have much of a sense of humor and especially don’t get irony and satire. Such a lack of a sense of irony/satire that they can earnestly sing or listen to this without seeing the humor: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-8BN316mM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-8BN316mM) Humor, of the non-mean, non-bodily type, requires cleverness. Cleverness requires some mental agility. It also usually requires the willingness/sense of security to see something from more than one point of view, even if only for the point of argument. Fundamentalism, nativism and I-got-mine-ism aren’t big on that. The people who are generally regarded as funny and conservative tend to be libertarians or liberterian-ish (cf: The Economist magazine and their stiff upper-lipped smartass comments, Penn & Teller). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247/62 "2016-11-30T03:14:42Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Such a lack of a sense of irony/satire that they can earnestly sing or listen to this without seeing the humor: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-8BN316mM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-8BN316mM) I’m as big a fan of irony, entendre and general gutter-mindedness as anyone, but truth be told, trying to force a sexual interpretation of this rather tepid song strikes me as more, well, forced than funny. One may as well giggle about the title of _She Stoops to Conquer_. I’m willing to recognize that I may have misinterpreted your intent. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247/63 "2016-11-30T03:47:29Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Trying to think of Daily Show style comedy from a Conservative angle that’s actually funny, and the first thing that comes to mind is a [segment that Rob Riggle did for the Daily Show back in 2008](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/9fgyc6/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-marines-in-berkeley). Not sure if that’s typical of Colonel Riggle’s comedy style. One I remember is [this segment](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ppfu0o/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-working-stiffed) from 2010, about how the United Food and Commercial Workers union hired temps, at minimum wage, to protest Walmart, demanding fair treatment and fair wages. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247/64 "2016-11-30T08:13:05Z")
I think part of the issue is the assertion of what shows like The Daily Show are, and therefore what the equivalent is. It’s true that the guys behind the daily show have liberal-leanings, but it’s not like they won’t ridicule democrats, or point out hypocrisy on the left. The shows are not about trying to push an ideology. The reason the right gets mocked more is mainly because, frankly, they give them more material right now. So to start with, any prospective conservative show needs to be much closer to the middle than, say, Fox News, or most online conservative channels, to be anywhere near as balanced (and therefore watchable by a broad audience). And there’s another issue. Shows like Last Week Tonight are most obviously left-wing, but that kind of show also does a great service in informing viewers on many issues. So Last Week Tonight can do an episode on climate change for example and present a wealth of data even as Jon tries to force a joke out of a sloth wearing a cape or whatever. What’s the conservative equivalent? The right-wing line on issues like that right now is to handwave the facts and just rely on rhetoric. A show like that is dead in the water as you can’t actually put any data between the jokes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-topical-humor-oriented-shows-like-the-daily-show-for-conservatives/773247.md?page=3)