I liked the Trevor Noah iteration of the show, and I feel he was maligned unfairly. And most of that came from the fact that neither he nor anybody else (except, in hindsight, maybe John Oliver) could have filled the gargantuan shoes Jon Stewart left.
But all that said, Stewart just has a different knock. I respect the guy tremendously. He’s got integrity, razor-sharp intelligence, and a true gift for comedy and comedic timing.
And his humility went a long way. He was a true journalist, even as and especially after journalism itself died, giving way to an exclusive focus on the profit-seeking motive.
Speaking more of his integrity, he wasn’t afraid to take potentially unpopular stances. Calling for Biden to step down was not the first, and I hope not the last. His stance on cops being bad apples was breathtakingly beautiful imho: not “all cops are bad everywhere all the time”, but rather “we support the true cops who protect & serve, and reject those who pervert that mantra”.
He calls for peace rather than war, staying firm in the principle that the only thing we must not tolerate is intolerance, bc then we’ll lose everything we have built up in civilization to date and revert instead to anarchy. And through that to totalitarianism by people who were just waiting for the organized defenses to be discarded (by idiots not even realizing that is what they are accomplishing by their actions) to move in and take it all for themselves.
Every army knows that you have to have accurate intelligence in order to accomplish anything at all - too bad popular journalism has died and the populace no longer has any clue what’s going on anymore, a prerequisite to being able to vote on matters of substance. But anyway, as for Jon, he did all that he could to warn us as it was happening, so it’s not his fault that nobody would do anything about it. He at least is basically a freaking hero.
+1 to Trevor Noah. I think he, like many late night shows (maybe just Sett Meyers) really had a reset during COVID and built some of their best shows. Working from home gave him a much more relaxed and personal feel. It likely is what ultimately caused Trevor to leave the Daily Show. I think once he returned to the traditional studio setting he realized he wanted the ability to do more. You can do a lot with the Daily Show, but you’re still stuck in a particular frame. Hell Stewart had similar issues which ultimately caused him to leave as well.
I hope Stewart sticks around after the election. He doesn’t need to be on once a week, just give him an open invitation. Same with Trevor, give him a few slots to come back. I like the rotating host thing they’re doing at the moment. (I wish Roy Wood Jr stuck around.) So I hope they keep things rotating.
Being compared to Jon Stewart is just unfair, it’s true, but Noah was an anti-comedian. Instead of taking something that may or may not be funny and making it funny with how he said it, he took often times pretty good writing and managed to make it not land.
I liked the Trevor Noah iteration of the show, and I feel he was maligned unfairly. And most of that came from the fact that neither he nor anybody else (except, in hindsight, maybe John Oliver) could have filled the gargantuan shoes Jon Stewart left.
But all that said, Stewart just has a different knock. I respect the guy tremendously. He’s got integrity, razor-sharp intelligence, and a true gift for comedy and comedic timing.
ETA: missed a word.
And his humility went a long way. He was a true journalist, even as and especially after journalism itself died, giving way to an exclusive focus on the profit-seeking motive.
Speaking more of his integrity, he wasn’t afraid to take potentially unpopular stances. Calling for Biden to step down was not the first, and I hope not the last. His stance on cops being bad apples was breathtakingly beautiful imho: not “all cops are bad everywhere all the time”, but rather “we support the true cops who protect & serve, and reject those who pervert that mantra”.
He calls for peace rather than war, staying firm in the principle that the only thing we must not tolerate is intolerance, bc then we’ll lose everything we have built up in civilization to date and revert instead to anarchy. And through that to totalitarianism by people who were just waiting for the organized defenses to be discarded (by idiots not even realizing that is what they are accomplishing by their actions) to move in and take it all for themselves.
Every army knows that you have to have accurate intelligence in order to accomplish anything at all - too bad popular journalism has died and the populace no longer has any clue what’s going on anymore, a prerequisite to being able to vote on matters of substance. But anyway, as for Jon, he did all that he could to warn us as it was happening, so it’s not his fault that nobody would do anything about it. He at least is basically a freaking hero.
+1 to Trevor Noah. I think he, like many late night shows (maybe just Sett Meyers) really had a reset during COVID and built some of their best shows. Working from home gave him a much more relaxed and personal feel. It likely is what ultimately caused Trevor to leave the Daily Show. I think once he returned to the traditional studio setting he realized he wanted the ability to do more. You can do a lot with the Daily Show, but you’re still stuck in a particular frame. Hell Stewart had similar issues which ultimately caused him to leave as well.
I hope Stewart sticks around after the election. He doesn’t need to be on once a week, just give him an open invitation. Same with Trevor, give him a few slots to come back. I like the rotating host thing they’re doing at the moment. (I wish Roy Wood Jr stuck around.) So I hope they keep things rotating.
Being compared to Jon Stewart is just unfair, it’s true, but Noah was an anti-comedian. Instead of taking something that may or may not be funny and making it funny with how he said it, he took often times pretty good writing and managed to make it not land.