Jon Stewart’s Flagdance
Jon Stewart weighs in on the Confederate Flag controversy as only he can:
I’m really, really gonna miss him when he’s gone.
Jon Stewart weighs in on the Confederate Flag controversy as only he can:
I’m really, really gonna miss him when he’s gone.
What makes Jon Stewart great is that he actually knows some history and some politics. I don’t see that in Trevor Noah.
I think Jon’s right that it’s time for him to leave – ever since he directed that movie he’s seemed restless. But I wish they’d gone with Craig Ferguson or hadn’t lost John Oliver.
John Oliver would have been the perfect successor, he proved that when he took the show over while Stewart was off making his movie. And HBO noticed.
I haven’t really seen much of Noah yet, so I don’t have a strong opinion on him one way or the other. But I truly believe that losing John Oliver will result in the eventual death of that show. He was the funniest correspondent they had ever had in the history of that show (although I’d listen to an argument for Colbert or Carell) and he proved he could host it for an extended period of time and be brilliant. TDS made a huge error in losing him, and I think it will be a fatal one.
Part of what made Oliver so great was that he started developing his ability to comment on American politics long before (well, long in internet terms) the Daily Show.
If you don’t list to his podcast The Bugle (Audio Newspaper for a Digital World), you should start ASAP. It’s consistently brilliant.
I just watched Noah’s stand up on Netflix. It’s good, not great, but very solid. He has a sharp eye for American society, and does an OK job of commenting without being preachy ,but I don’t think he’s there yet. However with practice (and producing a show 4 days a week, 49ish weeks a year will certainly give him that), I can see him developing into a very good host.
It was a risk CC took by picking him, but I think they are looking at how to turn TDS into an institution, similar to what Paar’s handoff to Carson did. Oliver was already on a path to bigger and better things. They didn’t want a new host to be there for 5 years before moving on. With Noah, if he develops into a good host, he could be looking at 15 or 20 years in the seat.
@Neil Hudelson:
Oh, thanks! I had no idea he had a podcast. Just subscribed.
Wait.. . wait. . . did we just commit social media?
Yeah, yeah, Trevor Noah, whatever — are they gonna give Bassem Youssef a correspondent slot or what?
Frankly I’m looking forward to the possibly months-long subtext to every bit about how Trevor Noah is an asshole who usurped the position from me, Jordan Klepper or Jessica Walters. Or people making fun of his horrible impressions to not living up to the great impressions of his predecessor.
@Tillman: Jessica Williams.