El problema con Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart's brief excursion into Apple before returning to the Daily Show was eagerly anticipated but never really found its feet. He did seem a bit stiff during the intro segments throughout but I admire the analytical format generally - even if the central panel discussions did tend towards the superfluous at best and downright awkward at worst. Where he really shone was interviewing the heavy hitters - his stunning wrong-footing of the Shell CEO in the first season was one of the highlights of the year for me and may be revisited in future times. Ultimately "Problem" lacked consistency and for me sits in the shadow of the far superior (and sadly cancelled) "Problem Areas With Wyatt Cenac". More to that, at the end (or mid point) of the slightly leaner second season, he ditched the long-form analysis model and briefly re-entered contemporary critique again and the vibe was palpable. That he then returned to his ideal format and excelled in the pre-election time makes this now a bit of a forgotten curio rather than anything worth seeking out particularly but there were some really bright spots.

I was ECSTATIC when I heard Jon Stewart was producing a new show. I am desperately in need of another news source that has just enough comedy to keep me from throwing heavy, pointy things at the screen in anger. This is *almost* it.

Laughter is what keeps despair away, despair that has loomed all too large these last many years, and my sense of humor is so dark Anish Kapoor wanted to co-opt it for his exclusive use. However there just wasn't the sharp, dry, cutting dark humor I was hoping for in the first episode.

They do an excellent job of laying out the issues, and presenting various aspects of a complex problem in a clear way... and then... that's it.

With not enough humor, a resolution, or a call to action, then it has the impact of a long format click-bait article that gets one all wound up and pissed off, and then left feeling impotent and powerless in the face of such a massive, systemic problem.

That's how I've been feeling far too often over the last 5? 50? Years (I've lost count, time lost all meaning once I started seeing pajama pants as acceptable to leave the house in and had to start genuinely helping my tween do math) and I desperately NEED to feel like I can do SOMETHING, ANYTHING. Send a mildly offensive postcard to someone, buy a sarcastic stuffed animal, tweet a snarky meme to help raise money, or just scan a QR code that pops up on the screen at the end that will auto deduct $10 from ApplePay for a related charity... SOMETHING.

You did a great job of bringing these issues to our attention Jon, and getting us all passionate about it, don't leave us here with activist blue balls... tell us how the people in your show need help so we can ALL have a "happy ending."

From the first episode Jon immediately reminds you how passionate, clever and funny he still is about the issues he cares about. The great part about the show is the focus on the issues puts the show closer to Last Week rather than the Daily Show, so there's no celebrity fluff or promotion.

Can't wait for more!

This really is the Daily Show to the next level but be ready for a way more serious tone....and rightfully so considering how F*&%ED up things are. I see a lot of reviews on here saying "its not funny enough" well thats not entirely it's intention. Yes he adds humor to the show but thats actually brilliant since these topics are way easier to digest when you can laugh here and there. Anyone who thinks the world and more specifically the US govt isnt completely backwards is probably going to give this show a bad review.

Jon Stewart is good at what he does and he's back and better than ever, unfortunately though I couldn't enjoy the show due to the audience laughter. Live audiences ad atmosphere, I get it, but whoever if doing the sound mixing needs to turn down the audience mics, it's cringey and painful.

If they rectify the sound issues I'll be back, otherwise I just have to pass.