The Daily Show

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The Daily Show
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart logo
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart logo
GenreComedy
Satire
News parody
Created byMadeleine Smithberg
Lizz Winstead
Presented byCraig Kilborn (1996–1998)
Jon Stewart (1999–present)
StarringCorrespondents
Guests
Opening themeBob Mould - Dog on Fire
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes1,454 (as of October 18, 2007) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time22 minutes
Original release
NetworkComedy Central
ReleaseJuly 22, 1996 –
present
Related
The Colbert Report

The Daily Show (currently A Daily Show with Jon Stewart[1]) is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning American satirical television program produced by and airing on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on Monday, July 22, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn, who acted as its anchorman. Kilborn left the show in 1998, and was replaced by Jon Stewart in early 1999.

Production of new episodes was suspended[2] due to the Writers Guild of America strike which began on November 5,2007. Prior to the strike, the last new episode to air was on November 1, 2007. New episodes began airing on January 7, 2008, without the striking writing staff.[3]

Providing news-related comedy in the tradition of several popular comedic forerunners (Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment, HBO's Not Necessarily The News, Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show, the BBC's The Day Today, CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes and TQS's 100 Limite), The Daily Show reports with a satirical edge about the foibles and hypocrisies of the real world.

Current format

The Daily Show's format has remained relatively stable throughout the years. Each episode opens with a deep or low voice stating the date and the introduction, "From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." This used to be followed by the statement "The most important television program...ever", but this line was eliminated from the introduction on September 20, 2001, the show's first episode following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The show was also previously credited in the introduction as the place "where more Americans get their news … than any other nationality."

The show begins with the host's monologue of news headlines. This is often followed by "on location" reports from one of its "senior" specialists in the subject at hand. The correspondents' stated areas of expertise vary depending on the news story that is being discussed, and can range from relatively general (such as "Senior Political Analyst") to absurdly specific (such as "Senior Child Molestation Expert" or "Senior Subterranean Structure Analyst"). These correspondents are said to be on location, but are taped live in the same studio in front of a greenscreen, which is filled in with an appropriate location backdrop. This is occasionally made the subject of jokes; for example, by having correspondents report from unlikely locations such as a press base on Mars. In another instance, this was parodied when two correspondents filed consecutive "live reports" from Washington, one against a backdrop of the city during daytime and the other in front of the city at night. The correspondents typically present absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against Stewart's straight man.

A few reports have been filmed on location; for example, Jason Jones was actually in Denmark for a March 28, 2006 report, which he proved by shoving the person behind him (an uncredited passerby). During the week of August 20, 2007 the show aired a series of segments called "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq" in which correspondent Rob Riggle reported from Iraq.

The show formerly split the news into many segments known as "Headlines", "Other News", and "This Just In", though these titles were dropped sometime around 2003. Stewart and company rely on a technique of intercutting footage with commentary, in which they stop the action at a telling moment so as to leave political clichés, dud imagery, or self-contradictory statements hanging in the air, to which the host or correspondent then registers skeptical reserve or pained dismay.

Following the regular news portion are correspondent pieces and interviews, the order of which varies from episode to episode. Correspondent pieces feature a rotating supporting cast who sometimes break out as comedy stars, and involve the show's members actually traveling to a different location to make a report or interview people important to the story. Topics have varied widely, ranging from the invention of hufu, a tofu-based human flesh substitute, to a piece highlighting the lack of Asian men in pornography. Local media have reported on visits from Daily Show correspondents.[4]

Some segments recur periodically, such as "Back in Black" with Lewis Black, "This Week in God", "Trendspotting" with Demetri Martin, "Are You Prepared?!?", "Wilmore-Oliver Investigates", and "You Don't Know Dick" (a segment centered on Vice President Dick Cheney). Since the early days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a common part of the show has been "Mess O' Potamia", focusing on the troubles in the Middle East, especially Iraq. A newer theme, called "Clusterf@#k to the White House", covers the 2008 presidential race.

In the show's third act, an interview is conducted by the host with one guest. Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources: movie and television celebrities, authors and politicians (current and retired). A light tone is generally established by the host, but if the topic demands serious consideration, the interview may veer from comedy for the few minutes that it lasts. The same politicians that are joked about in monologues will generally be treated with respect if they show up to be interviewed.

In a closing segment sometimes referred to as the "toss," host Jon Stewart checks in with "our good friend, Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report." This check-in was done daily in an initial period of the Colbert Report but in 2007 was cut back to twice per week. After a brief exchange, there is a segue to the closing credits in the form of "Your Moment of Zen", a surreal piece of video footage that has been part of the show's wrap-up since the series began in 1996.

Studio

The outside of the current Daily Show studio

The program features Stewart sitting at his desk on an elevated island stage in a "theatre in the round" type studio. On July 11, 2005, the show moved its "World News Headquarters" to New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood at 733 11th Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets. The set changed along with the move, gaining a sleeker, more formal look, including a backdrop of three large projection screens which at first was not well-received by many fans of the show. The set change immediately spawned a backlash among fans and served as impetus for a campaign to "Bring Back the Couch" as it was not a part of the new set. The campaign was subsequently mentioned on the show by Stewart and supported by Daily Show contributor Bob Wiltfong. The couch was eventually made the prize in a Daily Show sweepstakes in which the winner got the couch, round-trip tickets to New York, tickets to the show and a small sum of money. Their old studio is now used for The Colbert Report, a spin-off of the Daily Show starring former correspondent Stephen Colbert.

The sign over the entryway of the current Daily Show studio

On April 9, 2007 the studio was changed again, the projection screens were revamped (one large screen behind Stewart, while the one behind the interview subject remained the same), a large, global map with certain points glowing directly behind Stewart, a more open studio floor, and a J-shaped desk (with the show's logo on the front) with a globe serving as a de facto leg on one end. The intro was changed as well; the flag graphic, and the display names, dates, and logos were all streamlined. For the first two shows after the April 2007 update, a live staff were visible through a window into a "control room" set directly behind Stewart, in emulation of network newscasts. However, the movement of the people proved a distraction, and they were removed.

Production

According to an October 7, 2003, USA Today article, the show is pulled together by researchers scanning major newspapers, the Associated Press and cable news channels. Then, they give possible topics to the ten writers. The writers meet to discuss headline material for the lead news segment. By 11:15 AM they meet with Jon Stewart, and by 12:30 PM they have come up with jokes for the day's show.

The Daily Show tapes four new episodes a week, Monday through Thursday. Taping of the program begins in front of the audience at 6:30 PM; the show is then broadcast at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central, a time when local television stations show their real news reports and about half an hour before most other late-night comedy programs begin to go on the air. The program is rerun several times the next day, including an 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central primetime spot.

While the studio capacity is limited, tickets to attend tapings are free and can be obtained if requested far enough in advance.

History

With Craig Kilborn (1996–1998)

The Daily Show was created by Lizz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg. Searching for a weeknight staple to replace Politically Incorrect (a Comedy Central program that moved to ABC), Comedy Central premiered The Daily Show in the summer of 1996. A fake news program originally hosted by Craig Kilborn, the show featured a humorous take on contemporary news events. Aimed to parody conventional newscasts, the show featured a comedic monologue of the day's headlines, mockumentary styled on-location reports, in-studio segments, guest commentary, and debates. The show also took advantage of its visual medium, littering episodes with small touches like in-screen images labeled with their own gags, and presenting absurd bits of trivia coming back and going into commercials. Such segments included: "This Day in Hasselhoff History", "Last Weekend's Top-Grossing Films, Converted into Lira", and "Final Jeopardy!" in which Winstead's mother, Ginny, would ask and answer the final question of that day's Jeopardy!. (Due to threatened legal action by the producers of Jeopardy!, this was replaced with various trivia questions and the name of the segment was changed to "Trivial Compromise".) Originally the show was done without a studio audience, and would just prompt the laughs of its own off-camera staff members. A studio audience was incorporated into the show for its second season, and has remained since.

Under Winstead and Kilborn the show had a much more relaxed atmosphere, with not all contributors wearing suits and the stories tending to dwell on the trivial and nonsensical. Kilborn often made personal asides to the audience, often dancing for them, especially on Thursdays as a celebration of the end of the week. In each show Kilborn would conduct very informal celebrity interviews that would end with a segment called "Five Questions" in which Kilborn would ask a sequence of five questions that often had irrelevant answers. The routine was derived from a pick-up line of Kilborn's invention, which Winstead thought would make good material for the show.

Regular correspondents included Brian Unger, Beth Littleford, and A. Whitney Brown. Stephen Colbert joined the cast a year after it premiered and was referred to as "The New Guy" for the remainder of Kilborn's three year tenure. Lizz Winstead herself also acted as a contributor as well as a writer in a weekly spot called "He Said, Winstead" in which she and Kilborn would ad lib a point-counterpoint style argument.

Each show was capped off with a segment called "Your Moment of Zen" that often showed random video clips of humorous and sometimes morbid interest such as a snake charmer pulling a snake out of his throat via his nostril. A controversy arose due to one clip in which Asian men and women were shown throwing live baby chicks at alligators as feed. Winstead reacted to complaints by creating a similar video in which she threw fake chicks into a pond from a row boat.

Tensions often flared behind the scenes between Kilborn and female cast, leading Beth Littleford (a once-crew-leading member of the Daily Show) to comment later that Kilborn was as "dumb as a post". In a 1997 Esquire magazine interview, Kilborn made sexually explicit comments about his female coworkers. This led to a two week suspension without pay. Co-creator Winstead quit one month later.

In 1998 Kilborn left The Daily Show in order to replace Tom Snyder on CBS's The Late Late Show. He was able to take the interview segment "Five Questions" and for a brief period, his "Moment for Us" segment with him to the new show, disallowing any new TDS hosts from using it in their interviews. Correspondents Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown left the show shortly before him. Unger returned for a single show in which he was supposedly killed on assignment by an incoming cruise missile.

Kilborn's last new show was aired on December 17, 1998. Reruns were shown until Jon Stewart's debut 4 weeks later.

A book released by Comedy Central titled The Daily Show: Five Questions (ISBN 0-8362-5325-6) was released in 1998 and highlights many of the best interview moments from Craig Kilborn's stint as host.

With Jon Stewart (1999–present)

Jon Stewart took over as host on Monday, January 11, 1999. Stewart had previously hosted two shows on MTV (You Wrote It, You Watch It and an eponymous talk show), as well as a syndicated late-night talk show, and had been cast in films and television. His first guest was Spin City's Michael J. Fox, who quipped, "I've been on this show more than you have!"

Unlike Kilborn, whose dialogue and character were written entirely by others, Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and co-executive producer of the series. His influence is noted for heading a significant shift in the way the show handled news. Stewart had a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. This satirical edge, combined with the show's 2000 election coverage, presciently dubbed "Indecision 2000", helped to catapult Stewart and The Daily Show to new levels of popularity and critical respect. With Stewart on board, the show has won ten Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards, and its ratings more than doubled according to a 2003 Associated Press article.[5] By 2004, the show had emerged into a pop culture hit and one of the most popular programs on cable television.

In taking over hosting from Kilborn, Stewart retained much of the same staff and on-air talent, allowing many pieces to transition without much trouble, while other features like "God Stuff", with John Bloom presenting an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists, and "Backfire", an in-studio debate between Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown, evolved into the similar pieces of Stephen Colbert's "This Week in God" and Colbert and Steve Carell's "Even Stevphen". Since the change, a number of new features have been, and continue to be, developed as well. The ending segment "Your Moment of Zen" developed from a random selection of humorous videos to often being recaps or extended versions of news clips shown earlier in the show (though sometimes are completely unrelated to any previous segment). The show's theme music, "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould, was re-recorded by They Might Be Giants.

Interviews and guests

Main article: List of The Daily Show guests

In addition to news stories, The Daily Show includes interviews with celebrities of various degrees of notoriety and fame, authors, musicians, and political figures. The political interviews have featured many prominent guests such as:

(*Running for President at the time of the interview)

As described in an October 2006 cover story in Rolling Stone, "Stewart's show has become the hot destination for anyone who wants to sell books or seem hip, from presidential candidates to military dictators. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf arrived at the Daily Show studio with bomb-sniffing dogs and a bulletproof facade for the anchor desk."[6] Musharraf and Morales to date have been the only sitting heads of state to appear on The Daily Show. During his interview with Secretary Spellings, Stewart quipped that she was apparently the only sitting member of the Bush administration who was "not allergic to" him, referring to the fact that until Spellings' interview, prominent members of the Bush Administration had only come to the show after they had resigned or retired. During an interview with Stewart on May 24, 2007, Al Gore stated that The Daily Show was one of the best places to get news, saying that now, much like the 13th century, the jester is perhaps the only one who can tell the truth without getting his head cut off.

Through Kilborn's run and the early years of Stewart's, the celebrity interviews would most often take place midway through the program. In recent years this has changed to the interviews being placed near the end of the show. Recent years have also seen the show's guest list tend away from celebrities and more towards non-fiction book authors and various political pundits, as well as many prominent elected officials. In one notable 2004 interview, former president Bill Clinton appeared on the show to discuss his autobiography, My Life. In the course of the interview, Clinton discussed the attacks on presidential candidate John Kerry's war record and the admissions of fraud by and no-bid contracts awarded to Halliburton, the company closely associated with Vice President Dick Cheney.

On December 1, 2005, the White Stripes became the first musical guests to perform on a regular episode of the show. After a brief interview with Stewart, the duo performed their songs "The Denial Twist" and later, "My Doorbell." In a press release, Stewart said, "We've never had a musical performance on the show before — not because we haven't wanted one — but because we were holding out for a reunited Spandau Ballet. This will have to suffice." They Might Be Giants's appearance on the December 15, 1999 special "The Greatest Millennium" where they performed the theme (Bob Mould's "Dog On Fire"), incidental music, and their song "I Can Hear You" is not counted, as the producers do not consider it to be a part of the regular series. Another "unofficial" performance came on September 29,2003, when Tenacious D played from the couch. Most recently, the November 28, 2006 show — also Stewart’s birthday — featured a live performance by guest Tom Waits, who played his song "Day After Tomorrow" during the closing credits.

When Stephen Colbert started his own show, The Colbert Report, which airs immediately after The Daily Show, Stewart began ending his show "checking in" with Stephen Colbert, usually exchanging notes on each other's shows, which is then followed by the Moment of Zen. On August 8, 2006, Stephen Colbert turned the tables and "checked in" with Jon Stewart as Stewart was leaving to go home.[7] On August 10, 2006, Stephen Colbert reappeared on the set of The Daily Show to demand that Jon apologize to Geraldo Rivera, who on The O'Reilly Factor said that Stewart and Colbert "counted for nothing" and showed "clips of old ladies slipping on ice" for humor. Colbert, in character, condemned The Daily Show for angering Rivera. When Stewart refused to apologize, Colbert proclaimed him "On Notice", though Jon averted the crisis by appearing on The Colbert Report the following Monday and apologizing (after "walking a mile in Geraldo's shoes" by wearing his mustache). When former correspondent Steve Carell appeared on The Daily Show as a guest, Stewart asked him if he had a report to file, to which Carell responded in a deadpan joke, "I don't file reports anymore. I do movies."

On September 13, 2006, a new portion of the interview segment began called "The Seat of Heat", wherein the host would ask a guest one hard question to be answered. On September 18, 2006, for example, former United States President Bill Clinton was asked how Hillary Clinton could be defeated should she run for president. The segment was apparently discontinued on November 27, 2006.

Democratic Party Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was the show's featured guest on August 22, 2007 and joined in the spirit of the program when, asked by host Jon Stewart if he should consider running a smaller country first, Obama jokingly replied he had thought about "invading" a smaller country.[8]

As a news source

Television ratings show that the program generally has 1.4 million viewers nightly,[9] a high figure for cable television. In demographic terms, the viewership is skewed to a relatively young audience compared to traditional news shows. A 2004 Nielsen Media Research study commissioned by Comedy Central put the median age at 35. In fact, during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the show received more male viewers in the 18-34 year old age demographic than Nightline, Meet the Press, Hannity & Colmes and all of the evening news broadcasts.[10] Because of this, Howard Dean posited during an appearance that Stewart and Bill Maher serve as a real source of news for young people, regardless of their intentions.

The show's writers often repeat the fact that The Daily Show is a comedy program and not a reliable news source by itself. The show does not follow normal rules of journalistic integrity, but much of the schtick of the program involves questioning whether establishment television news sources in the United States, notably the cable news channels CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel, are holding themselves to normal rules of journalistic integrity.

The Washington Post ran an article on August 24, 2004 in which it quoted Nightline anchor Ted Koppel, who said to his viewers in a telecast from the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston: "A lot of television viewers — more, quite frankly, than I'm comfortable with — get their news from the Comedy Channel on a program called The Daily Show." Stewart took issue with Koppel's comment, saying Daily Show fans watch "for comedic interpretation" of the news. "[They watch] to be informed", Koppel replied, refusing to budge from his position: "They actually think they're coming closer to the truth with your show." Stewart shot back: "Now that's a different thing, that's credibility, that's a different animal." Appearing on each other's shows a few weeks later, Koppel and Stewart downplayed the idea that the two had any mutual animosity. Also, in America (The Book), written by the staff of the Daily Show, Ted Koppel was one of only two political interviewers that the authors deemed credible (the other was Tim Russert). Later, Koppel even participated in one of Jon Stewart's ongoing jokes, temporarily taking the moniker "The Giant Head Of Ted Koppel", berating Stewart from a massive video screen on the set. This job was normally performed by Brian Williams, who was scheduled to be a guest on the show that day.

File:Kerry on the Daily Show.jpg
John Kerry on The Daily Show

The National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania ran a study of American television viewers around the same time and found that fans of The Daily Show had a more accurate idea of the facts behind the 2004 presidential election than most others.[11] The study primarily focused on comparing the audiences of TDS with that of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman, but Daily Show viewers also beat out people who primarily got their news through the national evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC and those who mostly read newspapers, while roughly matching the knowledge level of viewers who watched a considerable amount of cable TV news. The study attempted to compensate for the fact that many viewers of TDS get information from many sources, including the Internet.

The National Annenberg Election Survey is, however, contradictory to a survey by Pew Research Center (the study does not focus on The Daily Show specifically, but on 'comedy shows' in general). According to Pew Research Center on their 2004 campaign survey, those who cited comedy shows as a source for news were among the least informed on campaign events and key aspects of the candidates' backgrounds while those who cited the Internet, National Public Radio, and news magazines were the most informed. People who cited newspapers, public news TV shows, and talk radio were also nearly as knowledgeable as people who used the Internet as a source. Even when age and education were taken into account, the people who learned about the campaigns through the Internet were still the most informed, while those who learned from comedy shows were the least informed.[12]

In 2006, a study published by Indiana University tried to compare the substantive amount of information of The Daily Show against prime time network news broadcasts. Julia R. Fox, an assistant professor of telecommunications at the university, showed in her study, "No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Network Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign"[13] (to be published in the summer of 2007), that when it comes to substance, there is little difference between the Daily Show and other news outlets. By using coverage and footage of the 2004 presidential election, she analyzes and compares both communication media. What she found was that neither actually offers more, since both programs are more focused on the nature of "infotainment" and ratings, making them both "equal" in content.[14] The analysis indicates that the Daily Show offered more humor than substance in their coverage, but that same study also found that the typical network coverage preferred to offer more hype than any real political substance.[15] The study seems to indicate that either The Daily Show has become a legitimate 'news source' or the mainstream media has ceased to be one.[16] Julia Fox states that "In an absolute sense, we should probably be concerned about both of those sources, because neither one is particularly substantive. It's a bottom-line industry and ratings-driven. We live in an 'infotainment' society, and there certainly are a number of other sources available." According to Fox, the study was less of an endorsement for The Daily Show; rather instead was meant to indict the negligence of news networks for their failure to uphold high standards in their political coverage.[17]

More recently, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey, released on April 15, 2007, that shows that regular viewers of The Daily Show tend to be more knowledgeable about news than audiences of other news sources. Approximately 54% of The Daily Show viewers scored in the high knowledge range in comparison to 34% of network morning shows viewers who scored in the same range. The survey shows that changing news formats have not made much difference on how much the public knows about national and international affairs; however, it notes that there is no clear connection between news formats and what audiences know. In addition, the survey gave a breakdown of the percent of people who regularly watch certain news sources and listed that 16% of respondents regularly watch The Daily Show and/or The Colbert Report.[18]

Stewart was half-facetiously floated as a possible successor to Dan Rather of CBS Evening News according to Time (this is partly due to the fact that, at the time, Comedy Central and CBS were both owned by media conglomerate Viacom). The Daily Show writers authored a best-selling text, America (The Book), published in September 2004. It remained a bestseller even after the election, despite a decision by Wal-Mart to cancel its order because Chapter 5, on the Judicial Branch, includes obviously doctored photographs of the then current Supreme Court justices, with their heads superimposed on appropriately aged naked bodies. On the page opposite the photographs, the reader is invited to "restore their dignity" by covering each justice with a cutout of his or her robe. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman was quoted in USA Today as saying, "We felt a majority of our customers would not be comfortable with the image." The book was also banned from some Mississippi public libraries for its ribald "centerfold". (The ban was lifted within 24 hours of its announcement after the library board received complaints.) Stewart responded to this on air by saying, "Of course the go-to joke here would be, 'They have libraries in Mississippi?' But we're not going there."

Stewart, along with Stephen Colbert, was featured on the November 16, 2006 cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, being called "America's anchors."[19]

Criticism

Accusations of liberal bias

Conservatives, including Bill O'Reilly and Bill Kristol, have argued that The Daily Show has a liberal bias. Stewart says that the show does have a point of view but that its aim is not to do political work, and he pointed out that it was not his fault if conservatives provide more causes for criticism than liberals. He asserts that the show is neither "a liberal organization" nor an "equal opportunity offender".[20]

Stewart is often critical of Democratic politicians for being weak, timid, or ineffective. He said in an interview with Larry King, prior to the 2006 elections, "I honestly don't feel that [the Democrats] make an impact. They have 49 percent of the vote and three percent of the power. At a certain point you go, 'Guys, pick up your game.'"[21] He has targeted them for failing to effectively stand on some issues, such as their stance on the war in Iraq. For instance, regarding Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller's criticism of exaggerated intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Stewart said, "Democrats: always standing up for what they later realized they should've believed in."

In an interview in 2005, when Stephen Colbert was asked how he responds to critics claiming that The Daily Show is overly liberal, he said, "We are liberal, but Jon’s very respectful of the Republican guests, and, listen, if liberals were in power it would be easier to attack them, but Republicans have the executive, legislative and judicial branches, so making fun of Democrats is like kicking a child, so it’s just not worth it."[22]

Ben Karlin, then the show's executive producer, said in a 2004 interview, "If you're asking whether we require a loyalty oath, the answer is perhaps. There is a collective sensibility that, when filtered through Jon and the correspondents, feels uniform. But hey, if you have a legitimately funny joke in support of the notion that gay people are an affront to God, we'll put that motherfucker on!"[23]

Interviews

When asked, Jon Stewart and others connected with the show describe it as an entertainment program dealing in "fake news" and reject the idea that they are a news show that undertakes any kind of journalism. Critics, including Tucker Carlson and Lizz Winstead, one of The Daily Show's creators, have criticized Stewart for taking a journalistic approach to his solo segments and then, in interviews with the same politicians and newspeople he often lampoons, rarely taking them to task face-to-face. Winstead said, "When you are interviewing a Richard Perle or a Kissinger, if you give them a pass, then you become what you are satirizing."[24]

During Stewart's appearance on CNN's Crossfire, he criticized the show and said that it was "hurting America" by reducing issues to a left vs. right screaming match and enabling political spin. When co-host Carlson complained that Stewart did not ask John Kerry substantial questions when Kerry appeared on The Daily Show, Stewart countered that it was not his job to give hard-hitting interviews. Suggesting that a "fake news" comedy program should not be held to the same standards as real journalists, Stewart said, "You're on CNN! The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls! What is wrong with you?"[25]

Enabling complacency

In a March 4, 2006, article in The Boston Globe, "Why Jon Stewart Isn't Funny", Michael Kalin argued that Jon Stewart's laughs come at the expense of idealism and too easily enables American college students to adopt a self-righteous attitude toward politics, ultimately rendering them complacent and apathetic.

"Stewart...leads to a "holier than art thou" attitude [among students] toward our national leaders. People who possess the wit, intelligence, and self-awareness of viewers of The Daily Show would never choose to enter the political fray full of "buffoons and idiots." Content to remain perched atop their Olympian ivory towers, these bright leaders head straight for the private sector."[26]

A Daily Reflector article about The Daily Show viewers concluded that they trust their own knowledge in politics, rather than the news media or the elites who run the political-media system. The article suggests that citizens who believe they understand politics may be more active in the system than those who do not. Yet the article also points out that cynicism can be a voter turnoff.[27]

There are those who do not agree that watching The Daily Show is harmful to the youth or a cause of apathy in young voters.[28][29] Defenders of the show point out that Stewart is putting a humorous spin on a faulty system. They contend that as long as Stewart's jokes are factually correct, then responsibility for increased cynicism should belong to the political and media figures themselves, not the comedian who makes fun of them.[30]

Stewart has said that he does not take any joy in the failings of American government. "We're not the guys at the craps table betting against the line," he said on Larry King Live. "We'd make fun of something else," Stewart said, "if government suddenly became inspiring."[31]

Writers' Strike

Due to the writers' strike, the show went on hiatus on November 5, 2007, meaning that it was not able to cover much of the lead-up to the 2008 Presidential Election Primary season. The show returned on January 7, 2008,[32] despite the continuing strike. The show will continue to honor the strike, with neither the show's writers nor Stewart performing their normal writing duties. To acknowledge this fact, the show is currently known as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart rather than The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and will be until the end of the strike.[1]

Editions for various markets

An edited version of the show, called The Daily Show — Global Edition, is run outside of the U.S. on CNN International once a week on several weekend time slots. This edition is prefaced by the following announcement, which is also displayed in written form against a Daily Show background:

"The show you are about to watch is a news parody. Its stories are not fact checked. Its reporters are not journalists. And its opinions are not fully thought through."

However the announcement is not used by all other international broadcasters. Viewers are invited to send comments regarding the show to CNN by email.

For the Global Edition, Stewart provides an exclusive introductory monologue in front of an audience, usually about the week's prevalent international news story, and closing comments without an audience present. The segments for the Global Edition are usually culled from Monday and Tuesday's episodes. Strong language is often censored on CNN, even if it means losing a punch line.

Westwood One had broadcast small portions of the show to many radio stations across America. This ended, unannounced, in 2006.

Spin-offs

Main article: The Colbert Report

A spin-off, The Colbert Report, was announced in early May 2005. The show stars Stephen Colbert, and serves as Comedy Central's answer to the programs of media pundits such as Bill O'Reilly. The word "Report" in the show's title, like "Colbert", is pronounced with a silent "t". Colbert, Stewart, and Ben Karlin pitched the idea of the show to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to run the show for eight weeks without first creating a pilot. The Colbert Report first aired on October 17, 2005, and takes up the 11:30PM ET/PT slot following The Daily Show. Initial ratings satisfied Comedy Central and the show was renewed for a year. A second spin-off Important things with Demetri Martin was announced in October 2007.

Awards

Main article: List of awards won by The Daily Show

Correspondents, contributors, and staff

The correspondents normally have two roles: "experts" with satirical "senior" titles that Stewart interviews about certain issues, or hosts of original reporting segments which often showcase interviews of serious political figures. The show's contributors have their own unique regular segment on the show.

Correspondents

  • Samantha Bee (July 2003 to present) — "This Week in God", "Are You Prepared?!?"; married to correspondent Jason Jones.
  • Jason Jones (September 2005 to present) — "Are You Prepared?!?", Jason Jones 180; married to correspondent Samantha Bee.
  • John Oliver (July 2006 to present) — Senior British Correspondent; "Wilmore-Oliver Investigates"; Though Bakkedahl was hired to replace Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, a new favorite among fans, has, in many ways, repeated segments done by Colbert with allusions to the original segments.
  • Rob Riggle (September 2006 to present) — Senior Military Correspondent; hired to replace departing correspondent Rob Corddry.
  • Aasif Mandvi (March 2007 to present) — Senior Middle East Correspondent; contributor since August 2006, promoted to correspondent in March 2007.

Contributors

Alumni and alumnae

Former correspondents and contributors to the Daily Show include:

Writing staff

The Daily Show writing staff, as of June 2007:

Other staff

  • Bill Clarey (1982 - December 10, 2005) was a 23-year-old staff member who worked as an intern for The Daily Show and receptionist for Comedy Central. Clarey committed suicide on December 10, 2005, prompting the network to suspend production of its show [1] the following Monday night. That Monday's episode was to have Howard Stern as a guest, but after Clarey's death, Comedy Central aired a repeat. On Tuesday, December 13, 2005, Stern appeared as the guest, and the Moment of Zen was dedicated to Clarey, with a short clip from his favorite show, Dynasty.

See also

Others

References

  1. ^ a b "Episode Dated January 8, 2008". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 2008-01-08. Comedy Central. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Horiuchi, Vince (2007-11-04). "Writers strike to hit TV first - and hard". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  3. ^ "Stewart, Colbert Returning to the Air". Associated Press. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Cendrowski, Scott. "'Daily Show' visits local senator". The State News. Retrieved 2006-03-31.
  5. ^ http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/001585.php
  6. ^ Dowd, Maureen (2006-10-31). "America's Anchors". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "The Colbert Report - 2006.08.08 - Toss to Jon Stewart". sangent games and jokes. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2006-09-09. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  8. ^ Parish, Norman (August 23, 2007), "Obama invades 'Daily Show' for a few laughs", Chicago Sun Times, retrieved 2007-08-26{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ "Reinventing Television". Wired. 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Young America's news source: Jon Stewart". CNN.com. March 2,2004. Retrieved 2006-07-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ National Annenberg Election Survey, Daily Show viewers knowledgeable about presidential campaign, National Annenberg Election Survey shows, press release, September 21, 2004. PDF file.
  12. ^ "Cable and Internet Loom Large in Fragmented Political News Universe". Pew. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  13. ^ "No joke! 'Daily Show' substantive as network news". WorldNetDaily. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  14. ^ "'Daily Show' news equal to networks'". idsnews.com. 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "It's no joke: IU study finds The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to be as substantive as network news". Indiana University Media Relations. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "The Daily Show is as substantive as the "real" news". greatnewsnetwork. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  17. ^ "No laughing matter: A recent study found that 'The Daily Show' has as much substance as traditional news programs". DailyEmerald. Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  18. ^ "Summary of Findings: Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions". Pew. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ America's Anchors Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
  20. ^ ""Such A Tease"". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  21. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/27/lkl.01.html
  22. ^ ""Five Minutes With: Stephen Colbert"". CampusProgress.org. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  23. ^ ""The Ben Karlin Interview: Just Under Twenty Questions"". Zulkey.com :: Diary. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  24. ^ "The Daily Show". Rotten.com. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
  25. ^ "Jon Stewart's Brutal Exchange with CNN Host". iFilm. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
  26. ^ Kalin, Michael (2006-03-03). "Why Jon Stewart Isn't Funnydkei". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-07-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Ryals, Jimmy (2006-05-30). "Study focuses on the effect of The Daily Show satire". The Daily Reflector. Retrieved 2006-07-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ McNamara, Melissa (2006-06-28). "Bloggers Laugh Over Jon Stewart Study". CBS News. Retrieved 2006-07-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Cotterell, Bill (2006-06-29). "But seriously folks, scholars analyze comedy". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2006-07-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Chung, Andrew (2006-05-21). "Is Jon Stewart helping or hurting?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2006-07-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/27/lkl.01.html
  32. ^ "Colbert Report, Stewart's The Daily Show Return To The Air". The Post Chronicle. 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2007-01-05.

Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Daily Show.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Daily Show.
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