Jon Stewart is far from perfect, and it would be wrong to label him as that. The recent interview by former Daily Show writer and correspondent Wyatt Cenac is proof of that, and as a longtime admirer of Stewart’s, I’d love to see him face the criticisms head-on before the end of his tenure. I would like to believe he’s seen the error in his ways; his recent commentary on police violence and the Charlestown shootings, along with the amazingly pointed segments that Jessica Williams has done, make me want to believe that, but in this case it would be nice to hear from the person in question himself, rather than make assumptions based on a need to keep a media figure on a pedestal.
This isn’t to say that the tremendous good he’s done, particularly for the youthful, liberally geared zeitgeist, should be overlooked. He has become an integral figure for the comedy (news) media for nearly two decades, and he’s a voice that’s going to be missed and in ways that far outreach his comedy. Jon Stewart is funny in an easygoing, increasingly cynical way, but it’s never really been his comedy that’s been so engaging–at least in the past ten years. His audience is large, no doubt, but it’s the audience of high schoolers and college-aged individuals where his voice really mattered. It was one that didn’t speak down to their opinions, one that spoke largely about topics we and they cared about, and one that didn’t ever seem to want to bullshit, especially as he grew more and more weary about the weekly dose of tragedy that seemed to reign far and wide.
Once I became more politically/activist minded, once I realized that the term “feminism” wasn’t a dirty one but a liberating one, I began to appreciate voices like his more. His too was passionate, his too–despite the jokes–was angry, and while he skewed toward his Comedy Central audience, he rarely seemed to have as clear-cut an agenda as news media on both sides of the aisle. Trevor Noah has some mighty big shoes to fill.
Stewart should absolutely be held accountable for his mistreatment of Cenac; I would be a hypocrite of my own beliefs if I said otherwise. It was a human, defensive moment, sure, but it’s one that people often have that needs to be addressed. However, his voice and the good he has done for a generation, including myself, is something worth celebrating.
Check out an odd assortment of clips below of some of his finest moments. From his coverage of Donald Trump’s entry into the Presidential race, to his somber message after the massacre at the Charleston Church shootings, his messages are varied, and important, and worth listening to before his last show on August 6th.
Our favorite moments
The Crossfire appearance
The Jon Stewart Show
The Charleston shooting episode
The War on Christmas
GSA-holes
Ryan Gibbs – Crossfire
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Here’s what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop. Stop hurting America. – Jon Stewart on the October 15, 2004 episode of Crossfire.
Did you know that Jon Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire is taught in journalism schools? At least, it was in mine. The appearance is a discussion point in Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel’s bedrock The Elements of Journalism, too.
The first thing you need to know about this is that Crossfire was a pretty terrible show–the worst of the opinion screaming matches that cable news seemed to love in the 2000s, and typical of CNN’s programming before it became too busy with its 24 hour marathons of Lockup: Raw to pay attention to some of the biggest news stories of the decade.
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YouTube clips of Stewart’s appearance are often labeled as him “destroying” the show. I’d argue that what he did was more along the lines of a dismantling, slowly unwinding a godawful program like a kitten does to a ball of yarn. Almost immediately after being introduced, he comes in with why he agreed to come in the first place, and it’s not to promote America: The Book. He states that Crossfire and its glib political shouting matches are “hurting America” and that its hosts are “partisan hacks.” He tells them, “You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably. ”
Tucker Carlson tries to turn the tables–how can Jon Stewart criticize Crossfire for being a terrible forum of opinion when he lobs goofy softball questions at someone like John Kerry? Stewart answers: he’s a comedian doing a comedy show on a comedy network, and he’s not required to ask any real questions.
Of course, the interesting thing about this whole deal is that Stewart has become one of the best interviewers on television because his questions are often blunt and humorous but are genuinely thoughtful, and he does manage to get real answers from them. But at the end of the day, Stewart is a comedian. Those polls that say that he is the most trusted man on television says less about him and more about how deeply flawed most television journalism was then and still is right now.
I don’t consider Stewart to be a journalist, but he’s absolutely had an effect and an influence on journalism and young journalists especially. Many of my friends from my college’s journalism department name Stewart as someone who has greatly influenced them. We all reacted to the news that Stewart was retiring the same way our parents did about Walter Cronkite. While on the whole we didn’t like television news all that much, it’s still interesting that a fake newsman has more of an impact and influence on us than any actual TV anchor.
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Anyway, Crossfire got canceled in January 2005, with CNN’s CEO admitting that he understood Stewart’s criticisms of the show and hinted they were the among the reasons the program was being canned. After the show finally left the air that June, Stewart’s appearance became pretty much the only thing anyone remembers about it. As it should be.
Ryan – The Jon Stewart Show
Look, I know this will mean I’ve spent both of my pieces in this article talking about things that aren’t the actual Daily Show, but I think mention should be made of Stewart’s pre-Daily Show gig, The Jon Stewart Show.
I was a little too young to fully appreciate or watch The Jon Stewart Show when it was on, but the clips that are up of this thing on YouTube are amazing. He seemed to go out of his way to find guests and musicians who did not normally appear on late night talk shows, and the show’s comedy seemed to have more leeway on being experimental than its competitors, all thanks to the creative freedom it had from MTV and in syndication.
Stewart–or at least whoever did his booking–had impeccable taste for early 90s indie rock, too. Just from a cursory YouTube search, you can find the show playing host to performances by college radio favorites like Sunny Day Real Estate, Morphine, Quicksand, Guided by Voices, and Rocket from the Crypt (during an episode live at MTV Spring Break of all things!).
Unfortunately, the show didn’t last too long after it was moved from MTV to network syndication. The last episode of the show features a dejected-looking Stewart–who’d only been told his show had been canceled at the last minute–trying to make the best of things and offering his studio audience free margaritas. He cheers up once he starting talking to his final guest: David Letterman, who rarely made TV appearances outside of his own show. In the final minutes we get a rare television appearance from cult indie rockers Buffalo Tom and a goofy sketch with Stewart as an elderly industry flameout. Who would have known where he’d be a few years later?
Allyson – “The Charleston Shooting”
This is a recent one, but it couldn’t be more timely in terms of the current racial discord in the U.S. After the terror attack on the Charleston Church, Jon Stewart did what he’d done before in the face of tragedy: he got serious. The segments in which Stewart has let his frustration slip are few and far-between, and it’s hardly surprising that as a comedian, he has a tough time finding comedic value on a day to day basis when the news can be littered with such shit, but it’s times like these where I realize how integral of a voice Stewart’s has been.
In this segment, Stewart isn’t just frustrated, he’s angry; he isn’t just sarcastic, he’s scathing. His humor comes in biting bits, rendering his audience unable to give out anything but uncomfortable laughter. The humor is derivative of frustration and exhaustion at this topic still having to be talked about today.
War On Christmas
While I’ve always been a fan of when Stewart goes head to head with CNN for their absurd news coverage (spreading stories out for viewership, amateur tip callers, misleading or downright wrong information, etc.), there’s a special place for Stewart’s out and out glee and disrespect for FOX News. Fewer instances has this been more clear than the War on Christmas nonsense from a few years ago, where Stewart had it out with the station (Bill O’Reilly particularly), and his spitfire skills have rarely been as put to good use as here.
Joey Daniewicz – “GSA-holes – Can You Make Bill O’Reilly Pay $4.00 for a Shrimp?”
The Daily Show isn’t so much a fake news show as it is meta-commentary, a mission to irreverently watch the watchmen of the 24-hour news cycle. Fark.com’s Drew Curtis has noted that industry is built for events like 9/11 and truly not much else. That event catalyzed many things, but notable here is that it brought more audiences, countless changes, and a jolt of hyperactive scoop-seeking to the 24-hour cycle channels. Considering he’s spent that past fourteen years reacting to this programming, I would point to this development as The Daily Show’s primary focus. It’s herein that I find its defining moment: Jon Stewart trying to pitch Bill O’Reilly scenarios under which he might purchase a shrimp for four dollars.
After covering a stupidly spendy conference held by the General Services Administration, Jon Stewart notes, in particular, Bill O’Reilly’s outrage over the spending of four dollars per shrimp. The magic of Jon Stewart isn’t in his serious take-downs, I don’t think. It’s when he does something weird, like his recent digs at Senator Chuck Schumer’s musings, according to Jon very reminiscent of an old Jew like Schumer is, at a diner. So Jon Stewart brings his greatest foe and most special friend on via satellite–just seeing Bill’s face onscreen is delightful–and tests O’Reilly’s proclamations, pushing them to the very brink.
It’s charming, hilarious, and if you look close enough, it’s a celebratory laugh at the extreme rhetoric laced in 24-hour news channels. I can actually say there’s no moment of Stewart’s I’ll remember more fondly.
Let us know in the comments what your favorite moments have been!
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