As noted it is unfair to compare Noah in his rookie year with Stewart in his prime, and Noah does bring a few new things to the table - I think he shines most brightly with jokes of the type "while you Americans were doing X, back in Africa we were doing Y". But I also think it is hardly surprising that Noah's TDS is more pedestrian, even when enjoyable, than Stewart's. I posted when Jon announced his retirement that TDS would never again be really "appointment TV"; some here poo pooed it, arguing that Stewart had been a young low profile comic when he started with little to predict his footprint would be large. That is not quite true of course - when Stewart took over TDS he was one of the hottest young comics working in television, and it seemed pretty clear that all that was needed was to find the right format for him (not that even so his hue impact was predictable). But the bigger point is that it will always be unlikely that anyone will ever have the impact Stewart had. TDS is not some kind of independent institution that Jon was simply the caretaker of; it is not even a trans-generational show like the Tonight Show or SNL. It was a niche show for a certain sensibility before Stewart raised its profile, and almost anyone they chose to replace him would preside over a show that would revert back to just another CC program.
Even with more modest expectations, Noah has been for me a bit of a disappointment. The laughing at this own jokes is obnoxious, but more than that, he often seems like a lightweight, out of his depth. He is less often the wise and perceptive foreign observer of American foibles (though, as noted, he sometimes is) than a somewhat over eager new-comer desperate to fit in. I agree the rest of the cast is weaker and less consistent that what Stewart had, and he has yet to contribute anything new or distinctive. Of course, he likely will be better in six months than he is now, but I don't see him ever making TDS as important as it once was. Jon Stewart has retired. On Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 11:39 PM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > I swear to God I meant to send out an email with this title since > Wednesday morning and then I see those rat bastards at The Atlantic put out > out an article with the same theme. > > http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/why-we-still-miss-jon-stewart/426840/?utm_source=SFFB > It's just with the Iowa Caucus it is obvious The Daily Show isn't > delivering to Stewart's level. It is not appointment TV. > Election night in November will be the show's Super Bowl but the Iowa > Caucus is a playoff game but the show seemed so routine. No memorable jokes > or observations. The article claims the writing is still good but I > disagree. Contributors are starting to suck. Was there a significance to > Lewis Black appearing on The Nightly Show Tuesday night? > The article refers to a nice comeback Stewart had for Elizabeth Warren. > On Monday Noah interviewed the Girls Who Code leader when she boasted > getting more females to write computer code was the most important social > issue of our time. Really? More important than poverty, mass > incarceration, a dissolving middle class or public health? Stewart would > have had a good come back. Noah let it lay there. > I am annoyed by Noah laughing at his own jokes, which he held in check > Monday and Tuesday but it returned in full force on Wednesday. The article > points out Stewart evolved into his personna. The streaming of all The > Daily Show episodes prior to his departure showed that was true. It's just > with these benchmark events I want to see more promise out of Noah. > > Sent from TypeApp <http://www.typeapp.com/r> > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
