Jon Stewart's New Show Isn't Comedy, and That's Fine. But It's a Bad News Show.
I'll try to hold him to the standard to which he's held others
In my opinion, The Problem with Jon Stewart isn’t as funny as The Daily Show. Honestly, in my opinion, it’s not as funny as Donahue. But you know what: That’s fine. Stewart has made it pretty clear that his new show isn’t meant to be as funny as his earlier work. And I absolutely respect that — sometimes, an artist needs to do something different. Not everyone can follow the AC/DC model, where you arrange the same five chords and 16 words in different orders for 50 years.
So, the show is less comedy and more news. Cool. But is the news part any good? Based on the first episode, my opinion is “no”. I think Stewart is trafficking in oversimplification and misinformation.
It’s weird for me to type that, because I’m a long-time Jon Stewart fan. He was a powerhouse comic in the ‘90s; it’s fair to say he’s one of the reasons I started doing standup. His takedowns of Fox News in the 2000s had a major impact on me. He’s also, in a very direct way, responsible for my career.1 I like this guy. I want to like this show.