The Daily Show
 

Hello to all

I'm from England and as such the main information I get about American politics seems to come from extremists from both sides who tend not to argue properly on internet chat boards. But then I saw the Daily Show and was relieved to see that there is such a thing as political satire in the US.

So my point is, is The Daily Show popular? Does it have a political agenda? Do you like it?

Post your opinions please

Matt

Jon Stewart is absolutely liberal and makes no bones about it. Not sure how to measure it's popularity, but it seems everyone knows about it. Yeah, I like it, John Stewart is hilarious - even though i disagree with near everything he says, his delivery makes up for the content. Dude cracks me up.

Matt

The Daily Show isn't MEGA popular, but to those who know about it, it's the best show on TV. Jon Stewart has taken the program from a cheesy fake news show to a political satire magazine. The humor is brilliant and the interviews are insightful and so much more entertaining than anything you see elsewhere.

One has to wonder why Jon Stewart is not climbing the ladder of success. You could argue that he has not sold out to the bigger networks and he is content with Viacom, where he gets full reign over his program. Who knows.

I love it.

The Daily Show is an extremely rare exception in American mainstream television media in that they actually have a left-of-center viewpoint and commonly mock some conservative political positions. It is probably the best daily news show (4-days a week) on TV even though they call it "fake news."

Yes, the Daily Show is popular, but it's confined to households with cable or satellite TV so probably half of America can't see it.

While I would agree that John himself is probably left of centre I would say that the Daily Show pokes fun at those across the political spectrum...

I've seem him make fun of Kerry and Bush... in his book he made poked at JKF at length.

If anything, The Daily Show is the non-partisan "news show" that shows like the O'Reilly Factor can only dream of being...

Viacom is a pretty big network... they own CBS and are among the "Big Six" so you can't really make that argument.

http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/viacom.asp

How common is Cable or Satelite TV in American homes? In the UK I think the majority of people have Digital Satelite or Cable TV, but the best programs are on the free channels, mainly the BBC and Channel 4.

The best satire program on BBC is the weekly Have I Got News for You, which is a quiz but noone really cares about the score, as its just for the celebrity guests and regulars to make fun of the news stories of the last week.

Regarding the Daily Show, I find it incredible that people go along with the interviews that the 'correspondants' give! Ed Helms is my favourite.

Matt

The interviews are generally made from cleverly edited clips. For example, they will ask questions to get a desired reponse and then edit in a completely different question being asked. The interviews are generally complete nonsense, but funny nonetheless.

Well, obviously I have a different sense of the political spectrum. I consider the Republicans extremely right (if not reactionary), Democrats as centrists (center-right economically and in foreign policy), and the Green Party as left. When Steward mocks Democrats it seems it's mostly from a more progressive viewpoint. I mean, Democracy Now! is very bipartisan in that they will often criticize both Republicans and Democrats, but I wouldn't consider them centrist; they criticize them from the left.

In the US there is a radio version of what I think is the same game: Wait Wait -- Don't Tell Me!

Most American homes have cable nowadays, and those that don't can typically get satellite.

The Daily Show has actually become a primary source of news for young adults, particularly males. I find the show to be somewhat leftist, but they poke fun at everybody so it's not that big of a deal. Jon Stewart is hilarious.

Sorry... I know this is your opinion.. but ugh makes me cringe.

Anways I'm independant/republican... and I love the show. John Stewart does lean left that's well known, but his delivery is sheer genious, and they do make sure to stay balanced.... they make fun of both sides equally.

Bush on what he says/doesnt say, and Kerry on his complete lack of anything inspiring.

I don't know why... Let me show you what I mean.

http://www.therealdifference.com/issues2.html

redlemon

I listened to that show, it was good but not really the same as the show here in the UK as it doesn't have any people from the public calling in and is (obviously) more visual.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of that show though.

What....It's Satire?

I love the Daily Show. I was fortuante enough to see a taping of it a year or two ago. It was a great experience... i hope to do it again some time.

Didn't they have some sort of poll that said a certain large proportion of college age people get most of their news from the Daily Show?

I wish they would can the celebrity interviews and only interview people who are important in the news/politics. I could also do without most of the edited-up stories that the other reporters do, even though at least half of them are pretty damn funny. But really, I want more direct commentary on world events. They do it soooo well. The fact that they slam on everything possible and exploit every crack in what somebody says makes it, in my opinion, the fairest news show around (that is assuming the viewer watching it knows how to understand satire... which of course everyone on the TFP does, but some people... :hmm: )

Not a fan. It bores me and I don't find it funny. But then I was never a Seinfeld or Simpsons fan either.

The first eight minutes of the Daily Show are the best 8 minutes on tv. That is when they run the gamut of the days news.

The show is satirical, but in ways it is much more honest than any other news program. They don't run you around with PC crap.

Daily Show is the highest rated show on Comedy Central, and yes most young men in america get their news from DC than any other source.

potatodude do you read Private Eye? It sounds like your kind of thing... i.e. they take the piss fairly evenly on all sides. It's the only news I ever read (I listen to radio 4 too though) - i find it's the only way to get a balanced view of anything.

It's a great show, and political satire is nothing new in the U.S.

Yup I love the Daily Show, its my primary news source hehe. I even got my parents into it, they love it now too.

Yeah I read Private Eye every issue and always buy the Annual at Christmas. It's so funny but at the same time highlights the corruption in all politicians. I also enjoy their TV reviews.

The Daily show is the best satire on American television today. (this hour has 22 minutes is the best on Canadian television)..

Political Satire is as old as politics in this country.

And I too always try to watch the first eight minutes (last night, with Ashcroft? Hilarious)

Oh yeah. "Invoke something! 5th Amendment, Writ of Douchebaggery, Something!"

That line was a classic, which means I'm going to steal it and use it every so often.

Jon Stewart for my fake news.
Jim Lehrer for my real news.

Jon keeps me abreast of any humorous contradictions in the world I might miss. The Daily Show is awesome!!

If you go on the Comedy Central website you can see many of the segments from the show. That's how I got familiar with it.

http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/browse_mid.php?s=ds

Grab the torrent of this scene here.

The Daily show is actually MEGA-popular here, and Jon Stewart is doing pretty well for himself considering his failed late-night show in the 90s. Almost every one I know with cable watches it, well, daily. The audience is typically left-of-center, but Stewart is remarkably evenhanded in interviews etc. The show is big enought that they don't have to shill for their entertainment guests, e.g. last night when he spent the interview subtley trashing the Garfield movie JLHewitt was there to promote.

Props on the torrent, 20+ seeds :) .

The Daily Show is a terrible source for news. Despite their effort to be evenhanded in their humor, there is a clear bias that affects the serious portion of their reporting (the parts before the punchlines).

Having said that...

I watch this show religiously.

It was crazy how Stewart was trashing the Garfield movie during the JLH interview. "Bill Murray must be some kind of whore for money right now."

Jon Stewart simply owned JLH in that interview. It was really sad, he was constantly capping on JLH, and sadly, she could not keep-up with his humor or even play along. He looked really funny, and she looked like a ditz.

I love this show, especially when Steven Colbier (sp?) interview or reports...sure beats the hell out of "Weekend Updates" in SNL.

I did think that JLHewitt handled the trashing pretty well. As well as anyone without an immediate wit (like Stewart) could have handled it.

i love it when i have time to watch it.

Jon Stewart does support the left but they do a good job at criticizing the dems too. If Kerry were to win the election, they'd be just as hard on him as tehy are on Bush.