but there's some bullshit I've been seeing since around the time of that Crossfire debacle that I have to address.

It seems to me that Stewart is trying to have it both ways. He addresses serious issues and has thoughtful discussions with heavy hitters in the political and media arenas. But he is quick to use the "this is just a comedy show" card.

Sometimes the use of it is valid, others it isn't. It isn't even him that uses it so much really, it's others (some of us on TWW for instance). Whoever is saying it, the point is you can't have it both ways. Either all the thoughtful points he is making on the show are purely for humor and have no value outside of that, or John Stewart is a player in the game and can't hide behind the fact that he shares the network with prank-calling puppets.

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 3:51 PM. Reason : fucked up BOTH names]

9/26/2005 3:47:43 PM

i consider greta van sustern a prank-calling puppet

9/26/2005 3:49:29 PM

Quote :

"you can't have it both ways"

Yes you can

9/26/2005 3:50:11 PM

I feel the same way about John Stewart as of late. He's seemed a little bit too self-righteous over the last few years.

9/26/2005 3:50:39 PM

^^Not with me, you can't.

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 3:51 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2005 3:50:50 PM

ahahhaha

the very fact that he's doing it means...

yes, you can

9/26/2005 3:52:04 PM

Quote :

"3 entries found for satire. sat·ire ( P ) Pronunciation Key (str) n. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. The branch of literature constituting such works. See Synonyms at caricature. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity. "

9/26/2005 3:52:09 PM

With many people, right now he does have it both ways. But those people are following him somewhat blindly. Don't get me wrong, I think he is a smart man with some good points to make, but just because you are speaking in the form of a satire doesn't mean you are beyond analysis.

9/26/2005 3:57:59 PM

Comedians have always used comedy to influence the audience with their own thinly veiled controversial personal beliefs. It's their greatest power. Stewart is particularly talented at not pissing people off.

9/26/2005 3:59:49 PM

For about a year now the media has been sucking stewart's dick; how the show is godly in its goodness. He was recently on the cover of Wired magazine. Im beginning to feel like its gone to his head - he's stopped being the neutral inquirer and become more like a biased showman like Bill O'Reily

9/26/2005 4:03:11 PM

^^Yeah, I see that a lot with people like David Cross. Some of these guys just get so political so quick it turns me right out of funny mode.

I guess John Stewart is the first to get powerful enough that it really matters.

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 4:04 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2005 4:03:28 PM

locutus, yes, he does do what you say he does

but, it's never bothered me

in fact, i think one of the saddest television events will be when john stewart signs off. I shall shed a tear.

far as david cross is concerned, when it comes to his standup, I wouldn't really call it comedy as much as political ranting. I like it... sometimes... but what's not overly vulgar is usually thinly political. he's funny though, and I love mr. show and run ronny run and arrested development

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 4:05 PM. Reason : .]

9/26/2005 4:04:19 PM

What you mean to say is "I don't like him doing it"

but clearly he can do it.

9/26/2005 4:06:09 PM

what is your point man, this has already been said twice

9/26/2005 4:08:31 PM

quit yer conservative whining!

if yew don't like it yew can geeeet oooooout!!

amirite?

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 4:12 PM. Reason : not a roll, so much as a ]

9/26/2005 4:09:32 PM

Look

The fact that you backpedalled only like three posts in this thread means you don't have a valid point.

If you're too straight laced to get thoughtful comedy, which is pretty much what you're attesting to, then so be it.

9/26/2005 4:13:57 PM

I have never been accused of being straight laced before. I'm gonna just take a few moments to let that sink in.

9/26/2005 4:16:28 PM

I think the problem isn't so much that he plays the "comedy" card, as it is that his show has so much influence and people follow it so blindly. He's right to assert that, unlike Crossfire, his show has no claims of integrity or even intelligence, but how he thinks his show should be perceived and how it's actually perceived are two different things.

9/26/2005 4:17:59 PM

He has a point to make, and I don't think he hides it behind humor. I just think his point is funny as hell.

9/26/2005 4:21:55 PM

YOU CAN BE FUNNY AND INTELLIGENT

just because we're all so used to crank call puppets doesn't mean there is not a higher form of entertainment

9/26/2005 4:28:48 PM

Yeah, as I said, I like the man too. I download it to make sure I catch every episode (I think I'm like a week behind right now).

But it seems like he's gained this power (I'd say deservedly) but he pretends that he is just doing some silly comedy show over here on the comedy network.

It's kinda like in 1st grade when this girl used to bite me all the time. Whenever I tried to push her away or whatever I'd get in trouble cause she's just a girl. She knew she could get away with more that me.

Fucking bitch.

^I'm not arguing that at all.

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 4:37 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2005 4:36:22 PM

there is truth in comedy. hes not a reporter, but he must seek truth in politics to be funny.

9/26/2005 4:37:53 PM

Stewart has moods. some episodes he plays it off well and it is hallarious. But some episodes it seems like his goal is to be a partisan hack with good writers.

9/26/2005 5:18:03 PM

I quit watching after he interviewed Hitchens. Stewart was almost as bad as fucking Fox News, asking questions and then cutting the man off before he had a chance to answer. He officially quit being funny enough often enough to warrant my time.

9/26/2005 5:27:25 PM

Quote :

"Don't get me wrong, I think he is a smart man with some good points to make, but just because you are speaking in the form of a satire doesn't mean you are beyond analysis. "

9/26/2005 5:35:35 PM

David Cross is funnier than Ston Jewart

9/26/2005 5:44:20 PM

9/26/2005 5:51:25 PM

David Cross is a lot funnier than Jon Stewart.

9/26/2005 6:42:53 PM

I'm not really sure what you're bitching about.

One can be funny and still make good points, so I don't see the contradiction.

9/26/2005 8:32:25 PM

...and the double standard continues to shameless flash us.

9/26/2005 8:34:33 PM

THOU SHALT NOT COMPARE THE DAILY SHOW TO FOX NEWS

unless youre trying to seriously insult fox news

9/26/2005 9:21:14 PM

Fox News is usually more funny nowadays

9/26/2005 9:42:55 PM

^^^^^ hey, one person spelled his name right

9/26/2005 10:03:33 PM

I KNEW it was Jon.

Then I saw someone said John and I googled it and google didn't yell at me so I went with the h.

9/26/2005 10:11:44 PM

Quote :

"i consider greta van sustern a prank-calling puppet"

yeah, except the puppet master decided at some point to change which part of the head, above or below the mouth, actually moves when she speaks

9/26/2005 10:25:35 PM

aha

well i think when he's trying to make a serious point, he usually sticks with it and doesn't back off. mostly, when he says "this is just a fake news show, what do we know," it's to evade an awkward point in an interview when he can see it's not going anywhere. jon really is excellent at thinking on his feet and reacting on the spot.

also, another reason why he does that is to say, hey, we're a fake news show, and even we know that story is full of shit, so it should be obvious to the real news people.

9/26/2005 10:26:13 PM

i don't remember ordering the christian sandwich
cause if they had asked, i would have had the buddhist pasta

9/26/2005 11:06:52 PM

Quote :

"jon really is excellent at thinking on his feet and reacting on the spot. "

I wouldn't call saying "well, this is a fake news show" whenever you get pwnt an example of thinking on your feet... I'd call it "backpedaling"

9/26/2005 11:08:59 PM

Quote :

"I wouldn't call saying "well, this is a fake news show" whenever you get pwnt"

When has stewart gotten pwnt?

[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 11:14 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2005 11:14:24 PM

I would say "trying to evade an awkward point" might be an example of him being pwnt. Now, spaced guy could be fullashit and Stewart might have never tried to evade an awkward point, but I was just responding to spaced guy

9/26/2005 11:16:40 PM

i dont think i've ever seen jon "backpedal"

9/26/2005 11:44:54 PM

by awkward, i just mean when the interviewee isn't very entertaining, whether it's someone he agrees with or not - he uses that approach to lighten things up and seem modest by making fun of himself. the show is first and foremost about entertainment.

9/26/2005 11:45:49 PM

If TDS took itself too seriously, which you (Locutus) seems to want, it wouldn't be TDS.

But, you are correct in pointing out that it's kind of lame for people to say "it's just a joke" all the time.

9/26/2005 11:48:25 PM

yeah about when I start thinking "ugh this is getting boring" stewart usually interupts them with a clever little joke, regaining my attention.

9/26/2005 11:48:38 PM

Quote :

"the show is first and foremost about entertainment."

oh you mean kind of like rush limbaugh

cool


[Edited on September 26, 2005 at 11:50 PM. Reason : s]

9/26/2005 11:49:28 PM

Quote :

"If TDS took itself too seriously, which you (Locutus) seems to want, it wouldn't be TDS."

You understand, we aren't talking about him saying this ON THE SHOW? We are talking about him (and others) talking about the show outside of the show.

9/27/2005 1:38:04 AM

^ you might want to specify with examples.

Otherwise you're just complaining about generalizations no one else seems to share.

9/28/2005 12:38:30 AM

Quote :

" dont think i've ever seen jon "backpedal""

When does he have to backpedal? Even if he did get thoroughly and demonstrably pwnt, the audience is putty in his hands. Whatever he says (inevitably anti-Bush), especially if it's witty, will generate a round of applause. It's not like the audience is going to pause to rationally consider any counter-argument; they came to see Stewart, implying to a large extent that they already agree with him, so they're going to back him, maybe as blindly as some of my idiot compatriots back Bush.

Like I said, watch the Hitchens interview. Even if you think all his points were shit, Stewart rarely responded to any of them specifically -- he just kept asking for an explanation for why his broad-based antiwar ideas were wrong, a question which requires more than a blurb, not that the poor bastard ever got enough time to blurb anyway. And every time Jon asked, the audience exploded with applause -- hell, even the interviewee said, "Well, obviously you're going to get applause," prompting the audience to give him a pity clap at Stewart's (and probably an Applause Sign's) request. That was it. Period. If you go to see Jon Stewart, you're going to see a liberal make fun of Bush, end of story. As long as he does that -- and boy, he does -- everyone there is happy that they got what they wanted, whether or not there was any sense behind it.

Don't get me wrong, Jon Stewart is a smart and funny man. I just wish he hadn't gone power-mad and hypocritical here lately, so that I'd still have at least one current-events show I could watch and enjoy.

9/28/2005 4:45:59 AM

hes still very humble

9/28/2005 5:27:22 AM

i would just like to point out that stewart has made fun of kerry and other democrats plenty of times. He does his george bush impersonation AND his kerry impersonation almost any time he shows a clip of one of them.

9/28/2005 7:09:53 AM