Stewart earned his stripes when he was doing his thing during the early part of the terror wars where questioning The Plan got you labeled a commie traitor and he was one of the few visible faces battling in the mainstream, so he became a champion for those who lean left who didn’t see anyone else speaking up (or they were getting fired). Nowadays doing the same shtick isn’t nearly as edgy and the market niche is stacked to the rafters.
Noah is OK. He’s not the same level of entertainer as Jon. He doesn’t do good impressions nor does he make stupid faces. Jon did the same naive straight man act when talking to the correspondents, so nothing new there. I like the African jokes/POV, could see it wearing thin for some, but no different than Jon joking about Jews all the time. I don’t like when he awkwardly laughs at his own jokes, but not a biggie.
Yes, it mostly deals with US news stories, but US national politics is particularly of interest to people around the world. And remember that CNN broadcast “The Daily Show: Global Edition” weekly during the Jon Stewart era, so it was already being watched internationally.
I’ve been enjoying him since the beginning but he has definitely been taking time to find his footing. He had a fairly good bit pretty early on when he compared Donald Trump’s rhetoric to that of various African totalitarian leaders.
He had his first really good segment in December with the “Donald Trump Secretly Wants to Bang His Daughter” bit. That’s the first of his segments that I saw widely shared on social media. It was also tailor made for callbacks and he’s done well with making use of that.
Since they came back from the winter break, they’ve changed up the opening of the show a little bit. They’ve got a new variation on the theme music, and Noah opens the show standing, sometimes walking toward the camera, no longer behind the desk the way that Stewart had always opened the show. These are little signs that, now that he’s taken a test drive in the established format, he’s ready to start making the show his own little by little.
He does need to widen the talent pool of correspondents. I feel the sting a little bit more than some might, I suppose, because I have always disliked Jordan Klepper and he’s getting a disproportionate amount of face time.
To balance out my distaste for Klepper, I do think that Jessica Williams has been doing some of her best work ever.
I like Desi Lydic but I wonder if she’s out now on maternity leave? Last week (or the week before), they had Jessica Williams doing a bit that had originated with Lydic (“What the Actual Fact?”). It was as if the segment had already been written and Williams had to step in for Lydic at the last minute. Note: regarding the reason behind it this is all conjecture on my part but, yes, Williams was doing a bit that had previously been done repeatedly by Lydic.
I could take or leave Roy Wood Jr. I’m not fond of Ronny Chieng.
Noah is not as good as Stewart. Neither was Stewart when he started. I’m not watching much since Jon left, but things could get better, Trevor needs the time that Jon had to make this show his own. Maybe I’ll like it in the future, maybe not, but I don’t see anyone else simply taking over except for Oliver, and he’s got such a sweet deal now I can’t see him considering it. If Jon pulled a Leno and took over the show I wouldn’t mind, I think, but we can’t know for sure that Jon can still do this anyway. I’d say a year or more from now with a new president in office we can better evaluate the show.
Many critics seem to share this viewpoint. I’ve only watched a couple of his initial shows. I wasn’t impressed but he may well be getting a better feel for it now. I don’t think I’ll be a regular viewer though. With Stewart you didn’t want to miss a show for fear of missing some real zingers. I don’t feel that about Noah.
I think he’s doing a remarkable job so far. Right now I’m enjoying his show more than Colbert’s new show, even if it’s not quite as good as Stewart or Colbert’s old show, in my opinion.
When Trevor began he would sometimes reference that since he wasn’t from the US that there were things about our politics that he was unfamiliar with. As a viewer I wished he wouldn’t do that. With satire, especially political satire, there needs to be some foundation to help make the jokes work. If he wouldn’t point out his non-native status, I wouldn’t think of it.
Since he began though, personally I think Larry Willmore’s monologues at the beginning of "The Nightly Show" have been much funnier and stronger than Noah’s "Daily Show" monologues. I think both host’s supporting cast aren’t that good, but perhaps they’ll grow and get better.
I also wish Noah would get better guests for the third segment. IMO there have been too many celebrities, movie and TV, and not nearly enough authors or political guests like the Daily Show usually has.
I really like that “What the Actual Fact?” segment. No matter who they have do it, whether it’s Williams or Lydic when she returns or someone else, I hope they continue with it. Especially as the Presidential race heats up.
Yeah, I assumed JW took over What the Actual Fact because DL was on maternity leave. I have really enjoyed Desi Lydic and look forward to her coming back. I enjoy Jessica Williams, too, but like Desi in that bit.
I stopped watching the Daily Show the last year of Stewart’s run but Trevor Noah is hilarious and I make sure to catch the latest episode on Hulu every day. So, there’s that.
I agree Jessica Williams is great, Jordan’s getting way more time than he deserves and Desi Lydic is hilarious.
Seth Meyers is another late night host who has gotten much more assured and better since he started. He has a regular bit called A Closer Look that skewers politics and the candidates. I think it’s the best political bit on late night. He does a lot of political humor now. He was so weak in the beginning that I rarely watched him, but recently I put him on record to get the first half hour comedy stuff.
Again, and now in capital letters, IT’S ONLY BEEN FOUR MONTHS for Noah. Meyers is finishing up his second year and it took this long for him to find his stride. A nightly program is hugely different from a weekly program. You’re starting at 10am to put on a full show at 5:30. Some days you’re going to miss.
It’s inevitable that people will expect things to be perfect from day one. Critics are paid to know better. That supposedly professional critics on Slate and Salon are writing these articles is a disgrace.
I don’t know about disgrace but I read Salon off and on and the way Sarah Burris talks about Trevor Noah, I assume he kicked her dog, the antipathy is that strong.
I know that this is a not an entirely rational response, but I find Noah a little offputting even though I mostly agree with him. The reason, I think, is that when Jon Stewart criticizes America, he does so as an American. When Noah does, it is as an outsider. It is one of those things like my brother can criticize my father, since he is family, but if you criticize him, I am going to be offended.
Like I say, not entirely rational, but I think a visceral reaction that some people may have.
I think Jon Stewart was probably more consummate snarky talk show host, and less of a politically astute observer than we might think. I mean, he replaced Craig Kilborn who came from a sportscaster background on SportsCenter, and went into late-night talk shows after the Daily Show, and did a decent job.
Jon Stewart also had a talk show in the mid-90s that was very much like his role on the Daily Show, but without the politics for the most part. It did very well on MTV among the age group that continued on to watch the Daily Show during Stewart’s run.
I sort of doubt that Trevor Noah was hired because he’s a talk show host, and that’s the problem. He’s a comedian, and while he may be hysterically funny doing stand up, or as a comic actor, that’s a different set of skills than being a good talk show host. Maybe they should have done some sort of Jimmy Fallon-esque thing of starting him out with a lesser talk show so he could earn his chops, and then promote him to the Daily Show, rather than just start him cold.