Darwinism, The Daily Show, and Produce Pete

Ten years ago, "The Daily Show" was a nightly comedy series on basic cable's Comedy Central featuring skewering of the nightly news format. Improv All Stars like Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert highlighted the show as dimwitted "correspondants" for pre-taped segments or "on-scene" interviews, then there was an interview with a movie star, and the show ended. It was a hilarious show, namely because of Carell and Colbert. That was a long time ago though, when host Jon Stewart was just the guy who played the pot dealer in "Half Baked" and Colbert and Carell were primarily known as the voices of SNL's awesome cartoon short, The Ambiguously Gay Duo. I mean, this was back when "Even Stephvens" and "Produce Pete" were an essential part of any night for me.

And then George W. got elected.

George W. Bush did for late night comedy what...well...Bill Clinton did for late night comedy three years earlier. Only, he had staying power. W. had the media intelligence of a ham sandwich and the self-awareness of my beagle (side note: my beagle will eat his own poop. Just for fun. Even when people are watching). We all remember Will Ferrel's spot on SNL impressions and the late shows taking nightly shots at W's less than quick wit. This would be around the time that "The Daily Show" got in at the ground level of political humor, I suppose. I'm guessing when they jumped on board, Stewart and company didn't expect to basically recraft the entire genre.

Slowly, Stewart began changing the format of "The Daily Show." The satire became more biting and the arrival of the 24 news network wars was the equivilant of giving David Lee Roth a pile of cocaine and a note that said "No Reprecussions." Then, 9/11 happened. Suddenly, Stewart (and more notably David Letterman) were news stories themselves for the emotional way they handled the attacks on the city they did business in.

And there's your tipping point. That's when "The Daily Show" became a phenomenon. As the nation moved into war and debt, Stewart dropped his comedy act and became deathly serious about the issues he was poking fun at. Nightly digs at W. and the Republican party became a rallying cry for the 18-34 demographic who didn't identify with the stern, lie-to-your-face approach of FoxNews and CNN. Carell moved on to TV and film and Colbert became more of a featured guest as the show centered, mostly, on Stewart. When W. secured his second term, the ratings skyrocketed even more. Stewart claimed to be the anti-pundit, taking shots at the news networks and such social hemorrhoids as Bill O'Reilly and (famously) the guys on "Crossfire." He appeared on political forums to discuss the deterioration of trust in the Bush administration. The jokes, eventually, just went away.

An example of a Jon Stewart joke circa 2007:

(several clips of W. spliced together to prove a previously prepared set up. Stewart grimly smirks at camera) "Yep. Our government is stupid."

(College crowd goes into "Woooo!" frenzy knowing he said something bad about W.)

That's not to say the points he was making weren't relevant. Of course they were. The point is that, after a while, "The Daily Show" was the Democratic version of Bill O'Reilly. It was a non-comedy show on Comedy Central. It might has well have been "The Golden Girls" on Spike TV. So I started tuning out. After close to nine years of "We Get It...You Don't Like George Bush" episodes, I gave up on the whole genre. That is, until Colbert was awarded his own show and went on to actually apply satire, comedy and poignency in on half hour block. Something Stewart flat gave up on trying to do.

He, ultimately, sacrificed comedy for the sake of being the most trusted newsman in the business. And he did it as a fake newsman. This whole thing came to a head when TIME Magazine asked the public who the most trusted newsman had been since the passing of Walter Cronkite to which the public announced....Jon Stewart.


Stewart capitalized on the sheer stupidty of FoxNews and corrupt politicians so easily, that the majority of the country saw him as their trusted face, not actual journalists. Looking back on it, that's like hearing that Richard Dawkins convinced the world that there is in fact no god, then was annointed Pope for his accomplishments. What the hell?

I generally assumed that once Barack Obama was elected, that was the end of "The Daily Show." Could they even go back to comedy at that point with a straight face? I came back and started watching the uncomfortable process of Stewart going back to comedy, while walking a fine line with politics. He stayed away from ridiculing his fellow Democrats, who now owned a Supermajority and could offically pass enough legislation to legally turn us into the Galactic Empire should they choose, and instead kept his focus on the still ludacrous FoxNews and evil manbaby Glenn Beck. That lasted about a year into the presidency, and now Stewart is willing to concede and take shots at the current President too.

Whew.

So is Jon Stewart still the most trusted man in news? I'd say no. In fact, I'd say if you asked that question today, most people would say "Glenn Beck." What can you do? People love to get fired up about how bad the current President is, no matter who it is. Still...that's one hell of a ten year evolution for one guy and a comedy lampoon of the news. From comedian, to anti-pundit, to self denial pundit, to face of the news, to success in aiding much needed national change in government, then to leveling out as a biting news satire with the ability to be funny AND serious.

Jon Stewart started the decade as a semi-popular comic known for smoking weed and being a fake newsman, and ended it as a demi-God to millions of people, a multi-time Emmy winner, the most trusted newsman on TV, and the face of an entire political ethos.

And people say television is a dying medium...