What is the Daily Show?

Too serious to be comical, too comical to be serious?

Published on October 19, 2004 By messybuu In Politics

How am I supposed to watch the Daily Show?

Is it a show that's purely for entertainment purposes? If so, then I feel prudish for being offended by its liberal slant. As a Christian who laughs when South Park is blasphemous, I shouldn't be offended as a Republican when the Daily Show pokes fun at Republicans. If the show's solely comedy, then it's no different than Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.

Or is it a show that conveys a critical message about the Media (i.e. when it edits news clips to show how ridiculous networks can be or when the subject is the bias in FOX News)? If so, then Mr. Stewart would do well to remove the plank from his eye before he bitches about the splinters in others. Everything that bothers him about the Media is done on his own show, which would be acceptable if not for the fact that it's not always done for laughs. When one criticizes another for an action one often commits, then he is a hypocrite.

On one hand, Jon Stewart wants to be taken seriously, but on another, he doesn't want to be held to the same standard as those with whom he wants to be placed. He wants the best of both worlds with the burden of neither.

Comments (Page 1)

InfoGeek

on Oct 19, 2004

The show basically pokes fun at politics and the world. Think Will Rogers, with a bigger budget. And while I agree that Stewart has liberal leanings the show itself does poke fun at both sides of the isle. It just happens that the Reps are in power now.

Stewart does do a nice Kerry though. And, Mess'o potemia. Enjoy it for the comendy and insight.

IG

russellmz2

on Oct 19, 2004

it's a show that satirizes news shows.

----
"Everything that bothers him about the Media is done on his own show, which would be acceptable if not for the fact that it's not always done for laughs."
----

actually, there was an interview on some msnbc show with the writers of the daily show. they said that they feel they failed when one of their lines gets applause instead of laughs. stewart himself often half-heartedly goes "no, stop it" when the audience applauds.

i'm not quite sure what parts you feel are serious, even the interview has stewart making jokes.

the fact that it's won jounalism awards is a sad commentary on the media.

Zoomba

on Oct 19, 2004

You can't compare The Daily Show to a news show. It's a comedy show on a comedy channel... Stewart himself said it on Crossfire when he said that the lead-in to his show was puppets making crank phone calls. It's getting a lot of attention right now because of the spirited joke rivalry with O'Rielly, and now the famous debacle that was Stewart's appearance on Crossfire.

I find that if you can't laugh at yourself in any given capacity (be it faith, politics, favorite sports team etc...) then you're taking the matter more seriously than is probably healthy.

The one thing the show can do is explore political topics from a different direction, they're allowed to point out the complete absurdities in the system and provide a new perspective that deviates from the rank and file news shows. That's why I think they win journalism awards. Because they can shake things up more than the established media. Their 2000 election coverage was both hilarious and excellent by most counts.

messybuu

on Oct 19, 2004

actually, there was an interview on some msnbc show with the writers of the daily show. they said that they feel they failed when one of their lines gets applause instead of laughs. stewart himself often half-heartedly goes "no, stop it" when the audience applauds.

Thanks for clarifying it. So it's not the show that's trying to be serious, it's the viewers that are trying to make it serious.

the fact that it's won jounalism awards is a sad commentary on the media.

I agree.

The one thing the show can do is explore political topics from a different direction, they're allowed to point out the complete absurdities in the system and provide a new perspective that deviates from the rank and file news shows. That's why I think they win journalism awards. Because they can shake things up more than the established media. Their 2000 election coverage was both hilarious and excellent by most counts.

This is my problem. People want to call it a comedy show so it's not a journalistic show held to journalistic standard, and then they want to treat it as journalism.

InfoGeek

on Oct 19, 2004

I do not think that the people on the show believe they are doing a journalistic show. I think they beleive they are pointing out the problems of the body politic. It is funny, insightful, satiric and thought-provoking but I don't think its NYT journalism. That said. It can still offer hard-hitting commentary on politics and current culture. And as the above comments have said, it also explores things from a unique perspective.

IG

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 19, 2004

I treat it as bunk because it is just comedy to me no matter how much they try to be serious.

Speaking of the Daily Show it suffered a drop in viewing, hmm?

- Grimis Xlack

InfoGeek

on Oct 19, 2004

So, you're not a fan of their comedy then?

IG

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 19, 2004

So, you're not a fan of their comedy then?

Me, oh I like the comedy but I don't take an ounce of it serious at all.

The drop in viewership is because those who take the comedy serious are getting confused or something?

Who knows? I don't.

evilPidge

on Oct 19, 2004

On one hand, Jon Stewart wants to be taken seriously,

This is where I think your wrong. I don't think Jon Stewart takes himself, or his show seriously. I watch it for pure entertainment. I like how they poke fun at both liberals and conservatives (although I agree that they take more shots at the conservatives, but it may be as InfoGeek says), and I like how they make fun of the other news services. I don't think they have to worry themselves, because, as is stated time and time again on the show, they are a fake news show.

Don Bemont

on Oct 19, 2004

This is my problem. People want to call it a comedy show so it's not a journalistic show held to journalistic standard, and then they want to treat it as journalism.

I'm a liberal, but I am with you on this matter.

One of the main problems with our country's political system is that the line between politics and entertainment has become seriously blurred, as foretold many years ago in Neil Postman's excellent books Amusing Ourselves to Death and Conscientious Objections. There has always been a place for political satire and humorous mockery in elections, but now it has crept deeply into the main arenas where people get their poltical information.

A fair number of people watch the Daily Show as their main news source. A fair number of other people do the same with Rush Limbaugh. And you can extend this to many other well known entertainers who have no expertise in the issues whatsoever, but campaign for one side or the other.

When you think of it, much of the scoring debates itself is done more in a sports and entertainment spirit than in a poltical spirit. There is more worry about who is an exciting speaker and who gets in a great wisecrack than there is in whether both sides laid out their views for the voters to understand and choose between.

Even the idea of scoring debates and investing a fair amount of election coverage to polls and tactics amounts to entertainment at the expense of issue content.

So I would say I agree with your objection completely, but I would say that this particular show is just one dramatic example of a widespread problem.

Bungy32

on Oct 19, 2004

Hmmm. I think the problem here may be what we expect a comedy to be. If we think comedy is just supposed to be entertaining, then that is a very modern (and limitesd) notion of comedy. The best comedy always criticizes, but it does so from a comic frame. That frame allows us to see the absurdity in life. It draws attention to the funny things we do that we may not be aware we are doing. Truly inspired comedy makes us a bit uncomfortable when it opens our eyes in this way. This was the function of comedy in ancient Greece and Elizabethan England and Restoration France. It has also been the function of much 20th century comedy, from Theater of the Absurd to "The Honeymooners" to "All in the Family" to "South Park."

When "The Daily Show" is at its best, it uses comedy to promote a kind of media literacy. It draws attention to corporate influence, media patterns, and journalism failures. It makes us more aware of the way the media represent (and thereby constructs) the world for/to us. It pokes fun at the media and the ways it characterizes "news." Since politicians more and more work hand in hand with the media, it also takes that relationship as fodder for jokes. In doing so, it sometimes walks the line between being fake news and real news (especially in the actual field reports) -- bt it always reasserts that it is a comedy show on a cable comedy channel. While the audience for the show may be better informed that viewers of other latenight comedy and even Fox News, Stewart is very clear that if you only get your news from TDS, that's messed up.

What I appreciate about Jon Stewart's visit to "Crossfire" is that he wasn't particularly funny. Tucker Carleson couldn't seem to figure out why. Stewart was appearing on a news program. He is a smart, serious, liberal guy with opinions. His opinions about "Crossfire" weren't exactly secret. He wouldn't play the "monkey" that he often does for his own show because he constantly reminds us that "The Daily Show" is a comedy and real news programs shouldn't be comedies (but often are, unknowingly). And his point on "Crossfire" is not merely convenient or hypocritical -- he's been clear that before you can label him a "liberal" or "left leaning" he is above all concerned with the way sensationalism permeates the media and how that affects the country. Invited to "Crossfire," he made this point clearly and repeatedly and he wouldn't simply play the goofball Tucker wanted him to be.

Kudos, Jon!!!

latour999

on Oct 21, 2004

I don't think the Daily Show is inherently liberal. Bush in power just gives them a lot of material

thatoneguyinslc

on Oct 21, 2004

A lot of comedians call the last four years "a golden age of comedy" with bush 2.0 in office. The jokes practically write themselves. Stweart personally a liberal, but the show is COMEDY, not news. It just so happens that the media (ironically) has kind of spun it to hte masses that is a pseudo-news program, and people run with it from there.

Still some funny stuff about both candidates on that show, he skewers the left on a regular basis as well.

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 21, 2004

Speaking of the Daily show, why is it called the Daily Show when it comes on at night around 10PM/11PM?

Why not call it the Nightly Show, since it IS a Nightly Report not a Daily Report?

Oh well, guess somethings were not to meant to be solved by a human brain without exploding from the complexity of the issue at hand.

latour999

on Oct 21, 2004

If you think the Daily Show has some nice satire, you should see what we have in Canada. On Air Farce, people impersonate major political figures (Roger Abbot does a damn good Chretien, Bush). This Hour has 22 Minutes and Monday Report are no slouches either. So watch the CBC and all its wonderful programming like...well...that and the National (news) are pretty much it.

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