10-19-2004, 07:34 PM
Chaerophon,Oct 19 2004, 02:24 AM Wrote:If he wanted to, he could summarily alter the show's format, behave like a boring partisan hack with little or no wit, and not 'betray any responsibility' to the public in any meaningful sense.
Since when does asking more substantial questions to certain people he is interviewing make him a "partisan hack"? Who says that he can't be funny and entertaining while dealing with hard issues?
I think you're selling the man short.
Quote:Jon Stewart's only 'responsibility' is laid out in his contract; a big part of it is to bring in the ratings - seems he's doing quite well in that regard. The idiots on Crossfire don't even come CLOSE to living up to theirs. I've seen Jon Stewart ask tough questions before, I've seen him engage guests in real, interactive debate, despite the fact that he has no 'responsibility' to do so. I can't say the same for the Crossfire team, despite the fact that this is the supposed task that they mean to fulfill. The 'tough questions' are calculated ambushes and the 'debate' is far from meaningful.
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No one in this thread so far has said that Jon Stewart hasn't had good interviews in the past (quite to the contrary in fact). No one has said that it's his responsibility to ask tough questions. No one has denied that Crossfire is, in general, a burning cesspool of idiocy.
Jon Stewart definitely could ask more tough questions while still maintaining his normal high level of comedy and satire. You said yourself in the above quoted paragraph that he has asked tough questions to guests before while still being entertaining... so how are we in disagreement at all? Is it really so bad to think "Gee, that Kerry interview was pretty good, but I sure wish Stewart had hit some more substantial issues." Hell, the show has poked fun at Dr. Phil and Regis for asking "silly" or "dumb" questions to Kerry and/or Bush when they had them on their respective shows. In reality though, the questions the aforementioned interviewers asked were about as substantial as the normal questions Stewart asks to *his* guests.
I still love the Daily Show, but it sure seems like they're being just a little bit hypocritical, doesn't it?
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London