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[The Boat]

Damn, first Colbert and now Jon

 

[Darksol]

Fuck. End of an era.

 

[Crocodile]

Damn. I wish he could have at least stayed through the 2016 elections. Good luck to Stewart whatever he does next.

 

[thefro]

As for a replacement...heart says Jessica Williams, head says Craig Ferguson.

Ferguson would be good, but it'd be different than Stewart's show. He said he hated having politicians on the Late Late Show. So I'm not sure if his heart would be in doing so much political satire.

He's definitely sharp and fast enough that he could do something similar to Stewart if he wanted to.

 

[Mengy]

With Stewart and Colbert gone it feels like a natural check against the stupidity in America is about to be lifted, and that is genuinely worrisome. They both really guided my generation for a formative decade. I really have to give it to them and Comedy Central for what they built, they probably pushed America towards progress by a not insubstantial degree.

Yeah, I agree. It is worrisome kinda.

 

[Cairnsay]

As much as I would hate to loose him of UK tv this seems like an ideal job for Charlie Brooker. Or David Mitchell for that matter.

 

[Eidan]

This is too much. I've been watching Stewart since I was a kid. I remember watching the Crossfire interview live...bow ties still haven't made a full recovery.

 

[Camwi]

If you were to include the Crossfire interview, where yould you rank it? It would be a tough fight for #1 between that interview and the 9/11 speech.

I have to disagree withe the Cramer interview. Mostly because, that was Cramer punishment. To go on and take it. He knew it was coming, and he knew that's all that would happen to him. And to be quite honest, Jon felt like he was going easy on him. Like the whole thing was staged. It was not the spontaneous and unexpected decimation of the Crossfire Interview.

The Jim Cramer episode was actually the last one that I watched. I was a regular viewer until then. Watching him shit on Cramer in an unfunny manner made me realize how negative the show had gotten.

I kind of feel like that Nietzsche quote about "gazing into the abyss, and the abyss gazing back into you" is what happened with Stewart on The Daily Show. He just had to see so much bullshit, and so many dark lies, that the show became less funny to me and more angry and mean.

 

[The Technomancer]

9/11 was probably more important in terms of what the country needed at that moment, but I think in the context of the show itself and what Jon Stewart is capable of I think the Crossfire moment was the best summary of his tenure there. He's funny, but when you're his target he can absolutely take you by surprise and pants you.

The aftermath of 9/11 really marked the genesis of the modern Jon Stewart, because the aftermath of 9/11 was when the news media lost its shit with regards to public figures, and Stewart was the only one explicitly saying "does no-one else see how insane this is?"

His segment on Monday comparing the response to the Brian Williams thing to the original decision to enter Iraq coverage was great

 

[BennyBlanco]

Damn. That's wild. I haven't watched in a long time but the guy was a fixture.

 

[e_i]

It would be so amusing if the Egyptian guy that Stewart had on the other night was the new host. The guy had a Daily Show in Egypt after all.

 

[thiscoldblack]

Sadly, things will never be the same without Stewart.

 

[HuskerDutheDu]

The aftermath of 9/11 really marked the genesis of the modern Jon Stewart, because the aftermath of 9/11 was when the news media lost its shit with regards to public figures, and Stewart was the only one explicitly saying "does no-one else see how insane this is?"

His segment on Monday comparing the response to the Brian Williams thing to the original decision to enter Iraq coverage was great

I found out about this when I was going to post how great his Brian Williams thing was on facebook and talk about how important it is we have at least one person in the media willing to talk about that stuff. Oh well.

 

[Trojita]

They are leaving a huge hole on weekday nights that is going to be hard to fill.

 

[thetrin]

I had a feeling this was coming at some point, but was hoping he would just do the job forever.

End of an era

 

[Pyroclastic]

As much as I would hate to loose him of UK tv this seems like an ideal job for Charlie Brooker. Or David Mitchell for that matter.

Eh, I love charlie brooker but last week tonight was one of the weakest things he's ever done, I dunno how well suited he would be to do his kind of thing for 100s of show a year.

I guess they have a shitload more money/writers on the daily show so maybe it could work.

 

[HylianTom]

At the risk of inducing some eye-rolling, I wanted to add something this morning: I'm thankful for Stewart & Colbert and the Daily Show for helping on LGBT issues.

On these issues in particular, they rather effectively took conservatives out to the woodshed, pointing out how ridiculous many of their arguments are, exposing animus, changing hearts & minds, etc etc.. and I think their steady stream of contributions in this arena over the years really helped move public opinion, particularly among younger people.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

It's obvious who should replace him.

Philomena Cunk.

 

[a secret-boss]

Sadly, things will never be the same without Stewart.

Yup
Even with new host or program. They try to do it with Chapelle show

 

[DietRob]

At the risk of inducing some eye-rolling, I wanted to add something this morning: I'm thankful for Stewart & Colbert and the Daily Show for helping on LGBT issues.

On these issues in particular, they rather effectively took conservatives out to the woodshed, pointing out how ridiculous many of their arguments are, exposing animus, changing hearts & minds, etc etc.. and I think their steady stream of contributions in this arena over the years really helped move public opinion, particularly among younger people.

This is probably true for the most part. I know 10+ years ago I was personally very ignorant on the subjects. I learned a lot about the issues facing the LGBT community from Stewart, Colbert, and even here on GAF. My opinions have changed drastically over the past decade. I don't think Stewart and Colbert deserve all the credit for my changed opinion but they certainly get a piece of it.

 

[Trokil]

It's obvious who should replace him.

Philomena Cunk.

She is funny in small portions, but she is getting boring soon.

She is way better than Morgana Robinson, that was going on and on and on and on.

 

[Lime]

Jessica Williams would be a perfect and refreshing replacement

 

[The Lamonster]

I think it should be Bassem Youssef.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

How badly did Comedy Central bungle all this? First Oliver leaves, then Colbert leaves, now Stewart leaves. They had two potential fantastic direct replacements for Stewart, and they let them both slip through their fingers in the span of a year. Amazing!

 

[Miles Quaritch]

She is funny in small portions, but she is getting boring soon.

She is way better than Morgana Robinson, that was going on and on and on and on.

Yeah, maybe you're right. Cunk for a whole 20 minutes might become very annoying.

Perhaps it's Barry Shitpeas time to shine?

 

[StudioTan]

So watching the announcement on his show it definitely seems like the show is staying and they are getting someone new. The show is important enough that I think many people would be interested in the position. Plus, he's executive producer on the show and it's likely he might stick around in that capacity and provide direction and help with the show without having to be there day to day. I hope so anyway, him still being involved to some degree would make me feel a bit better.

 

[GaimeGuy]

The Jim Cramer episode was actually the last one that I watched. I was a regular viewer until then. Watching him shit on Cramer in an unfunny manner made me realize how negative the show had gotten.

I kind of feel like that Nietzsche quote about "gazing into the abyss, and the abyss gazing back into you" is what happened with Stewart on The Daily Show. He just had to see so much bullshit, and so many dark lies, that the show became less funny to me and more angry and mean.

That entire week of Stewart ripping apart CNBC occurred in 2009 in the immediate aftermath of the worst part of the financial crisis - you had a 24/7 financial network that completely got everything wrong up to, during, and after the crisis happened, whose pundits were giving out bad advice, shitting on everyone except the private corporations that blew the economy up, and treating the whole thing like a game for their amusement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart's_2009_criticism_of_CNBC

I'm not sure why you think it was "mean-spirited" to call out people for their bullshit. As Stewart said to Cramer RE: CNBC - "I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a fucking game. And when I watch that, I get, I can't tell you how angry that makes me. Because what it says to me is: you all know. You all know what's going on. You know, you can draw a straight line from those shenanigans to the stuff that was being pulled at Bear, and AIG, and all this derivative market stuff that is this weird Wall Street side bet. ... I can't reconcile the brilliance and knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy bullshit I see you do every night."


Edit: Also, you had CNBC and MSNBC pundits and correspondents directly complaining about the treatment Jon Stewart was giving them, attacking his journalistic and comedic integrity but then completely getting bitchslapped in interviews with Stewart, unable to defend themselves or their actions. They were called out for their bullshit - the fact that it took Jon fucking Stewart for this to be highlighted is what you should be outraged about.

 

[Tedesco!]

How badly did Comedy Central bungle all this? First Oliver leaves, then Colbert leaves, now Stewart leaves. They had two potential fantastic direct replacements for Stewart, and they let them both slip through their fingers in the span of a year. Amazing!

I don't think they bungled anything. Oliver was a bit player, and was offered his own gig with HBO. Who wouldn't take that? Colbert was offered Dave's slot at Late Night, and again, who would pass that up? Stewart has been anchoring TDS forever, and it only makes sense that he would eventually move on.

 

[GaimeGuy]

How badly did Comedy Central bungle all this? First Oliver leaves, then Colbert leaves, now Stewart leaves. They had two potential fantastic direct replacements for Stewart, and they let them both slip through their fingers in the span of a year. Amazing!

I don't think you can say CC bungled this - Oliver gets full creative freedom with HBO thanks to its subscription model (something CC can't offer) and his scheduling allows a much tighter focus.

Jon Stewart wants to do something else - that's not on CC.

And Colbert, as he put it in his own words, "won television." I don't care what you offer, you're not going to keep someone that's been chosen to succeed David Letterman

 

[YoungFa]

Now that Colbert is gone and Jon Daily soon too. Who will activate the youth?

 

[Lmo911]

Can we get Assif Mandvi? He's like the only quasi correspondant I enjoy.

 

[yukonrye]

Maybe Oliver has a clause in his contract about Stewart leaving.

 

[Burt]

I didn't have that much faith in Oliver until I saw him murder it with his own show, so what do I know, but I'm personally pulling for Poehler, then maybe Mandvi or Jones. I think they could definitely pull better talent from outside the show than within at this point, though.

 

[Munkyspace]

Used to watch the show constantly years ago, but that's definitely fallen by the wayside.

Still a bummer to see him go.

Here's to hopes for a worthwhile replacement.

 

[SURGEdude]

Imagine the high fives happening at Fox News today. First Colbert now this. Ugh.

 

[MrKaepora]

No, not like this!

Now where I'm going to get my news from America? Fox News?! CNN?!! LOL!!!

 

[mentallyinept]

If I had to pick one to replace Jon from the current crop of correspondents, it would have to be Aasif Mandvi.

He has the best demeanor and delivery to carry the anchor position.

 

[gabbo]

Imagine the high fives happening at Fox News today. First Colbert now this. Ugh.

I can only imagine segments on all their talking head shows over this, shitting on him from their lofty perch at Fox.

 

[GaimeGuy]

No, not like this!

Now where I'm going to get my news from America? Fox News?! CNN?!! LOL!!!

PBS, NPR.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

I don't think they bungled anything. Oliver was a bit player, and was offered his own gig with HBO. Who wouldn't take that? Colbert was offered Dave's slot at Late Night, and again, who would pass that up? Stewart has been anchoring TDS forever, and it only makes sense that he would eventually move on.

I don't think you can say CC bungled this - Oliver gets full creative freedom with HBO thanks to its subscription model (something CC can't offer) and his scheduling allows a much tighter focus.

Jon Stewart wants to do something else - that's not on CC.

And Colbert, as he put it in his own words, "won television." I don't care what you offer, you're not going to keep someone that's been chosen to succeed David Letterman

The point was that Comedy Central could have had a successor plan in place. Maybe this all was totally out of the blue regarding Stewart retiring, but I doubt it. The writing should have been on the wall when he took the sabbatical to direct Rosewater. That's the point at which Comedy Central should have locked down either Colbert or Oliver to succeed Stewart at TDS. They probably would have had to pay handsomely to do so, but it obviously would have been worth it, given that they are now without any obvious replacement.

 

[B-Dubs]

That entire week of Stewart ripping apart CNBC occurred in 2009 in the immediate aftermath of the worst part of the financial crisis - you had a 24/7 financial network that completely got everything wrong up to, during, and after the crisis happened, whose pundits were giving out bad advice, shitting on everyone except the private corporations that blew the economy up, and treating the whole thing like a game for their amusement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart's_2009_criticism_of_CNBC

I'm not sure why you think it was "mean-spirited" to call out people for their bullshit. As Stewart said to Cramer RE: CNBC - "I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a fucking game. And when I watch that, I get, I can't tell you how angry that makes me. Because what it says to me is: you all know. You all know what's going on. You know, you can draw a straight line from those shenanigans to the stuff that was being pulled at Bear, and AIG, and all this derivative market stuff that is this weird Wall Street side bet. ... I can't reconcile the brilliance and knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy bullshit I see you do every night."


Edit: Also, you had CNBC and MSNBC pundits and correspondents directly complaining about the treatment Jon Stewart was giving them, attacking his journalistic and comedic integrity but then completely getting bitchslapped in interviews with Stewart, unable to defend themselves or their actions. They were called out for their bullshit - the fact that it took Jon fucking Stewart for this to be highlighted is what you should be outraged about.

Exactly, Kramer and everyone else on those networks knew exactly what was going on and warned no one. No one on those networks did their jobs, it was a huge fucking story and everyone sat on it for no good reason! If the financial networks had done their jobs properly maybe some action could have been taken before everything went tits up to lessen the impact on the economy.

 

[BuggyDClown]

As much as I would hate to loose him of UK tv this seems like an ideal job for Charlie Brooker. Or David Mitchell for that matter.

Nope charlie needs to only be working on black mirror series 3. I want nothig else from that man.

 

[Dick Justice]

Yeah, maybe you're right. Cunk for a whole 20 minutes might become very annoying.

Perhaps it's Barry Shitpeas time to shine?

Barry Shitpeas for president.

 

[Nephtis]

I think Jessica Williams would be a good replacement for Jon.

She's got the right amount of serious and sarcasm to pull it off, I think.

 

[Battersea Power Station]

Imagine the high fives happening at Fox News today. First Colbert now this. Ugh.

Yes, I'm sure they're relieved that Jon Stewart's reign of terror is over and now they can take the number 1 cable news spot.

 

[Cybit]

So here's a fun thought:

I wonder how much The Daily Show is indirectly responsible for nurturing an interest in voting for the youth of America?

100% responsible for me.

Yeah. And with that thought going, it makes my wonder how CC managed to lose Oliver, since his take of the show was very strongly received. They should have locked him down.

Oliver got thrown a crapton of money by HBO, and more importantly - a weekly gig instead of daily.

The part that I think most people are forgetting is that Jon's main contribution was being such a good mentor / guide to the writers; that's why the show was so consistently good. It's why I'm a little down on Jessica Williams as an immediate replacement - I think their best option (assuming they can't get an Tina Fey / Amy Poehler level replacement) would be to either

a) touch base with Oliver and see if he's willing to come back in 2016 - and if so, do a short run between Stewart and Oliver with some of the correspondents (Mandvi, Williams, Bee & Jones, etc)

b) Pick someone like Mandvi to do the show for a couple of years while Williams is prepared to run it.

c) Go with Bassem (the egyptian equivalent of Stewart) and see if you lightning struck.

Considering the showrunner is a woman - I'm calling bullshit on the "it must be a woman" bit. It is going to be nearly impossible to find an adequate replacement period for him. They do not have the luxury of cutting down their candidate pool due to gender.

 

[vesvci]

So sad about this news. Jon Stewart is one of the very few voices of reason in this country.

The mainstream media being so biased and influenced by money and political muscle, it is very difficult for important stories to ever make it into their agenda. Jon Stewart provided a platform for those stories to be told, and not only that, but through his genius he provided credibility for those stories. Whenever I want to watch news on TV, I always turn on to The Daily Show.

Brilliant man, with a meaningful purpose in the position he was in...he will be missed by me and those as myself. I can only hope that whoever takes over the show will carry on the torch.

 

[SURGEdude]

Yes, I'm sure they're relieved that Jon Stewart's reign of terror is over and now they can take the number 1 cable news spot.

I was thinking more about how relieved they must be to not have somebody mocking their constant misinformation.

 

[Cheebo]

Someone new has to step up to fill the cable political satire void? It can't be Oliver until he leaves HBO, so who out there is capable of taking over for Stewart/Colbert?

Oliver is filling the void in his HBO show. It's fantastic.

 

[BuggyDClown]

John Hodgeman?