Yet Stewart is neither of these things in The Problem , and he seems acutely aware of disappointing viewer expectations with this choice. The next time he goes to the Comedy Cellar, he quips at the end of episode one, "they're all going to be like, 'Oh look, Mother Teresa just came. Whether this strategy will work remains to be seen. On The Daily Show , Stewart's humor was an effective tool to lure in viewers, then tell them something important. By stripping away the expectation of humor from The Problem 's start, Stewart may have abandoned his most tempting bait.
Or he may be prepared to work without it. That's part of what makes The Problem strange — and quite possibly very special: By Stewart's own admission, it's "less entertaining" than we might expect from him, but in the absence of distractions, also "more complete.
That's the thing about being angry. Sometimes it's just "yelling at the screen," as Stewart described his old approach to The New York Times. And historically, Stewart yelling at the screen has been pretty hilarious! But sometimes being angry provokes us to a righteous stubbornness, giving us the energy and inclination to insist, over and over, that someone needs to care , until someone, anyone, starts to listen.
Comedy is comedy, and news is news—one of those things is supposed to inform people accurately and impartially about the world, and the other is Laura Ingraham. But something else happened in the six years he was off television. While jokes pinged around like oxygen molecules—necessary but flame-stoking—and the state of the world got even worse, Stewart found that he was better able to advocate for meaningful change from the sidelines, without being funny at all.
And so that is the show. As a programme it is righteously furious about a worthy subject and, as a result, just a little dull. The second episode, Freedom, finds its groove and works much better. It then expands outwards to look at the true threats to freedom and democracy faced by people in other countries, and the more intangible problem of how you persuade people convinced otherwise that a slight reduction in their long-held privilege does not amount to tyranny but to a tiny step towards greater equality.
It is still not a funny programme — though there are many more laughs, from a much warmer audience — but it and we are now clear that it is not trying to be. Gags are mostly confined to the introduction and the rest largely arise organically during the wide-ranging discussion among Stewart and his guests all targets of genuinely oppressive regimes or tactics in different countries. Irresistible , in turn, begins with a fantasy sequence in which political consultants on Spin Alley break format by actually telling the truth, and ends with an Amusing Ourselves to Death gag.
These are all arguments Stewart has been making for more than 20 years now. That he keeps squandering it on easy cynicism instead. Moreover, it is focused on demonstrably real problems. It struggles, however, with the same problem that has always vexed Jon Stewart: Is this show supposed to kick-start change? Is it supposed to be a news show? Or is it supposed to just be funny? Stewart has obviously thought about those questions.
How do we best execute our intention? You state your case in the marketplace of ideas, and if you do it well enough, people will buy your idea and discard the old bad ones. Stewart made his case for the so-called disenfranchised center very, very well. You run a pedophile ring out of a pizza shop! So Stewart is now left performing a new version of the dance he used to do back when The Daily Show was on, when he constantly and simultaneously insisted on his own righteousness and influence and on the idea that he was just a nobody comic filling time for a network full of puppets who make crank calls.
In , Stewart insists that the platform he offers his guests on The Problem With Jon Stewart is the most concrete thing he can do to change the world, while at the same time maintaining his powerlessness. Stewart ended this argument with a question that seems to cut to the core of all he does. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.
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How seriously should we take Jon Stewart? Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Jon Stewart on the set of The Daily Show in Next Up In Culture. Delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email required.
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