tao_: I stand corrected on John Stewart

Graham (

tao_) wrote,
@ 2007-05-19 01:29:00

I stand corrected on John Stewart

You know, I said a few posts back that John Stewart was on top form in the clip I included.

In fact, it turns out that he had only set out on the journey towards being on top form. He had just put his hat and coat on and stepped out the front door.

THIS is John Stewart on top form. It must be, because... well, it just must be. How could he do any better?

A stunning mix of outrage, sight gags and surrealism. Perfect.

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theoban
2007-05-19 02:52 am UTC (link)

Agh - I try. I really do try y'know. I've watched the progamme (when it's available on that other channel 4 channel....I can't remember what it's called now) More 4?

I've tried to enjoy it, to watch it. But I find that without an extensive knowledge of American internal political procedure I find it hard to enjoy.

I also think it's kind of..well..'C' grade satire. I watch 'Have I Got News For You', and while yes, it's a different format, just the level of critisism levelled against cabinet ministers is so much more than anything I've seen from the Jon Stewart show.

Now I do admit that on occasion I've laughed heartily at Jon Stewart...I have to say I find the majority of it drab, un-imaginative, and relying more on 'gags' rather than actual criticism of governmental policy.

Maybe I'm missing the point. I just expect to see more outright criticism than what's available from the Daily Show. I think America needs to toughen up it's Satire, as if this is the best if can offer, no wonder there's voter apathy and a large surge towards right-wing-christian-conservatism.

/rant over.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

nummymuffin
2007-05-19 07:10 am UTC (link)

This may or may not be helpful but The Daily Show has traditionally aimed to be more of a parody of our own news media here than a show intended to lambast the government at every turn. It's been more of a mix since Jon Stewart took over and Bush took office, which has certainly made it easier to throw in more mockery of the administration because WOW are they ripe for the picking.

I understand what you mean though. I certainly wish there were more criticism on television -- currently we have a tiny handful of people who are willing to put their balls on the line to say things nobody else will dare -- but it just so happens that anyone on television who criticizes the administration or policies in a serious fashion or tries to point out basic history or reality is painted by the media as a traitor or a terrorist-sympathizer and will most certainly lose their show and, of course, this attitude trickles down into real life. For a perfect example of this, see Bill Maher's controversial firing from Politically Incorrect. It's a real shame we seemingly can't have open dialogue here anymore.

Incidentally, and this is not at all addressed to the above poster's rant but more of me going off on a bit of a tangent... this reminds me of the point that the new FOX News "comedy" show "The Half Hour News Hour" gets entirely wrong. Their show fails miserably because they don't understand how the Daily Show actually works, comedically, and try to counter it in their ripoff with lame jokes about random Democrats in which they beat people over the head with their right wing political view because that's what they (and their target audience) think the Daily Show is all about. That and well, they ARE the media and they can't very well mock themselves day after day because FOX News is serious business after all.

If you haven't already seen clips of it, there are plenty on YouTube and they are all quite painful to watch because they just don't get it at all and it really shines through in the writing.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tao_ 2007-05-19 10:10 am UTC (link)
	No, I've seen it. Didn't Dennis Miller appear on it? He's so full of kool-aid by now, his eyeballs are floating around inside his skull. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nummymuffin 2007-05-19 10:30 am UTC (link)
	I think my brain kindly blocked me from the traumatic memories but yes, I think he did appear last Sunday, babbling about some crap or other. He seems to be their answer to Lewis Black. Was Dennis Miller ever really funny? It's so hard to remember these days. (Reply to this)(Parent)

tao_
2007-05-19 10:24 am UTC (link)

If you judge satire merely by its ferocity, then I guess you could say it's lacking in something. Me, I hate it when cynicism and splenetic abuse passes for satire (although I'm not including the jolly, likeable 'HIGNFY' in this). Satire should be a scalpel, not a hammer.

And if you're not paying attention to American politics at the moment, you're really missing out. It's a riot!

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	theoban 2007-05-19 03:02 pm UTC (link)
	Agreed - Admittedly due to distance I'm missing out on British politics at the moment. Maybe more reading up and I'll appreciate it more. And I do suppose I like my satire more hammer like. Each to their own though. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tao_ 2007-05-19 03:38 pm UTC (link)
	Well, maybe Ben Elton will start touring again... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	theoban 2007-05-19 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	Not that hammer like. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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